The eight-storey edifice that was Murray’s Roman Gardens in New York created by John L. Murray, could be described as the first themed restaurant and certainly it became one of the city’s most famous eateries.
Graham Cutts’ Woman to Woman (1923) has been regarded as the most ground breaking British film to be released in the 1920s and although the film is lost and cannot be viewed, from the available commentary, reviews and remaining stills it was obviously a lavish and sophisticated production. It was a commercial success both at home and in the USA and launched the careers of three men who would play major roles in the development of British Cinema – Michael Balcon, Victor Savile and Alfred Hitchcock.
French born Marcelle de Saint Martin was creative, talented and a striking beauty who found great success designing costumes for the stage in London at the end of the First World War and later became chief designer and head of one of the first British film wardrobe departments. And yet her career was sadly all too brief and short-lived.
Frascati restaurant at 32 Oxford Street, London was celebrated for its cosmopolitanism, luxury and excellent cuisine and was a sumptuous and elegant venue that was highly regarded for its international cuisine.
Eddie Dolly was ostensibly the brother of the legendary Dolly Sisters. A talented dancer like his sisters, he became a prolific choreographer for both his sisters and major London theatrical producers and found a particular niche staging cabaret shows in the 1920s.
Among European high society Ciro’s became an institution and perhaps the first classy restaurant chain in Europe with main branches in Monte Carlo, Paris, London and Biarritz. Each venue was regarded as far more than a restaurant but the very centre of fashionable life.
The Art of Betty Craig (Elizabeth Edmonstone Craig)
The multi-named Elizabeth Edmonstone Craig painted under the name of Betty Craig and performed in opera as Signora Maria Nelvi and seemingly made a name for herself during the Jazz Age in the 1920s and early 1930s.
The premier seafood restaurant in Paris was the wonderfully fashionable Prunier at 9 Rue Duphot near the Madeleine. It was proud of the fact that every conceivable dish possible that has shellfish as a basis could be served to its eager clientele.
One of the great ragtime stylists of the early 20th Century, Les Copeland was a popular American composer, pianist and performer, who reached success in the USA in the teens but achieved greater fame amongst the ex-patriot American community in Paris during the 1920s. Gershwin regarded him as one of his favourite pianists. Continue reading Les Copeland: a life of Ragtime→
The Trix Sisters (Helen and Josephine) were an American vaudevillian team who made it big in Europe after the First World War. Although they appeared in some successful shows, their unique inimitable style of playing the piano, dancing and singing found even greater favour in the burgeoning cabaret circuit in London and Paris and their recordings became hugely popular. Continue reading Tricks and the Trix Sisters→
