Enter the 1960s… and the “new and improved” Candace Mossler

As the 1950s closed and the 1960s were ushered in, a new age was dawning in America. The new decade was expected to be a golden age for most Americans, as women were on the cusps of all sorts of new freedoms and opportunities, “free love” would soon reign, and individuality rang out seemingly like never before.

For Candace Mossler, the second month of the year 1960 would mark her 40th year on Earth. She was ready and willing to embrace the changes the new decade would bring, though not nearly ready for turning the page from age 39 to the big 4-0; So she launched somewhat of a reinvention of herself. Her manner of dress became “more risque”, her hairstyle “hipper”, and weight thinner, her demeanor more “sensuous” and to push the envelope a little more, her figure may have gotten a surgical revamp as well, with breast implants.

At some point around this time, and many biographers later determined it was precisely at this time, Candace “lost” a few years in number. She began her age as seven years less than her true age. Never mind that her new age would have put her at having her first child at the age of 13… remember, the truth was never to get in the way of a good story for Candace, and here in now in the new and improved 1960s, Candace sought to be younger and hipper… what you can’t do with money, you can do with lies. True?

Jacques Mossler had been very good to Candace, and he believed and revelled in his belief that they were equal partners in their world. Indeed, he made plenty possible for Candace and she was quite grateful, until she wasn’t. While Candace was throroughly passionate about Jacques’ money, her passion for him began to wane around this time.

It’s interesting, because her first marriage, to Norman Johnson, experienced the same devolution. Well, in different ways, but still some same all the same. With Norman, Candace grew tired of being poor and became exhausted of her husband being tired and boring. With Jacques, Candace hadn’t the problem of being poor… she was wealthy beyond her imagination… but what came to bother her increasingly was her lack of opportunities to flaunt her riches and quite frankly, to flant herself, in free and unabated ways.

Jacques was introverted, as mentioned once or twice here; he was a quiet and placid man… not one to relish any sort of party scene. The events he did agree to accompany Candace to (at her pleading) were always formal and structured and ultra coordinated… and also stuffy and ridiculously boring if you asked Candace. They were “safe” but Candace could only handle so much “safe”… she wanted some “wild.” She wanted fun and she wanted excitement. Sure, she was perfectly happy (and possessed desire and even a need) to attend the requisite “rich folk” events, to properly demonstrate and display her status and standing… but she also wanted to enjoy her vibrance and her youth, particularly since she recently lost seven years! And to properly enjoy her youth and vibrance, she needed to experience some regular serious partying. Jacques, however, was far too stuffy for some serious partying. As always, however, Candace would make do just fine. She would find a way. She did find a way.

As she saw things, if Jacques was uninterested in serious partying, then all the merrier. For solo and sans her aging and stuffy husband, she had no boundaries. The fun was without limits!

Candace especially had an affinity for “urban” parties and clubs and she particularly enjoyed Rythm and Blues music and the R & B scenes of the greater Houston area. She loved the likes of Chuck Berry (her favorite, and eventually, a close friend of hers), Fats Domino, B.B. King, Bo Diddly, Jerry Lee Lewis, Louie Armstrong, and Little Richard. Her nightclubs of choice were the Eldorado Ballroom, a classy African American dance club (dubbed “The Home of Happy Feet”) in Houston’s Third Ward across the street from the historic Emancipation Park; the Cinder Club; and her favorite, the Jimmy Menutis Lounge and Club on Houston’s East End. The Jimmy Menutis, an old theater converted to a dance club, was one of Houston’s premier rock and roll venues, and Candace spent untold evening hours there dancing and partying the nights away. The Menutis Club had a neat place in history in that it was one of the earliest integrated dance clubs where both Black and White patrons were equally welcome.

Candace and Chuck Berry met in the Menutis Club in 1961 and became quite close quite quickly. In fact, the evening that Candace met Chuck Berry, she invited him to come to her River Oaks mansion. He did and he ended up staying the night (in a guest bedroom it is said).

Many people suspected Candace and Chuck were more than friends and indeed, Berry himself later confirmed in his 1987 autobiography that they had not only been close friends, they had also been lovers. Candace watched Chuck perform not only in Houston, but also caught his performances in Dallas and in Galveston and even hired him to perform at a backyard party at her Houston home on Aug. 20, 1961 and later on at least two more lawn party occasions there. Berry later said their relationship was consumated after the first lawn party and continued into the 1970s.

Neighbors of the ritzy River Oaks Subdivision took notice and Candace was the subject of all sorts of gossip (and criticism) for her wild behavior and for her relations with Black men (which was rather taboo back in the ‘60s). None of the chat, gossip, discussions, looks, or judgments phased Candace at all… if anything, she seemed to have been proud of her antics and the chit chat that came from her lifestyle and risque behavior actually emboldened her. She came to the conclusion that those who were talking were just jealous that they weren’t having as much fun as her.

“Poor souls,” she thought. “Living their awful, boring lives… oh pity. What a shame for them all.”

All this fun and living it up sent Candace’s risk-taking nature into overdrive. As far as she was concerned, there was still so very much she was missing. Pleasures and fun to which she was entitled were around every corner. One day soon, her life took on another bold direction when something… rather some one … showed up in her corner of the world.