Coin Machine Review (& Pacific ...)

Issue: 1939 October

BAR ART
Rare Specimens Still Exist in
Western Drink Emporiums
By LUCIUS S. FLINT
From the days of the Caesars on down
to the present, the tavern industry has
created with each period of its development
a form of art all its own. At times it's been
a boisterous form of art. But it's always
been distinctive. The times, the customs
of_ each period of industry are interestingly
reflected in the adornments of tavern walls
and bars.
After a tour of the Twentieth Century
cocktail lounges in any city, with their
mural-decorated walls and streamlined bars,
it's interesting to try and turn back the
pages for a half-century or more and vis-
ualize the picture in similar establishments
at that time. There aren't many of these
places left today. All too many have been
torn down to make way for parking lots
and skyscrapers.
But what few remain untouched by the
hands of time tell in their decorations the
story of another day. The elaborately carved
bars and heavy brass spittoons call to mind
a picture of derby hats and narrow trouser
legs and stickpins, of handlebar moustaches
and heavy-waisted bartenders. The "dar-
ing" nudes that hung on the walls, paint-
ings with tremendously heavy frames,
bespeak clearly the weight and concealing
lines of feminine apparel.
Colorado, with its history of gold rushes,
fabulous fortunes and ghost towns, had
more than its share of such bars in the
bonanza days. And a share of those land-
marks still stand. A few of them are intact.
More have been changed. But in the cellars
and attics of most of them remain interest-
ing samples of the bar art of the nineties
and before. These relics make an interest-
ing picture.
Perhaps the finest collection of old bar
paintings in existence in the West is now
stored in an attic in the Navarre, one of
Denver's oldest drinking and dining estab-
lishments. Located directly across the street
from the world-famous Brown Palace Hotel,
the Navarre building is unchanged since
the days when the city's finest carriages
stopped at its door. The place has been
operated as a restaurant for more than
50 years. The building which houses the
Navarre was built 58 years ago for use
as an exclusive private school dormitory.
R. D. Stockton, one of the original own-
ers of The Navarre, is said to have had
$50,000 worth of nude paintings by the
state's leading bar artists on the walls of

• •
his bedroom. Many others originally hung
in the bar.
Included in the Navarre collection are
many paintings by a chap who found time
aside from his regular work to do a world-
famous canvas entitled "The Parlor Match,"
a painting depicting the members of a
colored family as they waited breathlessly
for an expected explosion as daddy struck
the first parlor match they ever saw. His
name, which was legend among some of
the old saloon operators of Denver, was
A. D. Cooper.
The original of "The Parlor Match" hung
at the Navarre for many years, then dis-
appeared. Present owners of the establish-
ment have been unable to find any trace
of it.
The old-timers who knew Cooper say he
was a typical saloon artist of the day. He
divided his time between Denver and the
mining towns, painting pictures as he went
in exchange for drinks and an occasional
small sum of money. Although Cooper's
name is not listed in any art directory,
his paintings have been viewed by untold
thousands. •
In the safe at The Navarre you'll find
the only remaining copy of a small adver-
- TURN PAGE-
11
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
1 llustrations show a representative group of Bar nudes still hanging in old
Denver taverns. Top row left was painted by Ben Wechsler, is dated 1904, and
hangs in the Elks Club. Top center was done by M. L. Weaver, an eastern
artist, in 1853. It originally hung in the bar of the old American House, in
the early days the finest hostelry west of the Missouri River. It was brought
across the plains to Denver by ox team in the early seventies. When the
American was torn down C. B. Kenneth moved the painting to the Cherry
Creek Tavern where it hangs today. In the early days it was valued at between
$15 000 and $20,000. For many years it was insured for $10,000. Top right now
hangs in John Gahan's place. Undated, it is signed by A. Romes, It has
hung in its present location for more than 30 years.
Lower panel shows, left : one of Denver's Navarre collection. It was painted
in 1890 by A. D. Cooper. Center is another painting which formerly hung
in the bar of The Navarre. Entitled "After The Bath," it bears the signature
of W. A. Mitchell Makart. It is believed to be at least 50 years old. Lower
right a third painting at the Navarre. Likewise undated, it bears the signature
of Oscar Miller. It is also believed to be 40 or 50 years old.
https://elibrary.arcade-museum.com
12
COIN
MACH INE
REVIEW
Usmg booklet, issued in the early days,
which illustrates and describes some of the
famous paintings which hung in the bar.
Gene Fowler, in his book "Timberline,"
describes some of them, particularly the
one of an Indian squaw nursing a papoose.
It was labeled "Hot Meals at All Hours."
Not only at The Navarre but also in near-
ly every other ancient tavern, you'll find
the work of Cooper and several others-
including a pain ter named W. A. Mitchell
Makart and one Oscar Miller. They' re all
similar. Judging from the faces, every ar-
tist used the same model many times.
But, continuing the tour you'll find bar
art of the period wasn' t confined en tirely
to nudes. Equally conspicuous in some of
the older taverns were the framed adver-
tising pictures of the day. The old John
Gahan Buffet at the corner of Fourteenth
and Larimer streets, opposite the old City
Hall, has quite a collection of them, includ-
ing one of the few remaining pictures of
the original "Budweiser Girl" and an early
Angostura advertisement, the model for
which is said to have been the father of
Frank Morgan, prominent movie actor.
From an equipment standpoint, too, Den-
ver's old taverns offer an interesting picture
of the past. Take for example an ancient
Wurlitzer music box recently found under
a pile of debris in an old wine cellar of
the place originally occupied by Denver's
Arcade, one of the city's most famous early-
day gambling houses.
One of the huge tin records used by the
machine is dated 1883. The music box is
still in good working order. Found in the
same cellar with the music box were sev-
eral bottles of old champagne. Its age can
be calculated only from the fact that it
was packaged in an ancient bottle with a
rounded bottom. These containers are said
to have been designed so they could be laid
Aat on the bar or table, the danger of
spillage or breakage being eliminated. ♦
P1-ihtih9
PRINTERS TO THE
COIN MACHINE TRADE
0
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128 S. Alma St.
Los Angeles, C al.
AN. 16077
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BIii TEN
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Vending Opportunity in
Milk Vendors
handle sales in the western states and is
now located at 258 South Coronado Street
in Los Angeles.

KANSAS c ·ITY, Mo.-Offering unlimit-
ed opportunities to operators is the new
Milk Vendor heing marketed by the Peer-
less Products Company.
The new machine has been thoroughly
proven in test locations in various parts of
the country and has come through with all
honors.
Finished in white and looking not unlike
a beautiful console refrigerator, the ma-
chine can vend 400 half pints of milk from
one loading. Buttermilk, chocolate milk and
other milk drinks and dairy products can
also be vended through the machine.
The cabinet is completely bonderized,
constructed of high-grade steel, assuring
the maximum in strength and durability.
Finish over bonderized insures against rust
and assures long cabinet life. All insula-
tion is extra heavy corkboard. The con-
densing unit and cooling coil are especially
engineered and designed and a range of
temperature is available through the 9-point
temperature con trol, which is easily acces-
sible.
The machi ne vends either glass bottles or
cardboard cartons and Aashes an "Empty"
sign when the last container is sold.
One middle west dairy has five units in
operation selling 400 half pints per day,
and has placed an order for a substan tial
number of additional machines to cover
the locations in its particular district.
L. A. Mergen, Jr., has been appointed to
Cigarette Sales Show
Business Improvement
LOUISVILLE, Ky.- Writing in a local
daily, C. Palmer Parker, president of the
Axton-Fisher Tobacco Company, stated that
cigarette consumption for the past months
of 1939 has far exceeded 1938 and that "if
the current trend in cigarette production
is indicative in the slightest measure of
general business activity, it is our opinion
that a gradual improvement in business
can be expected for the remainder of 1939.
An overnight return to the kind of prosper-
ity existing prior to September, 1929, is not
anticipated, and certainly not wanted. Re-
covery may seem slow to many, but in the
end it is the soundness of any recovery that
counts, and not the speed wi th which it
has been effected."

Calcutt Prepares
for Busy Season
FAYETTEVILLE- Joe Calcutt, head of
the Vending Machine Company, an ticipa tes
an active fall and winter season for coin
machine operations, despite unsettled world
conditions.
To show his boundless faith in the future
of the indus try, Calcutt recently received
two sol id carloads of Bally games from the
Chicago factory as the first in a series of
carload shipments expected from various

factories during the fall months.
New "PEERLESS" 5, Vender for ~:6~~crs
Opens a New Big Profit Field for OPERATORS
Now you can cash in on the sale of MILK-the nation's food-drink-
chocolate milk, buttermilk and other dairy products- building up big
profit routes with the PEERLESS coin operated DAIRY .PRODUCTS
VENDER .. . electrically refrigerated . Fast placements in factories ,
schools, public buildings, amusement establishments, offices, etc. A
welcome profit producer for da iries.
• Lo w operating cost .
• Dis penses 8-oz. gl ass bottl e or sanitary
p a per co n,tain er (s q ua re or round) .
Attra ctive ly styled enamel cab inet attra cts
c ustomer atte nt io n.
• C ontai ners never subme rged in wa t er.
O

9- p oi nt te m per atu re co ntrol easil y acces-
si bl e.
C ooling coi l is fin typ e fo r dry refrig era-
t ion wit h bond ed fi ns.
• Coin box extra large, ve ry accessi ble.
• " Em pty " sig n shows a nd mechanism re -
fu ses coin, when la st contai ner is sold.
O
W rife TODAY for details for Operators!
PEERLESS PRODUCTS CO.
410-418 Archibald St.
Dept. CMR, Kansas C ity, Mo.
https://elibrary.arcade-museum.com

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