What the White Horse Tavern meant in the 1950s

"The rough edges are long gone from the White Horse Tavern, the corner bar at Hudson and West 11th Streets that’s been serving drinks (not always under that name) since 1880. Originally this dark, old school bar (above, in 1961) catered to longshoremen and locals. Today, it’s spiffed up for a sidewalk cafe kind of crowd. But for a moment in time in the 1950s, this saloon with the white horse heads in the windows became a place for writers. These writers, mostly young men, gathered in the wood-paneled back room to talk books, culture, and politics with others from across the political spectrum. The White Horse’s postwar literary crowd were drawn to Dylan Thomas (right), the Welsh poet who became a regular, reportedly because it reminded him of the bars in Wales. ..."
Ephemeral New York

2014 December: White Horse Tavern, 2019 June: The Wonderful World of the White Horse