Have you ever wondered what it took to put on a milonga with a major tango orchestra in the 40s? I have! I just ran across some documentation online that answers the question pretty squarely. In October 1946 the A.M.B.A. (Asociación Mutual de Barmen y Afines), the Argentine Bartenders' Society, held a fundraiser for their building fund, and they hired the orchestra of Carlos Di Sarli (with singer Jorge Durán) to top the bill, as well as a jazz outfit fronted by one Fernando Caprio ("The Prince of Bolero"). They also engaged a singer named Carmen de Lorena, and a classical orchestra directed by the violinist Ferrucio Marzan.
The event was held at the "Salón Principe Jorge" (Prince George Room) at Sarmiento 1230, a longtime venue for conferences, political rallies, and milongas. Here's a program for the event, with Di Sarli in the pole position:
As for revenues and receipts, we have a full accounting:
As you can see in the Salidas (Expenses) column, the Di Sarli orchestra was paid $580 pesos, Caprio received $250, and Marzan was reimbursed $23 for traslado, carfare! (Nothing for De Lorena or any of the other minor performers?) Rental of the hall was $200 pesos, and a fee of $70 pesos was paid to S.A.D.I.C., which probably should be S.A.D.A.I.C, the Argentine Authors' and Composers' Society. They were also charged a breakage fee (pago de roturas) of $16.70. Hmmmm.... I'm sure it was all in good fun!
As for Entradas (revenue), in addition to donations of ($1107) and "Program of advertisements" ($1133, which I'm guessing was a separate fund to cover advertising for the association) there were $1123.50 in entrance fees for 600 attendees, including 277 guests (male) (@$3), 123 members ($1.50), and 216 ladies (.50). There was also revenue from a raffle (tombóla), a buffet lunch, and a marketplace. They even took in $12.15 pesos selling corchos, corks, presumably to those who wished to take home leftover wine.
One little mystery: In the expenses column is 20 pesos for "100 peines Tombóla" (100 combs for the tómbola lottery--the accent is misplaced). It seems that a tombola is a kind of Sicilian raffle in which the prizes are largely symbolic. Winning tickets are usually all those ending in a certain digit, usually 5 or 0. Looks like the prizes for this tombola were...combs.
What an interesting insider's view of the costs and benefits of running a milonga/fundraiser!
[Note: my colleague Dmitry Pruss has calculated that Di Sarli's fee of $580 pesos was about $1800 USD in today's currency, and the rental of the Salón Principe Jorge was $600. Thanks, Dmitry!]
NOTE: I found these materials on the A.M.B.A. web site. Thank you, A.M.B.A.!
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