[Archive of Dance Tickets and Song Sheets for Benevolent and Social Clubs]

New York, New York, 1926. Very good. 131 cards, most around 2½" x 4½", a few larger folded to same. Generally very good: some with light to moderate wear, toning or spotting.

This is a lively collection of tickets, song and dance cards for charity and entertainment events in New York City, sponsored by a slew of political, fraternal and social groups.

While a few of the present tickets show events held during World War I, the majority reveal the craze of jazz dances in the 1920s. The youth were home from war, the independent "flapper" woman on the rise. Jazz music's high energy and "scandalous" movements were apt for the rebellion, fueling philanthropic (and less so) society and club events.

An assortment of associations are reflected on these tickets, ranging from religious (the Jewish "Independent Brisker Young Men") to political (the "Young People's Socialist League") and ethnocultural (the Russian "Prager Warschauer Young Men's Aid Society" and "Junger Maennerchor," a German singing group). Dances were sponsored by social clubs named for "Thor" and "Woodrow Wilson," "Royal Amigos" and "Rising Star." The "Moonlight Pals" promised "Music by Our Favorite Jazz Kings" and a ball was held to benefit "the New Labor Lyceum for the Socialists of Harlem." Several had a racist tint, announcing a "Novelty" "Chinese Wedding," minstrel shows, Beaver's Vaudeville Contest and Japanese Fete." Song lyrics on dozens of versos included "Mammy's Little Coal Black Rose," "Chong (He Come From Hong Kong)" and "There's a little bit of bad in every good little girl." An "Outdoor Dance Carnival" in 1918 showed the lyrics for Au Revoir but not good-bye, soldier boy" and a 1919 event's "Entire Proceeds will be donated for a Tomb Stone for Brownsville's big favorite Pvt. MOE GANS who made the supreme sacrifice."

Vivid and fantastic ephemera for 1920s jazz nights and social groups in New York City.