Prize-Winning Couples, Ruty's Walkathon, White City Park, Pottsville, Pa., 1934

A let's dance photo for the Vintage Photos Theme Park.

This is a real photo postcard showing the winners of promoter George L. Ruty's "walkathon," which was held at White City Park, an amusement park located near Pottsville, Pennsylvania, in 1934.

Walkathons were related to dance marathons, and both involved endurance contests that required participants to walk, dance, and perform other tasks over the course of days, weeks, or months in order to win cash and prizes. Spectators paid an admission fee to see the proceedings and often attended regularly to find out how well their favorite individual or couple was doing in the contest (fans could purchase photos of each couple, too--see below for Mary O'Connor and Charlie Cucci's, for instance).

Some contestants made the rounds of different walkathons and dance marathons, and a few became popular locally or nationally. Frank Loveccio, who's wearing a striped shirt and suspenders and is standing third from left in the photo above, eventually parlayed his walkathon and dance marathon appearances into a wildly successful singing, songwriting, and acting career under the name of Frankie Laine (see below for another group photo that shows Frank Loveccio/Frankie Laine during his dance marathon days).

Prize Winning Couples, Geo. L. Ruty's Walkathon, White City Park, 1934

Team #21 - Mickey Sheehan, Itsy Bachrach
Team #10 - Frank Loveccio, Frances Leonard
Team #29 - Aaron Sinton, Bobbie Smith
M.C. - Phil Murphy
Team #6 - Eleanor Johnson, Ralph Stanside
Team #9 - Mary O'Connor, Charlie Cucci
Judge - Fred Clifford