by Paul R. Spitzzeri
Readers may have noticed that, in prior posts here, Los Angeles restaurants of the early 20th century included several operated by Germans, who also incorporated music into the entertainment program as an essential part of the experience of patrons. For example, Jacob Fieber and William Schneider operated the Café Bristol, while the former with John Bernhard once ran the Palace Saloon at Spring and First streets before Fieber joined him in that endeavor prior to the pair starting the Bristol.
The Imperial Café, which was originally owned by the German brewers Joseph Maier and George Zobelein, and managed by R.J. Stahmann, is another example, and this post highlights another eatery, Jahnke’s Tavern, whose proprietor was a native of central European powerhouse, with a December 1916 program being the featured artifact from the Homestead’s collection.
The artifact is even printed in a font long associated with Germany and notes that the establishment was “Los Angeles’ Famous Family Restaurant,” with its manager being Gustav Mann and the “Amusement Manager” title held by George Kahn. The trio were only associated together with the tavern during 1916 and the listing of entertainment was for the week “Commencing Monday, Dec. 18th,” which applies to that year.
The “Program D – – – Luxe” provided a list of thirteen performers during that week, many of whom performed under Kahn’s leadership at the Café Bristol when he became the entertainment director there by early 1917. There was quite a range in offerings, including the Cooper Sisters, denoted as “comediennes from Noveltyville;” Florence Mitchell, who was a “sweet soprano;” Jewel Eagan, “The Different Ragtime Singer;” “Our Wonderful Pianist,” Glenda Boston; Ethel Burrows, who specialized “In Child Character Impersonations;” and Albert Moswen, stated to be the “Tamale Bert Williams,” which might have meant a Latino version of the famed Bahamian vaudeville, who performed in blackface though he was a light-skinned Black man.
Kahn also performed in character and sang, while Leona Brandt was featured “In High Class Songs” and Betty Maynard and Rosalie Lee were identified as “soubrettes,” typically performers who inhabited a flirty and salacious character. The male instrumentalists included violinist Richard Winfrie and Melbourne Pedesky, who was identified as a “xylophone artist.” The program also noted that “through the evening [the program began at 6 p.m.] there will be ensemble numbers, also character impersonations from the different members of the company.”
Kahn’s notes added that there were two additional singers and musicians in the afternoon, that the Coopers were soon going on vacation, that patrons were encouraged to reserve a table to welcome 1917, that Kahn could be hired to present entertainment at private parties or other clubs, and that “our affiliation with the booking agents in San Francisco keeps us supplied with the best entertainers on the Pacific Coast,” among others. Lastly, there is a back cover advertisement from Logan, the Hatter, the official suppliers of hats for the Tavern, and located on Broadway in the building then occupied by the Orpheum Theatre.
As for the owner and proprietor, Adolph Jahnke, he was born in Germany in 1855, but little is known about his early life. A short 1907 article about his purchase of a fine home west of downtown stated that he was “a retired banker and capitalist” and “has only been a here a few months,” but he’d actually settled in Los Angeles about six years prior and there is no corroboration for his alleged career as a banker.
When he applied for naturalization in 1906, Jahnke attested that he sailed in February 1896 from Hamburg to New York City and resided in the Big Apple for about a year before spending another few years in Alaska and then coming to the Angel City. In February 1901, he wedded Madaline Kobs and the couple had no children together, but it appears that Jahnke, who had a son and two daughters in Germany (see below for more on them) was either widowed or divorced. Three years later, Jahnke assumed the saloon license for a tavern, but, after a year transferred it.
In August 1905, Jahnke became the operator of the Palace Café, situated, as many eateries were, in the basement of the Wilson Block at the southeast corner of First and Spring streets, and stated to be “The Old Reliable.” The establishment’s motto was the rather obvious “Good Things to Eat and Drink,” while music was provided through the direction of Nicola Donatelli, who went on to be a well-known local orchestra leader in the city bands of Long Beach and Santa Monica as well as Angel City theaters like the California, Kinema and Grauman’s Million Dollar, and who arranged the score to D.W. Griffith’s classic 1916 epic, “Intolerance.”
The following year, he opened a café at Chutes Park, a well-known amusement center that has been covered in this blog, but his five-year lease was abruptly canceled by the owner company, leading to a lengthy bout of litigation over the matter, while Jahnke also had a court fight about a zebra he co-owned and which was exhibited at the site.
The operation of the Palace continued for a half-decade, but, in March 1910, another legal brouhaha emerged when a special policeman hired to keep watch over the place—this being a common requirement by the city’s Police Commission, which included the mayor as chair—alleged that “the Palace restaurant is an immoral place,” this being another typical allegation to places that served abundant alcohol.
Notably, the account in the Los Angeles Herald of the 30th included the statement that A.W. Niendorf was hired because “it was the desire of Adolph Jahnke, proprietor of the Palace, to conduct a decent place” and that the owner sought an officer to assist in that goal. Yet, “Niendorf declares he ordered disreputable characters out of the place, and it caused so much trouble that he resigned.” This difficulty may have involved Jahnke having second thoughts about the impact caused by the officer.
In August 1910, the establishment reopened as simply Jahnke’s and an early ad remarked that the eatery was where “dinner . . . is always a pleasure” and “the service is a la carte” while “one of the best chefs in the country presides over the kitchen” and “the place is patronized by those who demand good things to eat.” With respect, it was specified that “the ladies’ orchestra entertains through dinner and the evening.”
Yet, another legal battle soon emerged, however, in February 1912, involving a bartender, who was seeking back pay from Jahnke being accused by the owner of having “used too much whisky in mixing drinks.” The barkeep, V. Dobbins, fired back that “all saloon men want their bartenders to use lots of ice, because it is cheaper than alcohol” and that he knew how to pour the regulation of two ounces of whisky. He added, though, that regulars got a little more and a stranger got less, “so it averages up, you see.” After Dobbins provided a demonstration for the Justice of the Peace, his $9.60 in pay was ordered to be remanded by Jahnke, whose $3 counterclaim for liquor was disallowed.
About a year later, a return to court involved Jahnke’s life before coming to America. In September 1912, a son, Max, who was then in his early thirties, migrated with his wife from Berlin after being contacted by Jahnke and encouraged to sell his butcher shop, which was apparently successful, and come to Los Angeles to be prepared to take over the restaurant. When the 1910 census was conducted at the Jahnke household, a daughter, Elizabeth, who’d arrived the prior year from Germany, was listed as a cashier at the Palace, though she soon headed back home, where another daughter, Johanna, resided.
Max, though, claimed that he was instead given menial work at low pay, while his father insisted that the son was lazy and shiftless. After leaving the restaurant following about five months of work, the younger Jahnke sued, claiming that he was owed a share of the operations of the eatery in lieu of the fulfillment of the promise he purported was given. Apparently, there was no reconciliation between the father and son, with the latter going on to work as a sausage maker for Julius Hauser’s well known meat packing business.
The 15 September 1913 edition of the Los Angeles Times reported that “frequenters of cafes in this city will be delighted with the new ‘Cafe Cabaret de Luxe’ of Adolph Jahnke” at the First and Spring location. The paper continued that,
In days gone by this cafe boasted of being the daily rendezvous of many of the shining lights of the city; but it never was so beautiful as it is now, with its new equipment and artistic decorations and brilliant overhanging vines . . . Mr. Jahnke was greeted by a host of friends and patrons at his opening yesterday from noon till midnight. The musical entertainment was excellent. This down-to-date and attractive resort is an addition to the real institutions of the city.
Jahnke, meanwhile, had expanded into apartment building, erecting “The Madelaine Apartments,” evidently named for his wife, at the southeast corner of Los Angeles Street and Washington Boulevard—this structure still stood until just several years ago when it was razed for a multi-use residential/retail complex.
In June 1915, Jahnke, who, a few months prior, sold his Wilson Block enterprise to a Seattle cafeteria owner, moved to the Lissner Building (no longer with us) on the east side of Spring Street between 5th and 6th streets and across from the then-opulent Hotel Alexandria with the eatery occupying the first floor and basement and with a capacity of 1,000 persons. The design of the interior was kept a secret until the opening night of the 9th approached, with the Times of the day before commenting that “the huge kitchen, containing the very latest in scientific cooking apparatus; the ladies’ grill in birch wainlscotting [sic] and silver and gold friezes, the tavern proper modeled after a Norse dining hall, will be seen.”
On opening day, when Madaline Jahnke smashed a bottle on the prow of the faux Viking vessel at the base of the staircase, the Los Angeles Express remarked that,
The joy of living in Los Angeles, at least to the great army of cafe patrons here, will be materially increased when the Jahnke tavern is opened . . .
The opening entertainment will consist of 15 vaudeville numbers, music by Golden’s Troubadours and the latest dances.
A novel scheme of interior decoration has been followed in the new cafe, which is a careful reproduction of the festive halls of an ancient Norse hall. At the foot of the stairway the prow of a Viking ship adds to the unique effect.
In a Times ad on the 10th, the proprietor proudly proclaimed the grand opening was “Just What We Wanted!” It went on to observe that “that was the unanimous verdict of the two thousand people who took part in the big doings which marked the opening” and that “they were charmed by the novelty of the place.” The food was deemed “faultless” while “the service [was] all that could be desired.”
Large tables and chairs were found to be “homelike and comfortable beyond their fondest expectations” and patrons “were sorry when it was time to go home.” With respect to the entertainment, “the all-star vaudeville show was a great hit and marks the dawn of a new epoch in cafe entertainment.” Not only that, it was asserted that the program “sounded the doom of the stereotyped cafe” that the Angel City public was forced to endure. With more flair and originality than before, Jahnke’s motto was “As Hospitable as the Spirit of the West.”
By mid-April 1916, Mann was installed as manager, having moved from San Francisco and “Los Angeles’ Famous Family Restaurant” informed patrons in advertisements that “success means working for what you want, and getting it” while promoting its “Half-Dollar Mid-Day Luncheon” as “the success of the day and the talk of the town.” In borders was the assurance that “Special Attention Given Parties of Ladies Without Escorts.”
Jahnke continued operating his tavern until early 1920, when he sold it to a nephew, Carl, who came out from Chicago a few years prior to work for his uncle and George Kahn, who returned after running entertainment programs for other restaurants in the preceding three years. Carl continued operating the establishment for another three years before closing it when the lease expired and opening a coffee shop on 9th Street between Main and Broadway. In 1931, a new Jahnke’s Tavern was opened across from Westlake (now MacArthur) Park, though that quickly was shuttered.
Adolph Jahnke traveled to Europe in 1922, but died on 28 March 1923, soon after returning home and was interred at the mausoleum at Inglewood Memorial Park. The vast majority of his $175,000 estate was left to his widow, with estranged soon Max getting just $10 and the daughters receiving only $100 each, though it was added that Madaline would “see that they were amply provided for.”
No mention was made in the program about the Christmas holiday, though one wonders if some element of programming related to that;” in any case, this artifact is another notable one relating to restaurants and entertainment in early 20th century Los Angeles.
As noted in this post, Jahnke’s Tavern boasted an impressive capacity of 1,000 patrons. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, restaurants in Los Angeles featuring live performances, such as vaudeville and orchestral acts, seemed to be highly popular. To cover the additional costs of entertainment, enlarging capacity and attracting larger crowds were essential – but accommodating over a thousand guests is truly beyond my imagination.
While I am unsure when this trend began to decline, I believe the advent of Prohibition in 1919 and the Great Depression in 1929 had significant impacts on the restaurant industry, forcing them to halt performances and reduce their sizes.
Hi Larry, there were several of these larger restaurants, often in basements and other floors of commercial buildings, that had large capacities and served a growing middle, as well as upper, class in Los Angeles and offering entertainment in ways rarely seen today and not on that scale. There were moves to severely limit or ban the serving of alcohol in the city before Prohibition and an ordinance was passed in 1917, just prior, and, as you said, both had significant impacts. Certainly, the Depression had a major effect on these eateries, but so, too, did the rise of the cafeteria, which a post on this blog covered under the “Cafeteria Craze” title.