Quote:
Originally Posted by CityBoyDoug
Hollywood Canteen
I know that officers would not attend this sort of venue....for many reasons.
First off, their mere presence there would be awkward and they would, by military tradition, always go to the front of the waiting line.
Plus, the entire theme was an enlisted men's club anyway. Officers would never be inside such a raunchy place as the Canteen. Its just too low-class for their supposed high status.
Finally, officers would know better than to go to the Canteen. Officer's Regulations & Rules strictly forbid such fraternization.
Want to find military officers in the Hollywood area....we might try the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel.
Oh, incidentally, officers do 'fraternize' with enlisted types but that's another story for another day.
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The Ambassador...or the Biltmore Bar, perhaps?
Quote:
Originally Posted by John Maddox Roberts
Incidentally, does anyone know if the Canteen had any sort of separate facilities for officers and enlisted men? The services of the day really frowned on fraternizing,though the Hollywood facility would probably have emphasized all-American egalitarianism.
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A quote from a soldier reminiscing about visiting the Canteen:
"It was the only
good place in the country where the boys could go but the officers couldn't.
They could go anywhere. The GI's didn't have money to go anywhere."
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The Canteen was to be used exclusively by enlisted servicemen of the United States and Allied Nations.
No military officers would be permitted on the floor at any time; civilians who were not connected with
the entertainment business would also be prohibited.
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"The Canteen cost a great deal to run since everything was free to the guests, but not everything
the Canteen needed was donated and to gain some income for their needs the "Angel's Table" was born,
at which four people each paid $25 for the privilege to sit and watch the goings on inside the Canteen.
Located on a raised dais in the southeast corner in the back of the main room, and covered with a
gold-fringed cloth,the table was sold out every night for weeks in advance.
The idea was so popular that a second table was added. On average, these tables brought in $6,000 a
month, and was one of the best sources of revenue for meeting the Canteen's operating expenses."
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Here's two photos showing the two tables on the raised dais in the corner:
Extreme right, below center:
Close up:
I guess they used it for other occasion's, too. Here's Joan Leslie passing out pieces of her birthday cake to the servicemen
from this, according to the wall sign, "Reserved for Special Guests" area. The cake says: "Joan, from the Boys of the
Hollywood Canteen."
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SIDEBAR: In reading about the Canteen's expenses, one of these expenses was "a single-page, legal sized mimeographed sheet titled "Chatter"
and was created soon after it opened. It was handed out to servicemen as they walked through the doors. It covered entertainment highlights,
the following week's schedule of band's [yay, look what'll be here when we're shipped out!] and tid-bits of information about Hollywood."
I found this surprising as I've never seen any photos of the servicemen holding these sheets; there are no photographs of any of them in the
sources. They don't do it in the film, either. Wonder if they kept these while they were doing it?
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It appears, though, some officers were allowed into the Canteen, per this: "Besides the 'Angel's Tables', the only other accommodations for special
guests -- but was not income-producing -- was a small room on the second floor where officers and their female companions could look through a
window to watch the night's entertainment. Because the Canteen was for the exclusive use of enlisted men, and no officers were permitted on the first
floor, the second floor arrangement was a comfortable solution all around."
If they weren't allowed, I don't know why they needed a solution, but anyway.
Here's a photo of that room:
Doesn't look that comfortable to sit around and peer through a small window. Also, it looks like the windows could open. I can't totally read that sign on the
wall, but it re-inforces that enlisted men ONLY are allowed on the first floor.
This photo shows the window they're peering through at the center top. (You can see the rocking chair back.) The window to the left of it and under the
clock and Tag Dance sign, is a control room for the stage. (What's a tag dance?)
I believe that this room is also where they sent servicewomen who came to the canteen. They seemed to have been tolerated more than welcomed. If
they wanted to they could go to this room. Most servicewomen seem disappointed that they could go here, but could only observe and not
participate in the activities. It wasn't until mid-1944 that they got some better treatment and were able to go to a more open mezzanine area.
I believe we see that area in this photo in the upper right hand corner:
By the way, the dancing couple are Veloz & Yolanda!
They were previously mentioned in some earlier posts:
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=25429
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=30816
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...ostcount=30858
The Canteen photos and information are form these two sources:
"The Hollywood Canteen" by Mitchell and Torrence
"Dance Floor Democracy" by Sherie Tucker
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M P, this is actually Olivia de Havilland and Anne Shirley.
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