The Bloomington Club was one of the premiere clubs of McLean County and claimed in its members some of the wealthiest and most influential citizens such as Spencer Ewing, Louis Merwin and Robert Cowles. Surprisingly, the party was at least nominally planned by a committee of men. The Wilson Byers orchestra from Champaign was hired and a special backdrop after the style of Leon Bakst was prepared for the room. Up- lighting was artistically arranged through large white pillars topped with white roses. Attendees were to wear red costumes only, but if they did not wish to dance, they could wear evening dress. A professional dancing couple was brought from Chicago for part of the entertainment.
Many wondered whether the older members of the Bloomington Club would choose to go out in public in such a eye-catching color as red. They claimed to be surprised when nearly all the 196 guest were decked out in red costumes or at least in beautiful red dominos (long capes). guest came from Peoria, Decatur, Champaign as well as McLean County. Dancing began at 9 pm and dinner was served at 11:00 pm. After dinner the rules were relaxed and one was not required to wear costumes for dancing.
There were perriots, harlequins and "yama yama girls" as reported in the Pantagraph. I wondered what a yama yama girl was and found that it was a character from a Broadway play made popular by Bessie McCoy in "The Three Twins." The picture here is from the chorus. I wish that there were some photos of the Red Domino Ball available and I am sure there were some in the family albums of the dancers!
