As the flat screens of  the nation focus on on the final rounds  of  Dancing With The Stars, I was amused by a 1928 Houston newspaper article that recalled a dance marathon that was hosted in Luna Park, which opened in 1924 along 36 acres of the banks of White Oak Bayou in Woodland Heights.
      The biggest feature of the park was the roller coaster, the largest and highest thrill ride in the United States.  Most of the 2000+ daily visitors also enjoyed the scenic railway, reported to stand 2 foot higher than Coney Island's. For the many wanting to "cut a rug", the dance pavilion offered ample room to do so, with the largest dance floor in the South!
     The Woodland heights residents are committed to revitalizing the neighborhood park space along White Oak Bayou.  This past weekend, a Family Day picnic with games and a live band was enjoyed by thousands.  Spectacular park renovations are in the works!
     

As written in 1928 about the dance marathon at the dance casino:

Fifteen couples and a lone youth shuffled about the Luna Park dance casino today, the third day of a marathon which so far has seen the elimination of only five couples. One little blonde was eliminated from the marathon by her husband of three weeks who went to the dance hall last night. She argued with him, holding the hope of a “first payment on a home” with the prize money, but friend husband was obdurate, and home with him she went. One mother sat up all last night, holding a shoe box in her lap with food and first aid equipment to minister to her daughter who milled about in the long grind. The lone boy will be allowed ten hours, and unless a partner is provided, he will be ruled out. If some girl survives a boy partner in the grind, he will draw her for a partner.

Surprisingly, a report following several days later found the dance marathon still in progress:

Twenty-three pairs of blistered, burning feet were still shuffling about the Luna Park dance hall today in the dance marathon which started a week ago from from last Thursday. There are thirteen boys and ten girls still in the long grind; the three boys being without partners, who succumbed to weariness. The marathon has become grim business; the contestants rush to their cots for the fifteen-minute rest periods each hour; and sleep till roused. Some doze on their feet as they dance. The contestants are spurred on by $1,000 in prize money, three-fourths of which will go to the winning couple.

As the third week of the dancing marathon began, it was reported that the dancers were “continuing by dint of much smelling salts and determination.” But the marathon was clearly taking a toll on its participants:

Two girls, Phyllis Dreyer and Lucille Nelson, fainted last night on the floor, but were revived within the alotted five minutes by nurses and continued the grind. Fred Bradford fell asleep while dancing and tumbled forward on the floor, bruising a knee. He started dancing again, and shuffles along with a limp. Two of the stonger contestants aided Jean Inglehart to stay on his feet last night after he fainted, until he recovered sufficiently to proceed under his own power. The contestants help each other, rather than trying to get them out. The dancers shuffle for forty-five minutes and then rest fifteen in each hour.

The dancing marathon was apparently a promotional success, as a “floating marathon” was scheduled in the park in 1929, and a water tank constructed specially for the event. The floating marathon was billed as the first ever held in the state, and possibly in the world – the winner was to be named the floating champion of the world. Early favorites were 300-pound Tony Roselli and “star long distance swimmer” Lee Colombo.

What do you think?  Should we fill the producers in on the opportunities that a floating dance tank offers?  On second thought, the costumes of today could not risk any shrink factor!