Mar 20 at 10:30 AM - Sale 2697 -
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Sale 2697 - Lot 177

Estimate: $ 7,000 - $ 10,000
(ENTERTAINMENT.) Papers of Alonzo Collins, proprietor of Washington's Club Caverns. Hundreds of items in one trunk; condition varies as noted. Washington, bulk 1926-1960
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Additional Details

Alonzo Collins (1894-1969) was the manager and master of ceremonies from 1935 to 1960 at one of Washington's top nightclubs, Crystal Caverns on U Street--also known as Club Caverns or Bohemian Caverns. The club was known for its distinctive basement with a faux-cavern ceiling, and for its strict membership policy--but mainly for attracting the nation's top jazz acts and other entertainers. Offered here is a suitcase full of his Caverns memorabilia: signed publicity photos, club ephemera, correspondence, and more.

Ephemera includes menus from Club Caverns and Crystal Caverns; event invitations; business cards, printed promotional materials for performers such as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Ethel Waters, Rita Rio, Chick Webb, Don Redman, Lucky Millinder, and Noble Sissle; a Real Photo postcard of Erskine Hawkins and his Collegians; and 2 vinyl jazz LPs recorded at the Bohemian Caverns after Collins retired: "Les McCann 1967" (Limelight, 1976 reissue); and "The Ramsey Lewis Trio at the Bohemian Caverns" (Argo, 1964).

In addition to the club's printed material, we find a hand-drawn draft of a handbill announcing the club's reopening: "Marvelous!! The only description possible, to picture to your mind the opening of the Crystal Caverns, Washington's only sepia nite klub, the Cotton Klub of the South." A typescript draft announcement for their 1946 tenth anniversary urges: "This is your cathedral of pleasure: let's unite and pull together and make this a banner season. Your increased patronage will convince us you wish fresh entertainment rather than the canned variety."

Also included are more than 100 photographs (many with dampstaining or water damage), many of them signed and inscribed to Collins. Warmly signed photos include vocalist Billy Daniels and the gender-bending singer Gladys Bentley ("To Mr. Collins, a great little boss"). One shows the Cavern's owner Bennie Collins going over the club's account books. Unsigned photos include Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, Louis Armstrong, Moms Mabley, Ella Fitzgerald (shown in a U Street record store), Fats Waller, Savannah Churchill, and Jimmie Lunceford (with Joe Louis). Many show nightclub guests, often accompanied by a smiling Collins with his arm around them--a dozen of them with the club's original decorative paper nightclub photo mats.

15 business letters are addressed to Collins, 1929 and 1935 to 1947, some from booking agents for musicians like Jimmie Lunceford, Fats Waller, and Chick Webb. Two apparently date from before Collins was at the Cavern, including an Autograph Letter Signed by noted blues performer and promoter Reese DuPree, dated Neptune, NJ, 19 November 1929: "I have been talking to Duke about the matinee. It looks good so far. . . . I think Duke and the band will take a couple of weeks off during the early spring, at which time I may be able to bring them down for an evening." One promoter wrote on 26 January 1942, offering "Fletcher Henderson in a battle of music with the International Sweethearts of Rhythm for the 11th of February at $500 guarantee with a privilege of 50%." 5 of the letters are from the American Federation of Musicians relating to a grievance by bandleader Lucky Millinder, who was owed $202.30; Collins eventually paid the bill, and was told "the only outstanding item in connection with the colored establishments in Washington is a balance of $250.00 due Cab Calloway from Dizzy Vance." Also included is a telegram promoting Don Redman.

Legal documents include a 1936 performance contract signed by Collins and bandleader Chick Webb's manager; two 1926 contracts signed by musicians with another promoter named Grandison Frank Jones (one with Thomas H. Myles and the other with a band called The Southerners); an agreement by Collins to promote an event at the Masonic Hall in 1929; and the certificate of incorporation of a new social club called the Silver Slipper Klub in 1926.

Also included is a personal letter to Collins from a World War Two soldier. Corporal Leroy "Tex" Fonteneau wrote from the 1317th Engineers regiment in Europe, recounting his war experience: "You could always picture the Grim Reaper traveling along by your side, but when your mind roved back to the . . . stiff fight you are all putting up to maintain a higher standard of accord for us, from the prejudice angle, socially and economically, we always knew it was truly worthwhile . . . so be certain to save me one glad handshake when I walk into the Caverns. . . . Read quite often of the wonderful progress you and Bennie are making and I am proud of you. We have had quite a few casualties, but fortunately all the old Belvoir gang has come through with flying colors."

In his "free time," Collins also held down a full-time job in the mailroom of the Department of Justice. This is hardly mentioned in his papers other than in his obituary, but we do find one 1936 letter announcing his administrative transfer; he remained with the department through his 1964 retirement.

Some additional ephemera has no direct relation to the Crystal Cavern: a program for Mary McLeod Bethune's 70th birthday celebration at Howard University; a menu for the University Grill near the Howard campus; a scorecard for boxing matches held at the Lincoln Athletic Club in 1934; a menu for Duke Ellington's restaurant on V Street; invitations to social events at other clubs such as the Washington Aristocrats, the Guardsmen, Club Prudhom, Club Baron, and The Men About Town; an invitation for a "farewell testimonial cabaret partee in honor of Duke Ellington prior to European tour, 2 March [1940?]; a program for a Duke Ellington concert at the Watergate, 6 June 1946; the June 1945 issue of the Aframerican Woman's Journal; and the May 1947 issue of the Negro History Bulletin. A printed circular letter offers an invitation to visit the famous Carr's Beach resort in Annapolis, Maryland in May 1937. A 1938 poster by a local liquor distributor, Milton S. Kronheim, urges D.C. nightclubs to be wary and comply with all regulations in the wake of Prohibition's repeal. A worn issue of a Washington nightclub magazine is titled "The Bee," dated October 1932; we trace no other issues in OCLC. Finally, the lot includes Collins's "Elgin American Magic Action Lite-O-Matic" cigarette case and lighter, 5 x 3¼ inches, circa 1930s. It still flips open to reveal a cigarette case, and then when closed, the lighter pops out--a gadget which may have impressed many late-night denizens of the Cavern.

Provenance: consigned by a family member. The papers were stored for decades in a tan hard-shell suitcase, 18 x 24 x 8 inches, which can be included with the lot if you wish.

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