ABSTRACT
When columnist Herb Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle heard that Charles Pierce was opening at Bimbo’s 365 Club on Columbus Avenue, he phoned Charles immediately. The glamorous Las Vegas-style nightspot was world renowned for, among other things, being the home of the “The Girl in the Fishbowl.” It was an illusion that patrons of the club viewed as they entered the foyer—a tiny, scantily clad young woman appearing to be swimming in a small fishbowl. The illusion was created by the woman going through swimming motions against a black background in another part of the building and then projecting that image into the fishbowl upstairs. It was a good gimmick that caused interest in the club.
