“The Greatest Party in American History” may have been the famous “Black and White Masked Ball” created by author Truman Capote, which he hosted in the 1960s at The Plaza Hotel (New York City). The journalist George Plimpton, a close friend of Capote and one of this week’s birthday celebrants, wrote an “oral history” of the event published in “Esquire Magazine.” Plimpton’s recounting is called “The Greatest Party Story Ever Told.”
We’ve set “The Moms Birthday and the Boys Party” in that same ballroom at The Plaza, but the décor, instead of a restrained palette of black and white, uses the bodacious colors of the “street fashion photography” of Bill Cunningham. This has the effect of a psychedelic kaleidoscope with a section in magnificent magenta, another in savory saffron yellow, another in icy blues and turquoise, then fiery reds and brisk, joy-giving orange.
Join us…
You sense the joy the minute you walk into the boldly–colored ballroom. HOORAY FOR THE JOY-GIVERS! (Note: The comments attributed to these famous joy-givers come from words they have written or said.)
Please give A ROUND OF APPLAUSE for these American joy-givers celebrating a birthday this week:
March 13—BILL CUNNINGHAM was one of the most major contributors to fashion journalism. Early in his career, he was a hat designer for society ladies. While working as a photographer for “Women’s Wear Daily” and The Chicago Tribune, he began taking candid photos of those he encountered on the streets of New York City and documenting the fashion trends he identified. Cunningham’s weekly “street fashion photos” in the NYT ran every Sunday for decades.
March 14—BILLY CRYSTAL is an actor, comedian, singer, writer, producer, director and television host. He has won six Primetime Emmy awards, a Tony award, the highly coveted Mark Train Prize and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
March 15—SLY STONE was born Sylvester Stewart. He is a genuine, bona fide Texan. Who knew? Sly is a musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, best known as the front man for Sly and the Family Stone. He played a critical role in the creation of funk with his pioneering fusion of soul, rock, psychedelia and gospel.
March 16—JERRY LEWIS was born Joseph Levitch and has been nicknamed, “The King of Comedy.” He was a nightclub comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. He appeared in more than 60 different films and other media. “The Jerry Lewis Telethon” raised funds for 50 years to fight muscular dystrophy.
March 17—FRED ALLEN was one of the most popular, and most censored, American radio comedians. His absurdist and topically–pointed humor and brilliant “ad libs” made him a “must-hear” joy-giver. His devoted fans included President Franklin D. Roosevelt, novelist William Faulkner and humorists James Thurber and Groucho Marx. For his contributions to the “Golden Age of American radio,” he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
March 18—GEORGE PLIMPTON was best known for his “participatory journalism” which found the patrician, plummy-voiced writer acting in the movie “Western,” performing a comedy act at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, playing with the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and playing professional sports, then reporting on the experiences from the point of view of an amateur. He was a talented literary editor and helped found the highly respected writers’ digest, “The Paris Review.”
March 19—MOMS MABLEY was the comedic character created by a woman born as Loretta Mary Aiken of Brevard, North Carolina. She was one of 16 children. She was a veteran entertainer of the famous “Chitlin’ Circuit” of African-American vaudeville. The actress known as Jackie “Moms” Mabley is best-known for her wide-open, often risqué, top-selling comedy albums, and for film and television appearances including “The Ed Sullivan Show.”
COMMENTS OVERHEARD at “The Moms Birthday and the Boys Party” for American joy-givers:
“If someone is wearing something terrific, that’s what I want to photograph.”—Bill Cunningham
“I was the class comedian as opposed to being the class clown. The difference is the class clown is the guy who drops his pants at the football game; the class comedian is the guy who talked him into it.”—Billy Crystal
“Stand, you’ve been sitting much too long. There’s a permanent crease in your right and wrong.”—Sly Stone
“I’ve had great success being a total idiot.”—Jerry Lewis
“A celebrity is a person who works hard all of their life to become well-known and then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognized.”—Fred Allen
“My whole thing is to be invisible. You get more natural photographs that way.”—Bill Cunningham
“Going unnoticed has never been my strong suit.”—Jerry Lewis
“Well, I have to write. A lot of people forget that. They think I’m sort of a crazy buffoon who can’t make up his mind what to do in life.”—George Plimpton
“Any time you see me with my arms around an old man, I’m holding him for the police.”—Moms Mabley
“Every man’s dream is to be able to sink into the arms of a woman without also falling into her hands.”—Jerry Lewis
“Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.”—Billy Crystal
“I could never concentrate on Sunday church services because I’d be concentrating on women’s hats.”—Bill Cunningham
(On hosting the Oscars) “Nothing can take the sting out of the world’s economic problems like watching millionaires present each other with golden statues.”—Billy Crystal
“I was on my last leg. I couldn’t even borrow a friend’s extra peg.”—Sly Stone
(About his comedy partnership with Dean Martin) “Postwar America was a very buttoned-up nation. Radio shows were run by censors, Presidents wore hats, ladies wore girdles. Martin and Lewis came right out of the blue. A sexy guy and a monkey is how many people saw us.”—Jerry Lewis
“The first time I sang in the church choir, two hundred people changed their religion.”—Fred Allen
(On professional sports entertainment) “The pleasure of sport is often the chance to indulge the cessation of time itself—the pitcher dawdling on the mound, the skier poised at the top of a mountain trail, the basketball player with the rough skin of the ball against his palm preparing for a foul shot, the tennis player at set point over his opponent—all of them savoring a moment before committing themselves to action.”—George Plimpton
“Never lose your head, not for a minute. It’s got your brain in it.”—Moms Mabley
“I go out every day. When I get depressed at the office, I go out, and as soon as I’m on the street and see people, I feel better. But, I never go out with a preconceived idea. I let the street speak to me.”—Bill Cunningham
“At 60, I could do the same things I could do at 30, if I could only remember what those things are.”—Billy Crystal
“Different strokes, for different folks.”—Sly Stone
“I’m really, basically nine years-old and I’ve always been that. I’ve never, ever allowed the child within me to die.”—Jerry Lewis
“It’s no disgrace to be old but damn if it ain’t inconvenient.”—Moms Mabley
“I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.”—Fred Allen
“The good old days? I was there. Where was they?”—Moms Mabley
PARTY MENU for “The Moms Birthday and the Boys Party:”
APPETIZERS—Sly Stone Crab Claws with Mustard Dipping Sauce (seriouseats.com)
SALAD—Bill Cunningham Bicycle Wheel Pasta Salad (tasteofhome.com)
ENTRÉE—Billy Crystal Passover Lamb with Pickled Cherries (foodandwine.com)
SIDE DISH—George Plimpton Participatory Grilled Vegetable Kebabs (foodnetwork.com)
BREAD—Jerry Lewis Fluffy Food Fight Dinner Rolls (keyingredient.com)
BEVERAGE—Fred Allen Tangy Grapefruit Cocktails (thespruceeats.com)
DESSERT—Moms Mabley North Carolina Blueberry Sonker (see recipe below)
ONE TO GROW ON—Thrill your inner fashion fan with “BILL CUNNINGHAM: ON THE STREET: FIVE DECADES OF ICONIC PHOTOGRAPHY” (published in 2019). Also check out Cunningham’s “FASHION CLIMBING: A MEMOIR WITH PHOTOGRAPHS.”
Sly Stone provides the “funkadelic” musical entertainment and ends his performance with a salute to the party’s super-achieving American joy-givers: “You can make it if you try…push a little harder…think a little deeper.”
Commenting on being at The Plaza Hotel for both the “Black and White Ball” and for “Moms Birthday and the Boys Party,” Plimpton toasts all with these words, “I have never been convinced there is anything inherently wrong in having fun.”
MOMS MABLEY NORTH CAROLINA BLUEBERRY SONKER
(Source: northcarolinablueberries.com)
Ingredients
- 6 cups frozen blueberries
- 2 medium-sized apples (sweetest you can find)
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
- 1 box prepared pie crust (or make your own)
- 1 quart vanilla ice cream
Directions
- Heat oven to 350.
- Peel, core and then dice apples as fine as you can.
- Mix frozen blueberries and diced apples with cinnamon and honey.
- Place mixture in deep dish 8” x 8” glass baking pan and cover with prepared crust.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let cool but keep warm.
- Serve in small bowl and top with ice cream.
- Repeat, if you think one sonker might not do you and yours!
Copyright 2021 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
