Dress up for some Puttin’ On The Ritz fun

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It is time to bring out the glad rags and dust off those dancing shoes! The Roaring Twenties are coming back and you don’t want to miss the party!

The Tillsonburg and District Historical Society is going to throw a bash! Now why would they choose to go back to the 1920s and why exactly were the 1920s roaring?

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Well, don’t forget 1914-18 was WWI. Canada may not have been physically as devastated as Europe and other countries were but we lost 22,996 people and 149,732 wounded.

Immediately following the war was the Influenza pandemic which killed another 30,000-55,000 Canadians between 1918-20. Life for so many had been shattered.

The 1920s however also enjoyed a post war economic boom as the world began to rebuild their shattered homelands and lives. North America boomed, as did new technologies, as electricity became available to the masses: fridges, radio, moving pictures, vacuum cleaners… and the Ford Motor Company was pumping out automobiles that were actually affordable! Women had gone to work in the war years and liked the freedom it gave. They wanted the vote and they were not going to be weighed down by all the rules and layers of clothing either! The women raised the hems of their dowdy gowns, tossed out the corsets and chaperones, added some glitter and bobbed their long tresses! The Flapper was born!

Life was changing fast because attitudes had changed after that ‘war to end all wars.’ The world was free! Money was flowing again and life needed to be lived! Although written later, a line from a Cole Porter musical defined this period: In olden days a glimpse of stocking was looked at as something shocking, but heaven knows anything goes! (From Anything Goes in 1934.)

But through the pain of the war and rebuilding, something was missing! There was not a drop to drink across Canada! The Ontario Temperance Act had barred the sale of distilled spirits in 1916 (until 1926), however the country was not exactly dry through that period. There was an organized, underground business in making liquor. Smugglers abounded and many were making bathtub gin and other libations at home! The United States went dry in 1920 and their thirsty people looked north for supplies.

Both sides of the border saw swanky supper clubs, speakeasies and dance halls spring up at which you could enjoy dinner, dancing, shows, ragtime, jazz and on the side… illegal hooch.

Next year is the 100th Anniversary of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ and you can have a taste of the fun to come October 19th at this year’s TDHS fundraising gala Puttin’ On The Ritz! The Carriage Hall, at 25 Brock Street West will become a speakeasy! There will be dinner, dancing, photo booth, cash bar and a very special performance by The Hickory Hills Players, fresh from their successful run of ‘The Night Chicago Died’ at Theatre Tillsonburg! This gang of gangsters will make the evening sing!

Now this is the perfect opportunity to actually put on the ritz (get dressed up) or you could come in costume? (I will come in costume, hubby will not.)

Gentlemen, whether you prefer your Puttin’ On The Ritz by Bing Crosby or Taco, take a listen to the song and you can come dressed as a million dollar trooper like Gary Cooper, with high hats and arrow collars, or maybe as a gangster – dark suit and white spats! Ladies you can come as Jazz Baby, in your flapper dress, feathers, beads and razz-ma-tazz! It’s fun. You might just get the chance to learn the Charleston! But don’t miss this roaring good time.

Tickets are $55 each – with proceeds to The Tillsonburg & District Historical Society – and they are available at Annandale National Historic Site. For more information call Annandale NHS at 519-842-2294 or Sherry Hamilton at 519-688-9854.

The Historical Society does have a great connection to the 1920s for it was established in 1973 by interested citizens, headed by Preston Williams, to administer the Town’s first museum being created by a group of students. That museum by Lake Lisgar was a 1920s-era dance hall! Today they support Annandale National Historic Site and find ways to preserve and research history. They oversaw the restoration of the Pioneer Graveyard; helped purchase a microfilm machine for the museum; just completed restoration of the Memorial Park Pillars; they give two bursaries for students in history; and in the summer they present the popular Music On The Lawn.