1668-21 Economic, Development, & Real Estate 1943-1993 N.
60 _. ..
V '
Iv '�`1!a- , ems:
is
A .4 Kai %
s-
ULnmma ! �r
9
,,
r�
.10- r,,. .,
k
..rte �
•
, eac .,
Ulh3 ea
Y.
Ir , .. ,
41
"" BY TOM AUSTIN
of
Eisenhower was president, shark- mg the Jackie Gleason period.The golden kr
time,the years between the late Forties
mid-Si ,was the final great
finned Cadillacs ruled the highways, .g pdthe of glitz beforesthe bleak Se enties
and early Eighties,when Art Deco was .-
and Miami Beach was the nightlife thereewtasneverran en:*egconcept. But
'
yth g q to like the 'IN
Beach in its heyday.Cuba was beautiful
-
capital of the Western Hemisphere and offered perhaps more opportunities
for dissipation, but it lacked the unique
spin of Miami, a tropical but still familiar
After a long dry spell, Miami Beach is once again the nightlife capital of American landscape.Vegas at its zenith was
America, a wide-open town with nonstop action,the la
playground of the too overloaded, too claustrophobic, too
Western world.The Euro-chics,the celebrated,and the simply rich,the centered on gambling. Palm Beach was closed
emblems that guide the rest of the glitter-hungry world are pouring in: off to ordinary mortals.Miami Beach was,as it is now,in the
Gianni Versace, Bruce Weber,Paloma Picasso, Chris Blackwell, Prince right place at the right time.
Albert of Monaco,David Geffen.Like everyone else,they are driven by pub- In those grand old days,it was a town of unlimited potential,with a weird
Deity and an itch for getting on the inside track to wonderland.A place where constellation of players that jelled into one big moment of American popcul-
anything might happen,where everyone is young and beautiful,where life tore history. From the start,the moneyed crowd liked it here:old-guard
assumes a promise that it doesn't seem to have anywhere else.A town names,on the order of William Kissam Vanderbilt and Coleman DuPont;
slightly out of control,where the normal rules that govern society always lots of imported royalty with pretension value—Lord Cromwell,the
seem to be in a miraculous abeyance. Marquis of Waterford,various European counts and princesses.The dead-
South Beach is the nightlife epicenter of the moment,but there was a time ahead WASPS,solid citizens like Gardner Cowles of Look magazine ters and
when most of Miami Beach was one big cauldron of flash and high-rollers.It Elliott Roosevelt,cavorting at the Surf Club (known for hiring club figh
began as early as the Twenties,during Al Capone's Star Island days,peaked to entertain during dinner),the Bath Club,both on upper Collins.A society
during the era of gambling and big-name entertainers,and began to ebb dur- heavy with auto industry figures encouraged by pioneer developer Carl
New Times Page 26
February 3-9, 1993
Fisher(who had made his fortune with Prest-O-Lite acetylene gas,used for headlights)to Cinema Casino became Paragon.South Beach,the low-rent section in those days,is now
come down and join the party: Gar Wood,Albert Champion,James Allison, Harvey the center of the known party universe.
Firestone.And the money,as always,attracted the fringe crowd:sports figures,gossip Miami Beach was undoubtedly more glamorous then,but more than likely it was also a
columnists,real estate hustlers,con artists,hookers,shop girls looking for husbands. stupefyingly vulgar,thoroughly corrupt resort town. (More or less as it is today.) But it
And mobsters,everybody from Meyer Lansky to Joe Adonis,men was also an interesting vulgar resort town.The old publicity photos,
who had come down with Al Capone during Prohibition and moved the reminiscences of prominent local nightlife veterans—clothing
into gambling and legitimate business.By the time of Senator Estes designer and social pro Jay Anderson, publicist Charlie Cinnamon,
Kefauver's investigation of Miami's organized crime network in 1950, ir, photographer Ray Fisher,Rose McDaniel of Joe's Stone Crab,Joseph.
the city was known as"the winter crime capital of America."The infa- Nevel of Wolfie's,impresaria Judy Drucker—make it all come back
mous S&G Syndicate had bookies in every hotel,controlled the illicit again,strong and clear.And amid the mysterious workings of nostal-
gambling houses (places like the Colonial Inn in Hallandale and the I gia,the past seems more compelling and,curiously,more alive than
Island Club in Sunny Isles),and ran whorehouses on Second Avenue .f .. the present.
in downtown Miami.When public pressure became too intense,they .�• "'
moved on to Las Vegas and Havana.And gradually some of the
punch went out of the city. �;... - i. "I used to shoot social stuff for some of the local publications that
But there was still plenty of juice around,and anybody who was were around in the late Forties, the social giveaway magazines,
anybody came through the Beach.A universe of legends out on the t , ` Panorama and such,where you'd go and take pictures of some
town,creating an alchemy of pure star power,making the clubs and restaurant or nightclub owner shaking hands with celebrities.I shot
restaurants jump,the place to be that particular night.Elvis cavorting z, just about everywhere,except for the Brook Club [in Surfside] —
with the Rat Pack—Dean Martin,Frank Sinatra,Sammy Davis,Jr., that was operating illegally,with gambling and everything,and they
Peter Lawford,Joey Bishop—at the Fontainebleau.Maurice Chevalier dining with his wouldn't let photographers in.
wife at Le Parisien on 41st Street.Jimmy Durante laughing with singer Jerri Pollak,now a Money was different then;it meant more and there weren't the taxes we have now.
Miami stockbroker, at the Eden Roc. Martha Raye holding down the fort at the Five There were much less people, and hotels and apartments were cheaper.You didn't
O'Clock Club,the legendary one-for-the-road joint on 22nd Street. One block away on feel like you could get in any real trouble;this was well before Kennedy was assassi-
23rd,the three graces of raunch—Belle Barth,Patsy Abbott,and Pearl Williams of Place nated. Most of the hotels had a bookie operating out of one of the pool cabanas, but
Pigalle—at Patsy's Place.Marlene Dietrich and Nat King Cole dining together at the the streets felt safe. Everything was looser then.None of this PR and entourage stuff
Eden Roc.Tennessee Williams and Gloria Swanson at the Embers on 22nd with celebrities, trying to get approval to photograph them.You'd just go
Street.Joe E. Lewis and Frank Sinatra nearby at Murray up and take their picture.
Franklin's.An all-star lineup—Dean Martin, Milton "High season pretty much followed the racing sea-
Berle,Tony Martin,Marie McDonald,Walter son at Hialeah,January 15 through March 15.
Winchell,Earl Wilson,Roberta Sherwood— But there was always plenty going on.The
on parade at the Latin Quarter.Jack E. Beachcomber and the Copa—which
Leonard and Uncle Miltie hosting a - later became the Copa City—on
party for the Footlighters (an asso- Dade Boulevard [near Alton],had
ciation of male comics), Berle ' .:' �; z' every major star Danny Kaye,
mugging and grabbing hislhii - the Will Mastin Trio starring
crotch for the cameras. An1� = Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean
endless procession of the 1 ' , Martin and Jerry Lewis,
famous—Bob Hope,Jayne Maurice Chevalier,the Xavier
Mansfield, Sophie Tucker, : ,, Cugat orchestra, Milton
Jack Benny—dropping in on .; .. Berle.During intermissions at
clubs with intensely atmos- ' the Copa, they had mambo
pheric names: the Black Magic orchestras, the musicians all in
Room,the Neptune Lounge,the frilly sleeves. You'd catch the last
Copa. show at the Copa and then go
Plenty of celebrity firepower,and lots to this place called Mother Kelly's [at
of laughs and sex,the essential components ak Alton Road and Dade Boulevard] —they
of nightlife.Rumors of"buffet flats,"South Beach f had thumb bits,little pieces of steak for snacks
hotels with different sex shows on each floor.As with • —and acts like Julie Wilson and Gene Baylos.Mother
the modern epoch,the Beach had a considerable number of Kelly's attracted a real late-night crowd.
gay bars,the clientele favoring suits and ties rather than Spandex shorts:the "South on Alton Road you had Kitty Davis's Airliner Lounge,this place
Charles in the Charles Hotel on.Collins Avenue,where female impersonator Charles that had an aviation motif,propellers spinning inside the club,that kind of thing.There
Pierce started out;the Echo Club on Collins at Tenth;Billy Lee's on Alton Road at Dade was Papa Bouche's in Hallandale,half-nude showgirls,a bunch of entertainers who hadn't
Boulevard,with a notorious back room that was periodically raided.Then as now,people become stars yet.The Paddock Bar on Washington Avenue [now WPA],Lenny Bruce
tended to get carried away on the Beach.John Jacob Astor VI,an incorrigibly decadent played there, and this 300-pound guy called B.S. Pulley, who went on to appear on
playboy,was known to hire a half-dozen women at a time for his lavish private parties. Broadway in Guys and Dolls.
Even at the elegant Surf Club—rim by Alfred Barton,a former Hollywood art director "Arthur Godfrey did a broadcast from the Kenilworth every day, where he'd
who counted Noel Coward among his friends—an incident of sorts schmooze and play the ukulele. Walter Winchell stayed at the
was provoked when the actor Clifton Webb became infatuated with Roney during the season and broadcast on Sundays from the old
one of the pool boys. Herald building;you'd see him in restaurants with people like J.
The Fifties may have been the last great American era—a country 4•11„ Edgar Hoover.Winchell also knew most of the gamblers.They
powerful,generous,and sure of itself—and Miami Beach was(and N�. all fed on each other People would come up to Winchell like he
still is in many respects) a place that belongs to the Fifties.When ' – ...,,;i was the Pope or something.I saw him at one of the conventions,
Jackie Gleason rolled into town in 1963 to tape The Jackie Gleason • . ,' n '68 or'72, and it was really sad; nobody knew who he was. He
Show,traveling with assorted showgirls and bartenders on twelve barely got press credentials.A lost soul.
Pullman railroad cars,it looked as if the party would never end.But – ' fel ; "Down on First Street, near the old dog-racing track, there
Gleason only made the obligatory public appearances,Miss Universe ' 0_,-, t was the Playhouse Bar on Ocean Drive. On Collins and Fifth, a
pageants and such,and kept to himself in the evenings.Not a great F :,,.11,
! place called the Circus Bar,where you'd see second-rate comics
club man. In fact,the show was rube stuff,played to the chumps. i ' -- ; and singers.The Cinema Casino,on Twelfth and Washington,it
Package tour groups began infesting the Beach,the hotels started to « was originally a casino and then became a movie theater.The
put in their own nightclubs, and nightlife became more insular. Latin Quarter on Palm Island was very lush, owned by Lou
Tourists could come down for a week and never leave the hotels.By • ° Walters,Barbara Walters's father.Judy Drucker appeared there
1965,the 50th anniversary of Miami Beach,things were starting to once when she was very young, singing the quartet from
slide. Rigoletto,in this act she did with the Ziegfeld comedian Willy Howard, his brother
The clubs died off gradually,and now the past is being chewed up and reinterpreted, Eugene,and a blond showgirl.Judy was the only real singer in the group; the rest
made into something that George Raft would never have understood.The Embers of them did a parody of the song.The showgirl was wearing a low-cut satin dress,
became Club Nu.The Charles has become Sinatra Bar.The venerable Miami Beach and when the audience applauded, everyone bowed, and Willy Howard would
Kennel Club,the dog-racing track,was torn down and replaced with Penrod's.The old Continued on page 28
Miami Beach in the golden era,a parade of high rollers,celebrities,and juice.Opposite page:Paul Grey,Joe E.Lewis,Frank Sinatra,and Mr.and Mrs Jackie Heller at Murray Franklin's(top);Tennessee
Williams and Gloria Swanson dining(bottom)at The Embers.This page:The Great One,Jackie Gleason,mugging at a Miss Universe pageant(top);Dean Martin,Milton Berle,Tony Martin,Marie McDonald,
Walter Winchell,Earl Wilson,and Roberta Sherwood at The Latin Quarter(middle);the impossibly glamorous Marlene Dietrich and Nat King Cole(bottom),captured at the Eden Roc
February 3-9, 1993 New Times Page 27
_ _ a
• now I hire somebody who sleeps for me.
". z „. "A lot of those clubs died when the hotels,
m places like the Fontainebleau and the
,, . Deauville, put in their own nightclubs.
Tourists stopped� „ � �•� going out as much.There
4 really aren't any parallels between that time
• rte: 4 ��- ,
• and South Beach now.Were getting back
to it,the Beach is alive and moving again,
:rfi but it was much more glamorous then.Now
it's a younger crowd.A Latin Quarter today
would be packed, though.The time for it
has come back."
' ``" —Judy Drucker,head of the Concert
KK
t
Association of Florida
F �4
"The late Forties to mid-Fifties—those
were the days.No cocaine or crack,and you
- really didn't have to lock your doors.It was
'„ ', a golden age after the Second World War.
There was alws
aces like
'" ifr ' the Royal PalmCl b [lon Palm,atlIsland],
which went on well after the Kefauver coin-
,
mittee hearings.There weren't too many
charity balls,or an opera house, but plenty
of wonderful theme galas at the Bath and
1 Surf clubs:beautifully dressed elegant peo-
` 3 : ple,not tacky in any way.In season you had
-,7:' f- ' • • • : the royals and their crowd. Lucy Cotton,a
• ` ` = former silent-screen star who married the
• •' ; Russian Prince Eristavi Tcherine—every-
.: I body called her Princess Lucy. Prince
Photographer Ray Fisher,working in the crush of social history Rospigliosi, an Italian nobleman, and his
wife Elizabeth.The General Motors bunch,
the Detroit ladies,wore big hunky jewelry.
Beach Anything could happen. I remember one number based on the second act of La No one was afraid of being robbed,
Continued from page 27 day on the Beach in high school,walking Boheme,the Café Momus scene.They had although I do remember driving up to
encourage the audience to applaud more, down the street with three or four friends. a tenor,I sang the role of Musetta,and they Hollywood one night in an open convertible
so he could mug and look down her dress. This guy and his wife pulled up in a big added showgirls. I'd sing a couple of arias and some thugs actually did try to pull us
"Martha Raye took over a place called the Buick convertible and offered us a lift.Who and there'd be a couple ofmostly nude girls over. I was traveling with a society lady
Five O'Clock Club on 22nd Street They had would give a ride to a bunch of teenagers walking around.After awhile they were just wearing a huge diamond necklace,and her
a gimmick of buying a free round,either at now?But it was Miami,and that's just the part of the scenery. Life backstage was an boyfriend,who was an accountant with the
5:00 a.m. or 5:00 p.m. Near the current way it was." eye-opener,too.We had these two show- Chicago mob.But we got away.No real traf-
Herald building there was a club called —Photographer Ray Fisher,now living in girls, the Wyland twins, Winnie and fic then,either,and it was nothing to go to
South Miami Twinnie, who'd stand on the side of the all the slumming bars in downtown Miami
T WAS JUST A WHOLE stage with nothing on but a white fur muff, —you'd take off just like that.It was a sweet
both carrying chihuahuas.Thirty years town.
DIFFERENT KIND OF "It was a very different later I was in a box at the Metropolitan "The Latin Quarter had revues with can-
time;Miami Beach was Opera House in New York,and I saw this can girls shrieking and lifting their skirts. I
TOWN. ANYTHING very elegant,very chic. blond woman on top of a ladder taking pic- still remember one acrobatic act, Darvus
At the Brook Club tures. It was Winnie,working as the chief and Julia:This woman would climb up a lad-
COULD HAPPEN ./9 everybody would be in photographer at the Met. der,jump, and do a split on top of a glass
black tie having a gor- "Usually there'd be two production num- floor.Then there were all the gambling
geous dinner and bers and then the star would come on.W clubs up in Golden Beach and Hollywood
Danny and Doc's Jewel Box, which had watching a show,while gambling went on did two shows a night, and I'd study for —Tony Martin would play up there some-
female impersonators.Jennie Grossinger in the back room.I think it was run by the school between numbers, and go home times.The Roney was chic then,and Alfred
from the Catskills had a hotel on the beach S&G Syndicate.The Latin Quarter had glit- around 3:00 a.m.Then get up the next Barton threw elaborate, sky's-the-limit par-
at 30th and Collins,and there was the Lord tering,ostentatious stage productions,the morning at 8:00 for classes. It was a good ties at the Surf Club, with elephants and
Tarleton down the block, where they also kind of thing you might see at Radio City experience in not sleeping.I tell everybody Continued on page 30
had a lounge with entertainers. Place Music Hall.And all the larger clubs had big
Pigalle[on 20th Street],strippers and come- orchestras with wonderful musicians. -
dians.Jack Dempsey was a partner in a "I started singing in clubs when I was fif
hotel on Twentieth Street called the teen,around 1948.I lied and told everybody
Dempsey-Vanderbilt.There was a night- I was eighteen,and hid it from my parents
club in the hotel called Pago Pago,where until I got caught. I used to sing Broadway t �`►ti ... ' f
you'd sometimes see Ed Sullivan and his show tunes, Spanish songs,and occasion- `
wife.Not laugh-a-minute people. ally arias from operas.The first club was the
"The Beach was full of great characters. Pago Pago, show tunes from Carousel,
Swifty Morgan,the inspiration for that Bob things like that.Fifty bucks a week,a lot of 4.- -t, 3
Hope movie, The Lemon Drop Kid, who money for a high school kid then.After that
went around selling ties in the clubs. I went on to the Brook Club,the Copa,and 11 -b '
Kingfish Levinsky, a punch-drunk ex- the Latin Quarter,when I was seventeen or �` 4. U'
fighter who also sold ties and watches as so, starting college.There was talk about f F
well. He supposedly tried to sell J. Edgar going on to Broadway,but then I got mar- - !- y
Hoover a hot watch one time for a hundred ried at eighteen and a half, and that was x � "
bucks,claiming that there was a reward on that. f i � ` _' £gy
it for$250.Harry the Hipster,this jazz musi- 'The Latin Quarter came about when ,:-'4-0„1
,
cian who used to hang out in the jazz Hank Meyer came to our school, looking . , . �� g
lounges.And of course John Jacob Astor, for somebody to do a publicity stunt with _ '',A 1 • - •
who was really the black sheep of the fam- the singer Lenny Ross.They wanted some- ';
fly. One of his divorces was so bad they body who could sing opera,which I'd been +£' .
sealed the court records so it wouldn't leak studying since the age of fourteen,and I did a
out to the press. a routine with him,and later Willy Howard.
"It was just a whole different kind of town. "Once we did a whole operatic production Impresarla Judy Drucker,a long way from her lounge singer days
Page 28 New Times February 3-9, 1993
I
•
Year's Eve things on Star Island.
- - People don't entertain like that
any more.
I = `, "And there was always Cuba on
W° the weekends.I remember going
down to visit Doris Hedges in
BAREBOAT CHARTERS &CERTIFICATION i Was ambassador to Braailat the
Cruise the crystal waters of the beautiful Florida Keys and the Bahamas.We offer °` time—and going to the Barletta
the finest selection of sailing yachts in South Florida...at suprisingly — creme-de-la-crème wedding,
affordable rates.Or earn your ASA bareboat certification in one of .Ntt>; ro when she married Count
our"Sailing Vacation"courses.Call today for our free brochure. ...:". Somebody or another.There was
CfpFLORIDA YACHT CHARTERS&SALES, INC.`.� i . ' with the Havana Symphony playa beautiful party on her estate
Miami Beach Manna, 1290 5th St.Miami Beach,FL 33139 -
1-800-537-0050 • 305- 32-8600 ing dance music. It was right
N'', before Castro took over, and all
�� these guards with machine guns
v
were crouched in the bushes.
�� ... "Everything has changed, the
elegance of the private clubs,the
parties. When they ended gam-
y 7 , tiling,the chic people went some-
FREE BLINDS . 4 . where else. I still have fun,
though.Waking up in the morn-
ing and still being alive—that's
Receive your first window FREE Judy Drucker in a previous incarnation,as a featured fun to me now."
entertainer at The Latin Quarter,with Martha Raye —Clothing designer Jay Anderson,
with your purchase of 2 or more.
*(excludes sliding glass doors.Not available on cash&carry.Must be of equal or lesser value.offer expires Feb.28.1993) retired and living in Coconut Grove
Beach
Also receive a FREE cruise for 2 with any purchase. (exeludesport charges,meals) Continued from page 28
Ask about our great rates on carpet&tiles too! ; 1 tigers and circuses. When he died, the "I came down here in 1940. I've owned
CASH&CARRY(PVC) +�—'—'l 1 'i whole thing fell apart.The Brook Club, Wolfie's for eight years. At that time the
36x48 . . . .$14.00 72x48 . . . .$28.00 t i i where they had gambling,was very high- Roney was the northern end of civilization;
52x48 . . . .$23.00 84x96 . . . .$44.00 �_u:; I� class—long gowns and white dinner jack- there wasn't much above 23rd Street.In the
72x37 . . . .$27.00 108x96. . .$56.00 s_ �, ; ets. Some of the private parties in homes Wolfie's space was a neighborhood bar
WHITE,IVORY,LIGHT GRAY.STEEL BLUE _ � I' around town were very decadent,but every- called Fan and Bill's.They took over the
We will undersell any estimates. = I. one was well behaved,even when they had club next door and made it into a really
!+1 too many drinks.John Jacob Astor had a grand nightclub,also called Fan and Bill's,
Tamiami Blinds - rw i big house on Pine Tree Drive, and he'd with singers and shows. Everybody went
235-8558 '-� ''i 'I have huge parties,everyone in formal wear, there.Then it became Chandler's estau-
Manfucturing Corporation 13095 SW 133 Court , r _ l- P r1'
LMon-Fri 9am to bpm.Sat 9am to 5pm•Late Hours.Sat&Sun Appts Available.Tamiami BlindsWe will undersell any estimates. 1 with various entertainments: female rant, a very elegant supper club. Wolfie
J wrestlers in bras and panties,rolling around Cohen took over this space in'42 or'43,and
on slick canvases. it was popular from the start, lines around
"It was the beginnings of Dorothy Dey, the block,24-hour service.Tourists, locals
who was a gossip columnist for the Hearst who'd come by after the fights at the Fifth
BEEP Till IST BABY- Syndicate. She and John Jacob Astor both Street gym, and every major star. In our
survived the sinking of the Titanic, when celebrity room we have pictures of Clark
Dorothy was a kid, _
*Brand New BRAVO's For 53999 and then she went
•900 MHZ band -_ - --- .) on to start the "THE LATE FORTIES TO
"Suzy"column. Into
•Optional statewide coverage the Sixties, it was a MID- FIFTIES THOSE
•New Units-1 year warranty
•Range:Key West to Sebastian Available wide-open town,and WERE THE DAYS. IT WAS
We also have Bravo"PLUS"&"EXPRESS" Dorothy was the
Come see our new 1993 selection of beepers first nationally A GOLDEN AGE AFTER T H E
&cellular phone accessories. ® known gossip
_ columnist based SECOND WORLD WAR.77
L3. ` I = ___7=_.=
—
MOTOROLA
°"'"° here. The column
was called "Night
BEEPERS&CELLULAR
and Dey," and she knew everybody in Gable, Spencer Tracy, Lionel Barrymore,
S..�s��:ery c'xers Cormn„tce'.ons
All major credrt cards accepted. •wannsAd American society—celebrities, phonies, Katharine Hepburn.People would show up
NEW LOCATION:Miami 2901 SW 8th St.,Ste.#105 642-2702 :ate a s9 ..q..t. everybody. She'd dish them,but she wrote in chauffeured limousines. It was quite a
Florida Keys: Key Largo 103400 Overseas Hwy,#15 451-9866 S25.0000nnecuontee.890.75tora w. a bitch column like a lady.I really miss her. scene."
"Society was a real mélange then. Helen —Joseph Nevel,current owner of Wolfie's
V and her brother John were both on Pine restaurant
PAW N O G RAP H ■ Tree, the Firestones right on the beach —
where the Fontainebleau is now, and then
there were all the enormously rich Cubans, "I moved down from New York, where I'd
(pOn ag' re fe) n.the study of human nature under extreme financial stress like Julio and Jorge Sanchez—two sugar been involved in theater, in the late Fifties,
barons who lived on Star Island. On all the and started handling the Empress Hotel at
Buy Sel Pawn private estates, people entertained lavishly: 43rd and Collins.I just sort of fell into being
411/ $
sit-down dinners for 200 or 300,with party a press agent.Then I went to work for Patsy
tents and orchestras.There were religious Abbott,who had a club called Patsy's Place.
Gold • Diamonds • Silver differences, of course, but people like It was hot,sophisticated,and rocking. One
Audrey Ruxton Love—a Guggenheim— night Elizabeth Taylor and Mike Todd
Jewelry Sold Below Wholesale
were members at the Surf Club, for walked in.The newspapers had room for
Musical Instruments & Eq u i p m e t instance. that kind of stuff then,and every night pho-
TVs • VCRs • Stereos RATES AS "When I was financially able to,I had my tographers and columnists—Herb Rau of
LOW AS own parties for 200 or so at my place in the the News,George Burke from the Herald—
= I= MCA 3/° Venetian Islands. Before he moved to Star would travel around the clubs looking for
Island,Dan Paul had a three-and-a-half acre material. George didn't drive, and did the
American Pawn 769-1511 waterfront estate on Key Biscayne,the old whole route by bus.I'd be dropping photos
13009 NW 7th Avenue • North Miami Est. 1980 Matheson place. He always had wonderful off at the papers and I'd see him waiting on
parties. I still remember one of his New Continued on page 32
Page 30 New Times February 3-9, 1993
lr
the parade of jewels
WE SERVICE -. . ,
and furs.Thetown was
x full of high-rollers. It
`(,: ! ; 9 �. 0.14
was all about eating,
HO N DAS , ....., , ,...` �;�i. �, l drinking, gambling,
�. • i. and getting a tan.And
A
AL5 0 people definitely came
+ �,,�f`1 ,�' �\ ,,,,,,,,• down here to connect.
;i t f \,i You'd have women in
21 ', , j t ' "` the Boom Boom
�y . _ „ Room at the
4 4 Fontainebleau trying
ACURASAie • = to find a rich husband.
3ot �� w, 3 D e Some of those women
y.. a i a married very well and
�► are quite respectable
ONLY i s- . ,., $ti„..,
ti, 0 Social pro Jay Anderson,a witness to glamour both then and now now. The town was
flamboyant, outra
-' Y4 Beach
��,. ,�,. , � genus, and ultimately" very glamorous."
�a tom..,,-. Continued from page 30
� i .,•.. Collins Avenue in the middle of the night —Publicist Charlie Cinnamon
It
v, and wind up giving him a lift somewhere.
vTt. cH. Then you had the smaller papers, the Post
Mortems and Antennas of their day, work- "Miami Beach in the Fifties was far better
Est.1985 in the same turf.
g than now. Men wore hats and jackets,
a. "Usually I'd try to set up interviews with ladies all had mink stoles and gloves,every-
rBrake Repairs !' d �' �'', celebrities,or get one of the roving photog- body always dressed up for dinner.People
P114
40.
Ta ' raphers to come over, or have my own even go to nice restaurants in jeans now.
guys shoot stuff. It was still very hard to The whole country is more casual and
100/0 OFF french hair design crack the columns then, a real achieve- downscaled than it was then.
BY Marc ment. The press would come by, try to "In season,stars were everywhere.You'd
I
and staff catch a celebrity misbehaving, schnorrer see Lana Turner and Susan Hayward shop-
Expires 3-3-93 We do all types of hair color around,get a free meal.Just like today, I ping at Saks on Lincoln Road. At night
guess. they'd have the whole Rat Pack at the
p tCH.
highlights,perms,relaxers "Over on 23rd Street there were the three Fontainebleau: Frank Sinatra, Dean
rA1.�+ T &we still fix'8 haircuts clubs owned by Teddy Goldstein,who was Martin, Sammy Davis,Jr., Peter Lawford.
Open 6 days Mon Sat. tied in with that whole Birdland crowd in Afterwards they'd all go to the clubs.There
THE ALAMAC New York. It's a parking lot now, I think. was Murray Franklin's on 23rd Street,
Oil & Filter They were all connected,but each of them where all the performers would in
Recommended Every 3,500 Miles 1300 Collins Ave•Miami Beach —the Pin Up, the Grate, the Nite Owl— .after their shows.They had risque come i-
0-90 I 531-4845 hada different ambiance.The Grate was a ans, that kind of stuff. It was a riot, really
jazz lounge, thumb bits for snacks and sensational.
Col
Acura Legend'24.99 great musicians— Chet Baker played "The Patio Club on Dade Boulevard, I
Must present coupon at time of visit there.The other two had jukeboxes,which think it's a gas station now, was a little
Expires 33-93 were very important in those days. Mostly quaint after-hours place.I was in there one
J sentimental music, Judy Garland and night when Frank Sinatra and Joe Di
, 1.1111
Bobby Short. The Pin Up played a lot of Maggio walked in;Winchell came in a lot,
rAP T t C H. W • Frank Sinatra.The Nite Owl was the last too.Joe and Ethel Stein owned the Jewel
, ► stop of the night,a real set-'em-up-Joe kind Box,and it was a very classy kind of place,
ofplace. absolutely gorgeous female impersonators,
Minor Service, .Up on the 79th Street Causeway you had a mixed gay and straight crowd.
1 7,500. 22,500.37,500•etc. i the Bonfire, a pick-up joint. Rip Taylor "The Saxony and the Sans Souci were the
I
$��.�� ' co started out up there.At the Seagull Hotel two largest hotels then.The restaurants
on 21st Street there was a late-night disc were wonderful. Joe's, of course, was
jockey called Sleepytime Gal,operating out always crowded. Morris and Ruth Lerner
Acura Legend'75.99 I of one of the rooms.People would come byhad The Famous, where The Strand is
Must present coupon at time of visit' p
Expires 3-393 and talk to her,and she'd play Tony Martin now, and it was great: kosher food, kre
mml records all the time. Martin was like an plach and things like that,seltzer bottles on
obsession with her. She was great, really the table.The Park Avenue on Twentieth
I•A p �` ahead of her time.
. TLCH• ,`'x; ' .. Street was a very nice steak house, and
'There was a hotel of the year,every year then you had the Embers,where Club Nu
< .::1',"!.! —the Eden Roc,Fontainebleau,whatever. is now.They served delicious spiced apples
, 1. The lobbies would blow your mind;people with every dish. First class.Jacket and tie
Major Service
would go over just to look at them.What required.Then Wolfie's for deli food,all the
15,000.30,000•45,000•etc.Hondas Only ' really ruined things was the American plan, waitresses in starched white uniforms with
$�'S.9Advanced European which meant tourists ate three meals a day big pocket handkerchiefs.
Treatment at the hotel and then stayed in for the "Lincoln Road was more upscale than
90-91 Inte ras/86-90 Legends$199.99 I Safe and effective shows at night.
s s lower South Beach,and it seems to me that
Must present coupon at time of visit therapy for "Miami Beach was the resort town in the you still had a lot of older people down
Eres 3.3-93 J spider&varicose viens winter.To be here in the height of the sea- there. I lived on Pennsylvania and Tenth.
son meant you had money. It was really Unfortunately it was also a time of
•Sim le in office
part of that borscht-belt circuit:summers in restricted hotels and apartments. The
1 BROWARD P the Catskills,winters on Miami Beach.The Kenilworth didn't allow Jews, as well as
3625 S.STATE RD. 7(441) no hospital Broadway Series is bringing a show down some of the buildings on South Beach.My
(441)-652-0959•981 1700 •Affordable this season, Catskills on Broadway (the husband couldn't get into many of the
•No scarring revue opened last week and runs through places we wanted to live.
DADE •Saturday by February 7 at the Jackie Gleason Theater) "You still have celebrities from New York
7311 S.W.41ST STREET appointment with all the comedians who used to play coming here,and royalty,but you don't get
261-0040 down here: Freddie Roman, Mal Z. wonderful people anymore.They act differ-
Lawrence, Dick Capri, and Louise DuArt. ently than they used to. It seems like the
Call for appointment 595-4624 People are still aching for that kind of whole world was more grand in those years
Monday-Friday 8am-6pm humor. than it is now."
Caroline Manassa,MD•8720 N.Kendall Dr "The excitement of those times was —Rose McDaniel,30-year veteran ofJoe's
IM
Suite 214•Maim unbelievable. You never saw anything like Stone Crab
Ige 32 New Times
February 3-9, 1993
I