/internal/media/dispatcher/50488/fullPhoto card advertising exotic dancer Jada at Jack Ruby's Carousel Club19633 1/2 × 2 1/4 in. (8.9 × 5.7 cm)PaperLoaned Courtesy the Dallas County District Attorney's Office/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey PlazaL2017.1.13.20One small card advertising Jada at Jack Ruby's Carousel Club.
Front of the card is vertically oriented and has full color photograph set against a black ground of Jada straddling a taxidermy tiger skin with her left hand on the top of the tiger's head to hold herself up. Her right hand is resting on her right hip with her elbow sticking out. She is leaning forward slightly with her head tilted back. She has a large toothy smile on her face and her eyebrows are raised. She has bright red hair and is wearing silver tassels over her nipples and a thin, narrow, silver garment on the bottom similar to underwear. In white all caps text centered at the bottom of the image is the following:
"Jada 'World's Hottest Exotic'
Madame Francine's, 440 Bourbon St."
Reverse of the card is horizontally oriented and has text in alternating lines of red and black. The text printed in black seems to be the original text printed on the card likely by Madame Francine's. The red text was possibly printed at a different time by Jack Ruby since it pertains specifically to the Carousel Club.
The red text is centered as follows and is mostly in all caps:
"'JADA’ World’s Hottest Exotic at the / Carousel Club, Dallas, Texas [red text]
Dallas' only continuous floor shows
Non-stop 'til 1:30 A.M., Fri & Sat., 2 A.M.
Wally Weston - Comedian - M.C.
Plus four other exotics
Friday: Ladies admitted free
Carousel Club - Your Host - Jack Ruby
Corner Field & Commerce
Adjacent Adolphus Hotel RI 7-2362"
The black text is as follows:
"Born in New York City and starting as a chorus girl in N.Y.'s [black text]
Copacabana, Jada has since played in two R.K.O. movies
and such outstanding supper and night clubs as the Dunes
and El Rancho in Vegas -- Moulin Rouge in Hollywood, 500
Club in Atlantic City and many more. Recently chosen as
winner of the 1960 Anatomy Award by a leading Health
Studio -- Jada is truly the 'World’s Hottest Exotic.'
Hal Kern - photography"
No date specified on this object because there is no date printed on the card and it is unknown when these cards were created or printed. However, they cannot date later than November 24, 1963 because that is the date Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald, and as a result this object along with many others were taken as evidence from Mr. Ruby's car by the Dallas Police Department.
Card originally was part of the contents of a brown cardboard Polaroid box that included several identical cards advertising Jada at the Carousel Club, Permanent Pass cards for specific individuals to the Carousel club, and other papers. The box was confiscated as evidence from Jack Ruby's vehicle by the Dallas Police Department (L2017.1.13.1).
This object was originally part of the evidence collected by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and specifically prosecutors Henry Wade and Bill Alexander during the investigation leading up to the Jack Ruby trial for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Card is in good condition. Small mark from a blue ink pen in lower right corner on reverse. (JM 08/24/2017)Documents653805.71501143008.890017780050541Card0E-10Advertisement for exotic dancer Jada at Jack Ruby's Carousel Club. Jada worked for Ruby for three months in 1963.
The front of the card is a color photograph of the dancer on a dramatic black background, captioned: "Jada 'World's Hottest Exotic'
Madame Francine's, 440 Bourbon St."
Reverse of the card is horizontally oriented and has text in alternating lines of red and black. The text printed in black seems to be the original text printed on the card likely by Madame Francine's. The red text was possibly printed at a different time by Jack Ruby since it pertains specifically to the Carousel Club.
The red text reads:
"'JADA World’s Hottest Exotic at the / Carousel Club, Dallas, Texas
Dallas' only continuous floor shows
Non-stop 'til 1:30 A.M., Fri & Sat., 2 A.M.
Wally Weston - Comedian - M.C.
Plus four other exotics
Friday: Ladies admitted free
Carousel Club - Your Host - Jack Ruby
Corner Field & Commerce
Adjacent Adolphus Hotel RI 7-2362"
The black text is as follows:
"Born in New York City and starting as a chorus girl in N.Y.'s
Copacabana, Jada has since played in two R.K.O. movies
and such outstanding supper and night clubs as the Dunes
and El Rancho in Vegas -- Moulin Rouge in Hollywood, 500
Club in Atlantic City and many more. Recently chosen as
winner of the 1960 Anatomy Award by a leading Health
Studio -- Jada is truly the 'World’s Hottest Exotic.'
Hal Kern - photography"
A stack of these cards was found with many other items in Jack Ruby's car at the time of his arrest on November 24, 1963, for the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald.
This object was originally part of the evidence collected by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and specifically prosecutors Henry Wade and Bill Alexander during the investigation leading up to the Jack Ruby trial for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald.DA's Ruby fileJack Ruby trialEvidenceRuby, JackJadaWeston, WallyDallas County District Attorney's OfficeCarousel ClubAdolphus HotelDallas Police DepartmentDallasJada (Janet Mole Conforto) was hired by Jack Ruby in June 1963 after he saw her perform in New Orleans. She first performed at the Carousel Club in Dallas on July 17, 1963. She and Ruby frequently clashed, arguing about her salary, absenteeism from the club, and performances that pushed the boundaries of Dallas' decency laws. Ruby ultimately fired her - though some accounts indicate that Jada quit - about three weeks before the assassination.
Jada sometimes appears on lists of "mysterious deaths" in the assassination story, largely because researchers were unable to locate her for many years due to her multiple marriages and low profile. She was killed on May 9, 1980, when her motorcycle collided with a school bus in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The mother of two was forty-four years old. - Stephen Fagin, Curator In order to ensure its long-term care and preservation and to facilitate public access, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office placed their Jack Ruby Trial Collection (sometimes referred to as "the DA's Jack Ruby file") on long-term loan with The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in 2017. The Museum is working to make the entire collection accessible through this online collections database. To find out more about this collection or to access materials not yet included here, contact the Museum's Reading Room at readingroom@jfk.org. - Megan Bryant, Director of Collections & InterpretationThis item, along with materials from the DA's Ruby file (which is on loan to the Museum) and from the Museum's permanent collection, briefly appeared in a temporary display on the Museum's seventh floor in 2017. - Lindsey Richardson, Curator of Collections