Valentine's Weekend 1942: Policemen's Ball

In recent months, this website has looked back on long-ago holidays in Lynnfield with help from archived copies of the former Village Press Weekly newspaper. With Valentine's Day right around the corner, it seemed like a great time for another peek back in time - in this case going back 70 years to Valentine's Day, 1942.

These days, I'm pretty sure that for whatever reasons, there's mostly no such thing as the policemen's ball in most municipalities. However, 70 years ago in Lynnfield, it's how a lot of people were planning to kick off their Valentine's Day weekend. It was held on Friday, Feb. 13, 1942 from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. Tickets were $1.65 per couple (15 cents of which was tax) or 83 cents per individual (8 cents of which was tax).

The policemen's ball drew two famous entertainers of the day, WBZ radio personalities Carl Moore and Ray Girraden. Starting the week of Jan. 22, tickets could be obtained from uniformed officers in town. (The other kind of tickets, that is.)

A little later, the Feb. 5, 1942 issue gave a more complete rundown of the entertainment provided that night. The Rogerettes began the night with a tap dance routine and finished with a military tap number. The Aleppo Shrine Patrol provided an exhibition and drill. Ted Milford was on the card with the songs of Erin. Bonnie King did an acrobatic dance number. Jack Herbert Co. provided some comedy. In other words, old video footage of this night would be priceless.

Editor's Note: On Feb. 14, Lynnfield Patch will run a follow-up article taking a further look at what the town's media was talking about on Valentine's Day 70 years ago.