In the song "Lullaby of Broadway" from the show Gold Diggers of 1935,
who were the 'daffodils who entertain at Angelo's and Maxie's?'

Hi, 

Angelo's and Maxi's is a factious steak house in the play, it doesn't
exist really, at least in 1935 it didn't exist. In 1996 Angelo and
Maxi's Steakhouse did open up in New York, using the name from the
song "Lullaby of Broadway". So we know we are looking at a direct
"slang term" or reference, and not the name of a real performer or
group which the song might be referring too.

Daffodil is normally (in that time frame and in this context) a slang
term for a young woman (early 20's), with blond hair, who is sexually
attractive, and attentive. This is not just street slang but many
poetic verses and song lyrics use the word "daffodil" in the same way.

--"Once people started to think of roses and daffodils as sexual
beings, the concept of sex gained entirely new dimensions. Sex
suddenly became all-pervasive, and this realization, in turn, was
bound to have a bad influence on the excitable minds of the young.
(Ironically, however, after a while the moralists themselves took
advantage of the enlarged new perspective and explained human
reproduction to their children by talking about "the flowers, the
birds, and the bees.")" -- Human Sexual Behavior
http://www2.hu-berlin.de/sexology/ATLAS_EN/html/human_sexual_behavior.html

--"The yellow blossoms nipped brown with frost
see as daunted as the students
hitch-hiking between hot houses.
Like the daffodils and forsythia,
they aren't New England natives
and expose their bare blossoms too early
in tie-dyed cotton tees and faded shorts."-- Spring Fever 
http://www.augustpacific.com/gibbons/gibbonspoems2.html

--"The trick is to capture the daffodils without sounding like
Wordsworth."--An interview with James Brown
http://www.nzetc.org/iiml/turbine/Turbi04/Tu04Ano/1.html

Other Reference Site

Angelo's and Maxi's Review
http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/2000-11-11/cuisine_feature.html

thanks, 

webadept-ga

For an alternative theory (and the one I personally subscribe to,
although I can't corroborate it), take a look at this thread from
Google Groups:

http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.usage.english/browse_thread/thread/3ef507ff34802548/55d4b47bfc5d3ee3?q=%22angelo%27s+and+maxi%27s+OR+maxie%27s%22&rnum=5&hl=en#55d4b47bfc5d3ee3

In case you have trouble with this long link, here is the essence of
the discussion:

"In the song "Lullaby of Broadway" (from the wonderful Busby Berkeley musical 
'Golddiggers of 1935', recently shown on Turner Classic Movies) there is the 
following refrain: 

"The rumble of the subway trains 
The rattle of the taxis 
The daffodils that entertain 
At Angelo's and Maxie's 


"I assume that Angelo's and Maxie's are 1930's-era nightclubs, but what in 
the world are "daffodils"?  I've checked all the slang dictionaries (paper 
and online), and can't find anything.  Anyone up on their 30s slang? 


" _daffodil_ is an "effeminate young man"; same as _pansy_.  The word is 
spelled _daffydil_ in the 1935 song, by the way.  Source: Lighter, 
_Hist. Dict. of Amer. Slang_. vol. I, p. 553.  It's also in Partridge."