Flapper Party: Happy 90th, Culver Hotel

The real-life "Wizard of Oz" landmark throws a Prohibition Ball in honor of its nonagintennial.

Many of our modern fantasy references stem from "The Wizard of Oz,"  from famous lines ("I'll get you, my pretty") to ruby slippers to flying monkeys to the whimsical names and titles of the characters.

And if someone mentioned "Nonagintennial" in relation to the story we might, at first glance, believe it to be a witch or fairyland. But it is, of course, a 90th anniversary, which is what one of the most famous landmarks associated with Dorothy and friends is marking this year.

Make that Saturday, Sept. 6, in fact. The Culver Hotel, that studio-adjacent, triangle-shaped, fable-and-lore-filled '20s pile that sits grandly along Washington Boulevard is throwing a Prohibition Ball to mark its 1924 beginnings. Sept. 4, 1924 was that exact beginning, to be pinpoint specific, so call it a 90th birthday party, plus two days, for the Culver City gem.

An open bar, hor d'oeuvres, blackjack, stogies, and burlesque round out the flapper-fantastic evening. And should you dress for the era? Well the invite says 1920s fashion is "a must." That sounds pretty firm to us. Find your flapper fringe or feathered sparkly headband at once.

And the cost? This is an easy one: It's $90 a ticket, with 10 percent of each ticket helping out the Culver City Historical Society.

Which fits, as historical societies are so often the organizations that assist landmark structures in reaching their nonagintennial. Without these past-protective societies, fewer beautiful buildings would even see a half century.

As for "The Wizard of Oz" connections? Those came, for the Culver Hotel, more than a decade after its opening. Many actors from the film, including the thespians who portrayed the Munchkins, called the Culver home during the making of the movie at nearby MGM Studios.

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So, yes, you should dress in your flapper-y best for the Prohibition Ball, but, look: If you show up as the Mayor of Munchkin City, or the Scarecrow, or Toto, aren't you bringing a little history back to the hotel?

And did the red brick road, the one intertwined with the yellow brick road, actually lead to the Culver Hotel?

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