Ballroom dancers Vernon (1887-1918) and Irene (1893-1969) Castle led the craze for ragtime and Broadway routines adapted as social dances in the years before World War I.

Vernon Castle was born Vernon William Blythe in Norwich, England, on May 2, 1887. Although he graduated from Birmingham University with a degree in engineering, he also worked as a conjurer in clubs and at private parties. He came to New York with his sister Coralie and her husband Laurence Grossmith, who were actors. Adopting the surname Castle, he appeared in a series of shows produced by Broadway comedian Lew Fields: About Town (1907), The Girl Behind the Counter (1907), Old Dutch (1909), The Midnight Sons (1909), The Summer Widowers (1910), and The Hen-Pecks (1911). Castle's specialty was slapstick comedy. He was often cast as "second banana" to Fields and served as dancing partner to Lotta Faust and Topsy Siegrist.

Irene Castle was born Irene Foote on April 17, 1893, in...