In Seaside’s past, there was no better way to cure a case of Saturday Night Fever than a visit to The Bungalow Dance Hall on Broadway. With a grand opening on June 19, 1920, The Bungalow was the place to be on weekends where everybody could kick up their footloose heels and unleash a repertoire of slick dance moves. Moves like the turkey trot, the lindy hop, the buzzard lope, the Charleston, and a whole grocery list of nutty and creative jitterbugging that youngsters today wouldn’t even dare attempt.
During the later war years, The Bungalow hosted big name headliners (like Jimmy Dorsey) and also included roller skating on the dance floor, as shown here in a photo from 1943. A night of raucous roller skating offered red rover, hokey pokey, conga lines (don’t be the one to break the chain!) and the periodic slow burn of a romantic couples skate.
Seaside’s noteworthy Carousel Mall now stands where The Bungalow Dance Hall used to reside. Unfortunately, roller skating rinks largely went the way of the dinosaur when high-wasted jeans and rompers fell out of style. Dancing, thankfully, is still quite popular and one can find some lively venues on Broadway at the Twisted Fish and the Shilo Oceanfront Hotel – just don’t engage in any turkey trotting, or you may find yourself confined to a lonely corner of the dance floor.
