Broadway Below the Sidewalk: Concert Saloons of Old New York

The Broadway of the 1860s in New York City began at Bowling Green at the southern tip of Manhattan, and extended all the way to Tarrytown. During this period concert saloons entertained a sizeable portion of the Broadway night life. Variety entertainments were performed in converted theatres amid a barroom atmosphere, where patrons were attended by "pretty waiter girls." Taken from the pages of the New York Clipper, these contemporaneous pieces describe a world of entertainment long forgott...