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152
OLD WALDORF-ASTORIA BAR BOOK
But, be it also emphasized, that Bar was not regarded
as a place of "ill-repute."
In
its early days, particularly,
men of the highest reputation frequented it; some never
went from their offices downtown to their homes without
calling in for at least an appetizer-or something to make
them forget the worry or turmoil of the day's work. Any–
body could look in, and most every man who entered the
Waldorf-Astoria in those days did look, at least once. It
was known all over the country; in mining camps from
Mexico to Alaska, it evoked recollections of tastes and
odors that parched many a throat. As a matter of fact, its
fame was world-wide.
Visitors to the Old Waldorf during its latter days found
difficulty, did they seek to recreate the picture of that great
hall where Bacchus so long drew his greatest throngs of
pilgrims and devotees, and where such, in turn, drew in–
spiration of the widest spirituous variety. On the spot
mostly occupied by the great bar counter, a humidor had
been built, and ex-tanks who came and looked through a
once popular doorway often could not remember which
was the proper direction to cast their sighs of regret. The
back entrance from the lobby-past the telephone switch–
board-with its inviting facilities for gentlemen whose
capacity had been stretched, had been closed, and here
young women armed with pencils and typewriters were
taking dictation from industrial, financial, railway and le–
gal magnates, ..so classed. Across the room and against a
partition were desks for various managerial heads and
factotums. And when one's eye reached that partition they
had embrac;:oo only half of the room where for decades
the thirsty had libationed from eight in the morning until
closing time. The second part of the great oak-wainscoted