ALTON - In the late months of 1924 and early months of 1925, the Joy Club threw dances every Wednesday night and Saturday night at The London. The London, formerly College Inn, sat at the corner of Main Street and College Avenue in Upper Alton. There were also special nights of dancing to celebrate holidays, and an ad in the Alton Evening Telegraph on December 30, 1924, invited revelers to the New Year’s Eve dance “from eight ‘till early in the morning.” Admission for gentlemen was 75 cents, but ladies got in free.
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Christmas Eve 1924 and Valentine’s Day 1925 were also celebrated by the Joy Club at The London, and a “sod-busters ball” mixed things up in March 1925. The dance was “said to be the first farm-yard frolic ever attempted in the city.” The Joy Club promised “something unique in the way of entertainment when the hay slingers and apple knockers meet. Persons attending have been requested to come attired in clothes appropriate to the occasion.” The sod-busters ball was open to the public.
The previous fall, the Joy Club held dances at Tolle’s Grove in Godfrey, including a Masquerade Dance on Wednesday, October 29, 1924, described as “the biggest event of the season. Pumpkin Pies n’everything.” When things warmed up again in the late spring of 1925, the Joy Club moved back outside. The last dance at The London was on April 29, 1925, and the Joy Club leased the Yost Pavilion (on N. Rodgers Avenue) for the summer. Open air dances began there on May 6 and were held once a week on Wednesday nights.
The New Year’s Eve revelers at The London may have been dancing the Charleston, which was one of the most popular dance styles of the early 1920s. The Charleston dance style was influenced by African culture and has its origins in Juba dance. Elements of the Charleston dance emerged amongst Black communities in and around Charleston, South Carolina. Jazz pianist James P. Johnson composed a song called “The Charleston” for the musical “Runnin’ Wild,” which played on Broadway from October 29, 1923, to June 28, 1924.
By 1924, the dance craze had swept the nation, and flappers were dancing the Charleston in cities large and small. Entertainer Josephine Baker danced the Charleston throughout the 1920s, giving it a humorous feel by making funny faces while performing it.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEH6eDpjgRw
Baker, born in St. Louis in 1906, performed on Broadway before moving to Paris in 1925, where she became one of the most popular music-hall entertainers in France. During World War II, she worked with the French Résistance and the Red Cross (she was later awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Legion of Honour with the rosette of the Résistance). Later, she returned to the United States to participate in civil rights demonstrations. She died in Paris in 1975.
![Casino de Paris. La joie de Paris. Joséphine Baker : [affiche] https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/ark:/73873/pf0002142030](https://static.riverbender.com/media/12232412848-ark__73873_pf0002142030_v0001.jpg)
Sources
Britannica, T. Editors of Encyclopaedia. "James P. Johnson." Encyclopedia Britannica, November 13, 2024.https://www.britannica.com/biography/James-P-Johnson
Brown, Dr. Scott E. “A Century of The Charleston: James P. Johnson’s Enduring Legacy.” The Syncopated Times, 2023.https://syncopatedtimes.com/a-century-of-the-charleston-james-p-johnsons-enduring-legacy/
Casino de Paris. La joie de Paris. Joséphine Baker : [affiche]. Paris: France Affiches, [vers 1930] [16] Bibliothèque Historique de la Ville de Paris.https://bibliotheques-specialisees.paris.fr/ark:/73873/pf0002142030
“‘The Charleson’ (Dance Style), A Story.” African American Registry, 2024.https://aaregistry.org/story/the-charleston-roots-and-tradition-passed-down-through-dance/
“Dance the Old Year Out.” Alton Telegraph (Alton, IL), December 29, 1924.
“Joy Club Entertained with Dance.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), October 9, 1924.
“Joy Club Leases Yost’s Pavilion.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), April 29, 1925.
“Joy Club to Give Dance.” Alton Evening Telegraph (Alton, IL), March 13, 1925.
“Large Crowd Attends Joy Club Dance.” Alton Telegraph (Alton, IL), December 11, 1924.
Parkhatskaya, Ksenia. “The History of the Charleston.” Secrets of Solo, 2020.https://secretsofsolo.com/2020/08/the-history-of-the-charleston-dance/
Internet Broadway Database. “Runnin’ Wild.” The Broadway League, 2024.https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/runnin-wild-9308
“Valentine Dance at London Hall.” Alton Telegraph (Alton, IL), February 12, 1925.
“Siren of the Resistance: The Artistry and Espionage of Josephine Baker.” The National World War Two Museum, 2020.https://www.nationalww2museum.org/war/articles/siren-resistance-artistry-and-espionage-josephine-baker
