The Prom Ballroom was located at 1190 University Ave. in St. Paul, Minnesota. It opened in 1941 and closed in 1987. Here is the description from MinneWiki, The Minnesota Music Encyclopedia:
The Prom Ballroom was a dance hall on University Avenue in St. Paul's Midway neighborhood. Glenn Miller and his Orchestra played the grand opening in 1941, to be followed by other well-known artists including Count Basie, and Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey.This postcard was originally published in 1941, the year the Prom Ballroom opened. The marquee shows the names of some fairly well-known orchestras: Cliff Kyes, Orrin Tucker - Bonnie Baker, and Ralph Slade. Dancing was on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Park-N-Eat Fountain Grill sold hamburgers for 5¢.
Swing, polka, jazz, and rock n' roll groups played the space, spanning such diverse musical acts from Lawrence Welk to Buddy Holly and Crickets, to The Police. The house orchestra was the Jules Herman Orchestra.
The Prom offered a 9000 square foot hard maple floor. Small booths and tables ringed the edge, where dancers could rest and order food.
The Orrin Tucker Orchestra and Bonnie Baker were featured in the 1941 movie You're the One, a 'B' movie that was written for the orchestra.
You always come up with the coolest stuff! I love the postcard, the history and the old music videos!
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week, and thanks so much for your visit.
Take care,
Kathy
That postcard is just awesome! The composition is great, as are the details like the musical notes and dancers.
ReplyDeleteLove that top postcard. They really did a good job on the layout vs. others I've seen with just simple photo blocks. Thanks for sharing!!
ReplyDeleteMy father, Don Meyer played sax, clarinet, and accordian with Cliff Kyes and I found his his schedule souvenir card for 1947 where he underlined VACATION January 6 to 16and put 3 !!! which he mailed to my mother.This was some schedule! He also kept a photo journal and looking at the pictures is just fantastic.
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