The highlight of the social calendar in the early years of the Communist movement was the mid-winter masquerade ball, the Red Revel, held in Chicago. What would William Z. Foster come dressed as? Below are a half dozen articles for the preparations of 1925’s gala event. Read to the end to see who won.

‘Red Revel Masquerade Ball in Chicago’ from The Daily Worker. February, 1925.

CHICAGO ‘REDS’ WILL REVEL ON FEBRUARY 28. February 6, 1925.

Machinery Moving for Masquerade Ball

The Red Revel is coming! The big social event of the season in radical circles in the Windy City, will be held on the evening of Feb. 28, in the Wes End Womens’ Club Hall, 37 South Ashland Blvd., corner of Monroe. It will begin at 8 p.m. and it will be at least one o’clock in the morning after before P. Pan the ancient fiddler will play the last waltz. The committee of arrangements met last Tuesday evening at the Workers Party local office, to set the machinery in motion for making the forthcoming Red Revel the biggest yet. Each branch of the Worker Party in Chicago is represented or this committee, and each branch is supposed to send a delegate.

Novel Advertising.

At last Tuesday night’s meeting the committee decided to issue several copies of a little paper to be called The Red Revel. This little paper will have editorial funny columns, advertisements, sporting columns, news articles and everything that can be seen in the DAILY WORKER except Piggly Wiggly. It will be worth the price of admission to the masquerade ball It is for advertising purposes and the committee expects every comrade to do his or her duty in distributing “Red Revels.” Several valuable prizes will b awarded to the best groups and sing les in the masquerade. The first prize is $50.00 cash for the best group and there is a second prize of $25.00. There are so many other prizes that it seems likely that everybody who participates in the contest will get something. The language federations are entering enthusiastically into the spirit of the thing. National costumes will be worn and a convention of humming birds in the forests of Patagonia will not be more colorful than this international gathering of workers, men, women, boys and girls from all parts of the earth.

They Talk Like Clams.

It is rumored that the Juniors have something up their sleeve in the form of a novelty for the Red Revel Masquerade. They are very reticent and the committee has not yet been able to get the drop on the big idea. Judging by past accomplishments of the Juniors there is no doubt but they will provide a surprise. It might interest our readers to know that a group from a certain branch have an idea that they are going to win the prize for the best group. It will have a class struggle angle. Here it is, rather crudely. Sam Gompers flanked by Andy Carnegie and Bill Rockefeller, led by the Honorable Nick Satan, king of the underworld. Burlesque on Abramovich. There are many other splendid ideas, and it is not secret that our Ukrainian comrades have a scheme in which Abramovich comes in, and a German group will have a little burlesque on Luther, not Martin but Hans. All the other language groups, Jugo Slavs, Italians (Mussolini will be there in effigy), Letts, Lithuanians, Greeks, Scandinavians, Armenians, Turks, Hungarians, Finns, Esthonians, Roumanians, Poles, Negroes, Spaniards; Mexicans, Irish, English, Scotch, Welsh, Canadians and Americans will be represented. Watch for further particulars about the Red Revel in the DAILY WORKER. A good idea is to get your tickets in time. They can be had at the local office of the Workers Party, 166 West Washington street, Room 307, or at the office of the DAILY WORKER. P.S. Besides Communists, radicals of all shades of opinion will be at the Red Revel Masquerade Ball.

ACTORS’ EQUITY MEMBERS WILL BE AT RED REVEL. February 10, 1925.

Famous Annual Ball is Talk of the Town

“Suffer the little children to come unto me” declared Jesus (tho not to a DAILY WORKER reporter), “for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” This is not an article on the proposed child labor amendment. It’s a trick to call your attention to the Red Revel Masquerade Ball which will be held in Womens’ West End Club Hall, 37 South Ashland Blvd., on the evening of Feb. 28 and until the wee small hours of the morning after. The reason the children are mentioned is because the Junior group of the Young Workers’ League are working their foxy little heads off thinking up little tricks with which to entertain, amuse and instruct the happy red revellers on Red Revel eve. Many of the Juniors are little girls and the female of the species is supposed to have it all over on the radio for broadcasting secrets but what the juniors are going to do, none of the news sleuths on the staff of the DAILY WORKER have yet been able to find out.

Juniors on the Job.

This much we can say, however, that if their past record means anything, the Juniors will add another chapter to the history of their accomplishments on Feb. 28. Thousands of copies of a little baby paper, the smallest in the United States, excepting the official organ of the socialist party of the state of Washington, will be distributed early next week among members of the Workers Party, all radical organizations and trade unions. The Red Revel Masquerade Ball will give Chicago radicals an opportunity to meet each other. The more the capitalists attack the Communists the more interesting they become. Hundreds will come to see what Bolshevik looks like. Many will come to scoff and remain-to dance.

Meet the Girls.

The Red Revel publicity agent is now able to inform the public that three young and handsome actresses, now playing in a well known Chicago theater will be there. The publicity agent will even go further. He agrees to introduce to said comely girls, any young men of ordinary pulchritude and good manners who can show proof that he has disposed of at least twenty tickets for the Red Revel Ball. Scores of tickets have been purchased by some of the leading literary lights of Chicago who make their home in what the natives of this village are pleased to call, Greenwich Village. They will come to see the Communists and many Communists will come to see the Greenwich Villagers. The committee on arrangements for the Red Revel Masquerade Ball is leaving nothing undone to make things as interesting as possible for the guests. The only responsibility that is placed on the shoulders of our guests is to buy a ticket or tickets at the local office of the Workers Party, 166 W. Washington St., Room 307 or at the office of the DAILY WORKER, 1113 W. Washington Blvd.

RED REVEL BALL ONE OF BIGGEST PARTY AFFAIRS. February 17, 1925.

Costumes, Dancing and Eats Scheduled

The enlarged committee for the Red Revel Masquerade Ball, which will be held on Saturday evening, February 28, in Women’s West End Club Hall, under the auspices of Local Chicago of the Workers Party, met last Wednesday evening and made final arrangements for the affair which pro mises to be one of the most successful ever held by the party in this city. Every language group in Chicago is co-operating. Hundreds of people will be in costume. Prizes will be awarded to the best groups and individual costumes. An excellent dance orchestra has been secured and the dancing will last until one o’clock in the morning. The Women’s West End Club hall is located at 37 South Ashland Boulevard on the corner of Monroe and Ashland Boulevard. Admission is 50 cents.

Should Sell Tickets

Posters and other advertising matter is printed and can be secured at the local office of the Workers Party, 166 West Washington Street. Members of the party and friends are urged to call for some posters and see that they are properly displayed. Every effort should be made to sell as many tickets as possible in advance. This is the best kind of advertising.

Plenty To Eat

Besides music and other entertainment there will be plenty of good things to eat and drink. The committee in charge of this part of the affair has plenty of experience and we can guarantee that your palates will be tickled for a reasonable price. Mark “Red Revel” down in your note book for February 28 and do not forget it.

MILWAUKEE MAY CAPTURE PRIZE AT RED REVEL. February 20, 1925.

Daring Costumes Planned for Masquerade

Groups representing Soviet Russia and the international, unity of the working class won first place at the masked ball of the socialist party in Milwaukee last week. Another capture by the Communists! But perhaps the judges couldn’t help it. Or again perhaps the judges were “planted” by Gus Shklar, local secretary of the Workers Party.!!

The Milwaukee Invasion

Perhaps Shklar and his merry comrades are coming to the Red Revel to contest for that $50,00 prize. If so our Chicago masqueraders had better look out. It would not surprise us to learn that the Milwaukeeans are coming to get a few pointers on how to run Red Revels. But an ounce of prevention is worth many pounds of cure. However the chairman of the arrangements committee in an exclusive interview to the publicity agent for the Red Revel, announced that Steve Rubicki in the field for the first prize with a group that will make the judges jump down off the stage with sheer enthusiasm. “Comrade Rubicki is a man of few words” declared the chairman, “but he means what he says. I understand that he has collected a group composed of representatives of several nationalities and of the Italian Federation. If it will stick together I am of the opinion that Steve will come in first.”

A Daring Design.

But Steve will have competition, Moritz Loeb, business manager of the DAILY WORKER, has designed a costume which for sheer daring would make Isadore Duncan blush to her eyebrows. Jack Johnstone, who claims credit for bringing the good news of Sam Gompers’ demise to the American proletariat thru the columns of the DAILY WORKER, has a plan up his sleeve, but the details have not yet leaked out. It is rumored around the T.U.E.L. office that he saw something in Mexico City that would open the eyes of natives of the Windy City. What is, we cannot say, but it is not Pulque. Thurber Lewis, fresh from Herrin, is expected to essay the role of a Grand Goblin. Natalia Gomez has issued a challenge to all and sundry to bring on their darned costumes. The judges are to be envied and pitied. How can they be impartial? Then there is the midnight surprise. Besides the tableau which Hans Peterson of the Scandinavian Federation is working on, a company of three girls directed by Emma Blechsmidt are cavorting like elves in rehearsal for the midnight surprise. Those who have seen the rehearsal admit that one eyeful is worth every nickel of fifty cents.

Hundreds of Costumes. Costumes! Costumes! Costumes!

It is premature to figure on the attendance, but if reports are reliable, the affair will look like a gypsy convention or an Oriental bazaar Armenians, Turks, Greeks and Bulgarians. Irish, English, Scotch and Welsh. Swedes, Finns, Danes and Norwegians. Germans, Austrians, Bohemians and Dutch. French, Spanish Italians and Belgians. Letts, Litts, Esthonians and Poles. Rumanians, Hungarians, Jugo-Slavians and Albanians. Mexicans, Canadians and the rest of the world. It is no exaggeration to say that the whole world will be represented. As usual Soviet Russia will be represented by the Red Army. This is the time to get your tickets. They are selling like hot dogs at a skating rink. They can be secured either at the local office of the Workers Party, 166 West Washington street, Room 307 or at the office of the DAILY WORKER.

SNAPPY JOURNAL IS REVIEWED BY SNAPPY WRITER by WALT CARMON. February 22, 1925.

But, Abused Reader, It’s All Publicity!

The brain child of some noted wit was the only information that inquiry received at the DAILY WORKER on trying to discover the author of the Red Revel-a newsy little news-sheet that in snappy, humorous fashion promised the radical world a big Bolshevik blow-out on Feb. 28,

Must have Had A Shot

The little newspaper, The Red Revel, is hot stuff, and an open letter to William Z. Foster from William Green is (in the vulgar) a wow. It ends up reading: “Your work in amalgamating the unions is inestimable. Lewis and M. Woll wish to be remembered to you. Best wishes to my friend Bill Dunne.” This letter is in a column entitled: “Things That Never Happen” and we’ll tell the cross-worded universe it would take a shot of cocaine to ever imagine that they might. The main article in the little propagandist, The Red Revel, titled: “Big Bolshevik Blow-out” promises so many features, it’s worth the price of ad- mission to see to what limits of blarney, an Irish press agent, will go. But if the blamed affair is up to specifications the writer of this review is coming in dark colored glasses. The Red Revel is the big yearly event of the raving reds and radicals. This year’s affair promises to surpass the ones of the past years in daring costume, gayety and originality. There are promises of a surprise or two in special features and a cartoon in the little Red Revel, the newspaper now being mailed, carries this dialogue: “What’s the matter, Rosie, have you checked your clothes?” and Rosie answers: “Nix, I am out for that $50.00 prize at the Red Revel.”

All Dressed Up

The cartoon pictures Rosie wearing a heavy smile. And if that cartoon is a promise for the Red Revel–well, we take back our statement about coming with dark colored glasses. On such a happy evening we want to see the girls in smiles. In an editorial in this little paper, the editor says all there is worth saying in challenge to the skeptics: “Revolutionists are supposed to be hard boiled chunks of protoplasm who go thru life with sour faces and grey hearts, always looking at the dark side of life and never enjoying themselves. The Red Revel has succeed in knocking that fallacy for a string of hot dogs.” You don’t believe it? It will cost you only fifty cents admission to be convinced, so you may as well do as we will-let’s go and find out on Feb. 28 at West End Women’s Club Hall, 37 S. Ashland Blvd.

STAGE SET FOR GALA TIME AT RED REVEL BALL. February 27, 1925.

Brilliant Costumes to Make Judges Wary

The stage is all set for the grandest affair yet held by the Workers Party, Local Chicago, the Red Revel Masquerade Ball. All the branches are participating. The Young Workers League will be out in full force as well as the juniors who have contrived the most cunning and expressive costumes in their efforts to win the big prize offered for the best of group costume. From the reports received from our branches it seems as tho every branch will have a chance at the big prize. The judges at the midnight parade of the masqueraders will no doubt find it difficult to choose from among the many varicolored groups, the twenty to win the prizes.” None of the great men whom we have so far approached for the arduous task of judging the best costume have accepted. We will have to resort to challenges, it is supposed.

Get Tickets Early.

All Workers Party comrades and branches and all our friends are asked to provide themselves with tickets in advance because they are only 50 cents in advance (75 cents at the door), to get their costumes and to be out in full force at the masquerade. Workers Party branches should also not forget to send their representative to the meeting of the RED REVEL Committee this Wednesday and to send in to the local office of the Workers Party the names of those comrades who have volunteered to work at the RED REVEL on various committees. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 8.00 P.M., AT WEST END WOMEN’S CLUB HALL, 37 S. ASHLAND BOULEVARD is the time and place.

COSTUMES WILL DAZZLE GUESTS AT RED REVEL. March 1, 1925.

Masquerade Ball Takes Place Tonight

The Red Revel masquerade ball, which is the talk of radical circles in this city for several weeks will be held tonight in West End Women’s Club Hall, 37 South Ashland Blvd., corner of Monroe St. The Red Revel is an annual event in Chicago, at least for the past three years. This year promises to outdo the others by many hundreds of costumes and general hilarity. The music has been carefully selected with a view to rendering the feet of the guests incapable of remaining stationary. Those who wish a quiet evening conversing entertainingly with their friends can get out of the range of the music. The arrangements committee has taken steps to satisfy everybody if such is possible.

Ready For Execution

One of the most important inducements is a midnight surprise conceived and prepared for execution by three sprightly girls whose names I will be held incommunicado for the time being, in order to heighten the mystery. What the surprise will look like, even the publicity agent cannot reveal. Suffice it to say that it will be daring but decent. The surprise will be staged just one hour after the unmasking. This will insure unobstructed vision. Prizes will be given to the best group and individual costumes. Many of the costumes are original and related to the class struggle. But you had better come and see for yourself. All guests are expected to be masked. Masks can be secured at the door. Needless to say the committee has provided refreshments of a very high order, including delicious sandwiches endorsed by the Amalgamated Food Workers, and coffee that carries the Greek label. If you have not secured your tickets already you can purchase them at the door.

DAILY WORKER BUILDERS WIN FIRST PRIZE! March 3, 1925.

The DAILY WORKER builders are always on the job. They even went to the Red Revel Saturday and started “boring from within” among the merry-makers. And the result was that they succeeded in running away with the first prize of $50.00; offered for the best group in masquerade. The amount was given to the DAILY WORKER to help drive home the “last spike” in the 1925 insurance campaign. The builders pageant had been arranged by the North Side English branch of the Workers Party. It centered around a revolutionary figure, a beautiful girl in red carrying a flaming torch, symbolical of the DAILY WORKER. Following her came the militant workers, miners, machinists, carpenters, textile workers, each with the tool of his trade. “The International” was played by the orchestra for the grand march, with all the marchers singing. The DAILY WORKER builders army was in advance, led by Josephine Herd representing the revolution. The second prize of $25.00 was awarded the Greek dancing trio, Emma Bleckschmidt, Elsie Newman and Hilda Reid, who presented two classical dances, exquisitely done. Natalie Gomez as a Spanish dancer won the third prize of $10. Both of the latter prizes were donated to the Workers Party. Book prizes were awarded several others.

The Daily Worker began in 1924 and was published in New York City by the Communist Party US and its predecessor organizations. Among the most long-lasting and important left publications in US history, it had a circulation of 35,000 at its peak. The Daily Worker came from The Ohio Socialist, published by the Left Wing-dominated Socialist Party of Ohio in Cleveland from 1917 to November 1919, when it became became The Toiler, paper of the Communist Labor Party. In December 1921 the above-ground Workers Party of America merged the Toiler with the paper Workers Council to found The Worker, which became The Daily Worker beginning January 13, 1924.