STRICTLY Come Dancing is one of today's biggest television hits but back in the Southampton of the 1920s and 1930s people wanting an evening out on the town preferred to step out on the ballroom floor themselves.

There will be many older local people who will remember when the city's own "Palais de Dance" was at the Royal Pier Pavillion where youngsters at the time danced to the music of Charles Poland, Bert Osborne and Gil Hulme, Brian Gorman, Smithers from Winchester, the Moonrakers who travelled down from Salisbury, and the big broadcasting bands from London.

More than four decades ago Francis Raggio, who organised many dances at the Royal Pier on behalf of the Southampton Oddfellows Youth Movement (SOYM), recalled the popular events in an interview with the Daily Echo.

"Perhaps people remember those spectacular novelty dances staged at the Pier Pavillion by the SOYM between 1934 and 1939, until the war brought the activities to an untimely finish," Francis, who worked at British American Tobacco factory for 48 years before he retired in 1963, told the Daily Echo.

"There were Daffodil Dances staged each March, from 1937 until 1839, when the overall colour scheme was yellow and green with more than 2,000 flowers used to decorate the stage and tables.

"Then there was the 'Creepy' dance on Friday, 13 November when everything and everywhere was black and the entrance ticket was printed on a black-edged mourning cards. The MC for the evening was dressed as an undertaker's clerk, complete with tape measure and note-book."

Apparently Bert Osborne's band played in front of a backdrop of giants spiders and their webs and were flanked by eight feet tall pretend human skeletons.

"Looking back it was macabre evening with shrieks and screams coming over the loudspeakers each time the lights were lowered, but the dancers enjoyed every minute of it," said Francis.

"On a brighter note there were the 'Mistletoe Dances' held each Christmas when two large boxes of mistletoe from France were distributed in sprays to the dancers.

"The first time we did this we expected a bit of trouble with all the mistletoe about but nothing unusual happened.

"For one of the mistletoe dances we made a giant, 20 foot long Christmas cracker which we had to take down to the Royal Pier on the roof of a car. It was then hauled up to the ceiling of the ballroom and then at 11pm the cracker was pulled and novelties, balloons and paper hats were dropped on to the dancers."

Each month Francis came up with a different idea to theme a dance and on one occasion he organised a May Day event.

"The highlight of the evening was the entry on to the dance floor of six tall young committee men, in immaculate evening suits, who wheeled on a large Easter egg, which when opened revealed a little girl dressed in yellow who then proceeded to distribute chocolate eggs to the dancers," recalled Francis.

"There was the 'Eastern' dance one January, a Chinese themed evening in February as well as another Daffodil dance in March, and then that chap Hitler came and broke it up, as most of the SOYM members were eligible for conscription.

"This was the around the time of the beginning of the last war. It was exciting, delightfully romantic and many a budding marriage flowered on the dance floor."