Harry's New York Bar
History
The bar was acquired by former American star jockey Tod Sloan in 1911, who converted it from a bistro and renamed it the "New York Bar." Sloan had gone partners with a New Yorker named Clancy (first name unknown) who owned a bar in Manhattan. That bar was dismantled and shipped to Paris. Sloan then hired Harry MacElhone, a barman from Dundee, Scotland, to run the bar.
At the time, American tourists and members of the artistic and literary communities were beginning to show up in Paris in ever-increasing numbers and Sloan hoped to capitalize on his fame and make the place a spot where expatriates would feel at home. His bar did become a popular spot for members of the American Field Service Ambulance Corps during World War I. However, financial problems from Sloan's overspending on a lavish personal lifestyle forced him to sell the bar.
In 1923, MacElhone, its former barman, bought the bar and added his name to it. He would be responsible for making it into a legendary Parisian landmark. When Harry died, in 1958, his son Andrew took over the bar and ran it until 1989. His son, Duncan, took over the bar and ran it until his death in 1998, when his widow, Isabelle MacElhone, took it over.
Clientele
Over the years, Harry's New York Bar was frequented by a number of famous American expatriates and international celebrities such as Prince Serge Obolensky, Knute Rockne, Sinclair Lewis, Ernest Hemingway, Daft Punk, Bill Tilden, Coco Chanel, Jack Dempsey, Primo Carnera, Ramon Novarro, Aly Khan, Rita Hayworth, Humphrey Bogart, Brendan Behan (who worked there circa 1948–49 according to his memoirs Confessions of an Irish Rebel), and even, occasionally, the Duke of Windsor.
In the 1960 Ian Fleming short story "From a View to a Kill", James Bond recalls visiting Harry's Bar during his first visit to Paris at age 16. He followed the instructions in Harry's advertisement in the Continental Daily Mail, and told his taxi driver "Sank Roo Doe Noo". He recalls "That had started one of the memorable evenings of his life, culminating in the loss, almost simultaneous, of his virginity and his notecase".
In the first chapter of his novel Le Diable au corps Raymond Radiguet "gave the taxi driver the address of a bar in the rue Daunou" as Marthe "very much wanted to go to an American bar".
In his novel Le tour du Malheur, book 3, chapter VII, page 301, Joseph Kessel takes his characters to an American bar in rue Daunou. The action takes place in 1924.
Other notable details
- Harry's conducts a straw poll before each US presidential election. Customers who provide proof of US citizenship can vote in the poll. The results have mirrored every election, except 1976, 2004, and 2016 since the poll began in 1924.
- Harry's New York Bar is said to be the birthplace of classic cocktails such as the Bloody Mary, French 75, Sidecar and Monkey Gland.
- The "Ivories" Piano Bar at Harry's is where George Gershwin composed An American in Paris.
References
- ^ Sturges, Preston. - p. 195, Preston Sturges by Preston Sturges: His Life in His Words. (1990). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-67929-5.
- ^ "Andrew MacElhone, 73". New York Daily News. 21 September 1996.
- ^ "Duncan MacElhone; Ran Harry's Bar in Paris". LA Times. 28 March 1998.
- ^ "A century of Harry's Bar in Paris". BBC. 25 November 2011.
- ^ Yenin, Andrey (9 September 2021). "Hemingway in Paris".
- ^ "Daft Punk: All Hail Our Robot Overlords". Rolling Stone. 21 May 2013.
- ^ Rob Chirico, Field Guide to Cocktails p. 66 and 189, 2005 by Quirk Productions. ISBN 1-59474-063-1
External links
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