I'm off to NYC this week so there shall be no post next Sunday.
As a nod to the excesses of the Apple I thought I'd talk about the New Yorkiest place of all, at least according to Walter Winchell - the Stork Club.
Winchell gave the Stork that tagline thanks to a boost from nightclub hostess Texas Guinan, who suggested to the columnist and newsman that her buddy Sherman Billingsley's new joint could do with a boost. This was 1929 and Billingsley, a bootlegger from Oklahoma, had just set up his place on West 58th Street, with financial backing from mysterious sources. It wasn't the Stork's final home; it would move a few times in its career, before finally settling on 3 East 53rd Street.
This last move coincided with the end of Prohibition, which brought about some odd changes for the liquor business. Yes, you could sell alcohol, at table. Not at some smoky, sin-filled bar. Billingsley's solution was to remove his old bar, which had been in the middle of the room, and rebuild it along one wall. He then added lots of tables, each at the same height as the bar. So technically he was serving at table - it was just that the tables were bar height.
This lasted until he had to move to 3 East 53rd, after a police raid. Then Billingsley settled in for the long haul.
By now he was successful enough he didn't need mysterious financial backers, certainly not backers mysterious enough to attract unwelcome comment. However, he never quite escaped the reputation of being a mobbed-up guy. Partly this was due to his bootlegging background, and partly to his relationships with people like Owney Madden and Frenchy DeMange. For a long time Billingsley had to fight off union incursions backed by Dutch Shultz, until Shultz was shot to death in October 1935.
The Stork was known as a bastion of cafe society, a place for the well-heeled and socially privileged to gather. It helped that the likes of Winchell stuck around the place, along with theatrical star Ethel Merman, Billingsley's girl, who had a waiter stand by her side constantly just to light her cigarettes. According to the guy on the front door Merman wore no underwear, and frequently flashed him in lieu of a cash tip. "I can't put food on the table with that," he complained.
The Stork was famous for its promotions and iconic chotchkes like its signature ashtrays, its always-on-call photographers, and its balloon nights. On balloon nights a host of balloons would fall from the ceiling each of which contained a prize, often a hundred-dollar bill. The sudden descent of these balloons set off a popping frenzy as guests and staff competed to collect as many prizes as possible.
The Stork was also famous for sex. Billingsley's relationship with Merman was well-known. Despite being married he and Merman were about as public as it was possible to get. Once, Merman turned up at the Stork glowering, injured, and upset. It turned out she and Billingsley had been enjoying themselves in his car. One of them dropped a lit cigarette and Merman found it by sitting on it, bare-arsed.
Even without Shultz's intervention Billingsley would have union troubles. He believed in being boss of his empire, and no union, whether straight or crooked, would ever tell him what to do. When he fired a raft of union waiters and they took him to court Billingsley fought tooth and nail, finally taking it to appeals court. The court ruled he had to take the waiters back on staff and pay back wages. He and the waiters reached a quiet compromise; he'd take them on, pay the wages, so long as they didn't squawk when he discreetly fired them again. Billingsley resisted unions till the bitter end; by the time the Stork imploded his union problems cost him his friendship with Winchell. By that point the Stork was losing money hand over fist.
Trail is a 1930s game and as luck would have it the 1930s are the Stork's glory years. Soon the jet age would come and with it would go New York's cafe society, and Billingsley's business model. That, and Billingsley's notorious and ill-fated clash with Josephine Baker in 1956 sealed the Stork Club's fate.
Borrowing from Night's Black Agents Resource Guide: Locations:
The Stork Club
New York's high-and-mighty mix with the lesser folk, so long as the lesser folk are theatrical, literati, or otherwise famous. It's not unusual to see Broadway stars and Hollywood celebrities mingling with the children of the rich. In some cases literal children; Billingsley lets under-age rich kids play in his playground, so long as they don't drink. You might see almost anyone at the Stork; they say madame Polly Adler came here once and, when she and her escort refused to leave, Billingsley took away all the other tables near them so they sat on their own, completely exposed. Until they slunk away. Disgraced mayor Jimmy Walker came here after his return from self-imposed European exile and Billingsley threw out the boat for his good friend Walker, only to discover - when the next day's papers made no mention of Walker's return - that the King of New York had been permanently dethroned.
Extras
Mobsters, rich folk, folk on the make, detectives, theatrical stars, writers, newsmen, photographers - anyone who has an interest in fame and riches. Or who wants to be seen with the famous and wealthy. Or who actually is famous and wealthy.
Clues
Bargain can get you almost anything from this crowd, but it's even better used on the waiters and staff who can get you special privileges, or a table next to the people you really want to talk to. Flattery is practically currency in a place where the brightest stars and rich kids mingle. Cop Talk works well on unionized staff in bed with mobsters, as well as Sherman himself, who knows very well which side his bread is buttered. Evidence Collection might notice that peculiar little item so-and-so dropped on the floor. They might be too toasted to notice you took it.
Rules Effects
Spending a night at the Stork and being seen to do so gives temporary boosts to Credit Rating. Oral History spends at the Stork gives you temporary Intimidation against a well-heeled target of your choice; nobody wants those stories spread. Being there on Balloon Night can earn you unusual allies or enemies, depending on how successful you were collecting prizes. You need to be careful who you go about with or you might catch something nasty - just ask Tallulah Bankhead, a Broadway star and Stork habitue famous for her varied sex life.
That's it for this week. Enjoy!
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