Hidden treasures: A plastic martini glass and the 'Harlem of the North'

To mark Montreal's 375th anniversary, curators from Montreal museums showus some of their favourite items hidden in their archives. This is the latest installment in an ongoing series.

Ella Fitzgerald,BillieHoliday,SammyDavis Jr.

These are just a few of the jazz greats who graced the stage at Rockhead'sParadise and lent the city its name of "Harlem of the North."

It was all thanks to one man,Rufus Rockhead.

Nobody had any idea that alcohol prohibition in the United States was on its way out, but Rockhead, who came to Canada via Jamaica, decided to take advantage of Montreal's proximity to its southern neighbour and opened thejazz bar in Little Burgundy.

"Many Americans said, 'wow, we just have to cross the border and we will be in a place where we can have fun, alcohol, girls,'" saidJean-Franois Leclerc, the curator at Centre d'histoire.

The club soon drew some of the biggestnames in the jazz world and served as a safe place theblack community could go to have fun.

What's left of Montreal's Rockhead's Paradise

8 years ago

Duration 1:50

A plastic martini glass may not seem like a treasured item, but it tells the story of Rockhead's Paradise and Rufus Rockhead's love of jazz.

Among the objects in theCentred'histoiredeMontralcollections is a blue plastic martini glass, with the stem shaped like a woman.

Some would call the glass gaudy orkitsch but it helps tellthe story behindRockhead'sbar.

Rockhead versus Duplessis

Rockhead's Paradise did run into some trouble in the 1950s, during Maurice Duplessis' time as premier of Quebec.

"The Duplessis government was not so open to diversity, you could say, so he tried to stop the activities of the club," said Leclerc.

"Mr. Rockhead lost his permit to sell alcohol. It was a real drama because for maybe eight years, he had only the tavern to survive."

The bar was able to reopen in the '60s but closed soon after Rockhead's death in 1981 and the building eventually demolished.

More in this series

• How soap helped a French-Canadian break into Montreal's Anglo-dominated business world
• The punch bowl that tells the story of Montreal's first department store
• Former Montreal mayor Camillien Houde and his arrow sash