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a drunk Mike snuck into the saloon when Izzy was supposed to be on guard duty, but, in fact, was snatching a nap. Mike proceeded to steal $25 from his own cash register and then woke Izzy to tell him he was fired for being asleep on the job while thieves were at work!
“NIGGER” MIKE
Because of Berlin’s fame, his life has been chronicled in many books, as has Mike Salter’s. According to “Irving Berlin,” by Michael Freedland:
“Nigger” Mike was a man of his times and so was his “Pelham Café.” Both were misnomers. Salter was a white man, but so swarthy that his clientele thought he justified the nickname. As for his café, it was
as much a brothel as a place to eat.
The real attractions of Pelham’s were the beer it dispensed and the big-bosomed girls who, for the mere encouragement of a wink, would drape themselves around the customers, revealing a new inch of flesh for every extra dime they were offered.
The charms of the girls and the smoke-engulfed wooden tables attracted sailors, occasional college students and ward heelers who used it as a center for settling their differences. And, the Chinese population gathered there to extend the Tong feuds they had brought with them from the old country. Often there was as much blood to be washed from the floor as there was beer to be mopped up.
Above
Antique cash register, 1890s. Inscribed: “Mom and Dad. You made it! June, 1967. Joyful 25th Wedding Anniversary. Love Laura, Michael, and Pepper.”
Below
“Nigger” Mike Salter, 1915.
Our Forefathers and Foremothers 65