Modern Speakeasies Recall a Rowdy Past

By Victor Block

"The Little Rascals" was a series of movie shorts that ran from 1922 to 1938, then was repackaged as a television show. When a casual eatery named Spanky's, which echoed the "speakeasy" days of Prohibition (1920-13), opened in Naples, Florida, in 1984, "Spanky" McFarland -- one of the Little Rascals -- sued for unapproved use of his name.

When the suit was settled, the restaurant and drinking establishment was able to keep its monicker, and it continues to serve casual food and adult beverages offered in water glasses to recall Prohibition practices. The walls are plastered with vintage photographs, one table offers seating in old barber chairs and the salad bar occupies a 1924 Model T truck.

Spanky's is one of a number of modern-day "speakeasies" that recapture the lore and lure of clandestine drinking establishments that proliferated during the Roaring '20s. These hidden locations were nestled behind secret doors, bookcases and other facades known to patrons but not to lawmen, and they often required a password to gain entrance. Customers were cautioned to "speak easy" -- or quietly -- when discussing the illicit drinking establishments so as not to alert officials about their location.

In recent years, there has been a mini-explosion of wannabe speakeasies that seek to replicate the allure and ambience of their forebears. These are watering holes across the country where customers can relive and recapture this colorful, controversial chapter of the nation's past.

Like Spanky's, the bar at the Prohibition Museum in Savannah, Georgia, the only institution of its kind in the country, serves up libations similar to those that were popular a century ago. Fancy cocktails then were created by bartenders to mask the bad taste of poor-quality alcohol that often was laced with questionable additives.

This saloon is hidden behind a nondescript door where a discrete knock prompts a small slit to open, a pair of menacing eyes to peer out and a deep voice to inquire, "Who sent you." Once inside, you're immersed in a scene that brings to life visions of long ago.

Some cities have become virtual meccas for speakeasy-type bars, and the nation's capital ranks high on that list. A tiny bar and larger lounge at Manifest hides behind an old-fashioned barbershop, boutique and coffee bar. Those interested in dropping by the mysteriously named OKPB pub look for a plain door decorated with the painting of a radio antenna and push the bell beside it.

Another capital city, Raleigh, North Carolina, also is home to a proliferation of speakeasy-type enterprises that are off the beaten path. Entrance into the cozy Green Light is through an ersatz bookcase leading to what in the past was an architect's office. The cavernous Foundation saloon not far away is named for the original stone and brick footing that supports the old building whose basement it occupies.

A similar subterranean source for sipping is the Vault & Vator, tucked away in the cellar of a former Dr. Pepper Cola Co. plant in Greenville, South Carolina. The space includes the original vault and lift, which accounts for its name.

The Alley Cat Lounge in Savannah, Georgia, is another basement bar. As its website instructs those seeking it, "If you make it to the front of the building, we are underneath your feet in the basement."

The edifice in which Reid's Apothecary in Brunswick, Georgia, is located served as a hospital during World War I. Rather than medical care and medications, it now offers customers food and drink. The Study, its Prohibition-themed bar, is hidden in a back room accessible through a sliding bookshelf.

If this short list leads you to think that speakeasy replicas are limited to the Southeastern states, think again. Nostalgia fans from coast to coast have opportunities to recapture and relive this footnote from history.

New York City's nod in this direction can be a bit more upscale than elsewhere. When I entered the Osamil restaurant, the decor belied -- in a positive way -- its self-identification as a gastropub. While the menu offers Korean specialties such as pork belly, squid and octopus, it also includes such familiar fare as lamb chops and prime beef.

Diners on the ground floor might be unaware that a modest, unmarked door leads up a somewhat dingy metal stairway to an intimate living-roomlike venue that offers dramatic views of the surrounding Manhattan skyline and a choice of colorful cocktail concoctions.

The vibe is very different at Bourbon & Branch, a San Francisco icon which occupies the site where a bar has been since 1867. During Prohibition, a speakeasy operated at the site illegally under the guise of a cigar shop.

Customers in the know who find and ring the buzzer, then utter the not-so-secret password "books," are escorted into the not-so-secret library whose walls are covered with floor-to-ceiling books from Prohibition days. Once seated, they're asked to follow a few basic rules, including "No photography," "Please speak easy" and "Please be patient, our drinks are labor-intensive."

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WHEN YOU GO

spankysspeakeasy.com

americanprohibitionmuseum.com

washington.org

visitraleigh.com

vaultandvator.com

alleycatsavannah.com

reidsapothecary.com

osamil.com

bourbonandbranch.com

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Victor Block is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.