Expect Come-Back of Old-Time Coffee Shop

1920

Roosevelt Enterprise Causing Comment

NEW YORK, Jan. 2. — Shall the coffee house of Shakespeare, of Ben Jonson, and eke of Addison and Steele, come back? Statesmen and publicists and writers once foregathered there, and also, if we may accept the verdict of A. Pope, known also as "The Little Wasp of Twickenham," also the politicians with their "half-shut eyes."

Undoubtedly the vogue of the coffee houses will be increased with the interest which the sons of the late Col. Theodore Roosevelt have taken in the founding of a chain of establishments dedicated to the revival of a time-honored institution.

A great many hotels throughout the country have converted their barrooms into coffee shops and tea rooms. The Salvation Army and similar organizations have taken over properly formerly occupied by saloons and established coffee rooms. Throughout the west sagacious business men have purchased property and created coffee houses. The acuteness of their judgment in divining the trend of the popular taste for beverages is manifest in the huge profits they are making.

All the Roosevelt sons have given their names and support to a project for reinstating the coffee house of the type which existed before there were modern saloons. Theodore, Jr., and Archibald and Kermit and their brother-in-law, Dr. Richard Derby, and their cousin, Philip, are sponsors for the Cafe Paulista, a Brazilian coffee house in the Roaring Forties (108 West Forty-fourth street), which is to be succeeded by a chain of similar establishments which are to displace abodes of the demon rum. The first venture of the Roosevelts has had such financial success that two more coffee houses are to be opened by them in New York City at once.

The enterprise is under the management of a Brazilian who several years ago left the staff of the consulate of his native land to establish in Broad street a place where the genuine Brazilian coffee could be had. One day Kermit Roosevelt dropped in there to get a cup of the rich, dark concoction there vended, and became so enamored of it that he was easily induced to embark in the present enterprise and to induce his kith and kin to join him.

Not only will these coffee houses help Americanization, but they will spread culture as well. Already the first one has a set of the Century dictionary, and when the bookcase is finished other volumes will appear. The intelligent clientele can take down that immortal work, "A. B. Cell," for instance, and find plenty of words to keep it busy.

Drank 75 Cups Daily

Art and literature is all over the green walls. Here is a portrait of the gifted Voltaire, credited with drinking 75 glasses of coffee a day.

"Who is that with the low collar?" asked a patron the other night, nodding toward a portrait on the wall.

"Shakespeare," was the prompt reply. "He wrote of coffee that 'Thou art all the comfort that the gods will diet me with.' What more, senor, could the honorable William have wished?"

Oil paintings depict the gathering of the bean of Brazil, and there are also views of the plantations and of the harbor of Rio de Janiero. The making of coffee is here held as a fine art. The beans are roasted on the premises in the most approved manner, and every few minutes fresh coffee is made in pots for tall urns are barred.

One may take his ease in such inns as these of the Rooseveltian chain are to be, for at each table is a small compartment with letter paper and envelopes, all duly printed with the name of the cafe, on which one may write as though he were sitting in his own club. The social features of the establishment are already being developed and the manager thinks, too, that it may rival the Tontine coffee houses, where the New York stock exchange was formed, or Lloyd's, where came into being a mighty underwriting enterprise.

It is the plan to serve cakes, sandwiches, pastry, as is now being done, and each day some distinctively Brazilian dish.

An Old Institution

Coffee houses date back to the thirteenth century, and their popularity up until a century ago was remarkable. The first coffee house on record was established at Mocha in 1285.

From the continent coffee houses were introduced into England. Critics agree that the first one opened in London was the shop of Pasqua Rosee in 1652. Others rapidly followed, of which the most famous were Will's, Tom's, St. James', White's, and Button's. They became the meeting places of men of intellect, each catering to a certain class. For example, Will's was the gathering place for famous writers.

The Whigs gathered at St. James', while the Tories frequented Button's. Great rivalry existed among the various coffee houses over the efforts made to build up the most select clientele. Dryden held forth in state at Will's, with a number of lesser dignitaries listening to his heroic couplets. Later Addison, Steele, Swift and Pope each built up circles of followers, who would congregate at the various coffee houses.