Passion for the Past

Linda Fitak lives in the ‘90s, but her heart and soul are in the Roaring ‘20s.

She sings 1920s songs, draws portraits of movie stars from the ‘20s and dances the Charleston like someone out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel.

Her husband, Tim, is as trapped in the ‘20s as she. They spend their spare time combing movie collectible shows for period paraphernalia to more perfectly re-create the age they love.

“That’s my period, not the ‘90s,” said Linda Fitak, fingering the string of pearls around her neck. “I much prefer that time. The clothes, the cars, the way people talk, the art. I like the free feeling of the ‘20s. It was right after World War I, people had money again, women started getting freedom--they could go out and have fun.”

Their interest in the ‘20s is mostly a hobby. For a career, Linda teaches Spanish and English as a second language at Pierce and Valley colleges and at private schools.

But she does whatever she can to promote the ‘20s. She recently acted in an amateur silent film set in the era. And for the past five years, she has taught a vaudeville acting class in the Pierce College Community Services program for kids.

Keeping people interested in the ‘20s isn’t always easy, though. This summer, the Pierce College class was canceled because not enough students enrolled.

Fitak is undaunted.

“I want to keep this alive because I love the ‘20s,” she said. “It’s been distorted from the wildness, the real wildness of the time. I want to spread the culture, the music of the ‘20s, to spread the happiness of that time.”

The Fitaks’ ranch-style Northridge home is like a shrine to the ‘20s. Overgrown trees and bushes block out not only the light, but the world of today.

Framed photos of various 1920s stars hang on one wall. Hand-drawn portraits of Mae West and Alice Faye hang on another.

On this night, Fitak has curled her red hair in rags, and has a tight-fitting flapper hat pushed down to her eyebrows. She wears a garden dress and matching gold shoes, both circa 1929.

When she speaks, her face bears the exaggerated expressions of silent film stars. When she walks, there is a bounce to her step, reminiscent of the slightly accelerated frame-speed of silent films.

Anything someone could collect from the era, she and her husband do: A 1932 Victrola sits in one corner, complete with a collection of 78 rpm records. Her closet holds more than 70 antique dresses, ranging from turn-of-the-century gowns to a lacy pink drop-waist dress from 1925 reputed to come from the estate of the scandal-plagued silent film star Fatty Arbuckle.

Another account has the dress belonging to Joan Crawford--who began her career in ‘20s silent films. Fitak estimates its value at over $1,000.

Vaudeville Sparked Interest

Raised in Queens, N.Y., Linda Fitak said her infatuation with the ‘20s began while listening to vaudeville records as a young child. She declined to give her age, but it’s safe to say she never experienced her favorite decade first-hand.

From another room of the Fitak home, the strains of a crackly early jazz recording drift in. It was music, she said, that brought she and her husband together.

Tim Fitak, 47, a freelance video game consultant and antique coin trader, began collecting old jazz 78s when he was only 6 years old. The Glendale boy discovered the likes of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and trumpeter Red Nichols just as the world was beginning to forget them. Today, he has a collection of 12,000 recordings from that period.

Sixteen years ago, Tim was working at Cal State Northridge student station KCSN-FM (88.5), playing old jazz tunes. Linda, who had moved to California during high school, called in for a contest. Fitak knew the minute he heard her voice she was decades younger than any of his regular female listeners.

He thought she might be the one. He demanded she go down to the station right away to pick up her prize.

His Dream Girl

Years before, in elementary school, Tim’s teacher had asked the students to write an essay about their ideal mate. Young Tim--already seduced by jazz music--said he would like to marry a ‘20s star, like sweetheart singer Ruth Etting or silent film siren Clara Bow.

Some thought he was crazy, others thought his dream girl would be an old woman.

But when he met Linda, Tim knew she was his “essay girl.”

“I wasn’t even dressed in a ‘20s outfit when I saw him,” Linda said with a coy giggle. “He just saw it in me.”

One recent night at the Fitaks’ cluttered suburban home, Adam Goodchaux, a graduate of the film school at Cal State Long Beach, was screening rough cuts from his silent short, “Arbuckle.”

The film, with subtitles, loosely traces Arbuckle’s troubled career. The silent film actor was tried for manslaughter after a woman whom he’d allegedly sexually assaulted died. Although he was ultimately acquitted his career never recovered.

Fitak served as an historical consultant and acted in the film. As the rough cut flickers in the dimly lit living room, Linda appears on the screen, emerging from an elevator on the arm of Arbuckle.

“Oh, that’s good, that’s good,” Tim Fitak said with delight. “I like how you look back. That’s just how Clara Bow would be.”

‘90s Seen as ‘Too Fast’

Despite their passion for the time, the Fitaks do not venture out much to ‘20s landmarks in the Los Angeles area. They say they engage in today’s world as little as possible. Linda, for example, says she has neither a credit card nor a driver’s license.

“I hate anything to do with the ‘90s,” she said, passionately. “I don’t like the way men treat women. I don’t like the way people drive; it’s too fast. The clothes are uninteresting. It doesn’t have the creativity it had back then. In fact, nothing has the creativity it had back then.”