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Lenox Avenue in (Uptown) Harlem,
New York . The Savoy's marquee (as seen
above) extended out over the side walk and had a fabulous marble
stairway leading into the Ballroom.
The Savoy was pink on the inside and had a good
size foyer as you entered the building, was very well ventilated
(Air-conditioning not yet invented), and had modern furniture
of the times and mirrored walls. The ballroom itself was huge, had
two bandstands, colored spotlights, and a dance floor that was rectangular
in shape (nicknamed the track) and was over 10,000 square
ft. of spring loaded, wooden dance floor. The floor had to be replaced
every three years due to the tremendous use it went thru.
Originally, the bar only served soft drinks,
Beer and Wine, no hard liquor was served in the early years at the
Savoy. The soda fountain bar served up Ice Cream drinks and dishes
such as Banana Splits, Sundaes and Floats. Over 150 employees would
work the Savoy during a week and the owner would make well over
$250.000 a year during it's heyday. The Bouncers at the Savoy would
be dressed in Tuxedo's and make about $100.00 a night. There were
many fights at the Savoy, Males and Females, but was considerably
less than most of the other Ballrooms (including the Roseland
Ballroom in Manhattan) due to the excellent work of the
bouncers at the Savoy.
The Savoy could and very often would hold up
to 4,000 people with about 15% of the people being white. Depending
on who the band was, the ballroom would more than double its capacity.
When Benny Goodman
played the Savoy and did battle with Chick
Webb, it was reported that there was approximately
25,000 people waiting to get into the ballroom (Webb won).
The Orchestra's werepaid $1,200 a week to play the Savoy. Unfortunately
today there is no trace of the ballroom ever being in that location
but there is work being done to have a plaque laid in its place.
The club was only open to the public
five nights a week, with two days were reserved for private Parties/Functions.
The normal cover charge was between $0.30 cents to $0.85 cents in
the early 1930's. During the depression the cover was lower and
the Savoy would setup free Holiday dinners for the homeless or poor
folks in the area for free.
You could become a member of the Savoy by purchasing
a membership of certain Savoy dance clubs called the Lindy
Hop Club, the 400 Club, or the
Old Timers Club and receive a discounted admission. There
were always employed dance hostesses around that would dance with
you or be available for private lessons. You did not have to be
21 to gain entrance to the ballroom although most parents would
not let you go. At midnight the place was just starting to jump
and was open till 3 a.m. (So as the folks catching a play or
whatever could still come dancing after.)
The Savoy was known as the "Home
Of Happy Feet" and had the best Lindy
Hop dancers in the Nation with the Lindy Hop being
said to originate at the Savoy. The best of these dancers would
hang out together in the N/E corner of the Savoy, known as "Cats
Corner." The Savoy was allowing interracial
dancing of Blacks and Whites, and was widely done, which was really
frowned upon by both races at the time at other night spots, and
if they did allow it, but not at the Savoy. Some Clubs such as the
Roseland Ballroom would put a rope down the middle of the
floor, Blacks on one side and whites on the other on their mixed
nights. The Savoy hardly had any problems with fights or trouble
makers due to racial issues.
The roots of the Lindy
Hop was the Breakaway
and the Breakaway was the main dance of choice in the late
1920's early 30's at the Savoy whose main exponent was "Shorty
George " Snowden. Shorty was to name the Breakaway
the Lindy Hop, but a slower, smoother version would soon take over
the popularity being called "Savoy Style Lindy,"
(which has roots in today's West
Coast Swing. ) Dean
Collins and Hubert (whitey) White and the Whites
Hopping Maniacs (a.k.a. Whitey's Lindy Hoppers)
would help promote this smoother form of Lindy as we know it today
thru motion pictures.
There were different types of entertainment
at the Savoy such as the famous "Battle
Of The Bands" pitting one band against the other,
usually Chick Webb's band would compete against
another famous band while the dancers would pick the winners. This
usually brought the biggest crowds. Ella Fitzgerald
won a singing contest up the street from the Savoy and was dancing
at the Savoy when someone told Chick Webb about her, he auditioned
her and signed her to his band. After his death, Fitzgerald continued
Webb's band.
Dance Contest's were also popular at the Savoy
Ballroom and the contests were generally held on Wednesdays with
prizes going up to third place. First place was around $40.00 in
the early days and a chance to perform a solo dance exhibition at
the Savoy. The Harvest Moon Ball
held it's prelims for the Swing division at the Savoy Ballroom,
then later at the Savoy Manor. In the 1950's there
were many Mambo
contests held at the Savoy as well as Jitterbug.
Other dances such as the Suzy-Q
, Big
Apple, Charleston,
Shim-Sham
and Truckin'
were performed at the Savoy. Other local clubs in Harlem were
the Renaissance, Small's Paradise, Connie's Inn, Original Cotton
Club, Dixie Ballroom, and the Alhambra.
The Savoy's License was temporarily
revoked and its staff of dance hostesses at the Savoy was discontinued
in 1943 wth te license being re-instated but not the hostesses.
in 1959 the The Savoy Ballroom building was tore down and replaced
by the Delano Village. There is now a plaque just north of where
the Savoy Ballroom once stood.
There were other Savoy's, not all
were like the famous Harlem Savoy, however and only one was connected
to the Harlem Savoy. Hubert "Whitey" White around 1945
opened his own Savoy Ballroom in Oswego ,
New York with the assistance of Savoy's own Charles Buchanon. London,
England had the Savoy Hotel in the 1920's which
featured many American bands and dancers and hosted a Radio Show
each week. Chicago had a Savoy Ballroom in the
mid 1920's, having Louis Armstrong and Carroll Dickinson play there.
Barron Wilkins (Exclusive Club fame) opened the Little Savoy
in Midtown, New York in the early 1900's. Boston,
MA. had a Savoy in the 1940's, Los Angeles
had a night club and the Savoy Hotel, located on 601 west 6th. Street,
and there was even a Savoy Ballroom in Bakersfield,
California in the late 1940's. |
Ballrooms