• Photos

    The 1932 Mayfair Ball

      The Mayfair Ball was annual event held every February by the exclusive Mayfair Club. It was the seen-and-be-seen event of the year, taking place in one of the posh Hollywood hotels. The event is best remembered by Clark Gable and Carole Lombard fans for being the birthplace of their spark, as they began flirting for the first time at the Mayfair Ball in 1936. Well, it turns out that that wasn’t the first time Clark attended the ball. In 1932, he attended with Ria on his arm, and the magic of the night was descibed by Picture Play magazine: Beauty, Fashion and Fame Assemble on That Night of Nights, The Mayfair…

  • Gossip

    Gossip Friday: Where Shall We Eat?

    Since I’m in Hollywood this week, here’s an item form 1934 on where the stars eat in Tinsel Town: Well, you must be hungry. Should we stop at a drug store for a sandwich? Or, we have the choice of three famous restaurants–the Brass Rail, a beer parlor once owned by Zeppo Marx, which has been a haunt of picture people ever since; Perry’s, Hollywood’s newest restaurant; or Sardi’s, where caricatures of celebrities line the walls. At the latter you might see Jackie Cooper, Will Rogers, Eddie Cantor, Charlie Chaplin, King Vidor and Jetta Goudal, who go there all the time. The most persistent Sardi fans, however, are Busby Berkeley…