37

The Bar Mart

The Bar Mart was a mail order firm at 62 West 45th

St., New York City. During the late 1940s and 1950s

their catalogs offered a wide range of home bars and

bar accessories.

Scott Harris wrote:

―

My grandmother, Bobbie

Ganger, opened the Bar Mart in New York City. My

grandfather had a company called Ganger, Inc. that

designed and provided equipment to night clubs,

restaurants, and bars. My grandmother then decided

to open a business that sold bar equipment and

related gifts at retail for the home. The company went

bankrupt in about 1960.

‖

In the September 21, 1940 issued of

The New Yorker

,

there was a profile on Arthur Ganger. Arthur was grossing $600,000 a year at

that time and referred to the night clubs as

―

upholstered sewers.

‖

He described

the owners with

―…their only assets is a big mouth, a green suit, a debutantey

singer, and seventy-fi

‘

cents in cash.

‖

During Prohibition he did a tremendous

business with speakeasys dealing with

―

fronts

‖

for various gang leaders in

Manhattan.

The

―

Bar Mart

‖

operated across the street

from the night club equipment operation and

billed itself as a catalog of

―

bars and

accessories for the rumpus and whoopee

room.

‖

Here are the corkscrews featured in the 1940s

Tippler Catalog: