I'm curious...

[Irena]

What is the Fedora Lounge's story? I'm sure this question has been answered somewhere before, but I can't seem to find it.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

.

Egad, I'm sorry that all of us missed your post. I was digging through some other things and found it.



MK summed it up in this thread:

http://thefedoralounge.net/showthread.php?t=6732&highlight=Jones

Hi Joe. It is all that and more. To understand what it is, we should look at how it came about. This how it all went down:

I created this joint because I was over at Club Obi Wan ...which deals a little bit with period but it is all through the narrow lens of Indiana Jones. I wanted more of the 30-40's than was appropriate there. There was another little board called Austin's Cafe American (now defunct) that was on the right track but the place was a free for all. Management was unwilling to keep the peace. It was pretty close to meeting my needs but I saw the writing on the wall. It wouldn't last and I was going to make myself miserable dealing with jerks. Nobody was doing what was needed, so I had to build it myself.

So The Fedora Lounge was born. That was in May of 2003. We had a funky board on Ezboard. There were just a handful of us. We developed the catagories and worked on the look. I like many aspects of the golden era, but I am a big fan of film noir, especially Bogart and Ladd. Chandler is man. I love the fedora and trench coat look. So I chose that to be the identity of The Fedora Lounge. My blueprint was an old world gentlemen's club. A classy place where you discuss issues of the day in a civilized way over a brandy.

By August of '03, we had grown to a hundred or so. I could tell the place was catching on, so I invested some dough and time, bought the name and created a professional and robust board with vbulletin so we could have more control and stability.

We were gaining 30-40 people a month for a year or so. Then I discovered Atomic magazine. I am in magazine publishing too so I contacted Leslie, the editor-in-chief. We both love vintage/retro, so we got along . Unfortunately the magazine folded. Leslie put our banner on there website and all the people that were going through withdrawals of no magazine visited here. We grow 100 members a month. Also up to that time we only had two girls here. A lot of the growth was women. That changed the tone a bit. It made us more well rounded.

The growth has continued as the word has spread to various vintage circles, WWII reinactors, hat lovers, classic car guys, swing dancers, classy dressers, history buffs, collectors of all kinds and people who just love the golden era. To answer your question what is this place? It is whatever aspect of the golden era you like. You will find like-minded people to share that interest.

We are currently at 1800 members and we are growing at 200 a month. Where is it all going?

Beats me....but it is a fun ride!

 

[Irena]

Thank you very much, Zohar!