Phoebe Knapp Throws A Bash

PHOEBE KNAPP THROWS A BASH

"STOMPIN' AT THE SAVOY"

This very rare photo of Phoebe Palmer Knapp at the age of 60, which I just discovered thanks to the Library of Congress' Chronicling America Newspaper project ,was highly likely taken at or before the big soiree she threw at the Savoy Hotel for Little Earl Gulick that is reported below.

From the time she moved into the Savoy Hotel at 5th Ave & Central Park Plaza in 1895, lock stock and HUGE PIPE ORGAN !, Phoebe threw many a big bash there, just like she had for years at her former home the Knapp Mansion in Brooklyn with often a 1000 guests in attendance including all the POTUS' from Lincoln - Harrison .

It seems that Phoebe was a big supporter of little Earl "The Voice Of The Angels" Gulick. This bash too had an invite out to a POTUS : President & Mrs. McKinley, who sent their regrets, but as you will see further along the McKinleys too, became big fans of little Earl, as did McKinley's successor Teddy Roosevelt.

Among those assisting Phoebe that day were Margaret Sangster (poet, author and editor of Harper's Bazaar and Mme. Luchetti of Paris. I don't know if it was an press oversight or not, but it seems that two people are MIA , One : Phoebe's daughter Antoinette, ( Mrs. Edward C. Wallace ) is conspicuously absent. "Netty" was almost always at her mother's side at most big social functions ( she even lived next door to Phoebe in both Brooklyn (their homes were attached) and in Manhattan at The Bolkehayn pictured to the right of the Savoy . Two : Sylvia, her daughter in law, is not listed as being there, yet Sylvia's husband Joseph Palmer Knapp is doing duty as an usher? Both ladies could of been ill ? It's doubtfull that they were in Europe in the dead of winter.

BUT TOMORROW WAS A BRIGHTER DAY

Apparently Earl took the wise judges advice and stayed away from the "Allurements of Broadway" For there were no more mentions in the press of any trouble with the law. Earl's obit in 1945 says he lived out his days in Richmond Hill, Queens and went on to be a vocal teacher and an executive with billboard giant, The Outdoor Advertising Co.

SO ON THAT HIGH NOTE, & IN HONOR OF EARL's PATRON

MS. PHOEBE PALMER KNAPP & GOOD MUSIC OF ALL STYLES

LET'S GO OUT WITH SOMETHING THAT WASN'T EVEN AROUND WHEN PHOEBE WAS .... ALTHOUGH I'M SURE
EARL HEARD IT A TIME OR TWO