Head north on Illinois to the northwest corner at Washington and back 110 years and this is approximately what you would see.
This postcard, postmarked December 28, 1907 and reads: “All drunk & having a good time–Happy New Year”
Two years and one day prior, were you to satiate your desire for luncheon or dinner at the Claypool in 1905, peruse your choices from the following menus…
May I take your order please? What would you have eaten? Smoked jowl anyone? How fresh do you think those Bluepoints were?
Bluepoints are oysters! And interesting that some of this stuff seems to have come full circle and would look at home on the menus of today’s farm-to-table restaurants (jowl and calf head, I’m looking at you!).
Connecticut Blue Point Oysters
Blue Point OystersOur Connecticut Blue Point oysters (Crassostrea virginica) have to many become synonymous with the very words Atlantic oysters. There is a certain undeniable association with the Blue Point that has made it (by relative oyster standards) a household name. The Blue Point is that familiar face you pick out of a crowd, and will be a welcome addition to any oyster list.
I grew up in Indy. Born 1938. Broad ripple High 1956. My father was the Bell Captain at the Claypool in the 1940″s. He was had MS but could do his job from the elevated Bell Captains desk. I loved taking the bus downtown and visiting him at the hotel. He would introduce me to some of the famous residents (e.g. Jake Lamotta the boxer). I lived in the neighborhood at 30th and College, known then as “crosstown’. Wish I could find info on that area. I now live in Denver. I come to Indy each year. Looking forward to historic sites to visit when I come. Thanks (PS, went to PS 76)