1934 The bon Vivant's Companion (7th printing 1934) by Jerry Thomas
THE BON VIVANT's COMPANION
was even then the possessor of a mustache of considerable renown; connoisseurs regarded it as second in luxuriance and beauty only to the hirsute marvel which adorned the lip of Professor Thomas. However, it was generally conceded that the latter's was more thoroughly trained, or cowed,and lay closer to his cheek. Another popular drinking place was the barroom of the St. James Hotel, at Broadway and Twenty-sixth Street, where Charley McCarty presided with dignity and efficiency. Mc- Carty is said to have changed the designation of his im portant office from Principal Bartender to Head Bartender, a revolution in nomenclature which affected all subsequent practitioners of his art. He was also a patron of the theater, and attracted much attention by suggesting to Tony Pastor that he interpolate twelve clog dancers in the action of Pinafore, which Pastor produced in his variety theater in 1879. Tommy Lynch was his own Principal Bartender in the Bennett Building Bar in Nassau Street, but he had as as sistants two gifted and industrious young men, his cousin, Michael Lynch, and his brother, also Michael Lynch. The former was commonly called Doctor, for he kept various medical books behind the bar and prescribed for all illnesses. Generally he recommended a stout snifter of Monogram whiskey.Mr.L5mch is said to have owned stock in the Mono gram distillery. The Bank Exchange at Broadway and Twenty-ninth Street, owned by Billy Tracy, was a favorite resort of sporting and political figures. The stage entrance of the San Francisco Minstrels was just across the street, and members of the troupe gathered nightly in Tracy's place to discuss the problems of the day. Billy Burch was a regular visitor, and so was Charley Backus, then famous as an American Tragedian, while Jem Mace, the prize fighter, made the Exchange his headquarters. Farther downtown, in John Street, Theodore Stewart's xlii
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