Aiken, South Carolina is a small Southern Town with a lot of history. One of my good friends, Louise, is in her early 90's and remembers a time when the streets were filled with big screen icons and tabloid headliners. In the 1930's and 40's, The Aiken Post Office steps were the key to a fantasy world that gave way to an amazing reality.
Mr Fred Astaire's first wife Phyllis Potter was accustomed to Wintering in Aiken and continued that habit while married, for 21 years, to America's dancing feet. Whom Louise recalls, spun her up and down the post office steps as if she was as light as a feather. His affinity for the charm of Aiken kept him returning even with his friends from the Ziegfeld Follies. Mr Gene Kelly and Mr. Astaire created quite a stir when they both went to the Post Office together.
The local girls sat along the granite steps hoping that they would be the next ones whisked up to dance down the street with Americas' most entertaining gentlemen. And so the gentlemen went about their daily routine, posting letters and enchanting Aiken's own sweethearts.
With Mr. Astaire's sister married to a Duke, it did not come as quite such a surprise to some of Aiken's residents to see Prince Edward and Wallace Simpson take refuge in their quiet town. With friends and family surrounding them, the media was thrown off of their trail for a while. And one of Aiken's brick walls was closed in to hide the lovebirds.
Some of Aiken's local lore, accredit Fred Astaire's love of race horses to the premiere equestrian of that generation, Ambrose Clark. With horses for every activity, Ambrose Clark is one of America's legends in his own right. Astaire and Kelly even owned a racehorse together at one time and it was horses that led Astaire to his second wife, who had been a jockey.
At the core of it all is horses and the stage was Aiken. We may not have the big screen icons and thank goodness, we do not have today's tabloid headliners; but Aiken is still that charming and enchanted place were little girls' dreams come true and love is in the air.
[This blog was inspired by the recollections of a friend and my own daily reminder- The Post Office, which is nextdoor to my real estate office. The pictures are from the City's online photo gallery and Wikipedia, where some facts were gleaned, as well.]
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