

On : Shadowland was Prohibition-era San Antonio casino and speakeasy 26) and famous gambler and state legislator Virgil “Red” Berry’s Turf Club ran a Blue Willow Special bus out to “the most convenient pleasure palace, just a few minutes out the Fredericksburg Road.” When downtown clubs were closed down, manager Earl Ramsey - formerly of Shadowland ( covered here Sept. and a little gambling (dice and bookmaking) in the upstairs rooms, periodically addressed with catch-and-release raids by the Bexar County Sheriff’s Department and the Texas Rangers. It opened May 30, 1939, on the site of a previously successful roadhouse, the Blue Willow Inn.įrom 1925 to 1938, “San Antonio’s Most Pleasant Resort” had everything other area nightclubs had: chicken and steak dinners, dancing to live orchestras from 9 p.m. In their time, it was pretty standard fare, raising medium expectations by advertising as “One of San Antonio’s Nicer Dinner Clubs.” Your parents probably had great memories of the Kit Kat Club because they were young and in love when they went there. I don’t know if you have done a story about this already. I’m pretty sure they had live bands for dancing since dancing was mentioned in some of the letters. I was wondering where the Kit Kat was located in the late 1930s and early 1940s and what else you know about it. He would say things like “I went to a club here, but it wasn’t as nice as the Kit Kat.” Or he might reminisce about their wonderful times together at the Kit Kat. In his letters, my father often mentioned the Kit Kat Club (in San Antonio). I have some of the love letters my father wrote to my mother from wherever he was stationed during World War II between 19. UTSA Special Collections Show More Show Less Interior decoration at the popular nightclub looked about the same for at least 20 years owner Dick Jones said he didn’t want to make the average person think the Kit Kat was too fancy or expensive. The Bob Rodriguez Band plays for a Mexican-American Social Club event at the Kit Kat Club circa 1950. UTSA Special Collections Show More Show Less 2 of2

Both businesses were outside the city limits when they opened in 19 respectively. An aerial view shows the Kit Kat Club at right and the Fredericksburg Road Drive-in movie theater at left.
