Fine Dining: The Lüchow's Guest Book

The guest book of Lüchow's reveals the famous German restaurant in lower Manhattan hosted more than its share of celebrity luminaries back in the 1950s. For example, cartoonist Charles Addams dined there, already famous even some thirteen years before anyone heard of the Addams Family:

Including the signature and drawing of Charles Addams, April 11, 1951

John Ringling North, the president and director of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is in town from Sarasota. Immediately under Charles Addams is the signature of British actor Jack Hawkins, who would prove to be one of the most popular English movie stars of the 1950s.

Including the signature and drawing of Charles Addams, April 11, 1951

 

Joe Dimaggio retired after the 1951 baseball season. This page is undated, but as the guest book dates from 1950 to 1956, it is likely from after his retirement. Jean Hersholt played "Dr. Christian" on the radio.

Including the signatures of Joe DiMaggio and Jean Hersholt

Al Hirschfeld shows up with his wife Dolly Haas in 1952. He draws caricatures of them both. Nina, 7, is presumably home with the sitter. The Hirschfelds must have dined with humorists S. J. Perelman and Fred Allen as Hirschfeld caricatures them as well. Also present is Allen's wife Portland Hoffa.

Including signatures and Al Hirschfeld caricatures of Dolly and Al Hirschfeld, S. J. Perelman, and Fred Allen, 1952

Including signatures and caricatures of Dolly and Al Hirschfeld, S. J. Perelman, and Fred Allen, 1952

While we're at it, hooray for Hollywood. So many greats of stage and screen mingle, at least on the pages of the guest book.

Including the signature and self-caricature of Alfred Hitchcock, and the signatures of Elaine Stritch, Ben Gazzara, Billie Burke Ziegfeld, Dolores Del Rio, Burt Lancaster, Tony Curtis, and Will Rogers, Jr.

The art world turned out too:

Including the signatures of Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman, Pierre Matisse, Joan Miró, and Bill Lieberman of MoMA

https://catalogue.swanngalleries.com/Lots/auction-lot/(ALBUM)-Guestbook-for-L%C3%BCchows-restaurant-containing-over-400?saleno=2502&lotNo=25A&refNo=757213

$5000 hammer price

Note:  My family ate at Lüchow's once when I was a kid. My brother and I were given Tyrolean party hats with feathers. It was great fun, but we did not get to sign the guest book. Neither did my parents. Who's sorry now, Lüchow's?

I would love to establish Attempted Bloggery as the first place readers think of when they have images of celebrity guest books to make public, particularly those that are signed by prominent cartoonists or humorists. Ditto for autograph books, scrapbooks, sketch books, and chapbooks. On second thought, never mind the chapbooks.

Thanks to Joel Jacobus for identifying the autograph of actor Jack Hawkins.

December 26, 2020 Update:  Thanks to @AlHirschfeld on Twitter (David Leopold?) for identifying Fred Allen's autograph.

January 3, 2021 Update:  Thanks to Tom Bloom for noting that both S. J. Perelman's and Fred Allen's caricatures must be by Al Hirschfeld, and for identifying Fred Allen's wife Portland Hoffa. He also identified the signatures of John Ringling North and of Jean Hersholt.

January 12, 2021 Update:  This time, Tom Bloom has identified the signature of Will Rogers, Jr.

November 26, 2021 Update:  Getty Images stocks a photo dated June 13, 2013 from the London International Antiquarian Book Fair, It shows a bookseller holding the Lüchow's guestbook page which bears the signature of Joan Miró and others. You may see the watermarked photo here.

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