Drowsier Days of Washington, D.C.

Sometimes when I go to flea marts and various collectors' shows, there are pieces of Washington, D.C. ephemera that I cannot resist to buy. As a teen in the 1960s it was not unusual to visit our sleepy neighbor south of Baltimore on weekend nights because the legal drinking age was 18.   In Maryland at that time you had to be 21-years-old to sit and sip beer or wine on a barstool. So off we would go down route 295 for a night of drinking and getting lost on our way home. That was my first "adult" experience with our nation's capital. I never regarded it as a political hot spot in those days.  It was a town where people lived and worked and played despite having their traffic signals mounted on the side of the intersections. Pairing this experience with countless childhood school bus trips to the museums and monuments, I  regarded DC as a town for fun and shopping which was not Baltimore. And that's how I came to name my collage "Drowsier Days of D. C." It's familiar and it's what I know.

"Drowsier Days of D.C." (24" x 36")  mixed media on board 2014

That's the way I had it in my head until about 15-20 years ago when DC shed its heavy-eyed image with $5 parking lots for the wide-awake cosmopolitan scene with clattering construction sites.

The collage was an instant hit with visitors to my art show booth. There are various restaurants and clubs that represent a particular experience in the memories of many Washingtonians. Streetcar rides to Glen Echo, Griffith stadium or downtown hold a dear spot in the hearts of many. And I have also included some tv shows and personalities that we all tuned in to watch. People love to tell me their stories and I am eager to hear them. I sold the original collage recently, but I have poster size prints in my Etsy shop for sale for those who need to see this on their wall.

Little Tavern - "Buy 'em by the Bag"

“Buy ‘em by the Bag” was the advertising slogan for this chain of hamburger joints. It is interesting how the mention of a bag of miniature hamburgers can stir up so many nostalgic memories in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. community. I hear stories with vivid details of the social rituals revolving around a bag of tasty burgers. A friend confessed to some juvenile high-jinx performed with the burgers in the 1970’s. He and his teenage friends occasionally drank beer late into the night and in their alcohol haze wandered into the LT and bought a “bag ‘o bombs” then promptly tossed them at passing cars. Last fall an elderly widower expressed his yearning for the return of the miniature burgers. To him they really hit the spot. When the Little Tavern on Holabird Avenue in Baltimore closed in 2008 it left a big void in his weekly dining-out adventures. He really misses the place. Others admit to consuming cup after cup of coffee as they whiled away the hours on a padded chrome stool at the tiny counter. In my memory the small buildings’ exteriors were a tudor style and yes the interiors were little as their name promised. However I have an assortment of some very early black and white photos, (thanks to a Baltimorean named Steve) which depict a suggestion of castle-style architecture. I have included one here. Don’t ask me about the location. Perhaps it was somewhere in the suburban D.C. area. According to legend the chain began to enjoy success around the late 1920s in the D.C. urban and suburban neighborhoods. It is impressive that they owned a fleet of delivery trucks which probably delivered, among other things, the linens for the drawers where the burgers were kept warm. To quell my craving for delivery trucks I chose to include one in my painting of the Little Tavern.