Folies Bergere of 1944 Program

Description

This is the Souvenir Publication from “Clifford C. Fischer’s Folies Bergere of 1944.” It was staged at San Francisco’s Winterland Ballroom.
The program measures approximately 8.5 x 11 inches and contains 24 pages. Most of the program’s pages (including photos and text) have a sepia tint. On the inside front cover is a great 7Up advertisement, and a beautiful red, gray and white Coca-Cola ad on the back cover.
NOTE: FREE SHIPPING & HANDLING!!!
Winterland Ballroom (often referred to as Winterland Arena or simply Winterland) was an ice skating rink and music venue in San Francisco, California. Located at the corner of Post Street and Steiner Street, it was converted to exclusive use as a music venue in 1971 by concert promoter Bill Graham and became a common performance site for many famous rock artists.
Winterland was built in 1928 for million (equivalent to .6 million in 2018) and successfully operated through the Great Depression. Opened on June 29, 1928, it was originally known as the New Dreamland Auditorium. Sometime in late 1930s the building's name was changed to Winterland. It served as an ice skating rink that could be converted into a seated entertainment venue. In 1936, Winterland began hosting the Shipstads and Johnson Ice Follies.
Impresario Clifford C. Fischer staged an authorized production of the Folies Bergère, the Folies Bergère of 1944, at the Winterland Ballroom in November 1944. It was also host to opera, boxing and tennis matches.
One of the most picturesque figures in show business, Clifford C. Fischer was an internationally distinguished booking agent and producer who really made a name for himself staging spectacular stage shows as part of the French Casino theatre-restaurant project in the mid-1930s.
Born in Belgium in 1882, Clifford Fischer was the son of a purveyor of horses to the Belgian Army and as a result horses fascinated him. It was a horse that was responsible for his entry into show business. At the turn of the century aged 18, he was in London earnestly learning the printing and engraving trade in his uncle’s shop. One night at a music hall he saw a horse that could count and bow and did not mind when a pack of Dalmatians popped on and off its back. He signed the horse for 0 and took it to USA and toured it for two years, thus starting his career as a booking agent. Thereafter, he joined the William Morris agency and worked there until 1918 and brought various European acts to America including Charlie Chaplin, Arthur Lloyd (the ventriloquist), Polaire, Harry Lauder and Sarah Bernhardt.