Editor's Log Grand Ball Tonight!
Polkadate March 2020. Grand Ball Tonight! was a common eye-catcher in the advertisements prior to World War II to announce public dances. Our look at the Roaring 20s continues with a focus on dance halls.
1920: it was a time for citizens to begin healing the horrors of World War I and the Spanish Flu pandemic. The face of Central Texas had changed with the return of men who several years earlier had left the farms as innocent boys and had “seen the elephant.” The postwar economy was beginning to take off; the social scene had considerably loosened up; and church and veteran’s organizations were being formed to bring folks together for the common good. These organizations began having functions and, as they were good Central Texans, they wanted to dance. Only back then they were referred to as “Balls” and everything was advertised as “Grand” or “Mammoth.”
Prior to the war, a few halls were present, notable Gruene (1878), Twin Sisters (1879), Round Top Schuetzen Hall (1882), Schroeder (1890), Sengelmann’s (1894), and Fayetteville SPJST # 1 (1910). People satisfied their dancing urges at house dances. The recovering economy triggered a building boom in Central Texas, both in commercial establishments and community halls.
Throughout the 1920s, the new jazzy modern music, which the doughboys had brought back, had become quite fashionable in rural areas as well as the big cities. In El Campo, the O.D.H.S. (Hermann’ Sohn) hall was home court for the local Firemen’s Orchestra in raising funds and fun for the community; speaking of fun, a natatorium (indoor pool) and dance hall was built just south of town that was swam and danced in for decades. A private dance, Duson Hall, had the Richmond Jazz Band playing those hot tunes for the hip El Campoans to tango and shimmy to.
SNAPPY BAND NAMES
Over in Fayette County, the Peter’s Platform in Dubina, locals (and they were all locals, motor vehicles were still rare) were tripping the light fantastic with all manners of bands with cool names such as the Ammannsville Snappy Orchestra, Ammannsville New Jazz Orchestra, Hallettsville Outcasts, and Cornelson’s Happy Six. Of course, Joseph and Emil Peter balanced it out by having many brass bands, most of them on church picnic days. Joe Beyer’s Brass Band, Schulenburg Brass Band, Ammannsville Brass Band and Orchestra, and Dubina Brass Band played the old favorites.
Saengerbunds, German singing societies, were very diligent in constructing halls not only for their choruses of a dozen or more singers at times but they also combined their singing activities with giving dances. Some of these halls were Cedar Maennerchor (near La Grange), Welcome Maennerchor (Austin County), which is still there and very beautiful; and Bellville’s Piney Hall.
The SPJST Halls were just starting their rise to prominence in the dance area as more were being built. In Lavaca County, the Breslau lodge, just south of Moravia, had regular dances with Rother’s Syncopators jazzing it up and with Rother’s Orchestra playing a mixture of Old-Time and Modern music; also stopping in were the Happy Boys and Buske’s Orchestra. In Austin County, Lodge 68 in Nelsonville was another location that was just down the road for the Baca Orchestra, as well as Eckel’s Merry Makers and Red Cornelson’s Orchestra.
SPJST Lodge 21 in Engle (between Schulenburg and Flatonia) was becoming a hot spot to be with both Old-Time (Mulberry Brass Band) and Modern (Babe Schindler’s Orchestra) performing monthly. Dancing in Engle was so popular in the roaring 20s that hoofers could also patronize one of two privately run dance platforms. J.C. Bucek’s was in downtown Engle (next to his hall) where you could hear Schwenke’s Jolly Six and Gonzales Orchestra; or you could head three miles north to Frank Beck’s platform where you could dance to the melodies of the San Antonio Butterfly Orchestra or the Ammannsville Orchestra under the stars with electric lighting supplied by a Westinghouse generator. It's no wonder that one of the more important music families of Central Texas, the Machacs were soaking up the music getting ready to take the dance hall stages by storm in 1930 and stay there for over nine decades. Their descendants are still playing music for the crowds.
BRENHAM IS HAPPENIN'
East of Brenham is the Greenvine community, you could hear both the Baca Orchestra and Baca Jazz Band play your choice of music depending on the night you were there. Brenham was a busy music scene in the 1920s starting with public concerts from the bandstand and street dances on the square by the Brenham Brass Band. Brenham being a German town had a lot of lodge halls (Hermann Sohns, Elks, American Legion, and Germania), in which to gather with your lodge brothers and sisters and dance to Babe Schindler’s Orchestra, Navratil’s Orchestra and Cornelson’s Happy Six. The Germania Hall was the site where traveling vaudeville troupes gave performances and brought in the latest in dance music. The publicoriented Brenham Fireman’s Park had regular dances with The Five Aggies performing along with the previously mentioned orchestras.
NO "LEGAL" LIQUOR
Another phenomena during the Roaring 20s was prohibition; one wonders how all this music and dancing went on without the age-old source of inspiration: beer. Down Shiner way, where the Spoetzl Brewery had been cranking out kegs of inspiration since 1909, the brewery was told that they legally could not brew beer anymore, and according to a video on Shiner’s website, the brewmaster makes this statement and then rolls his eyes as he repeats the word “legally.”
Prohibition did not stop the music in Shiner as Bluecher Park (now Legion Park) and Rocky Site Park (western edge of town on Rocky Creek) were frequently cranking out polkas, slow waltzes, the Lindy Hop, and fast waltzes. This area was a hotbed of orchestras led by the Pateks with the Buske, Worthing, Schulze, Othold, and Darilek-Kasper Orchestras, to name a few.
St. John, Texas (which is how they advertised it) had a small church hall and so Charles Kahanek’s Hall was used frequently for dancing be it a church or private function. The Hallettsville Outcasts (don’t think they played Old-Time polkas), the Ammannsville Orchestra, Cornelson’s Happy Six, and Happy Seven Orchestras were among the music makers.
STAR GAZING
Another swinging hotspot of the 1920s was Star Hill. Star Hill was a small community between Industry and Nelsonville in Austin County. The story goes that it was once owned by a German, Rudolph Sternenberg; the Anglos had a hard time pronouncing it and the closest they got was Star Hill. There is a very tall hill nearby that is a great star-gazing location. Star Hill was well known for its fish fries that drew a thousand or more folks hungry for fish and for dancing. Boelsche's Orchestra from nearby Industry, the Baca's, the Cousin’s Orchestra from Bellville, and the Prause Orchestra from Columbus were all frequent visitors to their stage. Just several miles east of Star Hill
Just several miles east of Star Hill was the little settlement of Post Oak Point which had the Lone Star Dance Hall where the Baca family held forth frequently a couple times a month for many years.
There were definitely dozens of places to relieve the stress of the previous years and to celebrate new beginnings in life or a successful harvest. Here is a short (really!) list of other halls that people danced at in the 1920s, some of which have survived and some sadly haven’t.
Blieblerville, Austin Co.
Bila Hora Hall, Lavaca Co.
Bluff Schuetzen Verein, Fayette Co.
Kurten Hall, Bryan
Shiloh Hall, College Station
Ellinger Auditorium, Fayette Co.
Flatonia Fair Park, Fayette Co.
Fair Pavilion, La Grange
Becker’s Hall, Frelsburg
Moeckel’s Hall, Frelsburg
Pophanken’s Hall, Frelsburg
Freyburg Hall, Fayette Co.
Oriental Ball Room, Hallettsville
Sweet Home Hall, Lavaca Co.
Henkhaus Hall, Lavaca Co.
Holman Hall, Fayette Co
La Grange Am. Legion, Fayette Co.
Oldenburg Hall, Fayette Co.
Zapp Hall, Fayette Co.
Wessels Hall, (2), Fayette Co.
Lindenau Gun Club Hall, De Witt Co.
Blahuta Hall, Lavaca Co.
The Pleasure Pier, Palacios
Some of these centers of culture are still around, so if you happen to see a fundraiser for one of these jewels please help out the best you can.