Columbus Day

Columbus Day in Andy Warhol’s diary is marked not by a pause in routine but by a day moving between tax work, city streets, and a small evening party. The October 13, 1980 entry places the holiday parade alongside the day’s more dispiriting obligations.

The Parade and the Workday

Warhol left the office and walked toward the large Columbus Day parade, noting a trip to 42nd Street and Sixth Avenue and a cab fare of $5.50. The brief itinerary makes the parade a landmark in an otherwise ordinary working day rather than its sole focus.

The morning had been taken up with discussions with the accountants about taxes. Warhol described the day as depressing and recorded eating only crackers and drinking coffee. The diary thus sets the public pageantry of the holiday against the private tedium and low spirits of business affairs.

The Rest of the Day

The entry continues beyond the parade and the office. Bob Colacello picked Warhol up in a limousine, and they collected São Schlumberger for a small party celebrating Diana Vreeland’s book Allure at the International Center for Photography. Only seventy people were allowed to attend. São reported that three gunmen had been involved in an attempted robbery at The Carlyle at four that morning; Warhol told her he believed they had come because they knew she was there. The day’s record therefore moves from the parade and tax worries into a tightly limited social gathering, with an unsettling piece of New York news intruding on the evening.