The Roaring Twenties were a time of excess, sexual exploration by women, and a time when jazz music started to develop. It's a decade that wealthy, white Americans are drawn back to, because it's here that they start to see themselves becoming recognizably careless and socially free. "Americans were speeding up, moving out, buying more, having fun, and dreaming bigger" (Miller). The Cotton Club was an integral part of the Twenties and personified what this period of time stood for. It became a place for gangsters to sell their bootlegged beer during prohibition, a home for jazz music, and a precursor to the Harlem Renaissance, a period of profound growth and change in black literature and music. "Harlem was not so much a place as a state of mind, the cultural metaphor for black America itself" (Rhapsodies). "As well as being a crucible for new musical styles, The Cotton Club can also be seen as a lightning rod for Harlem history" (Wolfe). .
Started by heavyweight boxer Jack Johnson at the corner of 42nd Street and Lenox Avenue, it was originally called Club De Lux. Failure of the club resulted in the selling of it in 1923 to gangster Owney Madden who dubbed it The Cotton Club. Madden had been searching for a Harlem location to sell his Madden's #1 Beer. "The name was chosen in order to invoke thoughts of a stylish plantation environment" (Cotton). To further this implication, all performers were black and, for the most part, all attendees were white. .
During prohibition it was often to find many clubs that were established with the central purpose of providing alcohol to the public. The Cotton club became the most popular club in not only Harlem, but also all of New York. It provided the "coolest" environment, best cuisine, and many up and coming jazz musicians. "Only the wealthiest, most influential, famous and notorious people went there, or were allowed in" (Cotton). Being that the club's main purpose was to sell Madden's beer, it also became a place to see first-rate jazz musicians.
