It's not easy to tell what's on offer, but there seem to be a lot of non-Cubans in the boxes on the shelves. I recognize two Cuban brands in the glassed-in countertop: Hoyo de Monterrey and Belinda, the latter is not well known but is a fine Havana cigar. That said, although I do enjoy a good cigar, the idea of lighting one inside a restaurant while others are eating strikes me as extremely rude. I know those were different times, but cigars should be fumed out on the verandah, where they belong!

Perhaps the idea is that patrons would purchase a stick or two to fill their leather cigar-pouches when leaving the eatery. In any case, Shorpy.com is a delight and thanks for helping preserve the past.

The thing in the lower right is another cash register.

I wonder why all the theatres are listed as closed? Was there a strike or bad weather or...?

All the fans and the hood must be to move out all the cigar smoke. What did they serve besides Stogies?

In 1919, one could have purchased tickets here to see Helen Hayes as Dorothy Fessenden in "On the Hiring Line" at the National Theatre.

I was taken to the Occidental for lunch on my first day working as a paralegal out of college. As I recall, they still have the photos of the bright and the bold on the walls, although the dining space is much enlarged and renovated.

Nice Mission-style couch and chairs on the right. But what's with the range hood right there in the dining room? I guessing that whether for heat or cooking, it's out of use (seasonally?), what with a table right in front of it.

The framed maxim on the far right reads:

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." -- George Washington"

After all the hoopla about the Occidental, I expected a grand dining room.

What a mishmash of seating. Was this a low budget place or did people just not care about aesthetics during the time?

That two-headed fan is pretty cool. I'm guessing it rotates.

There is some sort of thing in the bottom right corner next to the closest chair. Please tell me what it is.

What a variety of cigars! No humidors to be seen, though.

The machine behind the counter is a National Cash Register Model 7, probably from around the turn of the century. What is interesting is that inside the cash drawer is a separate lockable metal box for gold currency -- not much of a worry today.

March 11th 1850 in Seward's first major speech as a member of the Senate the second framed quote on the left was spoken upon the subject of slavery and laws that allow it:

The Constitution regulates our stewardship; the Constitution devotes the domain to union, to defense, to welfare, and to liberty. But there is a higher law than the Constitution, which regulates our authority over the domain, and devotes it to the same noble purposes. The territory is a part ... of the common heritage of mankind, bestowed upon them by the Creator of the universe. We are his stewards, and must so discharge our trust as to secure, in the higher attainable degree, their happiness.