Michael Mayer - Time Trippers The Nights of the Round Table

They looked shocked.

“Radio is more like TV now then it will be in the future. They have plays and stories on the air besides music, that is, live orchestras, jazz bands and singers, mostly performing live. Some of these radios with crystals can pick up stations from very far away, even overseas at night, if conditions are right.”

While looking at the New York Times’ ‘Today on the Radio’ section, I turned on the radio in our room, with a new electric disk speaker on the wall. There were a lot of stations, and WEAF had the Waldorf-Astoria Orchestra program just starting now at 12:30pm.

The Radio whined and sang as I tuned the dial to WEAF at 640 AM.

“We bring you now the Waldorf-Astoria orchestra from the ballroom of the Waldorf Hotel…”

Soon they launched into ‘Someone to Watch Over Me’ by Gershwin, a woman singing the lovely words, followed by ‘It Had to Be You!’ by Gus Kahn. I had forgotten that those sophisticated melodies were written in the ‘20’s. I used to think they were from the late 1930’s.

“What makes this time so special? What’s so cool about it?” Jonathan asked.

Lauren looked very curious.

Bending down to explain I told them.

“Kids, this decade was known as the Jazz Age, the Roaring 20’s. It was an explosion of art, culture, music and technology like the world had never seen before coming all at once,” I explained. “This is when ordinary people began to challenge old ways in fashion, art, music, behavior and enjoy prosperity that we take for granted in our world and do all this FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME. That’s why it’s so special!”

“Women and the young set the pace. The First World War, just 10 years ago, really turned everything upside down. While the men were away at the front, many women had to do jobs only men could do before, and realized that they could be independent and do whatever they pleased. They had just won the right to vote in 1920.”

“They began to cut their hair short, started to wear short skirts. Unfortunately, they started to smoke and drink like men did, scandalizing society. Jazz, at least this old style of jazz, began to liberate music like rock would in the 1950’s and ‘60’s - thanks to commercial radio which began bringing modern music and ideas to the masses in 1920.”

“The young people, feeling betrayed by a society that permitted such a terrible war as the Great War to happen, revolted against tradition and began wearing crazy clothes, driving fast cars, drinking, smoking, dancing to jazz and, well, misbehaving, staying out late and so on, not caring what people thought. ‘Flaming Youth’ they called it. Young people had never rebelled quite like this before. The bolder girls are called ‘Flappers,’ the guys ‘Sheiks.”

“Flappers, Lito?” Jonathan asked.

“Like the girl on the train? Remember?”

“Oh yeah,” he nodded grinning.

“Flapper…I want to be a Flapper!” Lauren said. “No you don’t, you’re a very good girl, see?”

She laughed.

Colleen Moore - Movie Actress and classic Flapper

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“At the same time people enjoyed a new prosperity unheard-of before the war. Factories could now produce things people wanted faster and cheaper than ever. They could buy refrigerators, washing machines, cars and radios a new way - on credit - by making payments over time, so any working man could afford nice things. People were very optimistic, they believed you could do anything with hard work, drive and ‘get up and go.’ Remember the saying ‘scuse my dust?’”

Jonathan laughed at that.

“With so many people breaking the Prohibition laws, liberated women, Flaming Youth and all that jazz, it all made for a feeling of a kind of ‘who cares, let’s have fun’ freedom from convention. That’s what makes the Twenties so special! Sorry for the lecture…” I told them.

“Say, it’s getting to be one o’clock, and I’m getting hungry, how about you?”

They nodded.

“Let’s change and freshen up, then let’s eat.” We changed into similar clothes. I gave Lauren a more grownup-looking dress with the fashionable low waist, but she was not too happy about wearing a big bow in her hair.

“Come on, it’s a very elegant restaurant and you need to look really pretty so we don’t get thrown out. We have to fit in. That’s what girls your age are wearing these days.”

She crossed her arms frowning but then said, “O…K.”

We headed to the elevators.

“The Rose Room, please,” I said to the elevator boy. The elevator dropped like a stone, my stomach leapt, the kids enjoyed the ride.

I told them about the Hotel’s Round Table, where the some of the most famous playwrights, poets, theater critics, columnists and writers gathered every day for lunch to trade insults and jokes about each other’s work. It had become world famous, the heart of New York’s theatrical world.

“Round Table? Like King Arthur?” Jonathan asked.

“Not quite, but their lances are just as sharp!” I told them mysteriously. “You know, we might even run into Harpo Marx himself!”

The kids looked surprised. “Harpo is here?” Lauren smiled. They both loved his crazy antics in his old movies.

“He might be here, it’s Saturday and that’s when this group sticks around and moves upstairs to play cards, sometimes all night, sometimes all weekend. Harpo is a regular player,” I told them.

Frank Case himself, the owner, down-to-earth as ever led us to a table just across from the Round Table where the regulars were just getting their lunch served. I pointed out the pretty woman smoking a cigarette in an elegant long holder - she was poet and critic Dorothy Parker, famous for her ‘wisecracks’ and sharp wit, laughing at something humorist Robert Benchley just said, the round faced fellow with the little mustache. Harold Ross, founder of the New Yorker magazine who was described as looking like a ‘dishonest Abe Lincoln.’ was laughing too.

“Look at all the people smoking!” Jonathan said shocked.

“Well, people didn’t know it was bad for them then, we’ll be OK,” I told him quietly.

“Lito, look…there’s a doggie under the table!” Lauren said pointing at a little Boston Terrier sitting quietly at Dorothy Parker’s feet licking some kind of liquid off the floor. I realized it was liquor! She had two bottles under her chair, not very discreet, and one had fallen over. It seemed nobody even noticed.

“Hmm, that has to be Dorothy Parker’s, I guess the hotel lets her bring her dog in the dining room, she is so famous and all.”

There were others at the table, columnists Heywood Broun in his wrinkled suit, owl-like Alexander Woollcott, the famous theater critic were also grinning as was sour-looking Franklin Pierce Adams known simply as FPA with his big nose and mustache chewing an unlit cigar and next to them sat a serious guy with the glasses and tall fuzzy hair. I told the kids he was George S. Kaufman, a very famous playwright and next to him sat George Gershwin himself, America’s leading composer of Broadway, jazz and popular music, that long nose unmistakable, and sure enough, there was Harpo, dressed in a proper suit, his somewhat frizzy hair was unmistakable.

“That’s Harpo…” I pointed out to the kids….

“Harpo!!!” Lauren cried out. Jonathan flashed him his big wide grin. Before I could stop her she rushed out of her chair and stood in front of the Round Table, smiling shyly. I jumped up quietly and whispered loudly to her:

“Lauren…get back here, behave!” Other diners started to look at us. Standing there, embarrassed, I started to apologize to them but Harpo, like the wonderful person he was, looked at her and flashed her his crazy smile, eyes wide, full of mischief. Then he crossed his eyes and made the ‘gookie’ face, cheeks puffed and mouth puckered…then relaxed into a nice smile and motioned her to come over to him and took her on his knee, grinning.