File #14000: "https://archives.library.wcsu.edu/relatedObjects/ms073/ms073_01_01_14.pdf"

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Though the Continental may
the point, the American does
appreciate good food. His taste ffly not be as subtle as the Frenchman's, say, or the Persian's . ,,,,,,,,.,.,.,.
ut didn't our Pilgrim Fathers
inaugurate the feast that fea
d the full table? And hasn't
America nurtured through ge
...ions and encouraged its select
coterie of fine restaurants? Locfi.t@ber in Boston ... Antoine's in
New Orleans ... Miller Brotheffii/iU.Baltimore ... these are names
to light the native gourmet's e •
This is the brief story of t
st 90 years of one of themOld Original Bookbinder's of
. delphia-located
now as from
its beginning in 1865 down by itlie::itiverfront in the older, historic
section of the city.
Ji!/i!@/ifff
American gourmets say "TliBJ!:is only one Old Original Bookbinder's" ... and this is its stf¥-W)i

THEBELL
NEARLY
ASFAMOUS
ASTIELIBERTY
BELL
unforgettable name,
at 125 Walnut Street
the Delaware River.

ar was just ending when the man with the
muel Bookbinder, opened his small restaurant
Philadelphia, within sight of the docks and

As happens aft r every war, the nation was ready for
luxury ... and it wasn't 1 g before trade was flourishing. For people
soon found that Sam was a emanding and particular proprietor, and
that anything he served on is table was the very finest obtainable.
Luncheons were the p · cipal business at first and legend has
it that the good wife Sarah
uld
come out of the kitchen to ring he
bell to tell the neighborhood wh n
lunch was ready. (You can see th
bell to this day inside the doorway
at the restaurant.)

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Today the restaurant embraces 3 properties
-123, 125 and 127 Walnut St.

DODD
EATING
INAMERICA
STARTED
DOWN
BYTHE
WATERFRONT
INDLD
PHILADELPH
The location for the restaurant was a logical one. Just a step
from the Delaware with its teeming shad ... and its ships bringing
choice edibles from all over the world ... around the corner from
Dock and Market Street markets where the farmers of Pennsylvania,
New Jersey, Delaware and the turtle and oyster men from the Eastern
Shore brought in their finest.
An area where the very ideas of Pennsylvania and Independence had been nurtured by discussions and meetings in the
colorful and famous inns of the district ... the Old Blue Anchor Inn
where William Penn and his faithful secretary James Logan first
headquartered ... Tun Tavern on Front Street where the U. S.
Marines were first organized in 1775 ... the London Coffee House on
Market Street (which lasted on its original
foundations through Old Original Bookbinder's
early years) ... even next door had stood the
old Globe Inn, one of the colony's most famous
gathering places.
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Today's big favorite, lobster, was not even on
the menu in the beginning. Terrapin was the
prime favorite; lobster came into popularity
later and Old Original Bookbinder's was one
of the first restaurants to make this delicacy
famous.

Neighborhood around 2nd & Walnut Sis.. from a mop of old
Philadelphia compiled by Grant H. Simon and published by
American Philosophical Society.

The historic "Slate Roof
House," home of William

Penn,

was

just

around the corner from
Old Original
Bookbinders.

Krider's Gun Shop

AND
SDOLD
ORIGINAL
BOOKBINDER'S
RESTAURANT
WAS
BORN
Here, down the block from Pennsylvania's
first brick
building ... and on the very site that was once an Indian reservation
and where after that the colony's first white child (John Drinker) was
born ... there was born also Old Original Bookbinder's ... the
restaurant that was to become world famous.
On one corner (Front & Walnut Sts.), the young nation's
first bank had been established in 1780. (The Bank of Pennsylvania
founded by Robert Morris, Thomas Willing and
James Wilson to finance the Continental Army.)
On Bookbinder's other corner (2nd & Walnut),
Krider's Gun Shop, built in 1757, still flourished
at the time the restaurant started, and continued to do so until early in the 20th Century.

A plot of ~round on which the kitchen
now stands was known as "Wampum
Ground" and was reserved to the Lenape
Indians by William Penn as a camping
and burial ground.

THE
FINEST
FOOD
PLENTY
OFIT,ALWAYS
RIGHT
ATHAND
I

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As the Civil War ended, the auspices were right for the
launching of a restaurant venture. The Philadelphia papers had been
full of soldiers' letters from the front ... and as soldiers always have
done from the beginning of wars, they wrote with longing of good food
they had known back home ... roast reed bird, snappers, shad,
oysters, roast duckling.
Where better to open your restaurant doors than right by
the river and its ships bringing in the pick of viands from the far
corners of the world ... a step away from the rich-laden market stalls
of Market Street and Dock Street? Why, the ch ·
Coast and the marshlands and oyster beds
was!) right up to Old Original Bookbinder'
old Dock Creek. (Did you know it still flo
the stones of Dock Street?)

Shad .was in plentiful supply
and often on tl'ie menu. They
were caught in the Delaware
practically at the restaurant's
front door-and during seasons the fishermen patronized
the eating place in numbers.

SEA
CAPTAINS,
MERCHANTS,
FINANCIERS
BEGAN
TDMEET
BEDULABLY
BEBE
Old Original Bookbinder's soon inherited the traditions of its
colonial neighbor inns and became a gathering place for the area's
leaders from every walk of life. Sea captains made for Sam's place as
soon as their ship was tied up (and often brought in for his critical
inspection and purchase prize liquors, spices, teas ... Scotch and Irish
whiskey, French brandies, Spanish and Italian wines, etc.).
The importers and merchants of the district ... the insurance executives ... the bankers ... the political leaders ... were
all soon dining at the restaurant
regularly. The market men at
Dock Street could be found there
(who knows good food better?).
And to this day you will find these
same groups (some at the same
table day after day) in Old Bookbinder's for luncheon and for
dinner.

The men from the nearby markets lived
an upside-down day, starling at 2 a.m.
II used to be a familiar sight to see
them at Old Original Bookbinder's at
opening /time just before noon, eawng
breakfasts of steak!

CELEBRITIES
SEEK
OUT
THE
RESTAURA

Word gets around quickly when good food is concerned
and soon to the restaurant's doors came the famous and near-famous
from many fields. The Centennial Exposition of 1876 (that was the
one where Mr. Bell first demonstrated his successful telephone)
brought visitors to Philadelphia from around the globe ... and they
came to the restaurant, dined well and took back its praises.
You could almost name the patrons from the lists of the
famous: in railroads and finance-J.
Edgar Thomson, of the Pennsy,
J. P. Morgan, Cornelius Vanderbilt, Henry Taft, McKinley, Teddy
Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Charles Evans Hughes; from the stage
(up the street Philadelphia still boasts America's oldest theater still
operating)-the
Barrymores and the Drews, Joseph Jefferson, Lillian
Russell and her famous gourmet suitor, Diamond Jim Brady (a steady
patron); from the field of music-the immortal Caruso was an habitue
(felt that Old Original Bookbinder's clam juice was beneficial to his ailing throat), Scotti, Geraldine Farrar, Paderewski, Madame Nardico.

The caucuses of Republican Conventions of 1872 and 1 fl40 both were held in
the restaurant's private rooms upstairs.

FAMOUS
PEOPLE
DINE
ATTHE
FAMOUS
BESTAUBANT

Ullion Russell

The b I
e Oved Ph·
Mock, with Vi iladelphia idol who Pitched ....~e President Jim , Connie
Champion A' •th Connie's 19Jieterson
s.
World

To the nostalgic minded, the tables at Old Original Bookbinder's are filled with\the spirits of celebrities of other years ... and
the old-timers still come, their ranks thinned now but filled anew
by the celebrities of the modern day.
George M. Cohan, Eddie Cantor, Al Jolson, Weber and
Fields, Lew Dockstader (the old Emmett Welch minstrel troupe used
to arrive en masse!) ... Raymond Hitchcock, Julian El tinge, Irving
Berlin ... DeWolf Hopper, George "Honeyboy" Evans, the Dolly
sisters, the Floradora girls ... Bert Lahr, Ed Wynn ... "Chippy"
Patterson,
Philadelphia's
colorful attorney,
Connie Mack, Jack
Dempsey, "Gentleman
Jim" Corbett ... "Babe" Ruth, Mickey
Cochrane, Jimmy Foxx, Pie Traynor, Dizzy Dean, George Sisler,
Honus Wagner, Tommy Loughran ... the list is endless!
Through the years, almost any famous personality you name
has visited the restaurant at one time or another.

MILLION DOLLAR CHO RUS-lrving Berlin, Neil
O'Brien, James J. Corbett, Sam Harris, Vaughn
Comfort, John King, Will Rogers, George
Sidney, Harry Kelby, Louis Mann.

DUGI
2 WORLD
WARS
I

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ATRIDTIC
DINNERS
Old Original Bookbinder's "served" well in our country's
wartime history ... as a focal point for dinners and patriotic affairs.
During World War I, the restaurant was the scene of several Liberty
Bond dinners, and in December, 1915, benefit dinners were held here
for Belgian and French War Relief. Some still remember the dinners
for soldiers and sailors during 1918.
Preceding our entry into World War II, a benefit dinner
raised sufficient money to buy an ambulance for the British Army ...
and the "Parade of Stars" headed by Hollywood notables (Alice Faye
and others) re-created here parties Diamond Jim had given for Lillian
Russell. Old Original Bookbinder's supplied the food and in 2 nights
more than $3,000,000 worth of War Bonds were sold. (You had to buy
a Bond to get in.) A notable wartime dinner here, attended by diplomats and· political leaders, was the "Russian Friendship Dinner".
Today Old Original Bookbinder's is traditional dinner headquarters
for the two services after the annual Army-Navy Football Game.

During World War JI, Irving Berlin brought in for dinner daily during their run
here, the entire cast (all 500!) of the hit, "This Is the Army!" Today, the restaurant
is "last meal stop" for Philadelphia's Marine Corps' recruits before they leave
for camp.

~

RECENT
PARTIES
AT

OLD.
ORIGINAL
BOOKBINDER'S
A "Safari" party for Olympic
athlete Barney Berlinger prior
to his departure on an African
hunting trip. Clockwise: Tommy
Loughran, Borney Berlinger, Jr.,
President Toxin, Barney, Vice
President Peterson, Sam Cooke,
Harry Batten, Albert Toxin.

Andy "Jingles" Devine and
Wild Bill Hickock (Guy Madison)
enjoy the world's finest lobster
with Maitre de Joe Donnola
supervising .

.,,

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CBLBBRITIBS
TODAY
DRANY
DAY
~~ ATTHB
RESTAURANT
~~
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"Grow old along with me-the best is yet to be." The Guest
Book at the restaurant continues to be filled with the names of notables
from far and near. One day you may see General Dr. Sanguan
Rojanavongse, medical advisor to the King of Siam-another
Father
Hesburg, president of Notre Dame. It may be Franchot Tone or
Judy Holliday ... Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Earl Warren or
Charlie M~yo of the renowned clinic. Danny Kaye "lives" at Old
Bookbinder's whenever he's in town ... Claudette Colbert, Charles
Laughton, Phil Silvers, Eugene Ormandy, Senator James Duff all have
come often to enjoy lobster served in Old Original Bookbinder's style.

ij

Charles and Mrs. Laughton (Elsa
Lanchester) with President Taxin

'"'' Hom,.~

Regular visitors are the two "Eddies" Cantor and Fisher, Dean
Martin, Jerry Lewis, Joshua Logan, Tennessee Williams, Moss Hart
and George Kaufman, Leopold Stokowski, Bill Goetz, Claudette
Colbert, Warren Hull and a host of others from stage, screen and
public life.

A

.,,

HISTORY
STILL
LIVES
ATOLD
O.RIGINAL
BOOKBINDER'S
You can touch the cobblestones at the clam bar
or in the enormous fireplace ... they are the original
cobbles from Walnut Street, worn by the feet of Continental and British armies. You can inspect the old playbills on the walls, taking you behind the scenes again
to the theater's young years. You can admire the ship's
wheel entrance-it
came right from a molasses schooner
that plied the seas at the turn of the century. Sit at the
beautiful mahogany bar, brought in from the ghost
town of Elko, Nevada ... admire one of America's
finest collections of Currier and Ives prints ... go upstairs and see the interesting old fire-markers and
paraphernalia of the time . . . see hanging on the walls
one of the Country's finest exhibits of Lincolnia.
After a delicious meal, it is well worthwhile to
wander around (you are most welcome!) just to see the
many fascinating collections here.

4NDDODD
FDDD
STILL
ATTRACTS
VISITORS
FROM
ALL
DVBR
THIWORLD
Many honors have been paid Old Original Bookbinder's
through the years for the excellence of food and seryice here.
A national poll of business men in American Business Magazine resulted in Old Bookbinder's being ranked No. 1 in America. Life,
Esquire, Gourmet have all printed wonderful compliments. Holiday
Magazine has presented its Award for Dining Distinction every year
since its inception. Duncan Hines says that he makes it a point to have
at least one meal at the restaurant every trip to Philadelphia.
The restaurant's recipes are sought after continuously by
newspaper columnists and food editors, and nearly every restaurant
guide in America reserves a prominent place for Old Original Bookbinder's listing.
But the restaurant's highest compliments come from its
patronswhoreturntimeaftertime-andleavesaying"wonderfulfood!"

FAMOUS
RBCIPBS
ARBTHBMAGIC
DEVILEDCRAB
Half green pepper
Half onion-large
size
Single strip of celery
¼ pimento
1 teaspoon of salt
½ teaspoon of black pepper
1 teaspoon of thyme
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
butter
'ents together and cook for 20
1 cup of flour and stir until
or another 20 minutes.
oter (about 2 cups),
eat, cook until you
e from the Are,
according to
r of milk and

rimp
tier
Worcestershire

sauce

garlic clave
ped parsley
ed chives

2 lobsters-2
lbs. ea
½ cup butter (divid
¼ lb. chopped mush
3 tablespoons chopp
salt ond pepper
2 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon dry mus
¼ 1£aspoon salt
2 cups milk
3 egg yolks, beaten
2 tablespoons chopp
1 stalk celery, mince
4 tablespoons grate

teaspoons of butter, odd mushrooms, s
salt and pepper. Simmer 5 minutes. Add
lobster meat, stir well and keep warm over
very low heat. Melt remaining butter in
another saucepan; stir flour, salt and mustard
slowly. Stir milk in large bowl, pour sauce
groduolly over beaten yolks, stirring into.I'.
lobster mixture. Pour ½ milk sauce into'J/
lobster mixture. Pour remaining sauce ove~--2
irring c
nt y. e{', toget
top and sprinkle with grated cheese. Place in _,,
9! ,
!'IJ<eept r, e\ stir into mixtur
preheated brailef compartment 3 inches fro.,,/
co~stirring
consta~IN'until juice thic
heat and broil 5 minutes or until cheese s
and mixh;re is piping hbl'.Serve over cooke
golden brown. Makes 4 servings.
rice. Makes 4 servings.

J

).

SBIFOOD
...
. Expect the world's finestyou'll :findit here!

The love of seafood is almost universal and Old Original
Bookbinder's reputation since 1865, has been built solidly on the
richness and variety of its seafood menus . . . and upon the skills in
preparing it handed down through the years.
Perfectly natural that a restaurant whose doorway practically looks out upon the river.and one of the world's great ports should
become famous as a seafood house! But the restaurant reaches out far
beyond the Delaware Bay and the Jersey flats to find delicacies for its
tables. The Seven Seas yield their treasures and what is tastiest and
choicest is flown in on special purchase.
Shrimp, big, meaty and tasty, from Mexico
Lobsters from Nova Scotia
Maryland's soft-shell crabs
Pompano, fit for the palate of a king, from Florida
Even mountain trout from the streams of Denmark.

Overwhelming attraction at Old Original Bookbinder's is the darling of gourmets. the
regal lobster. Literally tons of these tasty morsels are flown in weekly from icy North
Atlantic waters and dumped immediately, alive and kicking, into the restaurant's
own formula "sea water". (Live lobsters only are permitted to be prepared for you.)
Lobsters are graded here according to size: chicken-over
1¾ lbs., medium-over
2½ lbs., jumbo-over
3 lbs., extra jumbo-over
3½ lbs.

PERENNIALFISH FAVORITESONTHEMENU
Swordfish
Rockfish
Pompano
Shad and Shad Roe
Kennebec Salmon

restaurant sup vi
raising of both cl
for its tables, an
are served. Here
for Old Original
dupmed into as
are cleaned an
re-cleal)ed to
remove all sand particles. Whether
raw on the shell or steamed in the
bask&t, the clams here are a delight to the gourmet.

• .;;!If

FAMOUS
SRRINBS
OFPHILADELPHIA
IN THBV

-~

INDEPENDENCE HALL
Fifth and Chestnut streets
9 a,rn, to 5 p.rn. daily

Birthplace of American liberty, there are
other buildings adjacent
to it in
Independence Square-Congress
Hall, Old
City Hall and the American Philosophical
Society. Independence
Hall contains the
liberty Bell and the Declaration Chamber,
where the Declaration of Independence was
adopted.
Building was originally Pennsylvania's State House. The Federal Congress
met in Congress Hall while the Supreme Court
convened in Old City Hall. Society building is
private group, an outgrowth of Franklin's
three

11

Ju.nto.''

MERCHANrSEXCHANGE
Third and Walnut

streets

Now part of the Independence
National
Histarical Park, the building was at ane time
the home of the Philadelphia Stock Exchange.
In 1922, instead of stocks and bonds being
sold there, perishable
produce was the
commodity as the Merchant's Exchange
moved in. Erected in 1834, the structure is
noteworthy as on example of 18th century
American architecture.

CARPENTER'S HALL
9:30

a.rn.

320 Chestnut street
to 4 p.m. Mon. through

Sat.

First used by "The Carpenter's Company of
the City and County of Philadelphia" as a
meeting place for guild members, the Holl
gained fame as the site of the meeting place
of the First Continental Congress in 177 4.
The Holl was used because the Provincial
Assembly was in session in the State House
at the time. Later, it was the home of the
First Bank of the United States and still later,
'it was used by the Second Bank of the
United States.

-~~BDDKBINDER
HE VICINITY
DFOLD
ORIGINAL
·~

JS"'.
CHRIST CHURCH
Seconc! street above Market street
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily

Benjamin Franklin, who is buried in what is
now the churchyard, helped build the present
Christ Church building by arranging three
public lotteries. The birthplace of the Prot•
estant Episcopal Church in the U.S., the
congregation was founded in 1695 and for
66 years was the only Episcopal church in
Philadelphia. Built in 1727, most of the
leaders of the infant nation worshipped there
and many are buried in the churchyard at
Fifth and Arch streets. It became a national
shrine by Act of Congress in 1950.

SECOND BANK OF THE UNITED STATES
Chestnut street east of Fifth street
8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday

Now owned by the Federal government but
mow,lained privately,.the Bonk occupied the
building until 1 836. Then it became involved
in a controversy between the Whigs and
President Jackson over national banking
policies and as a result of this, its charter was
allowed to expire. From. 1 845 until 1934,
the building was the Philadelphia Custom
House, and is still referred to as the old
Custom House by many Philadelphions.

OLD MARKET HOUSE
Second and Pine streets

Built 11 0 years ago, this beautiful old
structure is said to be the oldest market
building in America. The market came about
because of the desire of many citizens of the
day to ovoid crossing muddy Dock street to
buy produce. Built in 17 45 and regarded as a
prime example of early American architecture, it was ot one time slated to be torn
down. Public protests, with many architects
in the lead, saved the building.

JUSTA STEP
AWAY
FROM
HISTORY
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When we look back at Old Original Bookbinder's
history ... the splendid honors that have been
paid us through the years, the glorious tradition
for superb food that has been built here ... we
are keenly aware of our obligations. It is our role to
carry on this historic past . . . to be zealously alert
and critical of our own kitchens and of our service
... so that these past glories be enriched even
more today and in future years. That is our pledge
... and so we shall strive to merit the continued
praise of our friends and patrons in every part of
the globe. There will never be any item served here
that is not the finest and freshest. No imitations,
no substitutes. Our vegetables and fruit will be
garden-fresh, our fish and meat choice. We assure
you of this one gui:ling principle from which we
never deviate-if
we serve it, then it is the very
finest obtainable.
~

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OLD
ORIGINAL
~~ BOOKBINDBR'

BDDKB
1955

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AMERICA'S

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FAMOUSSEAF