The Camera Club’s Annual Dinners
Alfred Stieglitz, The Glow of Night — New York, Photogravure: Multiple Color, 1897. Photographed in 1897 Manhattan, this nighttime view shows the Savoy Hotel with a queue of carriages along a rain-slicked Fifth Ave. The nighttime “glow” effect in this plate is achieved in the printing process.
This time of year, there are many holiday events. Every era celebrates a little differently. The year after the Camera Club of New York merged with the Society of Amateur Photographers, the club was in full swing. With its membership at a peek of over 330 annual and lifetime members, the Club was a buzz of social activities and artistic production.
The Mark Twain House at the southeast corner of Fifth Avenue and 9th Street. To the right, the Brevoort Hotel and One Fifth Avenue, an apartment building. Berenice Abbott, Federal Arts Project. 1935. Museum of the City of New York 43.131.1.34
Lafayette Brevoort, 5th Ave. & 8th St. ca. 1903. Byron Company. Museum of the City of New York 93.1.1.5979
In May of 1896, the Camera Club of New York held their first dinner of record at the Brevoort House. This would be the first formal dinner for the newly merged club (The Society of Amateur Photographers and the New York Camera Club merged to create The Camera Club of New York in 1886).
The Brevoort House was located close to Washington Square and next door to the future home of Mark Twain. The Brevoort was later photographed by Berenice Abbott and included in her seminal work, Changing New York (see above).
The dining room might have looked something like the Byron Company photo to the right. Included in the Camera Club’s archives is a handsome invite to this early social gathering. The iconic Washington Arch in Washington Square was completed in 1895. The Camera Club’s invite to this dinner prominently displays the arch with the Brevoott house framed through it. On the other side of the card is the following ten course menu of the club’s first feast.
“Camera Club,” MAY 12TH, 1896. Invitation front.*
“Camera Club,” MAY 12TH, 1896. Invitation back and menu.*
Washington Square Park, looking north toward arch., Photographed by Camera Club member Robert L. Bracklow ca. 1900 Museum of the City of New York 93.91.178
BREVOORT HOUSE
FIFTH AVE. AND WASHINGTON SQUARE
NEW YORK
“Camera Club,”
MAY 12TH, 1896
MENU
Little Neck Clams
SOUPS
Bisque of Lobster a l’Orientale Consomme Royal
RELISHES
Celery Olives Toast de Caviar Moscovite Radishes
FISH
Shad Roe aux fines herbes Potatoes, Duchesse
RELEVE
Mignon of Tenderloin of Beef a la Brevoort New String Beans and Peas panaches
ENTREE
New Asparagus, Hollandaise
SORBET
Camera Club Punch
ROAST
Squabs fareis aux marrons
SALAD
Lettuce and Tomato Mayonnaise
ICE CREAM AND DESSERT
Neapolitan Ice Cream and Fresh Strawberries, Chantilly
Assorted Fancy Cakes
Cheese Fruit Coffee
Muschenheim’s Arena, 31st East of Broadway. ca. 1900. Byron Company. Museum of the City of New York 93.1.1.10683
The following year, on mild and rainy Saturday, December 4th 1897 the club’s first annual dinner was held in an upscale New York establishment, Muschenheim’s Arena. The restaurant, known simply as The Arena, was located on 31 Street, East of Broadway.
Muschenheim’s Arena Restaurant, 39 West 31st Street. ca. 1892-1895. George P. Hall and Son. Museum of the City of New York 92.53.64
Muschenheim’s Arena, 31st East of Broadway. ca. 1900. Byron Company. Museum of the City of New York 93.1.1.10684
The following is the menu of the club’s first holiday feast. The invitation was a neatly presented folio with the Camera Club mark, a picture of a proud collie posing on a beach, and the night’s menu. I get a kick out of the photographic process references in each course. Who wouldn’t love to eat some Celery with hypo fixings! The Ice cream course would have been a particular extravagance. Until the advent of refrigeration, ice was a luxury few New Yorkers were able to enjoy.
Camera Club Dinner, The Arena, December 4th, 1897. Menu.*
Camera Club Dinner, The Arena, December 4th, 1897. Menu detail.*
CAMERA CLUB DINNER
THE ARENA, December 4th, 1897
Oysters, on the half plate
Soup, Eiko cum Hydro
Bass, caught on the snap
Fillet of Beef, non actinic
Sorbet, a la cyanide
Quail, on celluloid film
Celery, hypo fixings
Ice Cream, de formalin
Cheese, over exposed
Fruits, in focus
Coffee, one dram
BORDEAUX INTENSIFIER, H2O.
Dilute To Suit.
Camera Club of New York, Third Annual Dinner, 1899, front.*
Camera Club of New York, Third Annual Dinner, 1899, boat inside detail.*
THIRD ANNUAL DINNER THE ARENA
December 16th 1899
MENU
Oak Islands
SOUP
Cream of Celery aux Fleurons
Olives Celery Radishes
FISH
Fillet of Sole, Sauce Tartare
Potatoes a la Parisienne
ENTRÉE
Tournedos, Sautee, a la Financiere French Peas Haricots Verts Sorbet Cardinal
ROAST
Quail on Toast Salade Moderne
DESSERT
Café Noir Cheese
Fancy Ice Cream
Assorted Fruit
Camera Club of New York, Third Annual Dinner, 1899, inside.*
Camera Club of New York, Third Annual Dinner, 1899, canoe inside detail.*
Camera Club of New York, Third Annual Dinner, 1899, menu inside detail.*
Men at a dinner for theatrical managers in large banquet room at the Hotel Astor. Feb. 1905. Byron Company. Museum of the City of New York 93.1.1.3623
In 1903, 85 members of the Camera Club sat in a giant U-shaped table for the annual dinner. The scene would have looked very similar to the image above from the Hotel Astor. During this year, the Camera Club dinner was held at the end of January at the New York Athletic Club, an institution still around and flourishing today. Interestingly, in the Camera Club Archives there is a seating chart for this event as well as the menu. I don’t recognize most of the names on the seating chart, but it’s worth noting that Edward J. Steichen and Alfred Stieglitz sat next to each other in seats 25 and 26 respectively. Sitting to the left of Stieglitz is Joseph T. Keiley, a close friend of Stieglitz and noted photographer, writer and art critic.
Camera Club of New York, Sixth Annual Dinner, 1903, menu cover.*
Camera Club of New York, Sixth Annual Dinner, 1903, seating chart.*
Camera Club of New York, Sixth Annual Dinner, 1903, seating chart.*
SIXTH ANNUAL DINNER OF THE CAMERA CLUB AT THE NEW YORK ATHLETIC CLUB SATURDAY EVEN’G, JANUARY 31, 1903 SEVEN O’CLOCK
MENU
Little Neck Clams
SOUPS
Bisque of Lobster a l’Orientale Consommé Royale
RELISHES
Celery Olives Toast de Caviar Moscovite Radishes
FISH
Shad Roe aux fines herbes Potatoes, Duchesse
RELEVE
Mignon of Tenderloin of Beef a la Brevoort New String Beans and Peas panaches
ENTRÉE
New Asparagus, Hollandaise
SORBET
Camera Club Punch
ROAST
Squabs facis aux marrons
SALAD
Lettuce and Tomato Mayonnaise
ICE CREAM AND DESSERT
Neapolitan Ice Cream and Fresh Strawberries, Chantilly
Assorted Fancy Cakes
Cheese Fruit Coffee
The Seventh Annual Dinner, The Camera Club. Inside menu left page.*
The Seventh Annual Dinner, The Camera Club. Inside menu right page.*
The Seventh Annual Dinner is the last record of a formal annual banquet. It took place at the New York Athletic Club on February 13th, 1904. A hundred and twenty five members gathered for this twelve course feast.
Edward J. Steichen, “The Pond—Moonrise,” 1904 Platinum print with applied color. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 33.43.40
It was sometime after the Seventh Annual Dinner that Edward Steichen would photograph The Pond–Moonrise, an early example of applied color photography. This image was one of three he created and is currently on the list of most expensive photographs sold.
The last record in the Camera Club archives of a dinner was an entertainment gathering at the Carnegie Lyceum, later known as Carnegie Hall. This invite features a particularly nice rendering of the layout of the new location of the Camera Club at 121 West 68th Street in Manhattan’s Upper West Side.
It’s worth pointing out that in 1908, Stieglitz wasn’t involved as much with the Camera Club.
Annual Entertainment program for the Camera Club of New York at the Carnegie Lyceum. May 25, 1908. Cover.*
Annual Entertainment program for the Camera Club of New York at the Carnegie Lyceum. May 25, 1908. Inside cover, Camera Club building rendering and layout image.*
Annual Entertainment program for the Camera Club of New York at the Carnegie Lyceum. May 25, 1908. Program.*
Annual Entertainment program for the Camera Club of New York at the Carnegie Lyceum. May 25, 1908. Program credits.*
ANNUAL ENTERTAINMENT OF THE CAMERA CLUB OF NEW YORK AT CARNEGIE LYCEUM ON THE EVENING OF TUESDAY THE TWELFTH OF MAY ONE THOUSAND NINE HUNDRED AND EIGHT
PROGRAMME
Part One
“LANTERN SLIDES OF YESTERDAY, TO-DAY, AND TOMORROW”
Including the wonderful Lumiere colored photography explained by Wm. D. Murphy and J. E. Blurter
Part Two
“THE MONEY SPINNER”
An original comedy in two acts by Arthur W. Pinero
Presented by a professional company under the direction of and including Mr. Sidney Herbert (By kind permission of Charles and Daniel Frohman)
Persons represented
Lord Kengussie Sidney Herbert
(By permission of Charles and Daniel Frohman)
Baron Croodle Dean Pratt
Harold Boycott Edward Longman
Jules Faubert John S. Robertson
Porter Henry Bowen
Millicent Boycott Alida Cortelyou
Dorinda Croodle Myrtle Tannehill
Margot Maud Giroux
Act 1. –Ten a.m. Sowing the Storm.
Act 2. –Ten p.m. Reaping the Whirlwind.
Scene. – Boycott’s Lodgings, 17 Rue Beauvoisine, Rouen.
Time. – The Present.
It was a trip blowing off the dust and browsing through the Camera Club’s archives in the New York Public Library research room. There are many more stories to be discovered hiding in those folios. I wish I had more time to dig them up. Special thanks to Manuscripts Specialist, Laura Slezak Karas and the team in the Manuscripts and Archives Division at NYPL.
* Image from the Camera Club of New York records. Manuscripts and Archives Division. The New York Public Library. Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations.