Oh! How They Danced

By THE NEW YORK TIMES

Last week, James Barron recounted in The New York Times the battle to have the interior of the Rainbow Room, the legendary restaurant atop 30 Rockefeller Center, designated a landmark. The article prompted a flood of memories from readers who remembered the Room's heyday. Here are some of our favorites:

My Mom and Dad went there in 1951 when he was stationed in NJ. Mom always talked about how wonderful it was. Fast forward to 2007. She had ovarian cancer, was bald and not feeling great. We were visiting NYC. My wonderful brother and his partner took her and my sister-in-law there for a visit. They couldn't go until 11 PM which was not easy for her at all but wanted to go and she absolutely loved it. It was a highlight of her last couple of years. Too bad for the rest of us that both are gone. - KC, Chicago

My heart breaks again and again. In the late 90s, we would drink Cham pagne overlooking the Hudson and the Statue, the bar with an overhanging ship, of course, imitated the earlier views of the Hudson. Not so very long ago. - Moi, North America

I remember my first visit to the Rainbow Room in January of 1968. It was breathtaking, sophisticated, it was a place where a nobody could rub shoulders with a somebody. Imagine our delight when the elevator doors opened and we met Robert Kennedy and his group of associates ! - S.R.M., Minneapolis

In 1983, my wife and I had steak Diane prepared at tableside as dusk fell over the city below. My family camped out on all of our vacations when I was young in California, so the Rainbow Room was pretty tall cotton for me. Sorry to see it has passed into history. - Allan Krauter, Bakersfield, Calif.

My most vivid memory of the Rainbow Room in the 1960s was the continuous music played by bands on the revolving stage. As one band was about to break the stage would revolve and the replacement ban d would appear continuing the same song as the original band disappeared from stage! Right out of Hollywood! - Tom. V., Conn.

The Rainbow Room has been a fantastic part of my life. My son wore his first suit there and danced with me on the rotating floor till the manager asked me to “have the young gentleman put his jacket on.” - Maren Elwood, Carmel, Calif.

My wife and I have been married fifty-two years, and we treasure the memories of dining and dancing at The Rainbow Room “where dance bands (gave) wings to your feet on a twirling dance floor” and enjoying the romantic setting of “the most gorgeous cabaret in Manhattan,” the Rainbow & Stars, where performers had the world's most beautiful skyline as a backdrop! - S.H., Penn.