QUEENSLINE
A LOOK BACK AT THE ROARING TWENTIES IN QUEENS
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TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | NOV. 27-DEC. 3, 2020 13
In conjunction with the Greater Astoria Historical
Society, TimesLedger Newspapers presents noteworthy
events in the borough’s history.
Welcome to November 1927!
And the Star Journal was right in the thick of it,
chronicling the Roaring Twenties for the residents of
Queens. Skirts were short, young people were dancing
to that new jazz music, and the stock market was
booming — the Great Depression was still two years
away.
Movies were still mostly silent, but the first “talkie”,
Al Jolson ‘s “The Jazz Singer” was released that
year. And in May, Charles Lindbergh thrilled the nation,
becoming the first to fly across the Atlantic in
“The Spirit of Saint Louis.”
True, if you wanted to drink a toast to the gallant
Colonel, you couldn’t do it legally — the United States
had been “dry” since Prohibition began in 1920. The
bootleggers and the makers of bathtub gin and moonshine
were working hard to fill the gap, however. By
1927 there were so many speakeasies in New York
that, according to the Medical Examiner, they outnumbered
the old legal saloons.
But the glamor of the speakeasies had a dark side.
By 1927, after seven years of the “Noble Experiment,”
an estimated 50,000 deaths had been caused by adulterated
liquor, with many more cases of paralysis and
blindness.
And sometimes just plain craziness — on Nov. 28,
the Star Journal reported on a “Rum-Crazed Man
Shot As He Stabs Policeman.” It took three police officers
to persuade Astoria resident Anthony Tardich
to end his bottle-throwing and knife-wielding spree.
Queens in 1927 had no professional team of its
own. However, local semi-pro baseball was a popular
alternative for local residents who didn’t want
to trek out to see the Dodgers at Ebbets Field in
Brooklyn or up to Yankee Stadium in the Bronx,
where Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig led a team so
deadly they were known as “Murderer’s Row.”
The Woodside Athletic Club closed a successful
season by playing an 11-inning tie against the
Elmhurst Panthers, darkness ending the game at
3-3. The Woodsiders won 25 out of their 31 games
that season
It was an “off year,” with elections for County
Clerk, Alderman and the State Assembly being
about as exciting as it got. That must have been the
reason, the Star-Journal’s editorial decided, for the
“lamentable lack of interest on the part of many
voters who registered.” We should add that according
to the newspaper’s own figures; there was a
turnout of about 89 percent of registered voters —
extremely impressive by today’s standards.
The Star-Journal did, however, note that there
was a good turnout by women, who had only been
allowed to vote since 1920--presumably the novelty
had not yet worn off! At P.S. 69 in Jackson Heights,
it was observed that several baby carriages were
parked outside while the mothers were inside voting.
One would hope that even in those more innocent
times they were allowed to bring the babies
inside!
For further info, call the Greater Astoria Historical
Society at 718-278-0700 or www.astorialic.org.
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LAST WEEK’S TOP STORY:
Neptune Diner to open new location on Bayside’s Bell
Boulevard
SUMMARY: Neptune Diner will replace the former Jackson Hole
site at 35-01 Bell Blvd. in Bayside, after the eatery permanently
closed its doors earlier this year.
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