- Contact Us
- Emergency Information
- Facility Rental
- Jobs
- Site Map
- Site Policies
- Web Accessibility
- Web Privacy
- © Harry Ransom Center 2025
SIGNATURES
Identified individuals are represented by a biographical sketch, a list of connections to other signatures, and, in most cases, an artifact from the Ransom Centers collections. Help us identify more signatures by submitting your suggested identification.
X
X
THE DOOR
Location on door: back, panel 5
CHARLES J. REED
Village restaurateur Charles Reed (dates unknown) added the names of three of his businesses under his signature on the door, apparently taking the opportunity to market his current ventures in bohemian entertainment; he lists "The Purple Pup / Charlie Reeds / Winter Inn + Out." Reed was one of many to capitalize on the tearoom craze of the time, of which The Purple Pup was one. In her 1935 sociological study of Greenwich Village in the 1920s, Carolyn Ware described the Village tea room phenomenon as follows: "The tea rooms were numerous throughout the decade—forty would be a conservative estimate (depending somewhat on definition) at any one time. Though some continued to operate throughout the decade, their life was frequently short...and they ranged all the way from those which featured good food and taste to those which served little besides 'atmosphere.' They drew upon the artistic or intellectual side of the Village's reputation, using local celebrities as baits and gaining their clientèle by advertising their well-known steady customers....The tea rooms really belonged to the bohemian stage of the Village and the proprietors were capitalizing essentially the spirit of bohemia. They were patronized by both local residents and uptown or out-of-town amusement-seekers, some of the former furnishing the attraction for the latter."
An advertisement for "Charley Reed's" in the Greenwich Village Quill (December 1919)
The Quill circulated among the Village's own inhabitants, and famous restaurateurs like Reed appeared often in its pages; not just in advertisements, but in the gossip columns.