from the Bowery Boys
The nightlife of the old Bowery could be an entire blog in itself. It has been witness to some of the most rowdy, shameless and debauched New Yorkers who have ever lived. They filled up dives and flophouses, brothels and saloons, catered to the poorest of immigrants and the richest of the upper class 'slumming it' for a real idea of fun unimagined in the drawing rooms of the elite.
The two saloons from the late 19th century featured here weren't extraordinary places as we would consider today -- they would both fit comfortably in the 20th century sin-den the Limelight -- but they were run by extraordinary people, 'heroes' of the Bowery brawler set.
Geoghegan's at 105 Bowery has been described as "a rendezvous for professional mendicants." Often called the Bastille of the Bowery, it didn't just spawn a few fisticuffs; it catered to them. Because this two floor booserie featured two boxing rings, and one of the men in the ring was often the bar's owner.
Owney Geoghegan held the boxing distinction of Lightweight Champion of America from 1861 to 1964, when he retired to open his tavern/fight palace in the Bowery. His reputation naturally drew the crowds, and Geoghegan encouraged his patrons on to a little pugilism with the help of ample ales and whiskey. In 1891 the 'Bastille' even hosted a few rather fierce bouts of women's wrestling, with the competitors required to cut their hair (to prevent pulling) and costume themselves wearing only tights.
Such a swarthy establishment was bound to attract the lowest elements and the most sinful gangs of New York. One journalist at the time describes it: "The faces around us are worse than those seen in a bench show of pugnacious dogs, and instinct teaches us to have a care for our nickels, for our pockets are in imminent danger."
But perhaps the person the clientele should have feared the most was Geoghegan himself. A short but powerful Irish man, Geoghegan was known for his impressive, compact strength. And his penchant to cheat when needed.
Geoghegan was in the ring one night against Viro Small, a very popular black wrestler. Geoghegan was still in his prime but it was clear he was being bested in the ring by Small. The drunken crowd catcalling him, and he knew he couldn't lose in his own establishment. So he had one of his henchman hold a gun to the referee's head and call the match for Geoghegan!
(Small didn't hold a grudge. He later wrestled there again, with a man named Billy McCallum who afterwards tried to murder him.)
As Geoghegan flexed his strength to his barflys, another Bowery saloon owner was busy displaying his gifts of agility. In 1886 Steve Brodie, on a bet, jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, the bridge being only about three years old at the time. What was amazing was not the amount of stupidity that took, but the fact that he survived and claimed his $100 bet money.
His feat was celebrated at the time and from the fame of this simple act, he was able to open Steve Brodie's Saloon, 114 Bowery, at Bowery and Grand Street (a couple doors down from Geoghegan's place).
If Geoghegan's dive was a celebration of his profession, Brodie's was a celebration of his own personality. Behind the bar was an elaborate oil painting depicting Brodie bravely hurling off the bridge, along with a signed affidavit from the boat captain who fished him out of the water. The floor of the bar was inlaid with silver dollars to give it that wealthy feeling that money had been hurled to the floor.
For the cost of a drink, Brodie would gladly recount his tale. As silly as it seems today, he was able to pack in patrons, perhaps many from Geoghegan's place, still drunk on booze and bloodletting.
Somehow he managed to turn his feat into a touring autobiographical performance entitled 'On The Bowery'. Eventually he tried to top his feat with a plunge down Niagara Falls in 1889. (It could never be proven that he actually went ahead with it!) He settled in Buffalo and opened another saloon there, but the enigma of his fame apparently didn't carry that far. He moved to San Antonio and died at age 38.
Owney Geoghegan had a similar short-lived fate. He lapsed into a severe depression at the death of his father and, traveling to Hot Springs, Ark., to try cure himself of his pain, actually died there, age 45.
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2 comments:
alessfudoes anyone have information on Jak Noonan, known as Smiling Jack who managed Steve Brody's bar. Hw was my grandfather, My mother who died in 1979 would speak of her visits to the saloon on the way to school. She took us to Broadway and pointed outwhere the sloonwas located
Keep up the good work -- it's important
I ran away from home in 1962 and ended up on the Bowery. I was treated well, no one took advantage of my youth. When a bottle was passed around, I was allowed my drink (I was 15.)
What bothers me is all the old-timers with stories to tell, I never listened to.
I was more interested in what the beatniks had to say
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