Lester Young’s Draft Status, Residences, Wife’s Name, and More, in 1940--with Bonus Images For Paying Subscribers

(Several times each month I send gifts to you paying subscribers, to thank you for your support—audio, photos, rare newspaper articles, etc. This article has a number of rare images which you’ll see at the end. Don’t forget to scroll down!)

A lot of my research begins when I get curious about something, and then I follow it wherever it leads me. This time I’m starting with the front of Lester Young’s draft registration card (it has been posted online once before). But this led me to a number of other sources. Together, if analyzed properly, they convey much information about Young’s daily life in 1940.

First let’s look at the front of his registration card. There is more information here than you might think at first glance:

These were usually filled out by a staff person—a registrar—interview style, and then signed by the registrant (the person who is registering for the draft). I’ve seen Lester’s signature before and that is definitely his, on the bottom.

So, let’s read from the top down—we see his full name, some filing numbers, and then his address on line 2: 2424 Seventh Avenue! Why, that’s the Woodside Hotel, famous to us as the inspiration for “Jumpin’ at the Woodside” in 1938, one of the Count Basie band’s biggest hits ever! (It was common for people to live in hotels long-term, not only for short stays.)

(Paying subscribers: Below you will see both sides of a Woodside Hotel postcard, including a photo of the lobby!)

Continuing down Young’s card, this is the first time I have seen the last name of Young’s wife of that time. It’s known that he was married to a white woman named Mary from about 1937 through most of 1945. The most detailed biography of Young, You Just Fight For Your Life by my friend Frank Büchmann-Møller, tells us that she was a nurse of Italian ancestry. From this card we learn that her last name was Daleo, and a little searching tells me that there were six Mary Daleos born between 1910 and 1915—which would be a likely age range— in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Without further research, I can’t at the moment say which Mary Daleo was his wife. They were never legally married, so maybe that’s why, even though she is identified as his wife, and she lives with him at the Woodside, she is nevertheless listed as “Miss.”

Below that Count Basie is listed as his employer, but the “place of employment” is the office of M.C.A. Booking Corporation. Musicians were hard to reach while on tour, so they usually gave their agent’s or manager’s contact info. (Basie left M.C.A. to go to the William Morris Agency around this time, and a later record gives the address of the Morris Agency—that’s below for paying subscribers.) In any case M.C.A. was located in a beautiful art deco building at 745 Fifth Avenue between 57th and 58th streets. It was built in 1930, so it was only ten years old at the time.

(Paying subscribers, below you will see two amazing color photos of that building.)

Now—I just mentioned that the building was ten years old. How did I know that? Because the back of Young’s registration card gives a very important piece of information, the date, October 16, 1940.

(Paying subscribers, below you will see the back of the card.)

Why is October 16, 1940 significant? Because that was the date of the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. It was established in anticipation that Hitler’s actions in Europe would eventually draw us into the fighting. On October 16, 1940, all men born between Oct. 16, 1904 and Oct. 16, 1919 (ages 21-36) had to register, so Young, born in 1909, was included. Remember, registering is not the same as serving or being inducted. It meant that your name was added to the listings of men who could serve if needed. In September, 1944, the Army finally called for Pres—but that’s another story, for another time, and given in great detail in Frank Büchmann-Møller’s book.

On the back of the card, the registrar, Robert S. Dixon, also tells us that Young was 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighed about 180 pounds. The card was filled out at a draft board office at 290 Lenox Avenue, near 125th Street in Harlem.

Sometime later, an index card for Young was typed up. (Before computers, most businesses, including record companies and libraries, kept their files on index cards.) By then, the Count Basie Orchestra had moved to the William Morris Agency, with offices at 1270 Sixth Avenue, and Lester and Mary had moved to 114 West 47th Street, between Sixth and Seventh Avenue in Times Square. (Elsewhere in my files I have the information that they lived in apartment 501.) The index cards remained in the file and were occasionally updated, so when Young moved to Los Angeles from about December 1945, after being discharged from the Army, until the summer of 1946, someone typed in his L.A. address, 1706 South Central Avenue.

(Paying subscribers, below you can see the index card, a photo of 1270 Sixth Avenue, and info about Young’s residential addresses.)

Thank you for following me “down the rabbit hole,” as they say. See you again soon!

All the best,

Lewis

P.S. Paying subscribers—keep scrolling!

Paying subscribers—keep scrolling!