3rd Anniversary Party with the Hot Sardines on Feb. 25

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February 2012Wit’s End and the Dorothy Parker Society invite you to celebrate the Social Life of the Jazz Age with Hot Jazz from The Hot Sardines!

Saturday, Feb. 25, 7pm-Midnight
Flute Midtown, 205 West 54th Street, near Broadway

Come in your finest 1920s & 1930s vintage or vintage inspired evening attire and celebrate in style with live hot jazz, vintage cocktails and good times!

Toast the 3rd Anniversary of Wit’s End with a Gin Tasting and the Manhattan Debut of Dorothy Parker American Gin, from the New York Distilling Company! The new Brooklyn distillery will be bringing in the “first batch” to Wit’s End! Enjoy your favorite gin cocktails tonight…

**Vintage attire required**

Free dance lesson at 8:30 pm from Jeri Lynn Astra Herbert & Neal Groothuis. Learn the steps that your great-grandparents knew so well. Live music to follow.

Tickets are $12 each and can be purchased at the door or in advance online via TicketWeb.com.

Table reservations are available and encouraged; telephone Flute Midtown reservation line at 212.265.5169 to reserve a table.

2012 Kicks Off With Tribute to Texas Guinan

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Jan. 28, 2012, party at Flute Midtown

Jan. 28, 2012, party at Flute Midtown

We are very happy to announce that the first Wit’s End party of the new year will be Jan. 28, 2012, at Flute Midtown. We are delighted to have the return engagement of Miss Cherry Delight and the Big Tent Jazz Band, who thrilled us last summer.

We will open the doors at 7 p.m. and cocktails will commence immediately at Flute Midtown, 205 W. 54th Street. Come in your finest vintage or vintage-inspired evening attire and celebrate in style! This month we are saluting the legendary nightclub owner Texas Guinan!

Texas was the proprietor of Club Intime, one of the most popular speakeasies of the Prohibition Era, and as luck would have it, Club Intime was located in the same space as Flute Midtown! We will literally be dancing in the same spot as Texas and her notorious boyfriend, the gangster and showman, Larry Fay. Texas was born 128 years ago this month, so let’s celebrate one of the greatest nightlife creatures Manhattan has ever toasted.

We will have the party kick off at 7. Free dance lessons by our good friends Jeri Lynn Astra Herbert and Neal Groothuis will be at 8:30. Come out and learn a few steps before the band goes on.

There will be cocktail specials and good friends, some of us have not been together in a few months. We hope you will all come out and have a great time with us. Tell your friends.

This month the cover is just $10! Advance tickets are on sale now.

Art Deco Society of NY Lecture Dec. 6

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Dear Wit’s End Member,

The Art Deco Society Of New York
Invites You to

Charles Gesmar

1900 – 1928

a Slide Lecture by Angelo Luerti

DATE: Tuesday, December 6th, 2011

TIME: 6:00 – 8:00 PM

LOCATION:  New-York Historical Society
170 Central Park West @ 77th Street

COST: $15 ADSNY members, $20 guests  (Wit’s End patrons can attend for the member rate of $15!)

RSVP: Reservations required. 212-679-3326

Payment may be made at the door.

The Art Deco Society of New York proudly invites you to attend a slide lecture by Angelo Luerti, who is flying in from Italy to make this memorable presentation for our membership and guests.  We are also pleased to invite members of the New-York Historical Society 50+ Club and members of the Beaux Arts Alliance to this outstanding program. Mr. Luerti’s new book, Charles Gesmar 1900-1928, is a tribute to one of the greatest designers of costumes, posters, and illustrations during the Golden Age of the Paris Music Hall in the 1920s. Gesmar was best known for his work for the great Parisian star, Mistinguett, but also created costumes and posters for luminaries including Barbette, Maurice Chevalier, Dolly Sisters, Gilda Gray, Earl Leslie, Jane Marnac and Mitty and Tillio. Gesmar, whose Jewish family name was Geismar, was a brilliant talent in his short life and his work was amazingly prolific. He produced over twelve thousand costumes and 110 posters and program covers.

Mr. Luerti is also the author of Not Only Erté: Costume Design for the Paris Music Hall 1918 -1940.

ADSNY is importing both collectible books with cover and case in a beautiful black silk and will be for sale at the wholesale price of $100 each. These books are a must for any Deco aficionado’s library and will make a memorable holiday gift.

Charles Gesmar: 1900 – 1928

Not Only Erté 1918 – 1940

Please note, this event will be one of the first programs being held in the recently renovated New-York Historical Society’s auditorium. Friends of Wit’s End can attend for the ADSNY member rate of $15!

Hope to see you there!

Kathryn Hausman,
President
The Art Deco Society Of New York

Art Deco Society of NY

385 Fifth Avenue,

Suite 510

New York, NY 10016

artdeco.org

(212) 679-DECO

Tribute to Diane Nov. 11

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Our friends at The Champagne Riot are doing a benefit in Diane’s honor at Dominion in NYC!

“In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.”
-Louise Brooks

On September 25th, the world lost a shining star when our dear friend Diane Naegel passed due to complications related to breast cancer. And just like a star, Diane burned so brightly during her life that we can continue to admire her light even now.
… Diane Naegel was a luminous presence at the center of New York’s vintage lifestyle scene. The founder of vintage lifestyle magazine Zelda and the co-producer of popular vintage party Wits’ End with her fiancee, Don Spiro, Diane was a self-styled flapper who brought her wit, creativity and beauty to the city’s most elegant events. She could always be counted on to share a quick smile, a gentle quip, or a fashion tip from the 1920s.

More notable even than her accomplishments, however, was the vitality she brought to every occasion. If you knew Diane Naegel, you know that she didn’t just bring life to the party… she WAS the party.

We know Diane would want laughter and clinked cocktails, not tears, to celebrate her life and memory. That’s why we’re inviting you to join The Champagne Riot and an all-star cast of Diane’s favorite musicians and burlesque dancers on 11-11-11 at Dominion NY for a vintage jazz party in Diane’s honor. All proceeds will be donated to a memorial fund in Diane’s honor.

We anticipate a night of merriment, laughter and shared memories, and we hope you’ll come celebrate with us.

WITH MUSIC BY:

Gelber & Manning
The Red Hook Ramblers
Hot Sardines
LES Hot Club
Molly Ryan
Dulce De Leche
& More!

AND BURLESQUE BY:

Angie Pontani
Helen Pontani
Amber Ray
Jo Boobs
Gal Friday
Medianoche
Grace Gotham
Pandora
Jezebel Express
Gin Minsky

WITH EMCEE:
Dandy Wellington

November 11th, 2011
8pm-1am

Dominion NY
428 Lafayette St (near Astor Place)
www.dominionny.com

Vintage dress is requested, though not required.

$15 advance /$20 at the door.
All proceeds will be donated to a memorial fund in Diane’s honor.

Tickets available at http://everfinepresents.inticketing.com/events/177024

We are excited to announce that Club Wit’s End will be back in January of 2012!