Hi Hat Cocktail Lounge, Ambassador Hotel, Washington D.C. 1930s

This is an amazing black and white menu cover from the bar of the 500-room Ambassador Hotel in downtown Washington D.C. which closed decades ago. We're not quite sure why a ballerina* is dancing in a champagne glass covered by a top hat but the menu is post-Prohibition, from the late 1930s, and clearly everyone was having a very good time. The haughty and cheerful expression on the waiter's face is also terrific. The Hi Hat bar was open from 8am to 2am and described itself as being a "delightful cocktail rendezvous". It served 1926 champagnes for $7 a bottle.

*According to Susan Elin Zacharias "The ballerina, Anna Pavlova, performed at the Shubert-Belasco Theater, Washington DC. Since the theater was only 2 blocks away from The Ambassador Hotel, I have a hunch that she stayed there, and this was a tribute to her when she died in 1931. (Both buildings were razed in the 1960's-70's.)"

Courtesy Private Collection.

Each print is accompanied by a copy of the interior menu where available.

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