There was Chicago’s South Side in the mid-to-late Twenties. There was Fifty-Second Street in New York for a decade starting in 1935 or so. There was always Harlem and Kansas City . . . but these three advertisements speak to me of a Golden Age that was happening before I was born.
Let’s get prepared. We need some money, acetates for my Presto disc cutter, several cameras, rare Okehs and Paramounts for everyone’s autograph . . . and be sure to let your parents know we won’t be home early. All set?
October 8, 1948:
The Beloved has her back cushion. We’re all set!
December 3, 1948:
We’ll swing by Emily’s house to pick her up: Eric, Noya, Jon-Erik, Matt, and Kevin are meeting us there. If anyone tends to get carsick, they have to come by subway.
March 25, 1949:
Gordon, Veronica, Lena, and Tamar promised they’d come.
Enough fantasy, perhaps. All I know is that one of these evenings would have changed my life.
May your happiness increase.
