The Matchcover Storyteller

Club One Two

 

Club One Two  — there were two of them, in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario,   The Hamilton one is largely forgotten, but associations with the Toronto location are interesting.

First, the matchcovers  —  there are at least 3 that I have seen, all of them 40-strike, both front and rear-strike, all made by Strike-Rite in London, ON/ (I know there’s a postcard and maybe a menu out there somewhere as well).

A full history of the club is hard to find without maybe asking the historical society or similar institution, I have no info on just when it opened or closed, but I might suggest its heyday was in the 1950s and the Hamilton location came quite a bit later.   Club One Two was at 12 Adelaide St. E, between Yonge and Victoria (for those who know Toronto).  The property was managed at one time by Tommy Holmes, whom someone once called the Toots Shor of Canada (don’t know why).  Our rear-strike cover here has Anthony Puma as a manager  —  there seems to be no online information on either man.

But  —  Tommy Holmes had a partner, who had a wife, who…..

Ruth Lowe was born in Toronto, raised in California and moved back to Toronto.  In 1938, she married music publicist Harold Cohen, who died one year later during a surgery.   In her grief and in her Toronto apartment, Ruth composed a song –“I’ll never Smile Again”, arguably Frank Sinatra’s greatest song (first heard on the CBC long before it went to Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey).  In 1945, she married Nathan Sandler, a Club One Two partner with Tommy Holmes; by then, she had also written “Put Your Dreams Away” for Frank. 

The club had 3 distinct areas  — The Orchid Room, where patrons remember acts like The Harmonicats and Louis Prima.  There was a Buffet and The Italian Room as well.  Then there was Bill Butler at the piano in a 5-year engagement at Club One Two. He later formed an orchestra for the opening of the Lord Simcoe Hotel’s great Pump Room.  He has at least 7 LPs and his recordings are part of the Canadian Talent Library, at one time a staple of Canadian radio stations to meet their Canadian content requirements.

Then there’s the horse.  Jimmy DiMarco was another Club One Two manager; a nephew Johnny trained horses at Woodbine.   What I haven’t put together is the story of a thoroughbred race horse named  — wait for it  —  Club one Two. I only have a passing note from an anonymous woman whose husband worked at Club One Two when he came over from Italy and wound up owning the eponymously named horse.  Club One Two  — the horse –was foaled in 2010.  In her 12-start racing career, she finished in the money 8 times, including 5 firsts.

I had no idea what I might find when I Googled Club One Two before Christmas.   I pretty much stumbled upon a pheonomenal hit songwriter, a piano player, a horse, some matchcovers and the club itself.  I’m thinking this was the easy part, but I’m also quitting while I’m ahead.  I’m just happy to know that when every matchcover tells a story;  some are just more easily found!