"Cafe Society NYC c1940s Matchbook"
$150
128 East 58th Street New York City
Cover artwork by Colin A.
w/ 19 pink tip matches present
2 1/8" x 2"
Barney Josephson opened Café Society, New York’s first integrated nightclub, at Sheridan Square in the Village in 1938. Two years later, he opened Café Society Uptown at 128 East 58th Street. Both venues featured top black and white musicians. The clubs did a booming business for several years, until Josephson’s brother was cited for contempt by the House Un-American Activities Committee. When Josephson himself came under scathing attack by right-wing columnists Westbrook Pegler and Walter Winchell, among others, business at the clubs plummeted and he was forced to sell in 1948.