POTW: Brooklyn Bar

[Men inside Bar], ca 1900, v1972.1.1063, Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection, ARC.201; Brooklyn Historical Society.

If you made it to the Oktoberfest-themed Free Friday event here at BHS, you may have seen this photograph among other beer-related collections items. I find this photograph particularly charming because it offers a glimpse into the bar customer and décor in turn of the century Brooklyn. I love the landscape images depicted behind the bar, the barkeeper’s clothing, and the wood details. Today, many Brooklyn bars make aesthetic reference to this saloon tradition.

If you look behind the men standing in the photograph, there are also political advertisements. What sticks out to you about this fascinating photograph?

This photograph was taken sometime around 1900. The handwritten note on the back of the photograph indicates the man behind the bar is named Charles Schindler and he lived at 311 Devoe Street in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.

This photograph comes from the Early Brooklyn and Long Island photograph collection which comprises roughly 1,400 black-and-white photographs taken by various photographers from around 1860 to 1920. The majority of the photographs in this collection depict the built environment (homes, churches, ferry terminals, etc.) and the natural environment (beaches, trees, ponds, etc.). To see more photographs from this collection, check out this gallery. Don’t miss the next Free Friday event coming up on November 11!

Interested in seeing more photos from BHS’s collection? Visit our online image gallery, which includes a selection of our images. Interested in seeing even more historic Brooklyn images? Visit our Brooklyn Visual Heritage website here. To search BHS’s entire collection of images, archives, maps, and special collections visit BHS’s Othmer Library Wed-Sat, 1:00-5:00 p.m. library@brooklynhistory.org