1926 card Fred and Adele Astaire, opening night Ambassador Club London

$65.00 CAD

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Nice card with personal thank you message to Fred and Adele Astaire from the manager of the Club Hugo Rizzi.

Inside welcoming message from the Club, listing the entertainment that night: Ambassador Band (under Percival Mackey, and directed by Sam Raitz) and the tango dance duo Peggy and Cortez.

The Ambassador Club, an “exclusive dance club”, was located on Conduit Street in London UK,  opened in January 1926 and closed in May 1933. It boasted of the Prince of Wales as “Member #1’. In the 1920s the Club had ben much famed for its cuisine until its then owner, Hugo Rizzi, was killed in an air crash in1933 on the continent while in search of new delicacies for his table.

In pencil:

To my charming friends Adele and Fred Astaire. I am thinking now, the first they spoke to me about Cortez and Peggy. They are here with me now and helped me a great deal to the success of the AMBASSADOR.
To you charming little Adele
To you charming boy Fred
Thank you to recommend them to me
Hope very soon you will be in London and have with the wonderful Peggy and Cortez a jolly good evening together
--- Hugo Rizzi

 

Front cover illustration by Marcel Bloch, printed by Philippe Rosen, engraver in Paris.

Some light stains

4 pages

7 ⅜ x 5 ½”

 

Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz (1899–1987) was an American actor, dancer, singer, choreographer, and television presenter. He is widely considered the greatest dancer in film history.

 

Adele's sparkle and humor drew much of the attention, owing in part to Fred's careful preparation and sharp supporting choreography. She still set the tone of their act. But by this time, Astaire's dancing skill was beginning to outshine his sister's.

During the 1920s, Fred and Adele appeared on Broadway and the London stage. They won popular acclaim with the theater crowd on both sides of the Atlantic in shows such as Jerome Kern's The Bunch and Judy (1922), George and Ira Gershwin's Lady, Be Good (1924), and Funny Face (1927)....

Esteban (Stephen) Cortez and Peggy Barthen, were a couple of ballroom dancers from New York known simply as “Cortez and Peggy”.

Thomas Percival Montague Mackey (1894–1950) was a British pianist, composer, arranger, bandleader, publisher and band agent. He is best known for his work as a composer and musical director for over sixty films from 1933 to 1951. 

Marcel Bloch (1882-1966) was a famous French painter known for his paintings but also engravings and posters. This engraving was printed by Philippe Rosen, engraver in Paris,