All posts by Jazz Age Club

Personalities

The Incomparable Joe Zelli

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The Incomparable Joe Zelli

Joe Zelli, sometimes called the King of Cabaret Keepers, was undoubtedly one of the best-known and most popular characters in Montmartre during the 1920s and his nightclub the Royal Box was a firm favourite not just with visiting Americans but all nationalities out for a good time.

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Venues

The Kit Cat Club

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The Kit Cat Club

The fashionable Kit Cat Club in the Haymarket, which to many people today still epitomises the gay carefree days of the 1920s, was opened in the summer of 1925 and immediately became one of the most famous nocturnal haunts in London. Decked out with the last word in restaurant and dance floor equipment it was regarded as the most sumptuous resort in Europe and was the only club in London that had been built expressly for the purpose of a club.

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Personalities

Nina Payne

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Nina Payne

Nina Payne was an eccentric, futurist American dancer who, after long years in vaudeville travelling across the USA, made a trip to Europe and became an instant hit in Paris where she remained throughout the 1920s.

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Dolly Tree, Film

Two Lancashire Lasses in London (1917)

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Two Lancashire Lasses in London (1917)

Two Lancashire Lasses in London was a typical British feature film made during the First World War. The film is lost, at the time of its release it was overshadowed by big American releases and yet a press book has survived that gives us a glimpse of what it was all about.

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Venues

The Frolics in Paris

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The Frolics in Paris

An interesting venue that glittered brilliantly for a few years in the early 1920s and then promptly disappeared was regarded at the time as the rendezvous of smart international society in Paris.

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Dancing Duos

Fowler and Tamara

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Fowler and Tamara

Addison Fowler and Florenz Tamara were undoubtedly one of America’s leading exponents of ballroom dancing in the mid 1920s through the early 1930s. Although they had an extensive repertoire it was Spanish themed dances that made their name and the fact that they looked good and had a great knack of wearing deliciously evocative costumes.

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Personalities

Miss Florence

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Miss Florence

The stunningly beautiful and dark haired ‘Miss Florence’ startled Parisian audiences as a member of the Gertrude Hoffman troupe in 1924 when she came on stage on an elephant as the Queen of Sheba. She became a popular celebrity in her own right, before teaming with Julio Avarez in a dancing partnership that proved highly successful mainly in New York and Miami cabarets in the 1930s.

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Venues

Hotel Cecil, London

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Hotel Cecil, London

The Hotel Cecil was one of the largest and grandest hotels in the world when it opened in 1886 situated between the Embankment and the Strand and not far from the Savoy Hotel. It was one of the most popular places to visit in London with excellent cuisine, perfect ambiance, luxurious surroundings and one of the best dancing salons in the West end.

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Film

Betty Blythe and She (1926)

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Clothes, Legs and ‘I’m no Beauty’ – Betty Blythe gets her finger burned

The 1926 adaptation of the Rider Haggard novel She by G.B Samuelson starring the American actress Betty Blythe proved to be a fiasco, ended up in court and, as a result of the ensuing press coverage, provides us with a fascinating insight into the film business of the time.

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Cabaret

Welcome to the Cabaret

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Welcome to the Cabaret

Cabaret was one of the defining features of the Jazz Age and these supper entertainments were staged in a venue other than a theatre all over the world. Besides providing food, drink, jazz music and an entertainment, customers could also dance. Indeed dancing was the key to the 20th century cabaret craze. Continue reading Welcome to the Cabaret →