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How many of you have ever been to McSorley's (15 East 7th Street, NYC), that's in the East Village? This is one on the oldest, if not THE oldest bars in Manhattan.
It is a saloon in the truest sense with swing-doors, sawdust on the floor and a long wooden counter, probably the original from the 1850's. There was no hard liquor sold here, just light or dark ale. It was exclusively a man's establishment thirty years ago. Women were not allowed inside. It was in those years, the early 1960' when I used to visit McSorley's on a regular basis.
My friends and I would meet there on many a night to get falling down stinking drunk, to socialize or just escape the girl friends and wives. For a single guy like me it was just a hang-out.
During the course of the evening, to combat the bordem of dying conversation we played a game called Thumper. As I said before, hard liquor was not allowed in McSorley's, they sold only light and dark ale. It didn't matter, we always broke the rules and the management didn't care either. So we'd bring along and smuggle in a fifth of scotch or vodka, or whatever.
There were anywhere from six to ten of us on any given weekend night, so we had enough to play this game.
We'd sit at one of those classic wooden round tables and the game would begin. We'd all chant, "What's the name of the game?" The reply from all of us came: "THUMPER." "How do you play the game?" "YOU THUMP." Then all of us in unison would pound the table with both hands flat and the first person would create a hand sign, anything would do, a thumbs up, a wave, etc. The next person to his left would have to pick up on it, keep it the same or change it. The next and the next and so on. The penalty for not giving the correct sign....A DEPTH CHARGE. This is another word for a boilermaker, only we'd get a large glass of ale, and pour a shot into a shot glass and drop the entire shot glass into the glass of ale...hence...Depth Charge! Then the person would have to drink it in one breathless swig. Bottom's up. Wow, was that tough!
Well, no need to tell you that the poor soul who kept missing the signs would get drunker and drunker until he passed out or had to be carried out.
You get the picture. Great mindless fun. We had a blast..and, believe it or not, none of us turned into alcoholics. This was before the designated driver..Don't worry...we didn't drive home either, we took the subway.
Keep thumping everybody.
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A brief word about McSorley's:
John McSorley founded the bar in 1854 patterning it after a typical public house in his native Ireland. The original name was the Old House at Home. When the sign board blew down in 1908, he changed the name to The Olde Ale House. John died in 1910 at age 87. His son Bill, who had been in charge since 1890 took over the reigns finally selling it in 1936. Bill passed away in 1938.
In 1934 McSorley's had the distinction of brewing its own ale. The exclusive rights went to Fidelio Brewery
who was given the task of brewing and selling McSorley's Cream Stock Ale. It was outstanding. I could personally attest to that!
The artist John Sloan popularized the bar with his seires of paintings between 1912 and 1930. Every time he had an exhibit of his artwork, business picked up at McSorley's. Life Magazine ran a series of picture histories and articles about the bar in the 1940s. Joseph Mitchell immortalized the place in a series of essays in The New Yorker. He later wrote a book entitled McSorley's Wonderful Saloon.
Many famous people patronized the place. In 1969 Faith Seidenberg, NOW attorney, filed suit to end the bar's long-standing policy of not serving women. She won.
Today it is still a popular place for people to gather, socialize and have a pleasant time. Now even the ladies can come and leave their footprints in the sawdust.
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