154 / 184
154
OLD WALDORF-ASTORIA BAR BOOK
the central space of the rectangle, he must satisfy the de–
mands of at least half a dozen accumulated patrons, either
for breakfast appetizers or for something to take away what
was left of the jag of the night before. From five o'clock
in the evening until eight, the room was jammed at its
tables and at its counter, and late-comers, whose "innards"
were sending out an SOS, found themselves impeded
in
their progress toward satisfaction by S.R.O. conditions.
During those three hours named, the Waldorf-Astoria
Bar was Wall Street moved bodily uptown for an ad–
journed session of the Stock Exchange, with men betting
on how stocks would perform the next day.
In
one dis–
creet corner a ticker kept clicking off news. Here market
pool!! were often formed. Here were to be found men
who were willing to bet on anything, and to any amount.
Financiers and market operators, with names that gained
newspaper front pages every day or so, clustered about the
tables, or joined in the maggot-like surge that squirmed
for a foothold on the substantial brass tradition that ran
along the bottom of the counter. Some who once gained
such a post of vantage never left until the Bar closed.
Many forms of beverage dated their origin to the in–
spiration of some clever Waldorf bartender. Or, perhaps,
it was a translation of the passing fancy of a patron who
wanted something different to drink, and entirely of his
own conception.
If
the result met his expectations, he
might thereafter call only for his own cocktail, or what–
ever it was, and the bartender, out of compliment, would
christen the new drink after its godfather.
A school of drinking, and a distinctive one, the old Wal–
dorf Bar undoubtedly was. And-which may surprise many
-it was a real school of art-a school in which more than
I
)