A recent essay dealt with the history of 1717 Park Avenue and its long backstory. https://lafayettesquarearchives.com/1896-a-stable-history-of-1717-park-av/
A 1932 photo from that essay reveals the property next door. It’s still recognizable as today’s Square One restaurant and microbrewery. That two story building and side garden at 1727 Park Avenue was Mary’s Dreamland in the 1930s, and entertained the night crowd throughout its long tenure.
The 1900s before Dreamland
The building was a tavern from its beginnings in 1883. In 1909, George Van Der Berg, who ran an Anheuser-Busch tied house there, asked police to find a bartender who was hired a week earlier, only to disappear with $101 from the cash register.
In 1913, a 40 year old former star pitcher, Frank Pears, smashed up the saloon. “He hurled catsup bottles, dinner plates and silverware at mirrors, cigar cases and the liquor bottles.” His fit began when he accused the manager of stealing his $40 watch. It was later found in Pears’s coat, which was left hanging in the cloakroom of a skating rink. He was taken to the Soulard station and placed in a cell. A youth was shot by a Soulard District patrolman during an attempted saloon robbery there in 1916. Bernard Nostes’s bar at this site was raided in July,1919, although he protested that he was only serving non-alcoholic Bevo.
When prohibition kicked in, the bar became Settich’s Garden. John and Mary Settich operated a cafe, while living upstairs. Trying to remain viable during the ban on alcohol, Settich’s became Mary’s Dreamland, a cabaret type night club. When John Settich died in 1928, Mary assumed full ownership. By 1933, she and new husband Mike Ramaesiri hosted various stage acts every evening, and into the early morning hours. The outdoor garden became the main stage each summer.
Apparently, the neighborhood approved. The Star-Times still referred to the place as Settich’s Gardens. “…an old fashioned beer garden in the rear of a delicatessen near Eighteenth and Park, enabling neighbors in second-floor flats nearby to sit on their back porches and witness Settich’s floor show.”
The Grand District had the premier theaters in St. Louis – The Fox, Missouri and St. Louis. It also held a second tier of show clubs, playing live music for dancing. These included the 400 Club, Club Plantation, Kit Kat Club and Tune Town. The latter club in 1941 hosted Ella Fitzgerald and the big bands of Stan Kenton and Les Brown.
There was, then, a third tier. Not too far removed from burlesque and vaudeville, night clubs outside the Grand District had acts with girls, girls, girls, and usually some unadvertised workarounds to deal with the Volstead Act ban on alcohol. Their more remote locations and lower profiles could give them some shelter from raids. Such was Mary’s Dreamland in Lafayette Square.
Hester Kelly Takes Center Stage
Mike and Mary Ramaesiri were aided by a large and boisterous emcee named Hester Kelly. According to Kid Regan of the Star-Times, “the 6 foot, 200 pound mistress of merriment hopped from the Nightingale to Settich’s Garden, when goaded by her boyfriend to take the stage and sing a number. She promptly belted out four, making jokes in between. Example: “I’ve been offered a job with the big Welcome Inn rodeo coming to the Arena, as an understudy for the prize steer in the roping contest.” Hired on the spot, she sang, danced and told jokes while centering the ceremonies at Mary’s for nearly a decade.
Interviewed by Kid Regan of the Star-Times on December 31, 1933, Hester allegedly boasted to Regan that she weighed 200 pounds, but lost three pounds in the hustle and bustle of preparing for New Years Eve celebration at Mary’s Dreamland. She explained the reality of six chorus girls, when “sixteen dancing cuteys” had been advertised, by claiming the producer originally hired sixteen. “When she heard that the girls would have to appear on stage with me, she had to let ten of them go. After all, our stage is none too roomy.”
On May 21, 1934, a new ordinance went into effect, closing the clubs at midnight. Mary coped by starting the night earlier, so instead of the 12:00 show, followed by ones at 2:00 and 3:00am, they began at 2:30pm, then 5:00 and two evening shows before midnight. Mary said she intended to begin serving a full dinner as well.
Hester finds the press to her liking
The St. Joe Gazette of October 5,1934 introduced the general public to Hester Kelly. She was the “amply girdled hostess of Mary’s Dreamland.” Hester was front and center as “the number one waiter at the gate for World Series tickets, on guard outside Sportsman’s Park, surrounded by a case of soda pop.” An orange crate served as her dressing table. She would vacate her spot each evening to conduct the floor show at Dreamland while her sister Nedra held her place in line.
“Why, a guy offered me $40.00 for this spot,” claimed Hester. “Say, I heard Dizzy was going to give the first one in line $100.00. With Frisch’s brains, my yelling and Dizzy’s arm, we’re going to take them in five games.”
Kelly came to Mary’s Dreamland from a nine year stint as a salad designer at the Mayfair Hotel in St. Louis.
A stout woman, Hester’s larger than life shenanigans were covered in detail by a former bantamweight boxer turned journalist and man about town, Kid Regan. He always had a barb for Hester’s weight, which he seemed to track and report on weekly.
In January of 1935, Regan wrote, “Hester, the 221 pound mistress at Marys may settle on a farm in southeast Missouri during the off season. Asked about what she plans to grow, she answered, ‘Oh, I guess I’ll grow lonesome.”
Kid Regan called Dreamland “the newest hilarity haven. Dancing is the main item, but their talks on travel are pretty good too.”
The eclectic and eccentric lineup at Mary’s
In March 1935, Mike Carapella and his 4 piece orchestra, “The Kings Of Rhythm” held forth at Mary’s. The paper noted that Chick Willis had returned too. “Personable neighbors wonder how the talent scouts have managed to successfully overlook this lad.”
But the show went on. In April, Regan observed, “Clarence and Henrietta, the colored dance team, pushing ‘One Lung Looey,’ the Chinese juggler for top spot at Dreamland.
Two months later, “Betty and Audrey featured in a dance number to ‘Me And My Shadow,’ with Audrey in white scanties and her lovely sister Betty in the same uniform of black cloth.”
1936 opened with Regan noting that hostess Hester Kelly was now tipping the scales at 222 pounds. She had taken up storytelling as an opening act for a torch singer named Grace Patterson and the Mason Sisters, “a pair who saw on their fiddles and really make them talk.”
One evening, Hester introduced singers, tap dancers in sparse costumes, and a blues singer. She then announced, “Folks, our next act comes to you with a reputation as one of the star acts of all time and at great expense to the managemen.” She added in the next breath, “I will now sing ‘The Music Goes Round and Around.”
Later in the year, bandleader Mike Carapella had somehow become part of a comic act with Pierce Richardson, in a bit called, “When Greek Meets Greek.” This led into songstress Bernice Whitney and some soft shoe by Betty Henslen.
Regan caught a show in August, as “Helen LaPell, a toe-tap girl hoofed it with four other dancers, ‘Patches,’ an eccentric dancer from Florida worked the stage while Pierce Richardson, the funniest comic that ever told the gagline before the riddle, emceed.” Richardson, also known as Izzy, was an old-time burlesque comic before leading his modest orchestra. Now again knocking them dead with his schtick, he had returned to Dreamland “because a comic must work it he wishes to stay on rations.”
September 12 offered Walter Mack, a 90 pound tap dancer and Ray Defoe, “the mechanical man with an icy star twice as cold as Rogers Hornsby’s, in a return to the 18th and Park igloo, on a bill paced and patched by 222 pound Hester Kelly, mistress of hilarity.”
Between remarks about the heft of tap dancers and the Emcee, it could be surmised that Kid Regan, a former bantamweight fighter turned showbiz reporter, grew up fretting about making weight as a boxer, saddling him with a permanent fixation on the subject.
Fighting to keep with the times
The depression rolled into 1937, with Mary’s lineup fashioned to keep things light. On March 20, Bob Knox, another tap dancer, singer Lilian Loring along with Marty and Lynn’s Musical Maniacs and trumpeter Jerry Sdanek held forth.
In April, Mary Ramaesiri and her husband Mike divorced. She resumed use of her earlier married name, Settich, and retained control of Dreamland as part of the settlement.
On April 17, Hester Kelly held a penny guessing contest, and sang. Also on the bill was “a shapely brunette dancer,” Alice Ford, a veteran vaudeville juggler named Henry Fisher, accordionist Peggy Dunn and pianist Walter Padelford, playing ‘Stardust,’ by popular demand.
Dolores Del Torres was the prime attraction on May 1, 1937. She danced with a live snake “coiled about her body.” Along for the show were singer Bob Leonard, Bobby and Estelle, “a negro dance team in white evening togs, entertaining Dreamland passengers with interpretations of Truckin’ Suzy Q, and other romps.”
The June 19th bill featured Charleston Crowder, with Audrey Gleason, “a clever juvenile performing as a dancing xylophone player. 222 pound mistress of hilarity Hester Kelly and two other acts chipped in.”
A gradual exodus of patrons from Mary’s Dreamland convinced both Mary and Hester that it was time for a change. Hester would pursue new opportunities, while Mary, in late October 1937, attempted a revival, “of the interest that made her place a popular hideout several years ago….presenting new performers, better and lengthier programs and offering a new emcee.”
Here are two ads seeking to fulfill Mary’s efforts at a business revival:
Gladys moves in at Mary’s
December found Dreamland emceed by Gladys Ayers, “an attractive brunette who dropped in from nowhere. A panic-promoter who sings a nice song on the bill with Chick Willis and Peggy Dunn.” On Christmas Eve, Chick sang,“Veenie, Veenie with better style than you’ll hear sung in most places, with a series of light opera topics for encores.”
Mary labored to invigorate the operation. Here’s a story planted in the Globe-Democrat, and with Hester back in the middle:
A year later, Hester Kelly had given way (or weigh) to Gladys Ayers as permanent hostess for the next anniversary festivities at Mary’s Dreamland.
In April 1938, Chick Willis, the “well-traveled Philadelphian,” did the emcee work on a bill including Peggy Dunn, the singing accordionist, and Joyce DeCova, a singing conversationalist.”
The Rhythm Hi-Hatters, consisting of trumpet, piano and drums, appeared in early June of 1938. Regan wrote, “The Hi-Hatters John Whalen was whacking the daylights out of the piano as the new favorites. Working with Gladys Ayers, a tasty mistress of hooray, the whole business is again under the personal supervision of Mary Settich.” On the 25th of that month, the summer garden opened for the season. The side area still exists today, still used for gathering and dining outside Square One.
At the end of July, the DeVinney Trio appeared. “Singing, dancing acrobatic dolls, who seem to really enjoy playing encores on these hot nights” High praise from Regan.
The Star-Times reported on August 6 that Mary’s was serving food and mixed drinks, along with a program featuring orchestra and acrobats.
This was all coordinated on the scene by Gladys Ayers, who apparently oversaw an expanded operation, but didn’t jump in with her own hi jinx like Hester Kelly had.
Regan follows Hester around town
By January of 1940, Hester had taken an emcee job at the Palm Room in Wellston. According to Regan, strict dieting had moved the needle on her scale down to 175 pounds.
The Star-Times reported in April that Hester was now a commercial driver, “trucking eggs and butter to hotels” around St. Louis. On the same day, the Globe-Democrat advertised a “special chicken dinner” at Mary’s Dreamland. A bargain at 50 cents in the garden, with no cover and no minimum.
Kid Regan had long held a fascination with Hester Kelly. Following the thread where it led, he found that she had returned to her roots as a salad designer at the Mayfair Hotel on the last day of July, 1940. He dutifully reported her weight then as a relatively svelte 155 pounds.
Hester Kelly resumed her career at the Mayfair Hotel salad station in October. She was also rumored to be transitioning to a partnership in a Danville, IL restaurant. Whatever the case, she became pretty mercurial, and by April of 1942, was emcee at The Prize Ring, a venue at 3945 Olive Street.
Hester preceded Mary Caulfield’s All Girl Orchestra for Friday and Saturday night floor shows at the Prize Ring. She was still there in mid-June, but by January of the following year, found her way into a Globe-Democrat profile as a wartime cab driver. The article listed Hester as being 35 years old. Predictably, Kid Regan claimed to have done the research and found her to be three years older.
The Post-Dispatch of December 16,1943 quoted Hester’s boss at County Cab. “235 pounds of dynamite,” he exclaimed. She wore a “mannish haircut,” and was sometimes asked about her draft status by riders. (No knock on Hester, but she did rather resemble another famous driver – Ralph Kramden.) Shortly before the taxi gig, she drove a truck delivering bulk mail, and slinging 80 pound sacks of mail.
Never shy about her physical gifts, when asked why she didn’t adopt cabbie slacks for her work, she quipped, “If I wore ‘em, they wouldn’t be slacks anymore.”
Did I mention, mercurial? In July of 1945, manpower was still in short supply due to the war. Hester returned home to St. Louis from recent work in Chicago at a gas mask manufacturing plant. The detail obsessed Kid Regan observed that Hester had somehow worked her way down to a mere 188 pounds.
The curtain comes down
The March 8 1946 Star-Times shared that Florence H. Kelly had returned to her native East St. Louis. She now carried a diploma from the Kellbury Institute of Chicago’s College of Physical Therapy. This wasn’t the only good news, however. She had further reduced to 161 1/2 pounds.
Kid Regan, the former Charles Crouse, said to have once been a world bantamweight boxing contender, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1946. He had been at his desk, battling a story deadline just eight hours earlier.
Hester Kelly’s trail goes cold after this. She no longer had her personal bird dog to track her whereabouts or her bouts with the scale. Life’s like that; people come in, do things and interact. They might even gain popularity, but both celebrity and memory fade. Folks like Hester Kelly and Kid Regan eventually go missing. Only the building on Park Avenue and 18th Street remains. It once held them both, having a great time amid the Great Depression.
Mary’s Dreamland eventually became Park Place, followed by Ronayne’s, Killabrews, The Lafayette Pub and Grill, and today’s Square One. It still serves up a good home-brew, after all these years.
Resources:
Kid Regan was like a Walter Winchell man around town for the St. Louis Star-Times. As indicated, without him, we’d know practically nothing about Mary’s Dreamland. Representative extracts here are from December 30, 1933, July 20, 1935, February 22, 1936, November 28, 1936, October 23, 1937, February 2, 1943.
Hester waiting at the Sportsman’s Park gate from the St. Joe Gazette; October 5,1934.
Photo of Mary Ramaesiri and article from St. Louis Star-Times; February 24,1937
Photo and profile of Hester Kelly from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; December 16,1943.
Detail on the divorce of Mike and Mary Ramaesiri from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch; April 28, 1937
An earlier essay dealt with the 1920’s club scene in the Grand Avenue area, focusing on a six month run by Bix Beiderbecke at the Arcadia Ballroom. https://lafayettesquarearchives.com/1926-bix-plays-the-arcadia-ballroom/
Description of neighbors reaction to Settich’s concerts: St Louis Star-Times September 20,1933.
Hester Kelly hired by Settich’s; St Louis Star-Times; September 8,1933.
Thomas Crone of St. Louis Magazine posted a nice remembrance of the St. Louis nightclubs of the more recent past. Perhaps a look will spur some memories of your own. https://www.stlmag.com/history/a-lament-for-dead-bars%3A-a-list-of-twenty-one/
