Nightlife in the 1940s

nightclubs ballrooms The nightclub experience involved dinner, drinks, dancing and entertainment. Whether it was music or comedy, these big city establishments were guaranteed to have the best performers around. Most large hotels had restaurants and ballrooms, often with their own orchestras and radio shows. Nothing was more glamorous than visiting the most elegant hotel in town, riding the elevator up to the rooftop ballroom and dancing the night away. New York City The Versailles Room Waldorf-Astoria: -------Starlight Roof The Copacabana The Stork Club Hotel Astor: -------The Astor Roof St. Regis Hotel: -------St. Regis Roof Hotel Pennsylvania Riobamba Club Onyx Club Plaza Hotel: -------The Persian Room The Carousel Kelly's Stables La Martinique El Morocco Monte Carlo Hollywood Cabaret Roseland Ballroom Miami Beach The Latin Quarter Atlantic City 500 Club Chicago Aragon Ballroom Trianon Ballroom Edgewater Beach Hotel: -------Beach Walk Chez Paree Club DeLisa Blackhawk Restaurant Melody Mill Oh Henry Ballroom Los Angeles The Ambassador Hotel: ------- The Cocoanut Grove Melody Room Hollywood Palladium Ciro's The Mocambo The Trocadero Santa Monica Pier & Ballroom Earl Carroll Theater Restaurant Casa Manana The Players	-----	Chicago's Aragon Ballroom "From high atop the Regency Hotel, you're listening to the sweet sounds of the Glenn Miller Orchestra...." Late at night, our radios brought us beautiful music from distant cities and far-off wonderlands like the Aragon Ballroom and the Edgewater Beach Hotel. It was almost like being there! New York City's Stork Club "The New Yorkiest spot in New York!" --Walter Winchell There were plenty of jobs available for young ladies: hat-check girls, cigarette girls, camera girls, waitresses, hostesses and chorus girls were just a few of them. Trianon Ballroom Street Swing Nightclub Directory Tips On Tables: Nightclubs & Restaurants Ballrooms Of The Past The Wonderful Nightclubs At the Del Rio Arkota Ballroom At the Copacabana Many nightclubs had camera girls who took pictures of guests for a fee. Within an hour, the photo would arrive at your table in a souvenir folder, or you could arrange to have it mailed. On the back of the folder was an address where you could order reprints. Most camera girls were employed by companies hired by the clubs to handle the photography.
Dance hall on the outskirts of Burlington, Wisconsin Beyond the city lights, the local hot spot was often a dance hall on the edge of town. In areas with heavy tourism, dance halls were located at amusement parks and boardwalks.		dance halls Finding live music and people who loved to dance to it was easy. Countless small bands toured the country, appearing at local armories, gymnasiums and auditoriums.
taverns On less formal occasions, friends gathered at the local tavern. In the late 1940s, this was where many people got their first glimpse of the latest fad....television Tavern Photos Of The 40s cocktail lounges Fancy hotels had cocktail lounges, which often sported modern or art deco styling.		Las Vegas Before the late 1940s, the hot spot for gamblers and gangsters was Havana, Cuba. When they decided to move the action stateside, they chose Las Vegas, and the dusty frontier town was soon transformed into an entertainment mecca. When Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, several small casinos opened on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. This area soon became known as Glitter Gulch. Hoover Dam, which was only 30 miles away, was under construction between 1931 and 1936. The casinos flourished when workers came to town during their time off. In the 1940s, developers focused on an open stretch of highway outside the city limits. The El Rancho Hotel opened there in 1941, followed by five more resorts between 1942 and 1950. This area became the Strip. Celebrities were also discovering the pleasures of Vegas, which was only 250 miles away from Los Angeles. Bugsy Siegel's Flamingo Hotel, which opened on the Strip in 1946, was the town's first big-time luxury hotel with a casino and floor show. Bugsy Siegel Las Vegas Postcard Museum Las Vegas Strip History Vintage Vegas The Blue Mirror, Newark, New Jersey "New Jersey's most beautiful rendezvous"

continue to:
Nightlife, page 2

other pages in this section:
Shopping & Dining---------- Travel


Town & Country