1931 Old Waldorf Bar Days by Albert Stevens Crockett

Bar Patterns war material of the day. This could be promptly dumped into the hold of a chartered "tramp" and headed wher– ever trouble was brewing. Every gold rush was followed sooner or later by an influx of rough-looking men wearing wide brimmed hats -and more than once, cowhide boots-and the air would resound with tales of "big strikes" and of "pros– pects" that promised big, and whose performances later made a big hole in many a speculative bank account. Cripple Creek, for example; Alaska, Tonopah-all paid tribute to Boldt's Bar. And those miners wanted the most expensive drinks. Charhpagnewas theirfirstthought. Opportunities offered by the assemblage of so many men who were making easy money in mining, or in "The Street", were too pregnant to be resisted by cer– tain purveyors of luxuries. At least one noted dealer in uncut precious stones always drifted in to scan those whose actions or talk indicated they had been lucky in the market, and he usually did a thriving business be– cause, in those times, men who had made money on "flyers" were apt to have their lighter m9ments. That crafty psychologist derived considerable profit from per– suading such that one way to celebrate the-ir good for– tune was to select a costly trinket for the lady in the uptown flat. And invariably in the gathering were to be discovered a full half-dozen gentlemen whose spe– cialty in trade was either high-priced art or antiques. To their activities amid those inspirational scenes one who used to know most of the local art merchants and many of the imported ones has often dated the rise of the passion for art-collecting which became so wide- [ 5 I )