Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Loan/Lone

~ John W. Howell

The aroma of freshly brewed coffee fills the air. In no time, the faithful and trustworthy machine produces the liquid that validates life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. One sip and the brain comes alive with the lust for travel. The alarm clock is closed and set to May 11th, 1924, in New York City.

The plunger is pulled, and we find ourselves on Broadway. New York is the culmination of a week-long benefit of the National Vaudeville Artists, Inc. Four separate shows are being held in the Hippodrome, The Metropolitan Opera House, The New Amsterdam Theater, and the Manhattan Opera House.

These four shows are the final week’s activities, which saw over fourteen hundred performances across America in support of the 20,000-member organization’s charity fundraising effort. The charity supports the health and welfare of performers and their families so that thetimesot have to secure a loan or feel like they are the loan bearer of their chabearerss in a time of need.

We could stay for the shows but have to choose which to attend. Oops, the alarm finds us back on the couch in 2024. Linda Hill has sent a text. It reads: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “loan/lone.” Use them any way you’d like. Bonus points if you use both. Have fun!

To see how other bloggers have responded to the prompt, visit Linda’s post. Here is the link: https://lindaghill.com/2024/05/10/the-friday-reminder-and-prompt-for-socs-may-11-2024/

Loan/Lone by John W. Howell ©2024

“Again,, we saw no show.”

I thought I had extended the time.”

“You would think since you are the lone operator of that thing you would get the hang of it.”

“Maybe I should loan it to you next time.”

“At least I would put enough time on it so we could see something.”

“Sadly we don’t know who was performing.”

“Yeah no kidding. I think they might have had a program in the theaters.”

“You are probibly right. The main program lists a bunch of folks.”

“Like who?”

“Full page art by cartoonists Winsor McCay, Briggs,Milt Gross, Hershfield, Goldberg and others. Includes art of Singer’s Midgets who later appeared in “The Wizard Of Oz.” Photos include: New York Giants baseball team, Al Jolson, Harry Langdon, Bill Robinson, Jack Benny, Burns & Allen, Sarah Bernhardt, Thomas Edison, and Adolph Zukor.”

“Where did you see thiis program?”

“It’s on line at https://dn790009.ca.archive.org/0/items/nvasouvenir192408nati/nvasouvenir192408nati.pdf

“Were they al performing?”

“No they were listed in the souviener program.”

“So we’ll never know.”

“Unless we go back.”

“Spare me. I have important things to do.”

“Like calling Uber?”

“Already done. He’s over there.”

Photo by Dan Antion

“That’s a 1953 Chevy. I would be pround to ride in that.”

“Well, I call shotgun so you’ll have to get in the back.”

“What is that? A station wagon?”

“I think it is a modified wagon.”

“I’ve never seen one of those.”

“We;ll. you are old enough to have done so.”

“I know. I think we better go before you age shame any more.”

“You gotta own it.”

“I’ve lived it. So I guess you are right. I think I’ll have an extra Voo Doo Ranger.”

“Me too.”

“You don’t have an excuse so get off my cloud.”

“Yes I do.”

“What?”

“I have to hang out with this old guy.”

“Very funny. Let’s go”

 

54 thoughts on “Stream of Consciousness Saturday – Prompt – Loan/Lone”

  6. You’d have to know ahead of time what will be going on when you arrive at your destination to know whether to stay longer or leave earlier. It could be dangerous. That old Chevy is really impressive.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. What a sweet ride. Makes you wonder how much the bank would ‘loan’ to buy one of those things? The ‘lone’ bank in my neighborhood might give us a tidy sum of cash to ride through a classic car event they host. 😉

    Liked by 1 person

  18. WOW! That was a 528 page souvenir.

    Seems the best pics were of the promoters, agents, managers, the theatre owners, etc. It certainly served as a catalogue of talent and the businessmen.

    I didn’t see any black entertainers, but there were a couple of black face entertainers. Definitely a time gone by.

    I got to around page 300. I’ll go back later. I was thrilled to see Sophie Tucker. My grandmother was a fan.

    Also Jack Benny and Burns & Allen are acts I know of.

    Okay, enjoy your VooDoos. I’m going to check out the hood, then go Ranger around that souvenir a bit more!

    OX OX OX OX

    Liked by 1 person

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