Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Sweet's Ballroom

Sweet's Ballroom is located on Broadway in the Uptown area.  As the lettering style indicates, it was built in the 1920s.  It hosted all the great Big Bands and singers of the 1930s and 40s, including Duke Ellington, Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra, and Billie Holiday.  It was shuttered in 1980 but was eventually renovated and reopened in 1998.  It has an 8,000 square foot dance floor and is used for many dance and exercise events.  Thank goodness another historic venue was saved from the wrecking ball.
Posted by Oakland Daily Photo at 10:24 PM
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6 comments:

  1. Louis la VacheJune 17, 2010 at 8:00 AM

    You really find some gems in Oakland, Carolyn!
    «Louis», who is the archetype of KLUTZ when it comes to dancing, had forgotten about Sweets. If «Louis» tried to dance there, Sweets would need yet another renovation!

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  2. James MarkJune 17, 2010 at 12:23 PM

    Impressive! Pedant that I am, I appreciate your inclusion of the apostrophe missing from the sign itself. It seems to be the convention not to use them in business names.

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  3. MarkaJune 17, 2010 at 3:52 PM

    The Big Band era will not be matched musically any time soon in my estimation. It had a feel all it's own that modern music simply cannot touch. It's good to see the history remains!

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  4. Bob CroweJune 17, 2010 at 7:41 PM

    That's just perfectly framed. Really good B&W.

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  5. AnonymousJune 17, 2010 at 9:28 PM

    http://content.cdlib.org/dynaxml/data/13030/jk/kt0f59q5jk/files/kt0f59q5jk-d3e10740.jpg

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  6. UnknownJune 18, 2010 at 6:24 AM

    Very well composed shot!

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