African Room, New York 1960s
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Product Description
This striking menu cover was for the short-lived African Room, a Calypso-Caribbean themed nightclub in mid-town Manhattan.
Former homicide detective Harold Kanter was one of the investors in the club and in 1964 was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after he was convicted of trying to bribe an Internal Revenue Service agent with $100 not to report liquor violations.
The agent did report that the liquor in the nightclub, decorated to look like an African hut with fake leopard skin seats and bamboo walls, had been watered down.
Three years later, Kanter was in trouble again after American singer and actress Eartha Kitt (1927-2008), famed for her sensual singing style and her civil rights activism, visited the club to watch the house act Johnny Barracuda, known as the King of Calypso.
She didn’t drink alcohol but ordered three or four splits – mini-bottles - of champagne for her friends and was outraged when she was presented with a bar bill of $137, worth about $1,000 today.
Enraged, she poured champagne on patrons, broke glasses and kneed Kanter where it hurt, it was claimed.
‘This is nothing but a clip joint! You are nothing but thieves!’ she said, according to a $200,000 lawsuit rather cheekily launched by the club. We presume the lawsuit was thrown out of court.
Kanter (1928-2019) went on to spend five decades as a restaurateur and nightclub owner in New York City and had interests in Locale, Spindletop and Broadway Joe’s Steakhouse as well as the African Room.
A trained sommelier and an impeccable dancer, he also had a sense of humor and was proud to be the man who was slapped by Eartha Kitt.
Kitt, who Orson Welles once described as ‘the most exciting woman in the world,’ was famous for her 1953 hits C’est Si Bon and the novelty Christmas song Santa Baby.
She starred as Catwoman in the third and final season of the television series Batman in 1967 and had an unfair blip in her career after she made anti-Vietnam War statements at a White House luncheon and reportedly made Lady Bird Johnson, the First Lady, cry.
Her career recovered and she became a vocal advocate for LGBT rights and publicly supported same sex marriage, which she considered a civil right. She also supported not being ripped off in nightclubs.
Former homicide detective Harold Kanter was one of the investors in the club and in 1964 was sentenced to a year and a day in prison after he was convicted of trying to bribe an Internal Revenue Service agent with $100 not to report liquor violations.
The agent did report that the liquor in the nightclub, decorated to look like an African hut with fake leopard skin seats and bamboo walls, had been watered down.
Three years later, Kanter was in trouble again after American singer and actress Eartha Kitt (1927-2008), famed for her sensual singing style and her civil rights activism, visited the club to watch the house act Johnny Barracuda, known as the King of Calypso.
She didn’t drink alcohol but ordered three or four splits – mini-bottles - of champagne for her friends and was outraged when she was presented with a bar bill of $137, worth about $1,000 today.
Enraged, she poured champagne on patrons, broke glasses and kneed Kanter where it hurt, it was claimed.
‘This is nothing but a clip joint! You are nothing but thieves!’ she said, according to a $200,000 lawsuit rather cheekily launched by the club. We presume the lawsuit was thrown out of court.
Kanter (1928-2019) went on to spend five decades as a restaurateur and nightclub owner in New York City and had interests in Locale, Spindletop and Broadway Joe’s Steakhouse as well as the African Room.
A trained sommelier and an impeccable dancer, he also had a sense of humor and was proud to be the man who was slapped by Eartha Kitt.
Kitt, who Orson Welles once described as ‘the most exciting woman in the world,’ was famous for her 1953 hits C’est Si Bon and the novelty Christmas song Santa Baby.
She starred as Catwoman in the third and final season of the television series Batman in 1967 and had an unfair blip in her career after she made anti-Vietnam War statements at a White House luncheon and reportedly made Lady Bird Johnson, the First Lady, cry.
Her career recovered and she became a vocal advocate for LGBT rights and publicly supported same sex marriage, which she considered a civil right. She also supported not being ripped off in nightclubs.
Gallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using Epson archival inks. Custom printed with border for matting and framing.
Each order includes a print of the interior menu.
All printed in USA.