![]() ![]() “Tortilla Flat,” “La Ronda,” and “Avila’s” served Mexican food. Louis,” Japanese at “Katubuki,” pimento beef sandwiches at an Argentinean stand. ![]() D’s,” Italian food at “Bella Rosa,” Greek food at “Smokey Joe’s Grecian Terrace,” seafood at “Port of St. You could choose to eat French cuisine at the “Three Fountains ” a corned beef sandwich at “Two Cents Plain” or a slice of pizza at “Pino’s.” There was sedate dining at “Mr. The whole carnival like scene was punctuated by rows of gas lamps that had been salvaged from the old streets of the city.Ī person could wander from place to place, like a bee collecting pollen. Louis ran on Olive Street and discharged its passengers into the melee of bright lights and sounds of music coming from different doorways. Cars thronged the streets and crowds of people milled about from one attraction to another. Gaslight Square took up only the space of a few blocks, but it was packed with the establishments crowded side by side. Singleton Palmer’s jazz group played there for a number of years. Nearby was the “Opera House.” Its decor consisted of hundreds of croquet balls threaded on spindles. Louis actors such as Jack Murdock and Chris King.Īnother of the group, an antique dealer, Jim Massucci, a self styled “Environmental Engineer” created three places in the Square: “The Exit,” “Vanity Fair” made of telephone booths and the very beautiful “Golden Eagle” with its polished wood and walls made of old glass theatre slides. The Gateway Theater was in the Musical Arts Building at Olive and Boyle and featured St. Some of the performers who appeared there, may before they were well known were Barbara Streisand, Phyllis Diller, the Smothers Brothers, Elaine and Mike Nichols, Bobby Short and Alan Arkin. Louis audiences, the like of which they might never had gotten to see, outside of New York: avant-garde, anti-theatre and original works both dramatic and musical. The Crystal Palace offered theatre to St. When Lenny Bruce, satirist, performed there he called the decor, “Early Halloween ” but the overall effect when lit up at night was impressive. The front of the building and the garden in back were festooned with stained glass, ornate grill work, which upon closer inspection turned out to be old elevator doors, bedsteads and metal sides of old school desks. As an antique dealer he had access to material for ornamentation: elaborately carved back bars, marble busts, fixtures, crystal chandeliers. One of this group, Jay Landesman, built the “Crystal Palace,” a theatre/bar, nearby on Olive Street. It eventually became the “In” place where one could meet interesting people and hear some stimulating dialogues. It was owned by the Mutrux Brothers and lorded over by a cantankerous, opinionated professor-turned-bartender by the name of Jack O’Neal who gathered about him a coterie, who during Happy Hour had earth shaking debates and confrontations. The first stirring of what was to become Gaslight Square started, before the time of the tornado, in the Gaslight Bar at 422 Boyle at Olive Street, a charming drinking spot decorated with turn of the century furnishings gleaned from demolished homes and antique shops. Louis mansions that were being razed at the time. ![]() The created these places of entertainment and dining, often with a minimum of investment, using stained glass, rococo carvings, chandeliers and such obtained from St. That spore was a group of creative, imaginative, often unorthodox, a little askew at times, individuals who acting on their won, built their clubs and restaurants in their own fashion. It was as though a patch of overnight mushrooms had sprouted from some rich spore. It was called Gaslight Squared, a concentrated area of restaurants, night clubs, theatres and unique shops, all within an area of a few blocks. Louis in a period of a little more than 11 years, starting at a time when a tornado hit the area, in 1959 until early 1960. Louis in 2012 at the age of 91.An urban-social phenomenon occurred in St. Blumberg's photography appeared in the Sunday Magazine section of the St. Known as Gaslight Square, the area changed from a quiet antique row into one of the country�s most popular entertainment districts, known for music, poetry, comedy, formal and informal dining, and dancing, and was the home to many clubs and restaurants, and entertainment venues. Louis and created a large volume of photographs documenting the neighborhood and nightlife near the intersection of Olive and Boyle. In the 1950s and 1960s, Blumberg returned to St. Following her service, she studied photography at the Chicago Institute of Design and the Art Center in Los Angeles. Navy Women's Reserve during World War II. Louis, Missouri in 1920, Thelma Blumberg was an award winning freelance photojournalist who learned about cameras while serving in the U.S. This image is part of the Thelma Blumberg Collection. ![]()
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