Dine and Dance (but don’t drink…)

This ad is from the November 26, 1932 issue of the rather unimaginatively named “Cleveland Office Worker” magazine. Prohibition was still in force (though on its last legs) — which is why there is pointedly no reference to drinking alcohol in either the artwork or text copy.

My grandmother was the vocalist for Merle Jacobs (and his peerless orchestra!) in 1932 – ’33. Here they all are, looking quite sober and respectable.

A few years later, with Prohibition firmly in the nation’s tail lights, the evening was obviously incomplete without a fizzy cocktail and some lively entertainment, here provided by Cina’s Gypsy Serenaders — with of course, my grandmother, whose stage name (it amazes me still) was Chita Lozano.

Her real name was Betty Bleich.