He started to sound like he was either 50 or 1,000. Few people could tell me how old he really was. “He started to appear as this almost mythological figure,” said Apple, who is nonbinary and uses the pronoun “they.” “He was sort of everywhere all the time. The straight couples would stand along the mezzanine just to watch you.” He built a crowd of regulars while working in various bars and clubs in the city, establishing a dedicated crowd that would follow him wherever he went. Lucky got his start as a skilled bartender who was close with regional crime families. The photos and other items offer a view into what Apple called a “private world” of the past, bringing new attention to people like Lucky, whose influence is still felt in Pittsburgh’s queer bar culture. ![]() Since starting 10 years ago, the PQHP has now amassed more than 1,000 items creating a mosaic of the city’s bars, after hours and social clubs - the lifeblood of queer culture in a city defined at that time by the declining steel industry and the working-class ethos that surrounded it. Harrison Apple, co-director of the Pittsburgh Queer History Project, described Lucky as a “charismatic socialite” who was “interested in keeping the night going at any cost.” Robert “Lucky” Johns, left, poses for a photo at a picnic in North Side Park.
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