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Old Waldorf Bar Days
spread and violent during the early years of the century.
More than once, however, the yearning for the acqui–
sition of "high art" instilled-or distilled-in that im–
pregnated, if not perfumed, atmosphere, was subjected
to check and revision by experience and acquired knowl–
edge of the subject; and more than one
nouveau
who
used to brag about the "old masters" he had picked
up, found excuse later on to subject his art gallery to
a process of "weeding."
Waldorf bar prices will bring pleasing and maybe
precious memories to those who are not unfamiliar with
bills at night clubs and speakeasies and the varying
ticker of the family bootlegger. Across the dry or dryish
decades, one such may recall many stimulative cock–
tails-simple or complex-at twenty cents; whiskey
highballs-help yourself from the bottle: no stinting
measuring cups-twenty cents; domestic beer at ten
cents a glass, and imported at fifteen; liqueurs and
liqueur brandies, some of venerable years, from twenty–
five cents to forty, depending upon age; with cham–
pagnes and other wines commandable from a list almost
as long as a concise dictionary. And certain old-timers
recall earlier and still cheaper prices, and tell you that
when they raised the pfice of highballs from two for a
quarter to fifteen cents each, it almost precipitated a riot.
The average price of cigars sold in the Bar was thirty–
five cents, which meant that a favorite choice was either
a "Corona Corona" or a "Fancy Tale." Both were fa_
vorites. Rich men with new money liked to smoke long
cigars. Not a
few
dollar cigars were sold. That was a
lot of money for a smoke in those days.
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