New York newspaper days in the 1950’s. A different world. First of all there were seven dailies — News and Mirror (tabloids); Post, World-Telegram and Journal-American (afternoons); Times and Herald-Tribune (quality mornings). There were three wire services: AP, UP and INS (International News Service). Lots of foreign papers with big readerships (The Jewish Daily Forward, the Italian Il Popolo, the Spanish language El Diario, etc.) Plus the African-American New Amsterdam News. There was also the Communist Daily Worker (With the Super Bowl upon us, let’s give those subversives some credit. The Worker was the only newspaper that called consistently for desegregation in sports).
In those pre-computer days newsrooms were noisy (HG’s beloved Remington sounded like a prop plane) and smoky and politically incorrect. Newsmen drank a lot. They did not go home after work. They went to bars. Unsentimental HG finds today’s journalists smarter, better educated, much less venal and sharper, better writers than HG’s journalistic contemporaries. But, HG doubts if they had as much fun as HG and his now deceased (or ancient) pals. There were many joyous newsman hangouts, and, surprisingly, the food was good.
HG’s favorite was Artists & Writers on W. 40th Street, adjacent to the Herald-Trib and three blocks from the Times. Nobody ever called it Artists & Writers. Too pretentious. It was “Bleeck’s” (pronounced Blakes) to everyone. A great mahogany bar which was alive with feverish gamblers. The big game was the “match game” played with six matches (HG is a bit hazy on the details. Forgive. It was a long time ago). Lucius Beebe, the Trib’s foppish, super elegant columnist, loved the game so much that he had gold matches fashioned which he kept in an alligator case. The Times and Trib guys were competitive. The Times was a better paper, of course, but the Trib had better writers (Red Smith, Joe Palmer, Homer Bigart were just a few). And what did the journos and litterateurs eat at Bleeck’s? Good grilled sausages with the usual German accompaniments. A generous wiener schnitzel. And, HG’s favorite dish: Konigsberger klops. These were meatballs served on top of a bed of rice. The dish was doused in a creamy dill and caper sauce. HG hasn’t had it in scores of years. Never appears on a menu. Never mind: I’ve got a story that will bust this town wide open !! Hold the presses!!
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