{"id":11199,"date":"2017-04-26T21:12:16","date_gmt":"2017-04-27T01:12:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillyhistory.wpengine.com\/?p=11199"},"modified":"2017-04-29T16:16:44","modified_gmt":"2017-04-29T20:16:44","slug":"pearls-on-ridge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/2017\/04\/pearls-on-ridge\/","title":{"rendered":"Pearls on Ridge"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ridge<\/a>
Ridge Avenue, West from 2064, December 6, 1960 (PhillyHIstory.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cDid you know,\u201d asked the\u00a0Tribune\u2019s<\/em> Joe Rainey in July 1931, \u201cthat never in the history of theatricals has one playhouse presented to the amusement lover as many stars as the Pearl Theatre\u2026in the past six months?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA vaudeville and picture house\u201d at 21st<\/sup>\u00a0Street and Ridge Avenue, the Pearl opened Thanksgiving Day, 1927. First up was Lottie Gee, \u201cthe scintillating star of \u2018Chocolate Dandies,\u2019 \u2018Running Wild\u2019 and \u2018Shuffle Along.\u2019\u201d Edith Spencer performed her “clever, original and unique song and dance numbers.\u201d The audience enjoyed Sheldon Brooks, the Okeh recording artist, as well as the Taskiana Four<\/a>, “melodic harmonizers without peers.\u201d Don Heywood and his New York Syncopators were joined by Beano, \u201cThe Dancing Phool\u201d and Watts and Ringold provided a comic finale before the \u201cfeature picture:\u201d Tom Mix and his horse Tony in \u201cSilver Valley<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Come end enjoy vaudeville and photoplays at their best,” promised the Pearl. “Watch our shows each week grow bigger and greater. Nothing in the history of amusements in Philadelphia has even equaled our effort for novelty, variety, comedy, ensemble, beauty and importance.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Pearl paired up Wilbur Sweatman<\/a>, \u201cThe Colored King of Jazz with \u201cThe Loves of Carmen<\/a>\u201d starring Delores Del Rio. Soon after came Clara Bow in her Paramount production, “Hula<\/a>,” directed by Victor Fleming. But not before a live\u00a0feature with heavyweight pugilist George Godfrey<\/a>, “The Black Shadow” and Wilbur De Paris<\/a> with his band.<\/p>\n

A seat in the orchestra? Fifty cents in the evening, thirty cents for a matinee. Balcony seats? Thirty five cents in the evening, twenty cents for a matinee.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeet your family, your girl or boy friend but do not stand outside or in the lobby. Meet them where you will be comfortable while waiting in our Salon on our Mezzanine Floor.\u201d The ushers\u2014and the Pearl’s want ads said only “light colored\u201d and \u201cgood looking\u201d applicants need apply\u2014would welcome you.<\/p>\n

“One of the greatest dispensers of rhythm in the land today,” Cab Calloway, stood for a long run, from January to July, 1931. \u201cNight after night, millionaires have been seen rubbing elbows with the colored patrons…when their desires have carried them to this uptown house to see the paramount colored performers of the land under the spotlight. Many have driven from sixty to one hundred miles to see some of the sable actors and actresses who have made history for themselves…\u201d<\/p>\n

“Colored people didn\u2019t have to go to a white house to see a stellar attraction.\u201d Instead, “whites had to come to a colored house”\u2014and according the Tribune<\/em>, \u201cit looked as if they liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAll races and classes have apparently been willing to form lines sometimes two blocks long just to gain entrance and see the ‘Duke,’ the ‘Cab,’ (and) the ‘Bojangles.” Ethel Waters, Bennie Moten and his band, Nina Mae McKinney (the star of \u201cHallelujah\u201d) and Earl (Snakehips) Tucker<\/a>\u00a0who had recently headlined at the Lincoln<\/a> downtown at Broad and Lombard.\u00a0Audiences applauded George Dewey Washington<\/a>, Eddie Green, Tim Moore, Chick Webb<\/a>, Miller and Lyles and Butterbeans and Susie.<\/p>\n

The 1,400-seat Pearl and the other Ridge Avenue Jazz emporiums are all gone. But there\u2019s no stopping memory. On Saturday May 6th<\/sup>, Jazz history advocate Faye Anderson will lead a \u201cRidge Avenue Stroll Through Philly\u2019s Jazz History<\/a>\u201d starting at the site of the Blue Note at 15th<\/sup> and Ridge. You\u2019ll spot her holding a sign proclaiming “This Place Matters.”<\/p>\n

The 13-stop stroll, organized by PlanPhilly as part of their\u00a0Jane\u2019s Walk series<\/a>, will visit and recall the entire set of star-struck sites, from the Nite Cap, the Bird Cage Lounge, Butler\u2019s Paradise Caf\u00e9, Ridge Cotton Club, Checker Caf\u00e9, Mr. Chips Bar, Irene\u2019s Caf\u00e9, and, of course, the Pearl on Ridge.<\/p>\n

[Sources: Irvin R. Glazer, Philadelphia Theatres, A-Z<\/em> (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986); The Philadelphia Tribune:<\/em> \u201cJoe Wood to Manage New Pearl Theatre.\u201d Nov 17, 1927; \u201cWant Ad, November 18, 1927; \u201cLottie Gee, Edith Spencer and Sheldon Brooks Open The Pearl,\u201d November 24, 1927; \u201cNew Million Dollar Colored Theatre,\u201d (Advertisement) December 5, 1927; \u00a0\u201cThe Pearl Theatre,\u201d December 8, 1927; \u00a0\u201cSnappy Show At Pearl,\u201d December 20, 1927; \u201cWhere to Go and What to See,\u201d May 14, 1931; \u201cTheatres: Did You Know That?,\u201d by Joe Rainey, July 2, 1931; and \u201cJules Bledsoe at Pearl,\u201d May 10, 1932.]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cDid you know,\u201d asked the\u00a0Tribune\u2019s Joe Rainey in July 1931, \u201cthat never in the history of theatricals has one playhouse presented to the amusement lover as many stars as the Pearl Theatre\u2026in the past six months?\u201d \u201cA vaudeville and picture house\u201d at 21st\u00a0Street and Ridge Avenue, the Pearl opened Thanksgiving Day, 1927. First up was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11199\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.phillyhistory.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}