Many Washingtonians seeking fun go to Philadelphia, of all places! Philly is a natural for married men who want to do a little cheating, because who would ever think of looking for them there? “Sleepy” old Philadelphia is not so sleepy. It is one of the hottest towns in the country, loaded with after-hour spots which offer fast floor shows and run later than anything in New York.
Philadelphia is Mafia-controlled, run by the same branch of the mob which owns South Jersey and its domestic wine industry, and Atlantic City. Many Philadelphia spots break the law brazenly and openly, protected by the Mafia.
But Philadelphia has one of the finest restaurants in the world, operated by one of America’s best-known hosts. This is Jack Lynch’s Zodiac Room in the Warburton Hotel. Lynch has more friends in show business and high politics than any other man alive. Many top actors break their trips from Washington or Baltimore to New York to stop overnight for an evening with Lynch.
Philadelphia is two hours from Washington on fast trains. Many show-starved Washingtonians, who don’t have the time to get to Broadway to visit the legitimate theatre, find they can ride to Philadelphia, catch a show—there are usually four or five big-time productions playing—have a drink, and get back to Washington in time for bed. Washington wolves go to Philly to howl. Mention New York or Atlantic City and a bimbo knows that’s a weekend and all that goes with it. But invite her to Philadelphia for an evening, then a few drinks after the show—and the last train has left. A lady can’t sleep standing up.
Of course, New York remains the chief target for weekenders. Those on small budgets stay at one of the popular-priced West Side hotels, visit the usual tourist traps, occasionally see a Broadway show, and have a hell of a time without spending too much. Government clerks come away to New York for a weekend, a man and a woman, going Dutch. Groups of government girls save up for a trip to the big city. They go sight-seeing and gawking, send home colored postal cards and eat box-lunches in Grant’s Tomb.
Most good New York cafes will not serve unescorted women. So the best the typists and filers can do is wander around, oohing at the bright lights and dreaming up lies to tell when they get back.
The guys in the bigger jobs have a hell of a time when in New York. Embassy people come up regularly and are provided with introductions to top models by the State Department. Key Congressmen and high officials are brought up on junkets by lobbyists, entertained in the swank joints, and if they don’t have their wives with them they can have the best. If wives are along, they are invited by the lobbyists to go shopping at places like Saks-Fifth Avenue, Bonwit Teller, Bergdorf Goodman and Hattie Carnegie, and charge anything they want on the lobbyist’s accounts.
The favorite hangout of the New Deal set in New York is the Stork Club. The attorneys for the Stork Club are Goldwater and Flynn. The Flynn is Ed Flynn, New Deal Democratic boss, campaign manager of the late President Roosevelt. The Stork became a hangout for the left-wing and do-gooder crowd during the 1930’s, when the late Supreme Court Justice Frank Murphy used to cut up on the dance-floor with cuties. Harry Hopkins, the ex-Mills Hotel Hopper, who addressed envelopes at a cent each, favored its rich menu—on the cuff.
Many of the important bleeding hearts, labor union leaders and spokesmen for the have-nots spent and still spend their time in New York in the Stork Club, where the have-nots they bleed for are rigorously barred by silken ropes.
Here such union bosses as the musicians’ Petrillo, a pal of Truman’s, and the truckmen’s Tobin, a Roosevelt favorite, are served by a nonunion restaurant staff. Sherman Billingsley, the Stork’s owner, had to cough up more than $100,000 for back salaries and unfair labor practices. But while he was fighting organized labor the chief union bosses, all the Roosevelt sons and half the cabinet frequented his place. They still do, though the restaurant unions still consider the Stork unfair. But Sherman’s friends see the place is never picketed any more.