Tanqueray by Stephanie Johnson and Brandon Stanton

In the social media account Humans of New York, Brandon Stanton interviews ordinary people who often have extraordinary stories. In 2019, Brandon met Stephanie Johnson wearing her homemade leopard skin hat and coat, in her seventies now and using a wheelchair for a bad hip. Her story captivated the internet, for she was once the top black burlesque dancer in the city under the name 'Tanqueray'.

Stephanie grew up with an abusive mother. Pregnant as a teen, when she tried to leave, her mother had her arrested. She went to jail rather than live with her mom.

In New York, the Peppermint Club was famous for go-go dancers, which she couldn't do being black. Instead she befriended the mob owners, modelling stolen minks in the clubs for a cut of the sale. Starting out as the only black girl dancing burlesque to eighteen minutes of blues at Mambo-Hi, she worked her way up to the first black girl doing features, her name and photo on the poster - the only black girl making white girl money, thousands a week. She also sewed custom outfits for the girls, with a side business selling high heels. Another hustle was writing a sexy escapades column for her friend Gloria Leonard's High Society magazine, which she just made up. Men would line up after the shows for her to sign their copy. Her fame rose to include regular shows for the Masons, Friars Club, FDNY, and NYPD. When she tired of dancing, she frequented the drag bar Club 82, sewing queens gowns and getting into the ballroom scene with the likes of House of Xtravaganza. She had a long lasting love affair, but remained an independent woman navigating the nightclubs of Times Square on her own terms.

With the success the posts, Brandon expanded her story into this full memoir, and along with a GoFundMe page, raised over 2 million dollars for her hip replacement. TV rights to her story were sold, and she had another rush of fame. Her fascinating story is simply written in her own voice, filled with period photographs, and entertains all the way.

2022 / Hardcover / 192 pages