Peabody Bookshop and Beer Stube explained

The Peabody Bookshop and Beer Stube was a bookshop with a bar in the Mount Vernon section of Baltimore, Maryland for over 50 years.

History

Brothers Hugo and Siegfried Weisberger, Austrian immigrants, started the bookshop in 1922, during Prohibition. Siegfried became sole owner in 1931, when Hugo died.[1] The bookshop was located at 913 N. Charles Street, within walking distance of the Walters Art Gallery, the George Peabody Library, the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, Baltimore's Washington Monument, and the Brexton Hotel. It occupied the front of the building with a room at the back where customers could buy beer and sandwiches. This was an early example of a bookshop with its own beer bar, and possibly the very first such in the US.[2] The bar had a piano on one wall, mounted animal heads, and wooden tables carved with the names of patrons. A regular feature was a 15 minute magic show at 10:00 PM performed by "Dantini the Magnificent".[3] The bookshop also served as an art gallery for local artists.[4]

Weisberger abandoned the Peabody in 1954, convinced by long time patron H. L. Mencken, that the "Age of the Boob" had arrived, and people were no longer interested in "books and ideals and culture. They only want dollars."[5] When Siegfried walked away from "100,000 volumes nobody wants to read", the news was covered widely including in Detroit, Wilmington, Delaware and Santa Cruz.[6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Later in 1954 the Peabody reopened under the ownership of Paul P. Adler and Irving Mindess and remained popular with students from the University of Maryland.[12] Rose Boyajian Smith Pettus Hayes took ownership of the shop in 1957 and ran it until she died in 1986. Under her ownership a second bar was added upstairs.[13] She was also active in preserving other Baltimore properties,[14] [15] including revitalizing the Brexton Hotel.[16]

In the 1970s the Peabody hosted Saturday film festivals.[17] In 1979, the Peabody suffered the loss of two long-time performers: singer–violinist Max Rathje who knew every regular's favorite song, and Vincent Cierkes, popularly known as “Dantini the Magnificent."[18]

The shop closed shortly after the death of Hayes. The building at 913 North Charles Street was demolished in 1997, to make way for a parking lot.[19]

Patrons of note

In fiction

Natalie Standiford based Carmichael's Bookshop, in "How to Say Goodbye in Robot"[21] on the Peabody Bookshop.[22]

External links

Notes and References

  1. News: 2019-09-29 . Siegfried Weisberger Is Dead; Baltimore Bookseller Was 88 . The New York Times . 1984-03-26 . McGill . Douglas C. . 0362-4331.
  2. Web site: Rosen . Judith . Baltimore Bookstores Adding Brews and Food . PublishersWeekly.com . 2013-09-27 . 2019-09-29.
  3. Web site: The Peabody Book Shop: One for the books… Or Not. . Baltimore Or Less . 2019-01-23 . 2019-09-29.
  4. Web site: 2019-09-29. The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland on February 2, 1958 · 93. Newspapers.com.
  5. Web site: Peabody Book Shop and Beer Stube, 913 N. Charles St. . izi.TRAVEL . 1954-03-05 . 2019-09-29.
  6. Web site: 2019-09-29. Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan on March 5, 1954 · Page 7. Newspapers.com.
  7. Web site: 2019-09-29. The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware on March 5, 1954 · Page 30. Newspapers.com.
  8. Web site: 2019-09-29. Anderson Herald from Anderson, Indiana on March 5, 1954 · Page 17. Newspapers.com.
  9. News: 2019-09-29 . Sure 'Age Of Boob' Is On Us Mencken's Friend Closes Shop . Santa Cruz Sentinel . 1954-03-07 . 99 . 55 . 19.
  10. Web site: 2019-09-29. The Indianapolis Star from Indianapolis, Indiana on March 5, 1954 · Page 46. Newspapers.com.
  11. Web site: 2019-09-29. Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona on March 5, 1954 · Page 1. Newspapers.com.
  12. September 1954 . The Old Line . Baltimore's Famous Beer Stuber . University of Maryland . Haymann . Ed . XXI . 1 . 14–15 . Internet Archive.
  13. Web site: Schoettler . Carl . CLOSING THE BOOK The Peabody Book Shop and Beer Stube ends a long and colorful era in Baltimore's social and literary history. . baltimoresun.com . 1997-10-06 . 2019-09-29.
  14. Web site: National Park Service Nomination Form – 913 North Charles Street (Rose B. Pettus) . National Register of Historic Places . 1975-11-04.
  15. Web site: Historic Preservation Certification Application – 7 – 16 West Biddle Street (Rose B. Smith). National Register of Historic Places . 1980-10-22.
  16. Web site: Hotel Brexton – Romantic Things to Do in Baltimore Maryland . romance.historichotels.org . 2018-02-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180226211734/http://romance.historichotels.org/getaways/hotel-brexton . 2018-02-26 . dead . 2019-09-29.
  17. Web site: 2019-09-29. The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland on October 18, 1970 · 91. Newspapers.com.
  18. Web site: 2019-09-29. Hanover Evening Sun Archives, Mar 19, 1979, p. 23. newspaperarchive.com.
  19. Web site: Localities . The Mencken Society . 2004-02-13 . 2019-09-29.
  20. Book: Grubbs, David G. . The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny: Volume 4 . 2009 . 978-1-886778-79-5 . 205.
  21. Book: Standiford, Natalie. How To Say Goodbye In Robot. 2010. Scholastic Incorporated. 978-0-545-23169-5.
  22. Web site: Robot Mystery Page . Natalie Standiford . 2018-08-02 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180830234226/http://www.nataliestandiford.com/disc.htm . 2018-08-30 . dead . 2019-09-29 . Peabody Book Shop and Beer Stube, the real-life inspiration for Carmichael's Book Shop (the Peabody is now, sadly, closed).

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