What Visiting The Iconic Rainbow Room In The 1930s Was Really Like

May 2024 · 2 minute read

If you were invited to opening night at the Rainbow Room, you knew you were somebody. On the evening of October 3, 1934, the Rainbow Room opened its doors to an exclusive group — a true who's who of New York City elite. The opening was a "white tie" event that included everyone from the Astors to the Whitneys and doubled as a fundraiser for the Lenox Hill Neighborhood Association, The New York Times society column reported the next day. Partygoers dined, drank, and danced for hours, treated to entertainment by Radio City Music Hall organist Richard Leibert, singing by Metropolitan Opera bass-baritone Arthur Anderson, and spoken-word performances with piano accompaniment by French diseuse Lucienne Boyer.

By all accounts, people were overwhelmingly impressed by everything the Rainbow Room had to offer, with one notable exception. John D. Rockefeller Jr., who did not drink and had previously supported Prohibition, was at least uncomfortable that evening, if not altogether embarrassed by what transpired, according to Daniel Okrent, author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist book on Rockefeller, "Great Fortune." Rockefeller neither congratulated nor admonished the Rainbow Room's creators for what he likely saw as an unnecessarily indulgent endeavor, but he rarely returned to the venue. Still, the column inches devoted to the Rainbow Room's opening party in the most important papers drew enough attention so that he could focus on other matters without worrying about how seats would get filled.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB9kmlobmljZMOqv8itoKefXZ6wsLrInGSrmZmjr7DDjKumqKVdZoZ0fNJmqZ6ZnKHGbrjIpJxo