Eighty-two years ago today, a reader of The Brooklyn Daily Eagle reminisced on the swinging seniors’ party that was the Greenpoint Home for the Aged’s annual Old Ladies’ Fair in the paper’s January 28, 1940 issue.
Though a night at Ponyboy or Saint Vitus it was not, reader Catharine P. Briggs (whose letter was affectionately sequestered to the “Old Timers” category) recalled the week-long debauchery as the social event of the year, boasting a turkey dinner each night and ample representation for every local Protestant church group.
But the fair wasn’t all turkey and tabernacles, it also put the fun in fundraising and resulted in some solid charitable donations for the Home for the Aged while vendors were slinging their wares on site.
While the Old Ladies’ Fair as Briggs remembers it is no longer, the Home for the Aged building still stands somewhat hauntingly at 137 Oak St.
Calyer St., which housed the fair, also offers up plenty of opportunities for fun, including Capri Social Club (also known as Irene’s Capri Social Club) which has just as much of a storied past dating back to the 1880s.