Show THE OGDEN STANDARD EXAiMINER— SUNDAY MORNING OCTOBER 21 1934 AQJ DE"D r m it u n 0 it mil- - k ! 4 n y v —" ii i i ii ' a— v 'i — v J 1' 1 1 1 r 7 u m m m A 4 The Beaux Arts chanty ball mixed Eve Joan of Arc and Miss d' 5 s ft" f By George Al Wieda shun such places of entertainment have at one time or another been subjected to the tempering influence of Earl Carroll's or George White's gaudy and arty presentations of near-nakedne- undignified!" are some of the milder comments that have been heard about the ball which found friendly when she and young James Murray married privately and quietly She should have waited and given society a chance to launch her matrimonial bark with more ceremony the comment ran but all had to admit that the young couple's four months of secret bliss" were splendidly ro-mantic and added to the gaiety of being young I 4 'Xr:W- V 4 i v- - in" 'V: Heies i ' i -- rvt vx ir-rv The "Diamond Lil" of Mrs Arthur T Williams lent a dash' ing note to A -- ' 1? - Y 1 e's 5 hoax wedding in which the actress daughter of Mrs Granville Fortes-cii- e fooled not only all her friends but the insurance man who played the part of pastor for the ceremony "Some acquaintances couldn't forgive the injury done to the dignity of the marriage vows1 but these were comparatively few Then came that Beaux Arts Ball! social That straw broke the be camel's back Not as might supposed because some of the young women who took part in the sensational parade ot "Bathing Beauties of the Ages" pageant exposed themselves in truly artistic fashion! The reason' was' more subtle It 'showed such bad taste!" as one : i 7 f- - J dowagers And all might have been well had not one of the charity sponsors of the affair objected to the fact that Mary Louise Peck social registerite had impersonated Joan of Arc in a thoroughly modest bathing suit complete with ruffles shield and buckler The impersonation was regarded as an irreverence to St Joan' and as such St Joseph's Hospital wanted nothing to do with money obtained through such an exhibition That's when the fun really began ! the ball was a finan-ciProfits totaled only $522 in flop spite of the fact that on Broadway the production would have been one of the sensations of the year And you can bet that the shuddering elders are glad the ball wasiTf held on I Broadway remember well Mae West's experitoo They ences when she presented shows that didn't meet the approval of police censors Hie very thought that some of their j daughters and granddaughters might have had to say "Good Morning Judge" in scanty j costumes before an ogling court was enough to develop serious cases 6f the pARADOXICAg ry youthful socialite appeared tvh en she took the Exe at the Beaux Arts1 Ball part of hundreds of young folk from the wealthy summer resorts of Long Island took part in the festivities and seemed to enjoy themselves in the grand manner Because it was a rainy night many of their parents stayed home so it was not until re- ports of the function were published that they found out what they had missed— or escaped depending on the point of view The high point of the evening's festivities d was the elaborate pageant with all It Beauties the of cast: The Bathing Ages had been written by Pakley Bidwell social secretary of the club and word had got around Eva SJiaw that it was to be a Dorothy McHugh Virginia Wilkinson Ann Storrs Elizabeth Brigham Mary Louise Peck and even some of the younger matrons were to take part The opening scene of this unused parade of bathing beauties proved that it hadn't been al blue-bloo- uper-spectac- le overadvertised Eve of course as the first beauty of all Eva Shaw time was the first bathing beauty had been appropriately cast for that role and reverted to Eden for her costume a stylish girdle of fig leaves augmented by a blond wig The rest of the costume consisted of just Eva - v - 4 - - 'V ' i - - Mar$ Louise Peck Jore a bathing suit and Here she is represented Joan of Arc ball the niih her escort at photographed j John Wilson V jitters ' l oi fact few had any occasion to the conduct of the guests worry because-botand their costumes were beyond jreproach Some tCopyright 1334 by EvryWeek Magazine) As a matter scenes showed the evolution influence in bathing costumes — a modest Cleopatra bespangled and regal in the Egyptian manner a Messalina in the R04 man tradition and so 011 through history Mary Louise Peck was hardly as daring as the real Joan of Arc but she had no historic authority that the French heroine ever appeared in a bathing suit anywhere which probably ex- plains some of the furore raised later SUCCEEDING The Pilgrim Fathers (John Alden and Miles Standish included) would neyer have recognized the Priscilli presented by Elizabeth Brig-haThey never saw sa much of Priscilla— — but in the modern manner she was overdressed m: K for the surf And Pocahontas — well Ann Storrs simply went to town in a collection of leathers ' that masked the latest style in beach costumes A succession of attractive debs and matrons brought history up to the time of Mrs Arthur Williams' who emulated Mae West with feathsuit that er boa jeweled garter and writhe with Lil Diamond would have made ' ' ' 1? envy McThe grand finale presented Dorothy Hugh as the bathing beauty of 1944— and while the costume" was not very elaborate it was far from being startling by modern Manhattan hip-leng- 'illlllllilllllillOlllllllllllllllllllli' th standards The respected ladies who decide what is in good taste learned about these things by word of mouth and news pictures which explains why they suspected the advent of a social revolution demanding immediate action and a firm hand Yet they are not alone Jn their disapproval of the heedless conduc of the younger generation v One of the New-Yprsociety reporters wjio has heard much and seen more commenting on the midsummer Beaux Arts Ball wrote Any- The Hollywood tiling for a leer ot a laugh and Paradise do these things so much more prophylactically- and better" If you have any doubts about the show ask Alfred E Smith the former presidential candidate next time you see him He was there And somehow or other he didn't seem to be enjoying it an awful lot- either - - - 1 J r n- - k the i£ay Eva Sharp -- 1- :!V xoc-i V s t iiittiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiifiH : i rs commentator explained It is true that most New Yorkers with money enough to go places and do things are thoroughly blase about exhibitions ol The floor shows of the restaunudity which in rants they dine often feature spectacles of voluptuous beauty that leave nothing to the imagination and even those who f £ wSW There were those who had sufficient tense of humor to laiign Qver Helene over-wea- us? 1 ss ' ' For-tescu- '4 Iur-keyTr- ot climaxed not only the resort season but a long succession of events that have tried the patience of those sticklers for the traditions For a long time the ruling dowagers have been trying to ignore or pass over lightly the bewildering succession of madcap elopements annulments lightning divorces and undignified parties willing to attribute these high jinks doings to youthful effervescense and juvenile indiscretions When Janet Snowden the oil fortune heiress married in haste and took only five days to repent the older folks were inclined to symThey regretted that the pathize with her New York courts refused to grant her an nulment and rejoiced when the Mexican courts severed the ties that bound her to her Italian nobleman husband They were properly horrified too when the word got around that a popular young bachelors dinner party had lasted for four alcoholic days and might be running yet had he not unexpectedly cut off the supply of liquor NN WHITING 'w i 1 QF "Shocking!" "Unbelievable!" "Completely jA - course it nas taicen a long rime io gei lsed to seeing a lot of delicate young The women in the act of defying pneumonia Victorian tradition of ankle length concealment died hard and if you want to know how hard just consult thePnewspaper files of 20 years ago That was the day of the Bunny Hug Grpaly Bear and other zoological dances — dances which won the condemnation of reformers and officials because the gyrations attending them were considered unrefined The hard way up to the present state of has had numerous detours broadmindedness There has been the annual Greenwich Village Ball for instance at which the Bohemians cavort with abandon and sometimes less The big- gest names from the social register are among the box holders They go early and stay late from the proceedings aloof but remain quite It is no wonder then that the younger set didn't give a second thought to the spectacular events at the Beaux Arts Ball that stunned the 4 de-fende- kJ v ft ' I V il i LHE blast of criticism that exploded suddenness and inwith bomb-lik- e tensity among the very best families of the much multiplied Four Hun dred in the wake of exclusive Atlantic Beach Club's daring Beaux Arts Ball has convinced New York's reigning dowagers that they are face to face with a social revolution engineered by the younger smart set and requiring immediate action i II S- - America of 1944 in a way the 00 found too daring and the profits were rejected by the beneficiary v - i i ' t i "iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinioiiiciii: t— L m |