Staff Stories
When Gary opened his new location on Sherbrooke Street, with his partner Bob McKenzie, he had no problem finding loyal staff among the youth who frequented his Stanley Street location.
One of these was Suzanne McCarrey, who recalls how she began working at The New Penelope:
I was living at home and the only way I could work there was on the weekends and my parents said, okay, you can work there, but your brother would have to come pick you up at midnight. Or when it closed at midnight or one o’clock or I can’t remember. And because he drove a taxi and he would bring you home. So that was how, the deal. Yeah, that was the deal. (…) I was under age. Yeah. I was 16.
― Suzanne McCarrey (interview with ARCMTL, 2021)
A waitress at the New Penelope on Sherbrooke St., 1967
The larger size of the space on Sherbrooke Street could accommodate crowds numbering in the hundreds for the more popular concerts. This also meant having to serve beverages to hundreds of people, as well as emptying their ashtrays. Suzanne recalls what serving tables at The New Penelope was like:
Listen to the audio clip with transcript: “Serving at The New Penelope”.
Allan Youster worked the door before moving to kitchen duty, brewing up coffee and hot chocolate for the crowds.
Allan Youster standing in front of a Fugs poster he loaned for a 2015 exhibit of concert posters
There were waitresses there, always two or three. On the busy nights there was three. You’re only making money selling coffee and hot chocolate, lemonade and orange juice and you have 200-300 people in there and they’re thirsty, and that’s where you’re making your money. The tickets are going to pay the band—you gotta pay the rent and pay yourself!
― Allan Youster (interview with ARCMTL, July 17, 2015)
Concertgoers would often have to line up outside on the wide sidewalk on Sherbrooke Street before entering a small vestibule to present their ticket. They would then pass through a second door to enter the main room and choose a spot on a bench to sit on. Gary’s childhood friend, Richard King, worked taking tickets at the door during concerts. He recalls the collegial nature of working for his colleague, Daphne and his boss Gary.
Listen to the audio clip with transcript: “A collegial workplace”.
Gary Eisenkraft presenting Muddy Waters at The New Penelope, 1968
I really have no memory of Gary or Daphne as employers. Nominally, they were my boss, but I don’t think any of us saw it quite that way.
― Richard King (interview with Gary’s sister, Harriet Eisenkraft, 2015)
This virtual exhibit would never have seen the day without the personal collections of former employees, friends or fans of The New Penelope who, as did Allan Youster, generously lent or donated archival material.