The Second Exodus – Egypt – CIV. My Years at 12A Rue Khantaret Ghamra – Entertainment (30 of 30)
Date Posted: April 3rd, 2012
In the ’50s
By then I was already a young adolescent, but very far from being what we call today a party animal. I did go to parties when I was in Alexandria; it took a lot of arm-twisting, but at least I can report first-hand on the party scene in the 1950s.
The first piece of good news were the brilliant advances which took us from the mechanical turntable to the electric one. Another innovation was also introduced. The central rod on the record player was extended and machined in such a way that you could stack from 2 to 3 extra records; when one finished, the next one dropped. Thus, for some 10 glorious minutes you could dance without interruption.
Parents offered to prepare food for the party, but they were never taken up on their offer. I wouldn’t have been “cool” to eat food prepared by mommy! Instead, junk food was purchased by the party-goers. Of course, back then, the so called junk food was far superior than its equivalent today.
Many parties (but certainly not all) were unsupervised. The ones I went to were adults-free! Hormones could have free rein! Close dancing and cheek-to-cheek were the norm. Parents retained the right to drop in unexpectedly; but such heresy, to my knowledge, rarely took place.
Sooner or later, the party would turn into a tahsis party (an approximate translation would be “grope and feel”). The lights would be turned off in all the house except for one faraway room. I leave the rest to your imagination.
This then is how young people partied in this distant era. Great care had to be exercised for girls were expected to remain virgins. It would have been unthinkable for a man to marry and find out that his wife has previously been “sullied.”
Strict morals notwithstanding, people got married, had sex, and had children. As you can see, regardless of time and mores, the basic system introduced by the first male and female of the Homo Sapiens Genus remains unchanged!
Sources
1) Om Kalsoum: Legendary Singer and Mother of the Egyptian Nation. Andrea Nader www.youregypt.com/issue6/topic.htm
2) Umm Kulthum http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umm_Kulthum
3) Mohamed Abdel Wahab www.belly-dance.org/mohamed-abdelwahab.html
4) Mohammed Abdel Wahab http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Abdel_Wahab
5) Farid El Atrache – egyptian moviestars www.belly-dance.org/farid_al_atrache.html
6) Farid al-Atrash http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farid_al-Atrash
7) Youssef Wahbi http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youssef_Wahbi
8) Asmahan, The Golden Voice – Asmahan’s Profile From the biography written by A. Hachlef Translated by M. Stoffel Paris November 1988 www.asmahan.com/profile/index.php
9) Actors – Leila Mourad http://listing-index.ebay.com/actors/Leila_Mourad.html
10) Leila Mourad http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_Mourad
11) Biography for Faten Hamama www.imdb.com/name/nm0357303/bio
12) Welcome To Shadia’s Official Website www.shadiastar.com/wellcom_english.htm
13) Shadia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadia
14) Actors-Sabah http://listing-index.ebay.com/actors/Sabah_(singer).html
15) Sabah (singer) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabah_(singer)
16) Ismail Yasin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ismail_Yasin
17) Anniversary of Naguib El-Rihani, the Egyptian theater’s philosopher (1890-1949) Egypt, People, 6/9/2000 www.arabicnews.com/ansub/Daily/Day/000609/2000060944.html
18) Egypt State Information Service Naguib El Rihani www.sis.gov.eg/En/Story.aspx?sid=1293
19) Rewind: Naguib El Rehani Naguib El Rehani Heba Habib
http://www.live-magazine.net/index.php?view=article&catid=34%3Aarts-and-culture&id=53%3Aby-heba-habib&format=pdf&option=com_content&Itemid=83
20) Naguib el-Rihani http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naguib_el-Rihani
21) Ali al Kassar www.sis.gov.eg/VR/figures/english/html/E1%20Kassar.htm
22) Ali Al-Kassar www.imdb.com/name/nm0015713/
23) Elias Moadab http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elias_Moadab
24) Badia Masabni www.belly-dance.org/badia-masabni.html
25) Badia Masabni – Belly Dance Forums www.bellydanceforums.net/performance/10077-badia-masabni.html
26) Orientalys La Danse Orientale www.orientalys.com/pages/articles/danse_orientale.htm
[The above French text was used as a source for Oriental Dancing (Belly Dancing) in general, and for belly dancers mentioned in specific in the preceding and upcoming text].
27) Samia Gamal – the queen of raqs sharki (oriental dancing) Samia Gamal www.belly-dance.org/samia-gamal.html
28) Samia Gamal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samia_Gamal
29) Tahia Carioca – Egyptian movie stars www.belly-dance.org/tahia-carioca.html
30) Al-Ahram Weekly/ Culture Page/ Dancing to the rhythm of time (Re Tahia Carioca. The article was written shortly after her passing on September 20, 1999) http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/1999/448/cul.htm
31) Naima Akef www.serpentine.org/yasmin/NaimaAkef.html
32) Naima Akef – Egyptian movie stars www.belly-dance.org/naima-akef.html
33) Naima Akef http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naima_Akef
34) The Vanished World of Egyptian Jewry (Re Tseppas) www.sephardicstudies.org/vanished.html
35) Egypt Michael Haag (Re El Hatti) Google Books
36) Groppi of Cairo Samir Raafat June 15, 1996 www.egy.com/landmarks/96-06-15.shtml
37) Delices (A Landmark Patisserie & Cafe in Alexandria, Egypt) http://delicesgroup.com/
38) AL-Ahram Weekly/ culture/ Alexandria of the heart’ mind (Re Pastroudis) http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2001/537/fe2.htm
39) Trianon Review at Frommer’s www.frommers.com/destinations/alexandria/D70061.html
40) Al-Ahram Weekly/ Living Going Greek in Alexandria. Alexandria still enjoys a particular Greek flavor, Dina Ezzat (Re Patisserie Baudrot; Le Grand Trianon; Le Petit Trianon; Elite; Zephyrion; Hamos) http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2008/927/li1.htm
41) Al-Ahram/ Living Restaurant Review. Easy with the Ouzo, Gamal Nkrumah drinks in the Alexandrian view (Re Athineos) http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/662/li3.htm
42) Al-Ahram Weekly/ Bibliotheca Alexandria/ Madame Christina: A place apart, Hala Halim (Re Elite) http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/659/sc71.htm
43) Alexandria still enjoys a particularly Greek flavor/ Egypt Then and Now (Re Zephyrion) http://allaboutegypt.org/2008/12/alexandria-still-enjoys-a- particularly-greek-flavor/
44) Casino des Pigeons Restaurant www.Kompass.com/en/EG007564
45) GARDEN CITY: A Retrospective, August 6, 1998 (Re Issaevitch).
[This a reader’s comment on an article on Garden City, an upscale area in Cairo. The reader, Clement Issaevitch, is reminiscing on the time when he used to live in Cairo, in the Garden City area; Clement is the son of one of the Issaevitch brothers].
