AL DONAHUE - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 04/23/1940 - HFSID 223639

AL DONAHUE
Al Donahue sends a typed letter to a collector about his upcoming tour dates and to send back his money for the photographs.
Typed Letter Signed: "Al Donahue", 1p, 7¼x10½ personal letterhead. New York, New York, 1940 April 23. To Mr. Harry Blair, Jr., La Crosse, Wisconsin. In full: "It was nice hearing from you and I certainly appreciate your interest in my band. We will be at the New Yorker until May 8th at which time we go on a tour of colleges and theatres. Under separate cover, I am sending you an 8 X 10 of myself and also a small picture of the band with my compliments. I am enclosing the $.25 and I appreciate your offer to pay for the pictures but I can't accept it. Sincerely," Al Donahue (1904-1983) was a violinist and big band leader who honed his craft playing on Eastern Steamship Line ships before organizing his first big band in 1925. They toured the United States numerous times during the 1930s, with singers like Lynne Stevens, Paula Kelly, Phil Brito, Snooky Lanson and Dee Keating, but by the 1940s started to move from swing to more high-brow music. The band continued touring into the 1950s and even tried their hand at TV, unsuccessfully, before Donahue left and became musical director for the Furness Bermuda Line of ocean liners. He also opened a music store in Bermuda with fellow bandleader Frank Walsh, which was bought by the Bermudan government. They used the money from that purchase to buy Ponzi's House of Music in Oceanside, California, which closed in the 1970s. Fold creases not at signature. Lightly creased at corners. Fine condition.