In the days before email and indoor smoking bans, urban and suburban restaurant “cocktail lounges” were common sights across America, many springing up along the nation’s newly paved highways. While today you’ll still find the occasional pack of branded matches at a restaurant, a custom designed postcard is a rarity. That wasn’t the case 50 to 75 years ago, a fact attested to by the Boston Public Library’s massive collection of mid-twentieth century postcards. All of the cocktail lounge postcards you see below were designed by a single Boston firm, Tichnor Brothers Inc. Often themed, these cocktail lounges represent a long-gone era, though one that modern-day restauranteurs increasingly mine for nostalgia.
Babette’s Famous Yacht Bar And Cocktail Lounge – Atlantic City, New Jersey
Side Show Restaurant and Cocktail Lounge – Yonkers, New York
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The Lido Cocktail Lounge – Worcester, Massachusetts
The Crown Hotel, Deep Sea Cocktail Lounge – Providence, Rhode Island
Leon’s Cocktail Lounge and Bar – Hackensack, New Jersey
Cocktail Loyale, Serpentine Bar and Cocktail Lounge – New York, New York
Larry’s Cocktail Lounge – Chester, Pennsylvania
Famous Restaurant Cocktail Lounge – Lake Worth, Florida
The Modern Cocktail Lounge and Dining Area of the Palms Cafe – Columbus, Indiana
St. Francis Grill and Cocktail Lounge – Santa Cruz, California
Roosevelt Top Hat Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge – Metuchen, New Jersey
Underwood’s Chicken House Cocktail Lounge – Gilman, Illinois
Knot’s Cocktail Bar – Alpena, Michigan
Scottie’s Cocktail Lounge – Grand Rapids, Michigan
Smith’s Restaurant & Cocktail Lounge – Euclid, Ohio
