Taffy Garrette

As a resident of Deadwood, a small western frontier town, you were very happy when the Deadwood Saloon was established a little over a year ago. At the time of the saloon opening, you were a homely girl living with your parents on the outskirts of town. However, once you started working for the saloon, you earned enough money to move out of your parent’s house and to treat yourself to fancier clothes and beautiful jewelry. Currently, you live above the saloon in the heart of town. As one of the most popular saloon girls here in Deadwood, you relish your job. At your job, you are paid well and you are constantly adorned with affection. Among the other benefits of your job, you are close to what you deem as your ‘saloon family’ and, in particular, Sally Starr. Sally and you share a tight bond as saloon girls and you admire her. Currently, Sally is in love with Clay Coldwell (a local resident and gambler) and you are certain he is in love with Sally as well. Unfortunately, due to the saloon’s recent financial troubles, Henrietta High-Stakes (your employer) has mandated that all of the saloon girls spend the week focusing on the higher-paying customers who are traveling to Deadwood. Because of this, you worry that Sally has alienated Clay and made him feel unwanted. While you know that Sally is simply overlooking Clay to honor your employers wishes, you fear that Sally is choosing her job over love. With the poker tournament in town, you have noticed that there are a number of peculiar things happening in and around the saloon. Harry High-Stakes (the saloon owner) has been acting quite nervous and you assume it is because of the $100,000 purse of the poker tournament he is awarding for the poker tournament. At a time when the saloon is rumored to be in great financial trouble, you cannot fathom how Harry can award both the grand purse prize and pay the bank what he owes. In addition, you have noticed that Banker Bonnie (Banker Bob’s wife) is spending a great deal of time around the saloon and you wonder what Bonnie may be up to. A devoted wife, you believe Bonnie may be staking out another scheme to help her husband gain control over the saloon. Among the visitors in town who are frequenting the saloon, you have also noticed Minnie Money (a debutante from the East). As a saloon girl, you dislike the amount of time Minnie is spending with your customers and, in particular, the winner of the tournament, Mitch Maverick. Although you do not have anything against Minnie personally, you just want Minnie to keep her distance from your paying customers in the saloon so that you can earn some money for dances.

With the Deadwood Poker Tournament Party quickly approaching, you are looking forward to earning a great deal of money by collecting dances from the patrons of the saloon. As a devoted saloon girl, you wish to earn funds both for your salary and to help the saloon thrive. If the saloon were to go under, or change management, you know your lifestyle would change. That is something you do NOT wish to happen! At the party, you hope to be the center of attention (and of gossip) throughout the night.

Acting and Dressing Your Part:

As one of the saloon girls, you work for money by dancing with the men and getting them to buy more drinks from the saloon. At the party, you will dress nicely to attract more customers - perhaps a fancy dress with a low-cut bodice and ruffled skirt. You may also consider stockings, garters, a feather boa or feathers in your hair, all of which make perfect accessories!