Club 21 Memories

Club Sandwich

Three things come to mind when I recall Club 21: a big grey sweater, the chair on the wall and club sandwiches.  One of the staples of my admittedly poor wardrobe in the late 1970’s, was a big grey button down knit sweater, which I could wear into a bar on a cold night to keep warm without having to keep track of a coat.  It was also a bit of a security blanket in a new, potentially hostile environment. I have this image of myself sitting at the bar in Club 21 in that sweater.  This particular memory may survive because it was my first visit to a gay bar.

The chair on the wall (a ladder back hung at an angle in a corner where the ceiling and two walls met) sticks out as the most outrageous bit of décor in an establishment that I recalled as being ‘over the top’, stuffed with decoration.  Cozy, but definitely gay. Otherwise, I guess Club 21 was a standard urban watering hole.  When you walked into its long narrow space, a bar was on your left lined with bar stools and a back room had tables and chairs.

The third image, club sandwiches, comes from the fact that during the day Club 21 served as a restaurant whose main clientele were NJ state workers, of which I was one.  The club sandwiches probably stick in my mind due to the association with the bar’s name.  There is also a dim memory of some sort of small outdoor dining area in the back but it’s fleeting and probably not reliable.  I’d love to hear anyone else’s memories about Club 21.

Interesting Website:  http://steakhouseorgaybar.com