100 years ago in Spokane: Crowds celebrate the start to 1923

Spokane’s New Year’s Eve revels were “joyous” and relatively peaceful.

The Davenport Hotel’s parties were well-attended and “unusually elaborate,” featuring Chinese-, Polynesian- and Arctic-themed entertainment.

All of Spokane’s dance halls “were filled to capacity.”

The theaters reported “record attendance” at late shows and special midnight matinees. The crowds at the Pantages Theater were treated to a performance by comedian Lillian Burkhart, followed by Gus Thalero’s Circus, which featured “highly trained dogs, a monkey, and a Shetland pony.”

Then there was Betty Lou Hart, “a shapely young woman who attempts to sing, dances a little, and finishes her act by trick bicycle riding.”

The city’s churches played an outsized role in the festivities, since New Year’s Eve fell on a Sunday. Many churches held “watch night” celebrations.

The downtown streets, which in previous years had been jammed with intoxicated revelers, were relatively quiet. The reason? Driving rain and sleet.

“The jolly, shoving and jostling New Year’s crowd of former years was noticeably absent, ” reported the Spokane Daily Chronicle.

Also on this date

(From onthisday.com)

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