Tag Archives: Restaurant des Ambassadeurs

Tommy Ladd

Tommy Ladd had many loves and many different dancing partners. In addition to being a famous acrobatic dancer he was also a singer. Much of his early life is a mystery and establishing his later life and career is made doubly difficult because there was another American actor also named Tommy Ladd active at about the same time. After a glittering career in Europe, he finally settled down in California, where he came from, with his wife, the comedienne Helen Boice.

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Hotel Metropole, London

Hotel Metropole

The Hotel Metropole that opened in 1885 became one of London’s major hotels but after World War 1 it flowered with new vigour. The Restaurant des Ambassadeurs, the Café Anglais and the Whitehall rooms blossomed through the 1920s and the famous Midnight Follies cabaret created a brighter London.

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Favours and Carnival Novelties

Favours and Carnival Novelties

At special events throughout history there has always been the desire to augment festivities with novelties of all kinds, especially at special occasions like New Year and weddings. Toward the end of the 19th century as dances, balls, galas and the new concept of the smart restaurant proliferated on both sides of the Atlantic, special nights were introduced where a wide range of gifts or carnival novelties were given away as souvenirs to make the night special and stand out. Later, these ‘favours’ became indicative of the madcap nocturnal fun and frolics of the Jazz Age and the 1920s.

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