User:BadgerPriest/Reisenweber's Cafe
Reisenweber's Cafe, also known as Reisenweber's Restaurant[1], was a restaurant in Columbus Circle, Manhattan from 1856 to 1922[2].
History[edit]
Reisenweber's started as a tavern in 1856 but was substantially expanded in 1910 by John Reisenweber, the son of the founder[2], eventually becoming a seven-floor complex, with four stories used for dining and entertainment[3].
At its height, Reisenweber’s “housed a dozen dining rooms, employed more than 1,000 in help and seated 5,000 diners at one time"[4].
Entertainment and jazz[edit]
In 1912, Reisenweber's became the first restaurant in New York City to provide its patrons with space to dance[3].
The next year, Reisenweber's manager Louis Fischer introduced the first modern cover charge[4], to cover the production costs of Ned Wayburn's revues held there[5].
At the start of 1917, the Original Dixieland Jass Band began an engagement playing for dancers at Reisenweber's Cafe[2], an engagement that helped introduce jazz to a wider audience[3]. Upon arriving in New York City, the band recorded two sides for the Victor Talking Machine Company, "Livery Stable Blues" and "Dixieland Jass Band One-Step", on February 26, 1917 at Victor's New York studios.[6] These titles were released as Victor 18255 in May 1917, the first issued jazz record.[7][8]
Decline and closure[edit]
The passing of the Volstead Act and start of national prohibition had a significant effect on Reisenweber's business. In March of 1922, federal authorities sued to close Reisenweber's on the accusation that liquor was served on its premises in violation of the Volstead Act, marking the first time that the injunction clause of the Volstead Act had been invoked in the Southern District of New York[1].
On September 28, 1922, federal judge Martin T. Manton decreed the closing of Reisenweber's Cafe for a year, a decision that was upheld on appeal the following January[9]. Reisenweber's never reopened[2].
References[edit]
- ^ a b "U.S. Sues to Close Reisenweber Cafe". The New York Times. March 31, 1922.
- ^ a b c d "Reisenweber's Cafe: glamour, late nights and hot jazz". The Bowery Boys: New York City History. 26 February 2010. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ a b c Voigt, Henry. "Dancing at Reisenweber's". The American Menu. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
- ^ a b John Reisenweber's 1931 obituary in the Brooklyn Standard Union. "Reisenweber's was the first to initiate dancing for its patrons and was instrumental in introducing the modern cabaret. They also installed the modern "cover charge" in 1913, when the fee for witnessing their elaborate entertainment specialties was twenty-five cents, an exorbitant sum at that time."
- ^ Grimes, William (2009). Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York. New York City: North Point Press. p. 179. ISBN 0-86547-692-6. "To pay for Ned Wayburn's lavish revues in the Paradise Room, Reisenweber's imposed New York's first cover charge, a whopping twenty-five cents."
- ^ John Robert Brown, A Concise History of Jazz. Mel Bay Publications, 2004, p. 25. ISBN 0-7866-4983-6
- ^ "The First Jazz Records". Redhotjazz.com. Archived from the original on 2008-12-28. Retrieved 2008-12-24.
- ^ "Victor 18255 (Black label (popular) 10-in. double-faced) - Discography of American Historical Recordings". Adp.library.ucsb.edu.
- ^ "ORDER CLOSING CAFE FOR YEAR SUSTAINED; Manton's Decree Against Former Reisenweber's Is Upheld by Circuit Court of Appeals". The New York Times. No. January 19, 1923.