



The Morbid Anatomy Anthology--sent the following quotation my way, found in Herbert Asbury's The second establishment, "The Conclave" of New Orleans, came to my attention just a few days ago; Colin Dickey--co-editor of volume 1 of--sent the following quotation my way, found in Herbert Asbury's The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underground

The Conclave was one of the few concert-saloons to maintain a bar as well as table service, and the arrangement in the back bar aroused much comment--it was fitted up as an exact replica of a section of burial vaults, complete with marble slabs on which were chiseled "Brandy, Whisky, Gin," etc. The bartenders were clad as undertakers, and when one of them served a customer he opened a vault in the back bar and pulled out a small silver-handled coffin filled with bottles of the desired liquor. The Conclave was always very popular among sightseers, but never gained great favor with hard drinkers.

Sadly, I was unable to locate any images for "The Conclave;" If anyone knows of any, please send them along to morbidanatomy [at] gmail.com Also, for those who wish to knowabout the wonderful Cabaret du Néant (and really, who doesn't?), the heavily illustrated final chapter of the upcoming“Hell Époque: Death-Themed Cabarets and other Macabre Entertainments of Nineteenth Century Paris" by Vadim Kosmos --is for you. You can still order a copy of the book by hitting the black "pre-order" button on the upper right of this blog.Also, for the California-based among you, you will have an opportunity to learn yet moresample cocktails made from original Cabaret du Néant recipes (!!!)--under the tutelage of the incomparable Mel Gordon at the Morbid Anatomy segment of LA Death Salon this October 19th. Hope very much to see you there!