Palumbos
Encyclopedia
Palumbo’s was an entertainment complex in Italian Market section of South Philadelphia
, Palumbo’s included a banquet hall, Nostalgia’s Restaurant and the Click Club. The club was owned by local celebrity/businessman/humanitarian Frank Palumbo
. Amid unsubstantiated rumors of mafia
connections, Palumbo expanded a boardinghouse started by his grandfather, Antonio Palumbo into the entertainment complex.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Philadelphia was an important pop music center, with many bands and singers being made or broken in the city. The opulent, art deco Click Club was a significant element in the scene. Frequent performers at the club included Frank Sinatra
, Louis Prima
, Louis Armstrong
, the Clooney Sisters, Jimmy Durante
and numerous others. A nightly radio series broadcast concerts from the club, many of which were later released as albums.
Well beyond the club’s heyday, the restaurant remained popular. Sinatra visited the “black tie saloon” frequently and mayor Frank Rizzo
spent most evenings there during his rise to power, years in office and beyond.
Palumbo’s was destroyed by fires in 1994. The fires were determined to be arson. The site, marked by an unofficial historical plaque, is now occupied by a chain drug store.
South Philadelphia
South Philadelphia, nicknamed South Philly, is the section of Philadelphia bounded by South Street to the north, the Delaware River to the east and south, and the Schuylkill River to the west.-History:...
, Palumbo’s included a banquet hall, Nostalgia’s Restaurant and the Click Club. The club was owned by local celebrity/businessman/humanitarian Frank Palumbo
Frank Palumbo
Frank Palumbo was a restaurateur, local celebrity, humanitarian and power broker in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.He is best known as the owner of Palumbo’s, an entertainment complex in South Philadelphia, Nostalgia’s Restaurant and the legendary Click Club...
. Amid unsubstantiated rumors of mafia
Mafia
The Mafia is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering...
connections, Palumbo expanded a boardinghouse started by his grandfather, Antonio Palumbo into the entertainment complex.
In the 1940s and 1950s, Philadelphia was an important pop music center, with many bands and singers being made or broken in the city. The opulent, art deco Click Club was a significant element in the scene. Frequent performers at the club included Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
, Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, the Clooney Sisters, Jimmy Durante
Jimmy Durante
James Francis "Jimmy" Durante was an American singer, pianist, comedian and actor. His distinctive clipped gravelly speech, comic language butchery, jazz-influenced songs, and large nose helped make him one of America's most familiar and popular personalities of the 1920s through the 1970s...
and numerous others. A nightly radio series broadcast concerts from the club, many of which were later released as albums.
Well beyond the club’s heyday, the restaurant remained popular. Sinatra visited the “black tie saloon” frequently and mayor Frank Rizzo
Frank Rizzo
Francis Lazarro "Frank" Rizzo, Sr. was an American police officer and politician. He served two terms as mayor of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from January 1972 to January 1980; he was Police Commissioner for four years prior to that.-Police Commissioner:Rizzo joined the Philadelphia Police...
spent most evenings there during his rise to power, years in office and beyond.
Palumbo’s was destroyed by fires in 1994. The fires were determined to be arson. The site, marked by an unofficial historical plaque, is now occupied by a chain drug store.