Crepe Paper Costumes of the 1920s Join us to hear about the early 1920s crepe paper Halloween costume fad promoted by Dennison Manufacturing Company. We’ll look at vintage examples of costumes and accessories from the period as well as dive into to several of the popular how-to instruction booklets. Dennison’s series of “How to Make Crepe Paper Costumes” followed their exclusive Halloween ephemera “Bogie Books”. These creative promotional how-to booklets foreshadowed later DIY lifestyle magazines by teaching the consumer how to make their own elaborate, yet inexpensive costumes, props and decorations for Halloween parties, Masquerade Balls, and in fact, for any occasion. It was all about the pulp… Put on your party hat and find out how and why vintage paper costumes were made in the 1920s and why your wardrobe needs to include a paper costume!

We’re excited to announce that Bevis Hillier, the writer who brought Art Deco back into the culture with the publication of his 1968 book “Art Deco of the 20s and 30s” new insights and appreciation, is joining ADSLA from London for a Zoom talk! He will be in conversation with his old friend and fellow Art Deco author, Arnold Schwartzman.

Nothing evokes Jazz Age elegance like Art Deco. On this walking tour, learn how it made its way to L.A., why it became such a defining architectural style, and about the craftspeople who created these soaring structures and their iconic details. Clean lines and geometric patterns proved a perfect style for L.A. in the ‘20s and ‘30s, and an extraordinary collection of these masterpieces still stands in the heart of the city.

Tour the private Los Angeles Athletic Club, including the secret speakeasy room! This tour is only open to ticket holders for Swimming Pretty. The club is private, so no one will be admitted who is not a ticket holder.

On this docent-led tour you will learn the backstory of L.A.'s iconic Union Station. This extraordinary Spanish Colonial Revival and Art Deco monument was built to serve as the gateway to Los Angeles – a role which, in many ways, it continues to play today. It continues to serve tens of thousands of commuters daily.

It was during the 1920s that a Chicago physical education teacher first matched movements in the water with music, but by then, women had been making a splash in aquatic vaudeville performances and before that, controversial Victorian-era “scientific” swimming displays. Since the nineteenth century, tensions between beauty and strength, aesthetics and athleticism have both impeded and propelled the careers of female swimmers—none more so than synchronized swimmers, for whom Hollywood mermaid, Esther Williams’ name is synonymous. For the first time, author (and swimmer), Vicki Valosik traces a century of aquatic performance, from vaudeville to the Olympic arena, detailing the careers of the many women who began as athletes, but found greater opportunity, and often social acceptance, in the world of show business. Together, they not only laid the groundwork for synchronized swimming, but forever changed women’s relationships with water.

For the 41st year, the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles “digs up the dirt” on Hollywood history - including a few scandals - via a living history walking tour of the 125-year-old Hollywood Forever Cemetery at 6000 Santa Monica Boulevard. Visit the gravesites of early Hollywood stars, movie moguls, and the pioneers who shaped Los Angeles, to hear fascinating tales about their lives (both their accomplishments and misdeeds) from historians and living history performances.