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Cooper was born to Jewish parents Harry and Bessie, who ran a business in
Kensington Market. When he turned 18 years old, he ran his own shop on the Danforth, where he met his future wife, Annette. At the end of the 1950s, Cooper and his uncle purchased the Zanzibar Tavern from a previous owner.
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In 1967, local newspapers christened the Yonge Street strip "Psychedelic Avenue" as
Zanzibar competed with other bars in a "war of the watts". Upon recalling the time, Cooper said he was creating a "Twenty-first Century total environment with "stroboscopic" lights, mannequins and closed-circuit
90:. During this time, the bar also became the first to advertise for topless girls after many regular go-go girls refused to go topless. They hired six of the girls who responded and repurposed the uniform to be topless, with red pasties and a red collar. This helped the bar's transition into a
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In 2017, Zanzibar received a notice of violation for advertising their services on a 78-inch LED television that faces Yonge Street at ground level. Cooper argued that
Zanzibar has advertised in its front window for about 60 years and that the 2010 sign bylaw that prohibits storefront video
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cameras that would take photos of the dance floor and project them on the wall. Throughout the decade, Zanzibar has featured such diverse acts as burlesque act Annie Ample in the 1980s, who called the strip club "her favourite place".
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took clandestine photographs of dancers and wait staff on breaks on the bar's rooftop which were then published on
Torontoist, a local news blog. Cooper responded to the photos saying the women felt that their privacy was violated.
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venue, one of several on Yonge Street, between
Gerrard and King, in the 1950s and 1960s. It featured jazz and blues in the early 1960s, before becoming the multi-media "Zanzibar A-Go-Go" dance club featuring rock and roll and
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In 2006, David Cooper's son quit practising divorce law and took over the running of
Zanzibar. The establishment suffered serious damage to its facade in June 2010, during the G20 summit when
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Zanzibar Tavern was opened in 1959 by David Cooper, who said: "You used to be able to hit 12 strip bars between Bloor and Queen." The bar originally opened as a
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during the 1970s, reflecting the transformation of the Yonge Street strip from a live music centre in the 1960s to a centre for the sex industry in the 1970s.
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It has also featured in unusual lawsuits, including one involving a man who sued his wife, a former
Zanzibar stripper, for knowingly infecting him with
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109:. They received nearly $ 6,000 in compensation. In the same year, the club garnered attention again when a librarian from nearby
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193:"Zanzibar founder David Cooper created a neon world of topless dancers, 1960s jam sessions and non-stop entertainment"
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43:. It is one of Toronto's oldest nightclubs, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2020. The venue's name is a
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316:"Toronto strip club among dozens of businesses reimbursed for G20 losses"
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392:"Zanzibar fights city hall over bylaw prohibiting storefront video ad"
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The
Zanzibar has appeared in numerous Hollywood films such as
295:. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Calgary Herald. October 30, 1988
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Zanzibar Tavern, Yonge Street, Toronto, November 9, 2023.
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Adult entertainment nightclub in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
219:"Jilly's closure one more nail in strip-club coffin"
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445:"Top Next-Generation Degrassi Toronto Hangouts"
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105:anarchists vandalized Yonge Street during the
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126:advertising should not apply retroactively.
418:"5 big budget films that took over Toronto"
365:"Photos of strippers on break causes furor"
293:"Annie turns talents to saving street kids"
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343:"Taxpayers still footing summit bills"
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217:Kuitenbrouwer, Peter (May 17, 2014).
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341:Berthiaume, Lee (October 31, 2012).
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243:Brown, Edward (November 24, 2010).
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314:Rennie, Steve (October 30, 2012).
245:"Meanwhipe, Up On Zanzibar's Roof"
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416:Chubb, Christine (May 22, 2015).
269:Padfoot, Dan (November 9, 1968).
141:It was also on a few episodes of
107:2010 G-20 Toronto summit protests
469:Small, Peter (January 5, 2010).
318:. Globe and Mail. Archived from
191:Daubs, Katie (August 28, 2019).
147:(season 6, episodes 18 and 19).
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271:"Toronto the good goes topless"
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169:Metro Theatre (Toronto)
49:shortest war of history
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532:Strip clubs in Canada
527:Nightclubs in Toronto
443:Lenti, Erica (2016).
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503:43.65814°N 79.3815°W
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164:List of strip clubs
137:The Incredible Hulk
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424:. City News
422:citynews.ca
521:Categories
494:79°22′53″W
491:43°39′29″N
477:. Toronto.
369:ctvnews.ca
254:January 5,
249:Torontoist
175:References
103:Black Bloc
92:strip club
83:live music
475:The Star
158:See also
144:Degrassi
55:and the
63:History
37:Ontario
33:Toronto
45:cheeky
456:2020
430:2020
403:2020
377:2020
351:2020
328:2020
301:2020
279:2020
256:2012
227:2020
201:2020
27:The
152:HIV
31:in
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