Where does The Valentino Memorial Service come from? Why is it still going on?
Lord knows why it’s still going on. As this Society is about life and not death we do not support the memorial service. However we can give you the history of it. The memorial service started in 1927, with Rudy’s brother Alberto attending a few years. Like many Valentino things it started sincere before turning kooky. By the 1930s a carnival atmosphere had taken over, with costumes and such taking place over a solemn ceremony. Valentino’s family refused to take part or endorse the ceremony after this, and it would take until 2009 for a family member to attend the event once more (a great great niece of Valentino’s). In the late 20s a Valentino Memorial Guild was founded. Its original purpose was to raise money for children’s charities (a cause Rudy surely would have been fond of). However again by the 1930s things turned sour…eventually turning into a guild full of charlatans and self proclaimed psychics who put the Memorial Spectacle to shame. Eventually the two basically became int
