Wednesday, June 25, 2014

INVITATION TO DUTCH TREAT DINNER AND CIRCUS PARTY AT THE MARSHALL FIELD'S



    The invitation billed the Circus Party as a "not fancy dress" affair although the guests arrived in black tie and floor length gowns. 



    Marshall Field III was vice President and Treasurer of the Long Island Biological Association, now known as Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Second wife, Audrey Jennings (Standard Oil, "Burrwood") Field was known for her spectacular parties. To benefit the Long Island Biological Association, Audrey planned the party which was dubbed "one of the funniest parties of the season" with a circus theme.





   Dinner was served by Louis Sherry’s of New York City on the estates lawns and terraces, which were lit by great flood lights and streamers of multicolored electric lights strung in a festive fashion. During dinner a dance band played. 



   Guests enjoyed dinner and dancing in a gorgeous botanical setting, overlooking L. I. Sound, under the stars. That was only the beginning. After dinner the guests proceeded to another area of the grounds, which had been converted into a Midway for the occasion. At the Midway they were exhorted by society "barkers" to enjoy the various attractions. These attractions, operated and manned by society friends included, "The Freak Show", "The Coney Island Photo Booth", "The Long Island Living Pictures Show", and "The Dancing Well". Other attractions included a Wheel of Fortune, a ride around the estate on a bicycle built for two, walking with the man on stilts, and a visit with the "toast of the talkies", Mickey Mouse.



   Requested in the invitation, guests were expected to have a sense of humor and a certain amount of talent. The guests and their hosts manned most of the booths, and also were the models as well for the caricatures represented in the activities.



   Late night entertainment brought the show indoors. Guests entered the mansion’s living room for the Midnight Cabaret were an impressive collection of show business greats performed.



   The magnificent landscape, seascape and skyscape setting of "Caumsett" was said to "usher in a new era of parties" in the 1930’s. 
  

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Upstairs Lounge Fire

Images for upstairs lounge fire.



Watch THIS documentary commemorating last years 40TH anniversary of the worst mass murder of Gays in America's history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UpStairs_Lounge_arson_attack 

Time magazine subscribers can read more HERE.

WIKIMAPIA LOCATION

https://www.facebook.com/upstairsloungefire

   On Gay Pride Day in 1973, an arsonist set the entrance to a French Quarter gay bar on fire. In the terrible inferno that followed, 32 people lost their lives, including a third of the local congregation of the Metropolitan Community Church, their pastor burning to death halfway out a second-story window as he tried to claw his way to freedom. A mother who'd gone to the bar with her two gay sons died alongside them. A man who'd helped his friend escape first was found dead near the fire escape. Two children waited outside of a movie theater across town for a father and step-father who would never pick them up. During this era of rampant homophobia, several families refused to claim the bodies, and many churches refused to bury the dead. Author Johnny Townsend pored through old records and tracked down survivors of the fire and relatives and friends of those killed to compile this fascinating account of a forgotten moment in gay history.

http://www.amazon.com/Let-Faggots-Burn-Upstairs-Lounge/dp/1614344531

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Friday, June 6, 2014

LILY POOL AND FOUNTAIN FIGURE Garden of H. H. Rogers, Esq., Southhampton, L. I.

LILY POOL AND FOUNTAIN FIGURE Garden of H. H. Rogers, Esq., Southampton, L. I.
Olmsted Brothers, Landscape Architects

   Follow THIS LINK for all past posts on the house and gardens from "Black Point".