Tea Dance at the Park Hotel
Posted: August 3rd, 2009 | 5 Comments »In 1941 the world was going to hell in a handcart and Shanghai and China were already ahead of plenty of places – still the Park Hotel kept on running its nightly tea dances (every night 5-7pm) with Leo Itkis and his orchestra (who I know nothing about sadly). The Park Hotel is still there on Nanjing Road – built in 1932 and still a hotel (though somewhat less than glamorous and a bit run down inside – at least when I last visited a room there the decoration was pretty grotty) and Mr Itkis and his orchestra were long gone too. Still the Park Hotel Tea Dance and Leo Itkis had to be better than the legion of second rate Eurotrash DJs and fifth rate nightclubs that infest Shanghai these days full of vacuous ponces…as ever…ho hum!
Since we will be visiting Shanghai in March I decided to Google my husband’s father, Leo Itkis, and found your blog. Sadly, Leo Itkis died in 1942 of post-operative shock from an operation to repair nerve damage in his neck. His widow and son lived in Shanghai throughout WWII. After the war Dora Paley Itkis married Elliot Ronnel a US Army Capt. whom she knew from growing up in Harbin, Manchuria. They immigrated to the US in 1948, settling in Tuckahoe, New York. Elliot Ronnel adopted Eli (Lee) Itkis and Lee Ronnel now lives in Little Rock, AR where he founded Metal Recycling Corporation. We were delighted to find your program from the Park Hotel. Thank you!!
Dale – thanks – if you have any more information or photographs of Leo Itkis I’d be most interested. I know little to nothing about him – I assume if his family remained in Shanghai and out of internment after December 1941 his nationality was not American?
Dale – assume you’ve come across this reference to Itkis on your web searches – http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes19260929-1.2.65.aspx
Paul,
I had dinner tonight with the Runnels in Little Rock, introduced by a mutual friend. His Shanghai connection is amazing. He and Dale mentioned having found these blog posts but not whose they were. Perhaps you remember my husband and I accompanied you on walking tour of “Midnight in Peking” settings, followed by lunch at Susu, owned by Amy and Jonathan (my son). We were recently in China again and heard from Jo about your forthcoming new book. Mine, “The Lost Torah of Shanghai,” comes out soon. All the best…
Linda, of course I remember the walk and lunch at Susu well. Hope you are well? I am afraid I’m not familiar with the Runnels – what’s their story? Good luck with the new book.