THE POSTER BALL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18355, 22 March 1923, Page 9

THE POSTER BALL.

A BRILLIANT spectacle;

STRIKING COSTUMES.

GAIETY AT TOWN HALL.

brightest, and most beaut BBwM^«»«nblage! that- Auckland- has,-, ©y< WBtmSffi s athcre<J ftt the TowQ Hai l lft! I The gayest, brightest and most fane *.' assemblage that Auckland has ©v« witnessed gathered at the Town Hall las evening for the Carnival poster and fane iliiiPafert ball Those who may have though KBilhiV organised merrymaking in Aucklan HSfScndd not be a success wculd have bee Blf(»mased could they have had a glimpse c the city's civic centre, the scene of s >"/.. r« anT an august and dignified assemblage i] ' . it appeared last evening, throng* llfeith the.merriest, strangest crowd eve "': ' M „n within its portals. The decoration II themselves ere of unusual beauty, th hall being decked with row upon row o -''*'■' bright lanterns, floating balloons am . foetoons of rose and blue shaded Hectri •• ]Xi intertwined with trailing lyco ' : . F ThfTdemand for spectators' tickets waunprecedented, and several days ago al <■•"■ ■>■••'■ seating accommodation was booked. s< ■■•' : -'' that both galleries and the choir seat ,'V' " re filled with an admiring and inter ;. , te( j crowd when the dancers began t< V line up for the Grand March. •,7-Vr. ■%»•'. certainly was i wonderful proces >■-' «ca. The quaint ness end originality dis ! ' '/'flayed in many of the costumes was noth •' '•'■ •■'■ ,„?' less than a revelation of what Aack ; land can do when its interest and inven ; > : tire faculty are sufficiently aroused. It was not a fancy dress ball in the ordinary sense but something far more intevestinj • ; (/ and 'allowing much greater scope foi ' ''/. originality and beauty of design. s . '','■'"' Soma Wonderful Costumes. . To enumerate or describe all the wonderfnf costumes that presently assembled for ■■'• ■ the wand march would be an impossible ta' There were bejewelled and gorgeous ■•-•'''''rtMtican that might have stepped straight '- -ut of "Chu Chin Chow"; there were also dresses of sackcloth and fibre and ■'■..'■ indiarabber; the coverings that some -7 wore were not dresses at all, but just ■ -' commonplace, useful things that might r : , have walked straight out of the pantry J ••'■■* ; '■■■■ or off the kitchen shelves. Next to a " sdainty little Egyptian princess, for instance, ambled an enormous packet of tea followed by a box of matches and a 'tall'grandfather clock without the slightest ; visible sign of support. Bottles of sauce and C ; wine stalked up and down the hail, fol- ; lowed by a mermaid with flowing hair, '■'"-'-•■ bare feet, and a shining tail, her comptiJon » very scantily-clad gentleman of colour, the pair of them representing j a eouple of washing-day commodities V'<H known to every home. In the background a lighthouse stood f and looked on with a beaming eye, while !■ :i complete radio outfit and perambulating ? storage battery gave things a thoroughly : ; uTj-to-date effect. The spectacle of a : walking coalmine might seem to some the creation of a disordered brain, but nevertheless it was one of the star attractions :: "y- '•!.' at the Town Hall last night, and -was no . less real than a stout, goggle-eyed man .r roads completely of rubber piping, who " V smoked a big cigar and personified to the : : ,: life a very well-known motor tyre adver- .'•"■"■ tisement. 0 ;■■,. .- • ",;"- Scene from Arabian Nights. •.';,. yvn'A black piano wandered inconsequently ' from group to group, and brigands and "■■;' Red * Indians and Maoris hobnobbed in ;! l( friendliest manner. With arms upraised f in familiar gesture, a couple of charming ,); girls in green and ocarlet, with a magic ■•:..''"3d" outlined in electric lighft on their ,;-; : ■'■';, fair heads, and lit fie bungalows ; built on .'.;to;trays at their waists, proclaimed the virtues" of a well-known seaside resort. y'-i-Miaii Parcel and Mr. Package, decked ; out in cardboard and twine, were a quaintly';original couple, another striking :> q pair being Herald and Weekly News, ;i the former in rose and silver doublet and j hos?, •with, curled plume in his felt hat, ';■ the latter a vision of daintiness in silken ;" :■■':.■ x costume, representing the well-known . "'j;'.vtorsr'Jand printed pages of Auckland's .■',■;'' popular weekly journal. The trimmed frocks were not like any other frocks on '.earth, for they were decked with such , /tilings as packets of cartridges, bags of | bird-seed, strings of boots, jam labels, bis- . strait tins, and labels of every kind. ' 'i: ■ When the gay crowd' assembled in line for the grand march, and coloured lights played over that strangely, beautiful, . bizarre company, it was like a scene from /''s'-'ne Arabian Nights scena, and one had : ''Ato rub one's eyes now and again to make V-'-sure it was not some quaint dream. Up 1 and down they marched, the spectators |.'; applauding loudly as there passed by I ''some particularly well-known /character, Wm snch as a man with a monkey face who Ppbrandished a frying-pan, or the ruddy'f,,': haired, velvet-cloaked representative of a . religious sect who is a familiar figure in , .Qr-een Street. Presently confetti and col:V: oured • streamers were thrown, and the ||.. scene took on fresh colour and beauty, white cheers • and, applause mingled ; with v ; ;-.V ths strains of the orchestra. I■.'■.'.'■■ ;'■;;■/ Prize-winning Costumes. iff As might have been expected with such y 1 " a varied and bewildering array, the judges Wpi found no little difficulty in allotting the prizes. The decision in favour of the Farmers' Union display as the best adverM S •" tising set was a popular one, this consist- ' ing of an enormous graznaphone, with a m's number of prettily-costumed girls wheeling |.„ great records. No less popular was the I .award of first prize to the J.C.L. (John Court, Limited) for the most original cos- ■ lume set. The costumes were of striking design and beauty, setting forth the " variEM ous "J.C.L. Star Attractions," and rang- | j ■■''■ ing from a costume made entirely of men a v)- collars to an elegant confection of fruit |Up and flowers and gold lace. The prize for the best fancv dress set was awarded to I y. ; .the "Bandits.*' whose costumes were most S \.y~. artistic and becoming. | mi During the evening, special dance items '■it- were given by Misses Anita Webster and Mary Wilson. The dance music was supplied by Kingland's orchestra. Satisfac- |;:* tory arrangements were made for taking ■ the merrymakers to their homes after the , dance, and the greatest credit is due to .'■*_.'■ the organisers of the ball for the way in which the whole affair wag carried out. ■- Miere is no doubt the grand poster ball v"* 1 " long be remembered as one of the V, most beautiful and successful ever held in ; ;•:.-'Auckland. .;■•■:•.■.v«.'-■-.- , .i-/*i.--. .