PENNY BANK, CALYPSO, STEELPAN, AND THE CULTURAL SIGNIFIGANCE OF DUKE STREET & SURROUNDING AREA IN PORT OF SPAIN
By Valerie Taylor & Judith Marchan
April 2021
DA.DA&Projects — Duke Street
The parallels in the histories and development of the Penny Bank and calypso are purely serendipitous. The year 1914 saw the Trinidad Cooperative Bank, also known as ‘The Poor Man’s Friend’ and ‘The Penny Bank’, lay the foundation for the financial culture of the mass of working poor in Port of Spain. In that same year (1914), the chantuelle Julien Whiterose, the Duke of Iron, made the first recording of a calypso. It was the very first vocal recording to be made in Trinidad and Tobago. The calypso was the cultural expression of the masses laying the foundation of an industry that would come to be representative of the cultural wealth and genius of the nation.
The property at the corner of Charlotte Street and Duke Streets is an historic building situated in the heart of historic Port of Spain. Charlotte and Duke Streets represent the early settlement of the town of Port of Spain in the eighteenth century and were originally known as Rue Sainte Anne and Calle de Astuvias respectively.
After the fire of 1808, the buildings that were erected, especially those on Charlotte and adjacent streets, were constructed of Laventille blue limestone and had French architectural influences. Common design features included parapet walls, arched doorways, balconies, quoined corners, dormer windows, cast iron works, jalousie windows, and angular corner buildings, all typical of old historic Port of Spain.
The Penny Bank belongs to this genre and is architecturally significant, constructed of Laventille blue limestone and featuring ornate cast iron works, some elements of which remain today.
The Penny Bank is located in what was the cultural heart of Port of Spain; the district described in the nineteenth century alternatively as the French Shores, French Streets, and French District. It is an area bounded by Henry Street on the west and extending to the St. Ann’s or Dry River on the east.
In the post-slavery period, this was the centre of traditional Carnival activities associated with African-descended immigrants from the French islands, which developed rapidly in the 1870s era of the Jamette Carnival and emerged in the twentieth century as the complex of Carnival, Calypso and Steelband.
The stories are legion of the stick fighters and Bands such as the Bakers and Maribones; Social Unions and Syndicates, chantuelles, matadors and jacket men; Tamboo Bamboo bands, Cook and Tea shops, Barrack and Masquerade Yards such as Congo Yard and Hell Yard on Charlotte St.
The legendary Canboulay Riots of 1881 are recorded as beginning in the Upper George Street area of the French Shores and has gone down in history as a hard-fought battle for cultural autonomy and victory for the survival of the Carnival. The working poor who populated and energised this part of Port of Spain have left us a uniquely rich and fascinating historical and cultural legacy.
Friendly Societies and Lodges provided a complimentary financial and social support service to that of the Penny Bank, in meeting the needs of the Port of Spain poor and working class in the early to mid-twentieth century.
It is important to note that alongside the Penny Bank, four buildings currently exist on Duke Street bearing the old and fading signs of Friendly Societies and Lodges; St. Cecilia Friendly Society, The Mechanic Temple, The Court Rose of Sharon, Ancient Order of Foresters circa 1894, and The Good Samaritan Friendly Society established in 1952.
The Good Samaritan Hall, in its time has been the location of important social and political developments.
On Sunday the 15th of January 1956, the People’s National Movement was founded, holding its Foundation Members Conference (Inaugural Conference) at the Good Samaritan Friendly Society Hall at no: 106, Duke Street, Port-of-Spain.
History reveals that from the 1920’s Calypso Tents began to appear in this part of Port of Spain and recording studios were established in the area in the 1950’s.
The first commercially designed calypso tent, The Railroad Millionaires, was opened in 1921 in Port of Spain by Chieftain Douglas, also known as the Railway Douglas Tent after its founder. The tent was located at 26 Duncan Street in Port of Spain.
Over the following fifty or so years Port of Spain became the Home of Calypso in Trinidad and Tobago. Tents included the Crystal Palace on Nelson Street, Victory Tent, House of Lords on Edward Street, Good Samaritan Hall on Duke Street, Original Young Brigade, The Strand Review and Redhead Sailor Tent at Corbeau Town. Charlotte and Duke Streets and the surrounding area is rich in cultural and calypso history.
In 2019, Port of Spain was recognised as a City of Music by UNESCO. East Port of Spain is considered to be the birthplace of the steelband and is currently home to Trinidad All Stars Steel Orchestra at 48 Duke Street, Renegades Steel Orchestra on Charlotte Street, and the historic home of Desperadoes on the nearby Laventille Road. Historically hundreds of steelbands have been located in and around Port of Spain. East Port of Spain is also extremely important in the development of Carnival and remains intricately connected to the celebration. Port of Spain is undoubtedly our cultural capital.
