This photograph from The East Hampton Star's archive shows the popular girl band the Angels, who performed at the Pink Panther Club in Southampton, a weekend nightclub for teenagers. While the Angels were big-name out-of-towners, other acts on the bill that evening were local, like the Cavaliers, fronted by Cindy Boden of Sag Harbor, and the Royals, a rock group out of Riverhead.
The South Fork in the early 1960s was devoid of gathering places for the teen culture booming in the rest of America. Mary Zaykowski wrote to The Star, lamenting this void, and the problem was seen as significant enough to warrant a public meeting in 1966.
The result was a new nightclub for teens, set up in Ashawagh Hall in Springs. Such clubs were a popular way for teens to socialize in a safe, chaperoned environment offering snacks and nonalcoholic drinks. Cover charges helped offset expenses.
But before Ashawagh Hall, the Pink Panther was the place to be for teens. It opened in 1964 in the American Legion Hall in Southampton, a building now called Veterans Memorial Hall and a part of the Southampton Cultural Center.
Several local papers called the opening night a success. The evening was filled with music and dancing, including a trendy dance called "The Monkey," as well as door prizes given out to eight attendees.
Despite the much-deplored travel distance, the Pink Panther Club was popular with East Hampton teens. The Bonac Beachcomber, East Hampton High School's student newspaper, informed readers that Sharon Brennan had organized a bus to take local kids to the club.
The Pink Panther Club no longer exists, but other spaces for teens have emerged more recently here, including the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter, the Clubhouse, and the young-adult department at the East Hampton Library.
Moriah Moore is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library's Long Island Collection.
