1912-1915
Reisenweber’s played a pivotal role in American popular culture during the second decade of the 20th century. While it is remembered today as the venue where jazz was introduced to a broader audience in 1917, its historical significance began earlier, during the dance craze that swept New York in 1912. It was the first restaurant to offer its patrons a dedicated space for dancing, which it vigorously promoted. The energy of this period of dramatic social change is captured in an audio slideshow featuring over ninety pieces of ephemera from 1912 to 1915. While most of the items reflect the location on Eighth Avenue at Columbus Circle, some pieces come from the properties it managed on Coney Island—the Brighton Beach Casino and the Shelburne Hotel—and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1915, which it catered.
