The Fabulous Palomar Ballroom

The beautiful Palomar Ballroom, on Vermont Avenue between 2nd and 3rd Street in Los Angeles, was built in 1925 and was billed as "the largest and most famous dance hall on the West Coast." The building featured a large mezzanine, a balcony, and a seventy-five hundred square foot patio. The dance floor could accommodate four thousand couples. It must have been a little larger than the Palladium.

"The Puritan's idea of hell is a place where everybody has to mind his own business."

 

Admission was big bucks: 40 cents for gentlemen and 25 cents for ladies. Opening night was attended by 20,000, including many of Hollywood's silent screen stars. It soon became a prime venue for the big bands that were rapidly gaining popularity. No Blacks, Orientals or Latinos allowed.

Ten years later, on August 21, 1935, Benny Goodman began his first Palomar engagement, let himself go and that marked the start of the Swing Era. During the last two weeks in 1937, box office sales exceeded 50,000.

"How High The Moon" by Les Paul and Mary Ford

The ballroom hosted popular orchestras and big bands. Nightly radio broadcasts on local station KFLJ attracted large crowds to the "Dining, Dancing, and Entertainment Center of the West." The famed structure was the backdrop for several major Hollywood films that included "The Big Broadcast of 1937," made during Benny Goodman's return engagement, and, "Dancing Coed," which starred Lana Turner and Artie Shaw's band.

By 1939, the Palomar had been completely re-modeled. A modern cooling system was installed, cocktail lounges and soda fountains were added, and the dance floor was enlarged. The exotic Moorish decor was not changed. The admission charges went up to 75 cents for gentlemen and 40 cents for ladies.

Then on October 2, 1939, the Palomar Ballroom burned to the ground.