Marion Pantzer & Ricci Cortez
Rare Photos from the 1950s


Marion was a long time lesbian bar owner in Houston, and
the bar Just Marion & Lynn's was at 817 Fairview and 903 Richmond
It was open from 9/14/73 until May 1987.
It was owned by Marion Pantzer and Lynn Hornaday, and sadly
Marion was killed during a robbery on March 11, 1986.
The club continued until their 15th anniversary weekend, in May of 1987.
So, Marion and Ricci were together from 1952 to 1962
They obviously remained friends, as Ricci
worked for many years at Just Marion & Lynn's, retiring in 1986

Ricci was partners with another Houston lesbian icon, Rita Wanstrom,
owner of the Roaring Sixties (1967-1975)

See complete bar history

See Marion's Obituary     Ricci's Obituary

More candid photos of Marion

It would be difficult to tell the story of these photos
without some deeper history, and there are links to a
Lot of it, but some is detailed here...

The article misspells Ricci...


Finally, the photos.....and how I got the images...

An online friend contacted me in 2023 that a former girlfriend was an antique dealer and
had bought an old photo album. However, by the time I heard they had broken up,
on bad terms, so I was not able to really pursue trying to buy it.

Later the dealer had posted the scans below on her Instagram page, now removed.
The dealer told me they had been sold and she had given my contact info to the buyer.
So it was up to him to contact me if he wanted to sell....which never happened.

These were obviously quickly taken photos of the scrapbook pages, unfortunately rather than scans
And the few that are dated set these from 1951 to 1958

Picking a mid year of 1955, in these photos Marion would have been about 35, and Ricci, 30


Marion Photos

   

   

Ricci Photos

   

      

   

Photos of their Friends