1920's New York City History
I planned to publish KILLJOY in the fall and couldn’t resist focusing the plot on the spooky Halloween season. So, I began researching ghosts and hauntings in the 1920s. That led me straight to Olive Thomas and the New Amsterdam Theatre.
The information in Killjoy regarding Olive’s life and death is true, although I merely grazed the surface of her life and career. As for her death, it made me wonder if she actually mistook her husband’s topical medication by mistake, or if he had killed her, which was a popular belief at the time. I guess we’ll never know.
Interestingly, they say Olive has been haunting the Amsterdam Theatre ever since her death. Through the years, she has been seen carousing the theater and the rooftop in her green, beaded Follies costume, flirting with the stagehands, and blowing kisses to men. The ladies’ room has also been plagued by red lipstick smudges, which keep reappearing even after the cleaning staff scrub them off. There is also a photograph of Olive still hanging by the stage door. Both the cast and crew make a point of acknowledging the photo of her as they come and go, “Hoping to stay on her good side”.
In the late 1990s, after Disney Theatricals signed a ninety-nine-year lease on the New Amsterdam Theatre, Olive’s ghost was again sighted by one of the security guards. He saw her on stage and yelled at her, but she disappeared through the wall to Forty-First Street. The security guard was so distraught, he called Disney’s vice president at two-thirty in the morning.
There are several other known haunted theaters in New York City. One of them is the Palace Theater. They say as many as one hundred ghosts are believed to inhabit the Palace. Regulars include a female cellist in the Orchestra Pit, a playful boy in the mezzanine, a man who stalks the theater offices, and a sullen little girl in the balcony. Even the spirit of Judy Garland has been felt near the door she used during two concert engagements.
Whether you believe in ghosts or not, I think most people have considered the possibility at one time or another, from something you’ve read or heard or after some eerie personal experience. Either way, it’s fun to think about, especially around Halloween.
Let’s move on to the Ziegfeld Follies and the Midnight Frolics. The Follies on Broadway ran from 1907 to 1931, with several renewals in later years. Surprisingly, Florenz Ziegfeld had turned down several notable actresses during their auditions: Norma Shearer (1919), Alice Faye (1927), Joan Crawford (1924), Gypsy Rose Lee (1927), Hedda Hopper (1913), and Lucille Ball (1927 and 1931)** (see video below). Florenz Ziegfeld and Billie Burke, the good witch in the Wizard of Oz, were married from 1914 until his death in 1932.
The New Amsterdam Theatre’s rooftop included 680 seats with box seats and a balcony. In 1915, Florenz Ziegfeld decided to utilize the space for midnight performances that were far more risqué, and the after-hours show became a huge success. The New York Times gave rave reviews: “One might search the world and not find anything quite as unique or lavish as this midnight revue.” Florenz Ziegfeld insisted theatergoers would have sore hands after applauding so much that he provided little wooden hammers at each of the tables. The Midnight Frolics ended in 1922 due to prohibition and constant police raids.
Changing the subject drastically, let’s talk about Milk-Bones. While writing the book, I wondered what kind of treats they had for dogs back in the 1920s and discovered dog biscuits were created in 1908 by the F.H. Bennett Biscuit Company, which operated a bakery on the Lower East Side of New York City. The biscuits were originally called Maltoidsand made exclusively in Buffalo, New York. Between 1915 and 1926, the biscuit was renamed "Milk-Bone", owing to the high composition of cow's milk. In 1931, the bakery was acquired by the National Biscuit Company, which is now Nabisco.
There were only a few videos available that pertained to the Ziegfeld Follies. Eddie Cantor was most notable for singing the theme song, A Pretty Girl is Like a Melody, but I couldn’t find his version. Here is Dennis Morgan’s version in 1936, and a video of Fanny Brice and the Follies in 1934.
1936 Dennis Morgan A pretty girl is like a melody - YouTube
Fanny Brice and the Follies girls 1934 - YouTube
**Lucille Ball auditioned twice for the Follies and both times she was turned down. Yet, the musical comedy movie, Ziegfeld Follies, was released in 1945, starring William Powell, Judy Garland, and Lucille Ball. And Lucille was finally able to perform as a Ziegfeld girl in the movie.