Windbag Tales

I think that most people who go to the Windbag Saloon do so to say that they ate in a former brothel. Don’t get me wrong, the food is good, but it’s really the notoriety that draws customers. The Windbag operated as a brothel, first under Ida Levy, and then under “Big Dorothy” Parker. The police finally closed the brothel in 1973, but before that Big Dorothy was much loved figure in Helena. Last time I was in Helena, I heard a story related to Big Dorothy’s.

Apparently Ida had quite a sense of humor. One winter she went out and bought a whole bunch of yellow ties. Whenever Helena’s most prominent citizens visited her establishment the Madame would take them aside and ply their ear, tell them that they were her favorite customer, etc. etc. Then she would present them with a beautiful yellow tie and ask them if, as a special favor to her, they would wear it to the New Years’ Eve ball. According to the teller of the tale, when New Years’ rolled around, half of Helena’s most important residents showed up to the Civic Center doors sporting brand new yellow ties.

Ellen Baumler wrote two excellent articles about Ida Levy and Big Dorothy on her blog and she included a similar story, which I realized only after I had written this piece.