But, the hard-partying crowd poured drinks down the cannon, congealing the confetti into a hard ball. In 1970, at Seattle’s Bastille Day Parade, she was riding on a float that featured an antique cannon that shot confetti over the onlookers. So, what about the nutty name? Bauman was a free-spirited straight woman with a profound sense of the absurd. Shelly’s Leg is a GAY BAR provided for Seattle’s gay community and their guests. The most amazing thing about Shelly’s Leg was that as the patrons entered the bar through the front door, the first thing they saw was with a large sign that read: It got to the point where you couldn’t tell who was straight and who was gay.” The word was just out that this is the place to come and dance. Every night about 9:30pm, it was like three Greyhound buses full of people descending on us. “Straight discos don’t have the capability or sensibility to put together something like this. If you were cool enough or hot enough, you could gain entrance through a backdoor where the bouncer kept a list created by co-owner and namesake Shelley Bauman. The line to get in would wrap around the block. From the very start it was immensely popular. It looked like a 1950s-basement rec room, furnished with old neon signs and plastic plants. Shelly’s Leg was the first disco, straight or gay, in Seattle.
Shelly’s Leg in 1976., Photograph Seattle PI
