72
Enameled wood
with advertising.
Marked MADE
IN FRANCE
Bruno
‟
s Pen & Pencil, New York 17,
N. Y.
(Bull collection)
No, Bruno
‟
s Pen & Pencil was not a manufacturer of pens and pencils. It was a
restaurant in New York City.
Excerpt from a 1959 publication:
“
Charles Stradella owned a liquor store on Ninth Ave. which he sold in order to
buy a small restaurant, in 1938, for his son, Danny. He took over a beer joint at
203 E. 45th St. and with the aid of his son-in-law, Dalmo Pozzi, created the
original PEN & PENCIL, then known as Charley
‟
s Rail.
In 1939 John C. Bruno left the Hotel Lincoln
‟
s Blue Room to become headwaiter
at the PEN & PENCIL (his wife was Frances Stradella, Danny
‟
s sister). With him,
Bruno brought along Henry Castello. In the years that followed, Bruno
‟
s PEN &
PENCIL was to become the spawning spot for three rival steak houses on Steak
Row: The PRESSBOX, the EDITORIAL, and DANNY
‟
S HIDEAWAY. They were
founded by PEN & PENCIL employees who had been trained by John Bruno.
”
