The Bookless Club: If you could live in an earlier era, which would it be?

Fancy dress evening at the Palace of Versailles in 2019. Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN /AFP via Getty Images

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Time travel is tricky.

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Tickets are difficult to arrange and, legend has it, the return trip is uncertain. Nevertheless, the journey is generally viewed as a risk worth taking. At least that’s according to books and movies.

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And so we dream.

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Yesteryear is always beguiling. The hats. The clothes. The manners. Rightly or wrongly, the past is endowed with a lovely patina of gentility. Along with those more codified civilities, an element of intrigue seems to hover. A man in a fedora is always going to be more interesting than a man in a baseball cap. A woman removing opera-length gloves? Mesmerizing.

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Short of wand-waving or cutting deals with genies, what’s the next best alternative to being magically transported to a grander time and place?

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Well, here are some options for you:

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How about Le Bal du Siecle — The Ball Of The Century — coming up next month in France?

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On Monday, Nov. 30, the Palace of Versailles will host a roaring-’20s costume party. And lest you think you can pop in with just an extra-long string of pearls or a wide tie — mais non. Your costume is essential. You won’t be allowed in unless your vintage apparel is up to snuff.

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The event organizers underscore that YOU are the event, so you had better put your best wingtip forward. Apparently, guests live up to this challenge and the evening is rife with spectacle.

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The event takes place in various locations throughout Versailles, which is reason enough to want to attend. From fireworks to dance performances, the organizers promise all sorts of surprises throughout the night. By the end of the evening, guests will have mastered the Charleston and the foxtrot, courtesy of dance instruction at the event. The Ball Of The Century starts at 7 p.m. with an after-party wrapping up at 1:30 a.m., hopefully, without the Hangover Of The Century. Tickets range from 350 euros to 670 euros.

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If Versailles is too far away for you, how about a little vintage train travel in New York City? For only a standard subway fare, you can jump on board a subway train that will make you feel like you’ve found a portal into the 1930s. New York’s Transit Museum has operated its annual Holiday Nostalgia Train since 2004 and, boy, is it popular. Every Sunday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. eight subway train cars from the 1930s travel from 2 Avenue/Houston Street to 96 Street/2 Avenue and back again.

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The trains feature vintage ads and wicker seats, but it’s the crowd you will come to see. People go all out. Sure, you would expect veiled hats and watch fobs, but the props are astounding: old-school briefcases, lunch boxes, hat boxes, authentic newspapers and magazines from the era tucked under the arms of tweed overcoats or cinched gaberdine trenches. There’s a party-like atmosphere onboard as well in the stations, and you should expect pop-up dance bands as well as dancers suddenly busting out expert choreography.

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Is there a correlation between hats and manners? I don’t know, but there certainly seems to be a correlation between hats and fun.