Nightclubs were big business during World War II, especially in New York. Manhattan nightspots such as the Copacabana, the Latin Quarter, the Diamond Horseshoe, and the Zanzibar earned roughly $50,000 per week each. Fueled by high war wages and lack of consumer products, nightclub patrons had more than enough cash to spend — even with the federal government's 20 percent cabaret tax and $1.75 drinks. Nightclubbers went to hear swing bands, to see famous crooners such as Frank Sinatra, to dance, or to hold last-minute farewell s,prees for departing GIs. In 1945, attempting to hold down heating-fuel use and to stop worker absenteeism, War Mobilization director James Byrnes ordered midnight curfews for all nightclubs and places of entertainment. Mayor Fiorello La Guardia of New York, out for reelection, imposed his own curfew of 1:00 A.M., and a host of after-hours speakeasies developed. Latenight entertainment continued, underground...