Attending the theatre was just one part of couple-on-the-town’s fantastic evening. Programs like this one from the Imperial Theatre in New York featured page after page advertising late night dining and entertainment. From the Hollywood Cabaret’s ad featuring a scantily clad dancing girl, to the presumably less licentious charms of the recently opened Empire State building, ads tempted theatre-goers with all sorts of after-party options.

Also of note, these ads show us trends in food choices and entertainment. Two ads with particular interest are the ad for the Florentine Grill at the Park Central Hotel, and the ad for the Cotton Club. Both ads are featuring African American performers to a white audience, but the different choices in representation show two sides of an evolving racial entertainment industry. 

(credit: American Theatre Architecture Archive, Theatre Historical Society of America)