The Hudson County Court House As Seen From Weber's TavernIn today's New York Times the City Room carries a post ab0ut a bar in Hell's Kitchen, Rudy's, on 9th Ave. between West 44th and 45th, that serves free hot dogs with drinks.
It’s the free hot dogs that got my attention. Just out of the Navy in December, 1960, I soon turned 21. Weber’s Tavern was just around the corner from my house on Court House Place in Jersey City. Weber’s was on the NE corner of Baldwin and Newark Avenues. The magnificent Hudson County Court House was on the SW corner of the same intersection. It has been restored and every once in a while a television program will film there.If you stood in Weber's doorway and looked diagonally across the intersection, you would see the Court House as it appears above.
Artie Weber would serve free lunch every weekday. He would make sandwiches and pile them high on two large trays placed at either end of the bar. The sandwiches would vary. One day he might have cheese sandwiches, another day baloney, and then some days spiced ham. Others too, just can’t recall right now. White bread and two or three slices of the cold cut d’jour if I remember correctly. Beer was 10 cents a glass. Weber’s beer was an ounce less than the standard glass. Still, it was a great beer. Rheingold, Schaffer, and Piels were the big guys on tap. Some would chastise the bartender if they had a ‘Coney Island’ head. Others would complain that there was no head. De gustibus non est disputandem. (Whiskey Sours were made correctly with a lovely head. Try and get a good one today. Frothee is still on the market but it just isn’t used much -long story)
At one point during the day, the bar would be two and sometimes three deep with standees behind those parked on the stools. Locals, including off duty cops and firefighters, jurors, lawyers (mostly public defenders), jurors, an occasional miscreant, and off duty bartenders from other taverns could be among those who would share the moment. Ironworkers, teamsters, and longshoremen might be there too if they didn’t make the shape or work was slack that day. Bookies, one and sometimes two, were also busy. Their condition had them using the bathroom frequently. Their activity was known by many and they were considered off limits in the tavern -safe from a collar. A gentleman’s agreement. The liquor salesmen who might stop by later were often ex fighters. In ‘Requiem for a Heavyweight’ Jack Palance had the voice of a man who took a lot of punches -had it cold. Try YouTube. But that's another story.
Some of the local old timers were pensioners and not too well off I would think. On occasion you might see one of them slip a sandwich (wax paper wrapped of course) into a suit jacket, or sport jacket pocket. You’d know they were going to do it and you watched from the corner of your eye. A sandwich for later. Fedoras and ties did these gentlemen wear. And the stories they could tell -if you asked.
Yes free sandwiches. And there was also a tradition called the ‘come back.’ Buy three beers and the next one would be on the house. A ‘good luck’ or a knock on the bar top by the bartender would accompany the freebee. Run it out: If you spent ninety cents for nine beers, you would get twelve beers. Every once in a while the bartender might give you a ‘come back’ after only two or even one drink that you paid for. Rarely was a forgetful or distracted bartender contradicted. That left a dime out of a dollar. That would be for the bartender. Hypothetical of course -most left the bartender more.
It was in Weber’s that four of us, watching and listening to the news of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, decided to drive to Washington, DC. The line in DC was long. It was getting late. We stood and watched and thought of him and I know we each must have said a prayer. And then we went back home. Over time the 10 cent beer became 15 cents and all too soon the 15 cent beer became 20 cents. Things were never quite same again.
