Vernon and Irene Castle's Ragtime Revolution

358 Pages·2007·1.934 MB·English

by  Eve Golden

VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE’S
RAGTIME REVOLUTION
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VERNON AND IRENE CASTLE’S
Ragtime
Revolution
Eve Golden
THE UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KENTUCKY
Publication of this volume was made possible in part by a grant from
the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Copyright © 2007 by The University Press of Kentucky
Scholarly publisher for the Commonwealth,
serving Bellarmine University, Berea College, Centre
College of Kentucky, Eastern Kentucky University,
The Filson Historical Society, Georgetown College,
Kentucky Historical Society, Kentucky State University,
Morehead State University, Murray State University,
Northern Kentucky University, Transylvania University,
University of Kentucky, University of Louisville,
and Western Kentucky University.
All rights reserved.
Editorial and Sales Offices: The University Press of Kentucky
663 South Limestone Street, Lexington, Kentucky 40508-4008
www.kentuckypress.com
 0 09 08 07 5 4 3 2 
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Golden, Eve.
Vernon and Irene Castle’s ragtime revolution / Eve Golden.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-83-2459-9 (hardcover : alk. paper)
. Castle, Vernon, 887-98. 2. Castle, Irene, 893-969. 3. Dancers—United States—
Biography. 4. Ballroom dancing—United States—History. 5. Ragtime music—History
and criticism. I. Title.
GV785.AG55 2007
792.8'0280922—dc22
[B]
2007026425
This book is printed on acid-free recycled paper meeting
the requirements of the American National Standard
for Permanence in Paper for Printed Library Materials.
Manufactured in the United States of America.
Member of the Association of
American University Presses
To Ragtime Cowboy Joe Rocco

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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: New York, December 3, 93 
. Take Me Back to Dear Old Blighty 4
2. About Town 9
3. Only Forty-five Minutes from Broadway 9
4. “We would be much happier if we just relaxed and enjoyed school
life” 25
5. “I could tell by looking at him that he was not my cup of tea” 30
6. Zowie, “the Monarch of Mystery” 33
7. “They liked to test out their guns” 37
8. Enfin . . . une Revue 4
9. “I saw the fat years ahead!” 45
0. Everybody’s Doing It 5
. “Two adolescent palm trees” 58
2. “Gowns are more or less a business with me” 63
3. “The best dancing music in the world” 68
4. “More like a pair of schoolchildren” 73
5. “Syncopation rules the nation” 78
6. “The Most Talked About House in New York” 86
7. “Dancing with Vernon was as easy as swimming with water
wings” 95
8. “The spirit of success . . . oozes from these two young people” 02
9. “The Castles Are Coming! Hooray! Hooray!” 06
20. “We were both miserable on those vaudeville tours” 6
2. “Their enthusiastic followers never . . . go to bed at all” 24
VIII CONTENTS
22. “Mrs. Castle is exhausted” 30
23. “Castles in the subway, / Castles in the ‘L’” 34
24. “Oh, give me a gun and let me run to fight the foreign foe” 40
25. “When I get old I shall be able to tell our children all about the
Great War” 48
26. “Kiss all the pets for me, dear” 6
27. “A super motion picture of . . . epoch-making magnificence” 64
28. “He was out to see the Kaiser defeated” 76
29. “An hour’s pleasant diversion” 80
30. I Love My Wife, but, Oh, You Kid! 84
3. “Never in my life have I been subjected to such humiliation” 90
32. “His plane dove straight into the ground” 94
33. “Death is nothing to me, sweetheart” 97
34. “Robert was sweet, sympathetic, and besides he did all of my
bidding” 206
35. “A well-known dancing dame” 209
36. “Poor Irene Castle. She certainly isn’t what she used to be” 26
37. “Jazz, jazz, jazz! . . . The paradings of savages” 223
38. “To Chicago high society, she was a chorus girl” 228
39. Orphans of the Storm 234
40. “What do you do for an encore to what they had?” 237
4. The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle 242
42. “Isn’t old age awful!” 248
Appendix: Stage and Film Appearances of Vernon and Irene Castle 253
Notes 268
Bibliography 298
Index 302
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
M
y thanks to the following people and institutions for their invaluable
help: Christopher Blyth; Ken Brown (Deseronto Public Library); Paul
Collins; Cornell University; John Culme (footlightnotes.tripod.com); Bar-
bara Davis (New Rochelle Public Library); Mick Davis; Steven Dhuey;
William Drew; Iris Fanger; Armond Fields; Anna Gomersall; Christopher
Gray (the New York Times); Keith Greene and William Garrapy; Terry
Harbin; C.W. Hunt; Suzi Jex (Norfolk Record Office); Marek Kohn;
Charlotte Kreutz; Bradley Kuiper; Howard Lee Levine; Glen Martin;
Stephen O’Brien; Frank Olynyk; Michael O’Neal; Orphans of the Storm
Animal Shelter; James Robert Parish; Michael Reed; the Alpha Phi Chap-
ter of Sigma Chi, Cornell University; Charles Silver (the Museum of
Modern Art); Wendy Sterry (Norwich City Council); Erik Stogo; Robert
Taylor (Billy Rose Collection, New York Public Library); April Wagrel;
Sonny Watson (streetswing.com); Mary White (the History Center in
Tompkins County, N.Y.); Spats White; Nancy Winter.
The helpful and well-informed members of the Straight Dope
Message Board and the Aerodrome Message Board.
Richard Kukan, an extraordinary editor (especially in these days of
“toss it into spell-check”). He never let me get away with a clunky phrase,
repeated word, or dubious fact.
Carolyn Hetherington, for sharing the story of her mother’s tragic
romance with Vernon Castle.
And especially Irene Castle’s son, William McLaughlin, who was so
helpful, friendly, and open about his remarkable mother.