Dear Friends,
The Stork Club was the epitome of American glamour, sophistication and elegance from 1929 until 1965, when it closed. It remains an icon of 20th century American culture.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the best and brightest of American culture-makers gathered at the Stork Club; the list of regulars was endless, encompassing the czars of New York society, government figures, royalty, journalists, poets, actors, directors, songwriters and military men. Can you imagine J. Edgar Hoover rubbing elbows with Ernest Hemingway; the Harrimans and the Kennedys seated next to Ethel Merman and Irving Berlin; Carl Sandberg sharing a bottle with Jimmy Durante.
And it all began when my father, Sherman Billingsley, arrived in New York from Enid, Oklahoma, and started a little bar that became the world’s most famous nightspot.
Some children learn at their father’s knee; in my case, I was perched on top of Table 50 in the Cub Room as soon as I could sit up. The Cub Room was reserved for the most important Stork Club guests, and Table 50 was right at the entrance. It was the first choice of everyone, from Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio to the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. But it was also the family table. No matter which celebrities were expected, Table 50 was reserved for my mother, my sisters, and me every Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter. It is where my memories of growing up at the Stork Club begin and end. Over the years, it was where pictures were taken of me with my childhood heroes: Hopalong Cassidy, Roy Rogers, the Cisco Kid, and even Rin Tin Tin!
One of the most exciting things about going to the Stork Club was knowing that you were sure to see celebrities. Flashbulbs were always popping at the Stork Club as my father had Beautiful Mary (or some other house photographer) working the room. It was not unusual to see Cary Grant and Greer Garson sweeping past the gold chain after her final curtain call in Broadway’s Destry Rides Again. Or to bump into Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, or Frank Sinatra on the dance floor of the Shermane Suite, all recorded by Walter Winchell in his influential newspaper column and radio program.
So many of you have written such wonderful letters to me over the years, sharing your memories of the Stork Club. “I had my ‘Sweet Sixteen’ party at the Stork!” “Dad proposed to Mom while dancing in the Shermane Suite!” “My father’s first stop in New York after returning from World War II was the Cub Room!” “My sister and I still remember the scent of our mother’s perfume from the Stork Club!” Still others wrote that they never had the opportunity to visit the Stork Club but collected the original black and white Stork ashtrays and other memorabilia because it helped them feel a part of it.
My sons, Clifford and Austin, join me in welcoming you to the Stork Club.
Please come back often!
Shermane
