Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1941)

Page 16 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW October 25, 1941 The Talk of the Tents Up and Down the Land ^artetp Club Jlote* JOHN H. HARRIS. NATIONAL CHIEF BARKER Weekly Get-Together of Filmdom's Good Fellows Tent No. 1— Pittsburgh Hotel Strike Over, Club Resumes Meetings; Final Plans for Banquet Discussed; Tickets Almost Exhausted The hotel strike is over and the Monday night dinners have been resumed. This week J. T. McGreevey was king for the day and thirty-four barkers, including Bill Heaton of Pennsboro, were present. Art England will be king for the day at the dinner next Monday night. The final plans for the banquet on November 2 are being discussed. Tickets for this affair are practically exhausted. National Chief Barker John H. Harris and George D. Tyson of the Arena Managers' Association will leave tonight for Dallas, Texas. National Dough Guy James G. Balmer has returned from his Canadian trip where he saw the Pittsburgh Hornets settled in training camp. While on this trip he attended the reopening of the Albany Tent. Tent No. 3 — Cincinnati Harry Young Shows Cliff Work Around Town; Allan Moritz Pilots Sam Galanty; Harris Wolfberg Visits Club Harry Young, local Universal manager, is showing Cliff Work of Universal around town. Work perhaps knows more about Cincinnati than Young, who has only lived here about two months. Cliff is at home in the Queen City, having started his theatrical career here as a program boy at the old Columbia Theatre when it was a two-a-day vaudeville house. It is now Keith's and is operated by Ike Libson. Allan Moritz has been showing his district manager, Sam Galanty, around the clubrooms and other interesting spots around Cincinnati. Metro's Harris Wolfberg was in to renew old friendships. First time we have seen him since he was here with Paramount about twenty years ago. It was old timers' week at the tent, when Willie Howard, Rex Weber and Cross and Dunn got together with this scribbler talking over the good old days. Tent No. 5— Detroit Masonic Temple Sold Out for Templeton Concert; Idzal and MacPherson Head Committees in Charge of Affair Detroit Variety swung 100 per cent behind its biggest fund-raising activity for charity at a Thursday night meeting of the entire membership— selling out the Masonic Temple Auditorium, Detroit's largest concert hall, for a concert by Alec Templeton on Wednesday, October 29. Publicity is being organized by David M. Idzal, managing director of the Fox Theatre, and John R. MacPherson, manager of National Screen Service, who demonstrated his ability to handle organization work in the conduct of the All-Industry Outing last August, is in charge of ticket sales. Support for the concert and the objectives of the club is strong and it has been laid out as a thorough-going and well-planned publicity campaign with all local media of advertising included. Leaders of the ticket drive are confident of results — and Detroit will soon have a tale of new charity funds to tell other tents. Guest of the week was Raymond E. Moon, manager of Mutual Theatres, with Mrs. Moon, who were feted on Saturday in a Frolic at the Club. Event included a complete floor show, featuring the Major Bowes Amateur Unit, booked by Raymond E. Schreiber of the Colonial Theatre where the unit was playing. (Among noted visitors last Saturday was Roscoe Ates, who put on a full-length impromptu show of his own and proved a real trouper. ) The stork's been busy — Adrian Rosen is celebrating a son, Harry Levinson a daughter, and Bill Carlson as grandson — among other recent "blessed events." Your scribe visited over the weekend in Columbus, and met a grand crowd at Tent No. 2. We had special visits with Chief Barker Virgil Jackson and Mrs. Jackson, and Cecil Saulsbury — real hosts. Tent No. U— Washington Doctors Will Be Kings for Day Next Monday; Anonymous Post Cards Stir Up Interest in Affair The barkers who have been worried about those anonymous postcards from a bloke named Moe may now relax. We'll tell you about them. Seems like the docs who belong to the group are going to hold sway on October 27 at a gala, super, collossal and to say the least, stupendous, event. All year, our Monday evenings have been Kinged by such stalwarts as Ed Melniker, Carter Barron, Archie Engel, Hardie Meakin, Dan Terrell, George Crouch, etc., etc. So for the Oct. 27 event it was decided to let the medicos, eye doctors, dentists, opticians, and the like have the floor, er, operating table, er, dentist chair. The boys schemed and schemed and finally hit on the idea of anonymous cards which would come in from various and sundry points. So. One day we get a card from New York, next day from Scranton, next day from Baltimore, next day from Atlanta, etc. Each one is signed by that elusive fellow named Moe. Each card tells us we are suffering from this thing, that thing and the other. And each is written by a woman. What fun these gals had penning the notes. Grrrrrr. The docs responsible for Oct. 27 are Frank T. Shyne, settings ; Jacob Kotz, deliveries ; Archie Engel, lighting effects ; Syl Danzansky, cavity locations ; J. R. Palkin, oral openings ; and M. G. Gibbs, chemical treatments. Carter Barron is chairman for Variety's double-header of events — the Gracie Fields show November 1 at Constitution Hall for the British War Relief and the 8th annual dinner dance on November 15 at the Willard. Tent No. 12— Twin Cities Kaplan and Rubinstein Arrange Homecoming Party tor Minn. Team; Al Steftes Sailing Down Mississippi There'll be big doings in the Twin City Variety club's rooms the night of Nov. 1, following the Minnesota-Northwestern homecoming football game. Lowell Kaplan and Charlie Rubenstein, co-chairmen of the entertainment committee, have arranged a big "homecoming" party. With hotels and night clubs always packed to the rafters on such nights, Chief Barker Ben Blotcky felt members would welcome a party in their clubrooms. The charge will be $3 a couple and there will be an orchestra for dancing, entertainment and an early Sunday morning breakfast. W. A. Steffes, former Chief Barker for two terms, is sailing down the Mississippi in a newly purchased 45-foot yacht. He's en route to California where he'll spend the winter. The trip will be made via Central America and the Panama Canal. Among the club members who went to Ann Arbor, Mich., for the Minnesota-Michigan football game were Eddie Ruben, Abe Kaplan, Charlie Rubenstein and Les Rees. Tent No. 13— Philadelphia High Kickers Night Celebrated; Harry Biben Presents Floor Show With Henry Friedman as Master of Ceremonies On Saturday night, October 18th, High Kickers Night was celebrated by members and their guests in honor of George Jessel and Sophie Tucker, featured in "High Kickers," currently playing at the Forrest Theatre. Producer Arthur Bloomingdale, Betty Bruce, Chaz Chase, Billy Vine and the entire company were among our honored guests. Barker Henry Friedman acted as Master of Ceremonies for an entertaining floor show presented by Barker Harry Biben. An outstanding novelty was the beautiful temporary proscenium and stage set with special light effects executed by our Dough-Guy, William A. MacAvoy, Jr. Sunday night's preview was well attended and we were honored with the presence of Barkers Clark M. Davis and guest of Washington. The Tuesday stag night is becoming one of the week's features with many of our new barkers attending. Preparations are under way for a mammoth Hallowe'en party to be held next Friday. Tent No. 17— Texas First Monday Luncheon Held; Christmas Card Campaign Outlined; Hallowe'en Party Planned tor Friday The first regular Monday Luncheon for the Fall Season was held by the Variety Club of Texas in their Club Quarters on Monday, October 20. A feature of the luncheon was the screening of the National Convention film, showing the activities of the various Tents during the past year. Following the luncheon, which was attended by a large number of Barkers, John Q. Adams, Chairman of the Christmas Card Committee apprised the Barkers of the campaign which his Committee had worked out for the sale of the Christmas Cards. Charles Meeker told of his plans for future luncheons during the Fall Season, calling for a very interesting array of speakers, etc. Joe Estes outlined the features which have been planned for the forthcoming Hallowe'en Party to be held in the Roof Garden of the Adolphus Hotel on Friday night, October 31. The affair is to be a costume party and Estes announced that prizes would be awarded for the best costumes. From the plans as arranged it is anticipated that a most enjoyable time will be had by all who attend. Paul Short, Chief Barker, heaped praise on the Houston Tent — and the following Barkers who were responsible for substantially increasing the Charity Fund Account in the recent Golf Tournament : Al Lever, Weldon Parsons, Mart Cole, George Heck, Mitch Lewis, Al Mortensen, Jack Groves, Dick Wheeler, Frank Wilke, Bob Kelley, Mart Cole, Lou Baxley, Burt King, and B. C. Gibson. The Chief Barker also generously extolled (Continued on Page 20)