The Peabody Bookshop and Beer Stube was a fixture in the

Mount Vernon Mount Vernon is an American landmark and former plantation of Founding Father, commander of the Continental Army in the Revolutionary War, and the first president of the United States George Washington and his wife, Martha. The estate is on ...

section of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, Maryland for over 50 years. There was a crowded, dusty bookshop in front, and a crowded room in the back where customers could get beer and a sandwich. There was a piano on one wall, mounted animal heads, wooden tables carved with the names of patrons. At 10:00 PM, Dantini the Magnificent would do his 15-minute magic show. The bookshop also served as an art gallery for local artists.

Location

Located at 913 N. Charles Street, the Peabody was within walking distance of the

Walters Art Gallery The Walters Art Museum, located in Mount Vernon-Belvedere, Baltimore, Maryland, United States, is a public art museum founded and opened in 1934. It holds collections established during the mid-19th century. The museum's collection was amassed ...

, the

George Peabody Library The George Peabody Library is a library connected to the Johns Hopkins University, focused on research into the 19th century. It was formerly the Library of the Peabody Institute of music in the City of Baltimore, and is located on the Peabody c ...

, the

Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall The Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, often referred to simply as the Meyerhoff, is a music venue that opened September 16, 1982, at 1212 Cathedral Street in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The main auditorium ...

, Baltimore's Washington Monument, and the Brexton Hotel.

Weisberger years

Brothers Hugo and Siegfried Weisberger, Austrian immigrants, started the bookshop in 1922, during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcohol ...

. Siegfried became sole owner in 1931, when Hugo died. This was an early example of a bookshop with its own beer bar, and possibly the very first such in the US. Weisberger abandoned the Peabody in 1954, convinced by long time patron

H. L. Mencken Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, ...

, that the "Age of the Boob" had arrived, and people were no longer interested in "books and ideals and culture. They only want dollars." When Siegfried walked away from "100,000 volumes nobody wants to read", the news was covered across the nation, from Detroit to Phoenix, Arizona; Wilmington, Delaware to Santa Cruz, California.

Interregnum

The Peabody didn't stay closed. It reopened under the ownership of Paul P. Adler and Irving Mindess, later in 1954, and remained popular with students from the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the University System of M ...

Rose Hayes years

The oft-married Rose Boyajian Smith Pettus Hayes took ownership of the shop in 1957 and ran it until she died in 1986. Rose added a second bar upstairs, and was active in preserving other Baltimore properties, including revitalizing the Brexton Hotel In the 70's the Peabody hosted Saturday film festivals. 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." The shop closed not long after Rose's death.

End

The building at 913 North Charles Street was demolished in 1997, to make way for a parking lot.

Patrons of note

* Gerald Johnson *

Patrick Skene Catling Patrick Skene Catling (born 14 February 1925) is a British journalist, author and book reviewer best known for writing '' The Chocolate Touch'' in 1952. He has written 12 novels, 3 works of non fiction and 9 books for children. Background Catli ...

In fiction

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

References

External links

Postcard showing inside the beer stubePhoto of street frontApplication Form for the National Register of Historic Places
(Rose B. Pettus) {{Coord, 39.3002962, -76.6155467, display=title, format=dms Buildings and structures in Baltimore Culture of Baltimore History of Baltimore Bookstores in Maryland Demolished buildings and structures in Maryland Buildings and structures demolished in 1997 1922 establishments in Maryland 1970s disestablishments in Maryland