The Speakeasies of 1932

by Al Hirschfeld, Al Hirschfeld, Pete Hamill (Introduction)

Introduction by Pete Hamill.



When Manhattan joints were hung out to dry, the Booze-oizie sniveled, then pirouetted on their stools to find reasonably palatable Speakeasy facsimiles. These Prohibition hangouts each had their own flavor, decorum, décor and formula for ducking the law. Each found its own alcoholic its own inimitable characters behind, at and under the bar.

Fear not – all has not been lost to the repeal of the 18th Amendment, Starbucks corporate latte, and the wrecking ball. One intoxicating artifact remains, a book of lustrous vintage – Al Hirschfeld's The Speakeasies of 1932 , wherein Hirschfeld nails these dipsomaniacal outposts with his pen and brush in the manner of a dour Irish bartender sizing up a troublesome souse. Provided as well is the recipe for each of the speakeasy's cocktail claim to fame. The resulting concoction is the perfect antidote to the Cappuccino Grande Malaise, a book that will make everyone yearn for a Manhattan, old fashioned, and straight up.

“His comments are as swooping and witty as his lines.”

– The New Yorker

Genres: History, Humor, Nonfiction, Art

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1932

About the author

Al Hirschfeld was an American caricaturist renowned for his elegant black-and-white portraits of celebrities, Broadway stars, and cultural icons, whose distinctive style, executed in pure line with a crow quill, became instantly recognizable and influential across generations of artists and illustrators. Born in St. Louis to German and Russian Jewish parents, Hirschfeld trained at the Art Students League and the National Academy of Design, later studying in Paris and London, and began his career with commissions for the New York Herald Tribune before moving to The New York Times. Over an eight-decade career, he chronicled virtually every major figure in entertainment, from Broadway actors and film stars to jazz legends, rock musicians, and political personalities, while also contributing illustrations to magazines including TV Guide, Life, The New Yorker, Collier’s, and Rolling Stone, and designing original movie posters for films such as The Wizard of Oz and Charlie Chaplin features. Hirschfeld became famous for hiding his daughter Nina’s name in his drawings, a whimsical tradition that captured public imagination and became a beloved signature of his work. He was married to Dolly Haas, with whom he had Nina, and later to theatre historian Louise Kerz. Hirschfeld’s contributions were widely recognized with lifetime achievement Tony Awards, the National Medal of Arts, a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame, and the renaming of the Martin Beck Theatre on Broadway as the Al Hirschfeld Theatre. His work is preserved in permanent collections at institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Harvard University, and the New York Public Library, ensuring that his legacy as the preeminent chronicler of twentieth-century American culture endures.

Reviews

[Bill Mutch · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Goodreads ethos centers almost entirely on new works...it is, after all, a promotional tool. But I find myself wanting again and again to review and promote older works; to call attention to them so that they're not lost under the effluent of the pipeline of new. Some antiquarians keep prices up on the best of the old. If this work sounds interesting you may have to search around for it. I was lucky enough to find it in my country public library where it has so far survived the pograms. They are clearing whole bays of shelved books to make way for public access screens.

Of course one has to ask how anyone would research the topic of The Speakeasies of 1932. A forward by Pete Hamill points out the obvious...it took a pub crawl long enough to gestate a baby for author Gordon Kahn and illustrator...the incomparable Al Hirschfeld... to scale the heights and plumb the depths of prohibition New York City. It was a rough job...a road paved with hangovers...but some one had to do it.

The text varies from marvelously insightful to kind of bland...like a Lonely Planet guidebook to pot parlors that might someday be.

Kahn occasionally nails it, like the cameo of an after hours Harlem joint in a coal bin or the taxonomy for distinguishing uninhibited flappers from discrete hookers. The text sort of needs a glossary for some of the dated slang, though I was able to Google a working definition of 'needled beer,' the modern, legal, version of which is called a 'depth charge," at least in the watering holes of 1970 Honolulu.

The real reason this book did and should survive are Hirschfeld's drawings. Each and every face creates a character worth a story in itself. When I was a young tippler he was still enlivening the pages of the Great Gray Lady, the New York Times. I wasn't ready for him then...but now ! What an Eye ! Some of the details in the drawings are marvelous and the story would be lost without them.

I can't help but wonder what in that time caused proliferation of aquarium tanks in bars. It seems like the fish were somehow necessary to the decor of a certain class of establishment. Maybe we'll never know, for anyone old enough to have been a drinker when the Volstead Act was repealed is probably long gone.

In addition to Damon Runyon stories, which must be read in the original versions, (not Guy & Dolls !) this book is essential to getting a hold on the history of Gotham City, the Big Apple. If you've read and enjoyed Caleb Carr, Mark Helprin or The Gangs of New York you must get hold of The Speakeasies of 1932. before the last copy ends up on the Gansevoort St. pier.

[Patrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of fun if you're into Prohibition culture. Speakeasies (and their barkeeps) are described through in-the-know accounts in the self-conscious slang of the period. Hirschfeld's illustrations lend atmosphere, and—perhaps one of the most fun elements of the book—each description includes the receipe for a favorite drink of the venue. It's the kind of book you can let rattle around the house and just dip into, whenever you happen upon it, for some quick vintage joy.

[Leonardo Etcheto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating descriptions and great drawings. Funny how practically all the bars sold booze for the same amount, but the ambience was very different. If I ever see this book in a used bookstore I will buy it. A very quick read, but fun to contemplate.
Prohibition was really a waste of time, the law was barely ever respected as is obvious in this book.

[William Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Dem's swell societal history of this man's town."