The Background
The following article, published in The Atlanta Journal in October 1892, describes The Casino, a bar that operated inside the Kiser Law Building in Atlanta.
Five years after Atlanta’s failed prohibition attempt, its residents were drinking more than ever, and the city issued 80 saloon licenses in 1892.2
As the Journal noted in 1893:
“Now, there are about eighty saloons in Atlanta, and by calculating how many glasses of beer are drank an hour in each evening and then multiplying it by the number of saloons, those who do not think that beer drinking is vastly on the increase in Atlanta will find out their mistake.”3
The Casino tried to distinguish itself as a high-class establishment, and catered exclusively to “first-class trade,”4 but in a building full of lawyers, that was a lofty aspiration.
It isn’t clear who designed the bar, but the writer of the following article (I suspect it was Walter H. Howard) described the Casino’s interiors as “furnished like unto a king’s palace” and concluded objectively: “well, it is just a great place.”
A Constitution report from November 1892 provided additional notes, stating that the bar fixtures were “some of Rothschild‘s best makes”, and that the proprietor, Emil Selig, stocked “nothing but the very best to be had in choice brands of wines, liquors and cigars,” with attendants who were “willing to dispense the choicest drinks known to he barkeepers’ art.”5
The included menu below is, well, an interesting look at what people were eating at the time. Bet their shit stank something awful.
Of course, Atlanta always has to compare itself to the better cities of the North, and the Casino’s stated intent was to be “to Atlanta what the Hoffman house bar is to New York.”
That never happened. Despite early descriptions of the bar’s “crowds, who flock daily there”,6 The Casino was out of business by early 1894.7
The Casino Now Open
This Palatial Bar Ready For Business.
Magnificent Saloon in the Kiser Building
To Atlanta What the Hoffman House Bar is to New York.
A Description of This Elegant Bar–A Rush at the Grand Opening Today–Catering for the Best Trade.
The magnificent Casino bar in the Kiser building was thrown open to the public today.
There was an immense gathering there at the time and all day the clerks have been as busy as bees.
Everybody admires the exquisite furniture and furnishings, the immense buffet of marble, antique oak and French plate glass mirrors with their mahogany finish and statuary ornaments.
The room is about 25×100 feet, and it is furnished like unto a king’s palace. The long, rich counters of antique oak with mahogany and marble finish, and the great mirrored sideboards and cabinets, the beautiful frescoed walls and statuary ornaments, the rich, dazzling curtains, the pretty linoleum floor, the costly buffet, the dainty sixteenth century chairs and tables, the smoking hot lunches and the sparkling wines and liquors–well, it is just a great place.
The Casino is a success from the very jump. It is such a place as has been demanded for a long time and of course it will be liberally patronized.
The Casino is now on full blast. The hot lunches will be one of its features will be served daily from 11 to 2 o’clock. Cold lunches will be served at all hours.
The very finest wines and liquors will always be kept in stock, as will also the best tobacco and cigars.
Following is the bill of fare as served today from 11 to 3 o’clock:
MENU
SOUPS.
Cream of celery.
Peru tomato.
Cold slaw. Onions. Slice tomatoes.
FISH.
Boiled snapper, Anchovy sauce.
Pickles. Olives. Diced potatoes.
BOILED.
Ham. Tongue.
ENTREES.
Saut of kidneys au champignos.
Potato salad. Sous Herring.
Salmon. Ox maul salad.
ROAST.
Sirloin of beef (soured) a la Jardinare.
Ferris ham. Champagne sauce.
COLD.
Smoke tongue. Ham.
VEGETABLES.
Mash potatoes. Tomatoes. Stuffed peppers.
EXTRAS
Edam cheese. Roquefort cheese.
Swiss cheese. Russian caviar crackers.
The drinks today were all to the health of Mr. Emil Selig and the Casino.
The very best clerks and attendants have been secured, Mr. R.J. Lewis, the well known club superintendent, being assistant manager.
Mr. Selig assures his friends and patrons that neither money nor pains will be spared to make the Casino not only the finest and most magnificent bar in Atlanta, but he don’t [sic] propose to let any place in the south eclipse it.
His purpose is to make the Casino to Atlanta what the Hoffman house bar is to New York.
The Casino has steam heat and both gas and electric lights. It will cater to the best trade and keep in stock such articles are demanded by that trade.8
References
- Illustration credit: “The Casino Now Open”. The Atlanta Journal, October 11, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎
- “City Notes.” The Atlanta Constitution, June 23, 1892, p. 5. ↩︎
- “Tea Table Topics”. The Atlanta Journal, January 4, 1893, p. 4. ↩︎
- The Atlanta Journal, October 14, 1892, p. 6. ↩︎
- “The Casino.” The Atlanta Constitution, November 11, 1892, p. 5. ↩︎
- ibid. ↩︎
- “Miscellaneous.” (advertisement). The Atlanta Journal, March 28, 1894, p. 6. ↩︎
- “The Casino Now Open”. The Atlanta Journal, October 11, 1892, p. 3. ↩︎