Childs Restaurants
Encyclopedia
Childs Restaurants was one of the first national dining chains in the United States
and Canada
, having peaked in the 1920s and 1930s with about 125 locations in dozens of markets, serving over 50,000,000 meals a year, with over $37 million in assets at the time. Childs was a pioneer in a number of areas, including design, service, sanitation, and labor relations. It was a contemporary of food service companies such as Horn & Hardart
, and a predecessor of companies such as McDonald's
.
, also previously the Singer Building
), at 41 Cortlandt Street (between Broadway and Church), in New York City
's Financial District. The brothers' concept for the establishment was to provide economical meals to the working class, quickly, with an unusually high emphasis – for the period – on cleanliness and hygiene. Their novel design format included white tiles, white uniforms, and waitresses instead of then-common waiters. In addition to these signature characteristics, Childs locations also featured their pancake griddles in the front window. Within five years, Childs had grown to five profitable locations. They also are credited as inventors of the "tray line" self-service cafeteria
format, which they introduced in 1898 at their 130 Broadway location.
In 1898, the brothers, confident and ready for more aggressive expansion, combined with several investors to legally incorporate The Childs Unique Dairy Company, with capitalization of $1,000,000, and the stated intent to "establish and operate restaurants in New York City and elsewhere". It was widely speculated, and finally confirmed in 1912, that several officers of the Standard Oil Company were investors in the restaurant chain, including Henry Morgan Tilford and Charles Sweeney. At some point, "duPont
interests" also gained a significant stock position, which would eventually cause problems for the family owners.
In 1899, F.O. Hendrick, a nephew of Samuel and William Childs, launched a casual luncheon restaurant at 142 Fulton Street, practically across the street from his uncles' first location on Cortlandt Street, which was by then 10 years old and highly successful. After a short period of family competition, Hendrick ultimately brought his restaurant under the Childs umbrella, and remained an operating executive of Childs Restaurants until the family lost control.
In 1906, fifteen similar restaurants (called "green doors") which were independently owned and operated by Ellsworth Childs (brother of Samuel and William) were consolidated into the company. Thereafter, Ellsworth remained an executive of Childs until his death in 1929, and is cited as a driving force behind the physical expansion during that period.
By 1925, the chain operated 107 locations in 29 cities, served 50,000,000 meals every year, and was reporting consistent annual profits of $2,000,000. The company also grew to include other real estate interests. In March 1925, company President Samuel S. Childs died, although he had not been personally involved in the business for some time, instead focusing on his political career and many other civic and business activities. Operation of the restaurants had long been delegated to his brother and co-founder William, as Vice President and General Manager, and other family members.
The late 1920s witnessed a roller-coaster of events for the company. In November 1925, the Childs company became a major partner in the development of the landmark Savoy-Plaza Hotel, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Streets. Around 1927, William Childs began to impose his vegetarian dietary preferences on the chain's menu, which generated significant backlash from customers and his fellow managers and investors. The company's stock reached a low of $44 in 1928, and during a board meeting on December 12, 1928, William was pressed into resigning as President, but remained Chairman of the Board. At the following board meeting on January 30, 1929, William attempted to turn the tide by firing several executive officers and company directors, replacing them with family members. A proxy battle ensued, but on March 7, 1929, William and his supporters lost the fight to retain control of the company he co-founded 40 years before, by then valued around $37,000,000. He did retain a modest non-controlling equity position, which he eventually sold and/or bequeathed..
), and launched a new subsidiary division called "The Host", meant to be lower-priced than Childs. The company also obtained the hot dog vending license for the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, which turned out a financial mistake.
In August 1943, under pressure of significant debt maturity, the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization. Childs emerged from bankruptcy in 1947, and continued to operate through the 1940s and 1950s.
By 1950, the company had shrunk to only 53 locations, and was losing money. Nonetheless, it managed to acquire the candy and ice cream maker Louis Sherry, Inc., and announced several significant operational changes, including "returning to its old custom of flap-jack making in the windows" and the introduction of prepared meats, to eliminate the need for butchering on-site.
In 1955, a young hotelier named A.M. "Sonny" Sonnabend assumed the presidency of the Childs company, and pointed the enterprise in a new direction. In a series of coordinated transactions, the company's name was changed to Hotel Corporation of America, it acquired the Plaza Hotel
in New York (across the street from the Savoy-Plaza Hotel, which Childs had developed), and entered into long-term leases for three other hotels in Boston, Cleveland, and Chicago. The company was then structured into three divisions: restaurants, manufacturing and distribution of packaged foods (via subsidiaries Receipe Foods, Fred Fear
, and Louis Sherry
), and hotels.
In 1961, substantially all of the remaining Childs restaurant operations, now greatly diminished in number and considered part of the company's past, were sold to the Riese Organization (National Restaurants Management Inc.), which as of 2009 operates more than 100 restaurants throughout New York City, including franchised units of Dunkin' Donuts
, KFC
, Pizza Hut
, T.G.I. Friday's
and Houlihan's
. A number of the Riese properties are former Childs Restaurants.
In 1970, Hotel Corporation of America (formerly Childs) was again renamed, to Sonesta International Hotels Corporation . As of 2009, the company operates 25 hotels on 3 continents, and owns several cruise ships, and is still led by the Sonnabend family.
(modernist designer of the Chrysler Building
), Dennison & Hirons, Pruitt & Brown, and McKim, Mead, and White
. One design critique from 1924 declared that Childs "...stands as a milestone marking an enormous advance in the taste of what we are pleased to describe as the ‘common people’ of America". In more recent years, celebrated architect Robert A.M. Stern described the Childs design as "austerely-elegant", and recgonized their savvy in tailoring design to environment, such as in midtown Manhattan, where Childs was the first to make “dramatic use of large sheets of curved glass for
corner windows", now a common technique.
In 1929, William Childs purchased a historic property near his home in Basking Ridge, NJ, and converted it – without making any structural modifications – to an inn and restaurant. The Olde Mill Inn and The Grain House Restaurant This upscale operation was distinctly different from the traditional Childs Restaurants, yet it also met with great success. The family continued to operate it for some time, but The Olde Mill Inn and Grain House Restaurant was eventually acquired by The Bocina Group, which continues to operate it as of 2009.
In December 1929, after being ousted from the core company, William Childs announced that the family had taken over the Archambault Restaurant at 2678 Broadway, and would relaunch it as "Old Algiers" – the first in a series of "old-world" themed restaurants. In this business, he partnered primarily with three nephews, Ellsworth E. Childs, William S. Childs, and Wallace A. Childs. The new company was soon organized under the corporate name Old London Inc.
, which was also the theme of their second 1,000-seat location, launched in 1931 at 130 West 42nd Street. This enterprise did not expand much further, likely due to William's advancing age. He died in 1938, and is buried behind the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church near his New Jersey
estate, with a large number of other Childs family members..
As of 2009, the original F.O. Hendrick location is still an operating diner, now called the Anytime Cafe.
, which depicted life in New York City during the 1930s, the song "What A Waste" (music by Leonard Bernstein
; lyrics by Betty Comden
& Adolph Green
) in Act I includes the lyrics:
The poem "Spain in Fifty-Ninth Street", written by E.B. White, tells the story of a brief but emotional interaction between a Childs hostess and a random customer (described as a "man of affairs") at the "Spanish Childs" location, presumably on 59th Street. White wrote a number of other short stories and poems that referenced or featured Childs, likely due to the daily presence of the establishments in his life during the late 1920s and 1930s in New York City.
Composer George Antheil
, who also spent part of the 1920s in New York City, selected a Childs Restaurant as one of several iconic American locations (along with The Bowery and the Brooklyn Bridge
) for the setting of his 1930 opera
Transatlantic
.
Playwright David Belasco
incorporated a complete reproduction of a Childs Restaurant in his 1912 production of Alice Bradley's The Governor's Lady
.
The song 'Manhattan', written by Rodgers and Hart in 1925 for the musical 'Garrick Gaities',
and famously recorded by Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald and others, includes the lines –
"We'll go to Yonkers – where true love conquers – in the wilds,
And starve together dear – in Childs"
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, having peaked in the 1920s and 1930s with about 125 locations in dozens of markets, serving over 50,000,000 meals a year, with over $37 million in assets at the time. Childs was a pioneer in a number of areas, including design, service, sanitation, and labor relations. It was a contemporary of food service companies such as Horn & Hardart
Horn & Hardart
Horn & Hardart was a food services company of the USA noted for operating the first food service automats in Philadelphia and New York City.Philadelphia's Joseph Horn and German-born, New Orleans-raised, Frank Hardart opened their first restaurant together in Philadelphia on December 22, 1888...
, and a predecessor of companies such as McDonald's
McDonald's
McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...
.
History
The first Childs Restaurant was launched in 1889 by brothers Samuel S. Childs and William Childs, on the ground level of the Merchants Hotel (current site of One Liberty PlazaOne Liberty Plaza
One Liberty Plaza, formerly the U.S. Steel Building, is a skyscraper in lower Manhattan, New York City, at the location of the former Singer Building . 1 Liberty Plaza is currently owned and operated by Brookfield Properties. The building is tall and 54 floors. It was built in 1973...
, also previously the Singer Building
Singer Building
The Singer Building or Singer Tower at Liberty Street and Broadway in Manhattan, was a 47-story office building completed in 1908 as the headquarters of the Singer Manufacturing Company. It was demolished in 1968 and is now the site of 1 Liberty Plaza....
), at 41 Cortlandt Street (between Broadway and Church), in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
's Financial District. The brothers' concept for the establishment was to provide economical meals to the working class, quickly, with an unusually high emphasis – for the period – on cleanliness and hygiene. Their novel design format included white tiles, white uniforms, and waitresses instead of then-common waiters. In addition to these signature characteristics, Childs locations also featured their pancake griddles in the front window. Within five years, Childs had grown to five profitable locations. They also are credited as inventors of the "tray line" self-service cafeteria
Cafeteria
A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...
format, which they introduced in 1898 at their 130 Broadway location.
In 1898, the brothers, confident and ready for more aggressive expansion, combined with several investors to legally incorporate The Childs Unique Dairy Company, with capitalization of $1,000,000, and the stated intent to "establish and operate restaurants in New York City and elsewhere". It was widely speculated, and finally confirmed in 1912, that several officers of the Standard Oil Company were investors in the restaurant chain, including Henry Morgan Tilford and Charles Sweeney. At some point, "duPont
DuPont
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
interests" also gained a significant stock position, which would eventually cause problems for the family owners.
In 1899, F.O. Hendrick, a nephew of Samuel and William Childs, launched a casual luncheon restaurant at 142 Fulton Street, practically across the street from his uncles' first location on Cortlandt Street, which was by then 10 years old and highly successful. After a short period of family competition, Hendrick ultimately brought his restaurant under the Childs umbrella, and remained an operating executive of Childs Restaurants until the family lost control.
In 1906, fifteen similar restaurants (called "green doors") which were independently owned and operated by Ellsworth Childs (brother of Samuel and William) were consolidated into the company. Thereafter, Ellsworth remained an executive of Childs until his death in 1929, and is cited as a driving force behind the physical expansion during that period.
Peak years
In September 1919, the company launched an employee stock ownership plan for its restaurant managers, and three years later, extended the plan to all employees. Within 10 years, employees would own almost 25% of the company's common stock.By 1925, the chain operated 107 locations in 29 cities, served 50,000,000 meals every year, and was reporting consistent annual profits of $2,000,000. The company also grew to include other real estate interests. In March 1925, company President Samuel S. Childs died, although he had not been personally involved in the business for some time, instead focusing on his political career and many other civic and business activities. Operation of the restaurants had long been delegated to his brother and co-founder William, as Vice President and General Manager, and other family members.
The late 1920s witnessed a roller-coaster of events for the company. In November 1925, the Childs company became a major partner in the development of the landmark Savoy-Plaza Hotel, at Fifth Avenue and 59th Streets. Around 1927, William Childs began to impose his vegetarian dietary preferences on the chain's menu, which generated significant backlash from customers and his fellow managers and investors. The company's stock reached a low of $44 in 1928, and during a board meeting on December 12, 1928, William was pressed into resigning as President, but remained Chairman of the Board. At the following board meeting on January 30, 1929, William attempted to turn the tide by firing several executive officers and company directors, replacing them with family members. A proxy battle ensued, but on March 7, 1929, William and his supporters lost the fight to retain control of the company he co-founded 40 years before, by then valued around $37,000,000. He did retain a modest non-controlling equity position, which he eventually sold and/or bequeathed..
Decline and rebirth
In the 1930s, no longer under the direction of the Childs family, the chain returned meat to its menus, introduced alcohol at many locations (after the repeal of ProhibitionProhibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
), and launched a new subsidiary division called "The Host", meant to be lower-priced than Childs. The company also obtained the hot dog vending license for the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, which turned out a financial mistake.
In August 1943, under pressure of significant debt maturity, the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization. Childs emerged from bankruptcy in 1947, and continued to operate through the 1940s and 1950s.
By 1950, the company had shrunk to only 53 locations, and was losing money. Nonetheless, it managed to acquire the candy and ice cream maker Louis Sherry, Inc., and announced several significant operational changes, including "returning to its old custom of flap-jack making in the windows" and the introduction of prepared meats, to eliminate the need for butchering on-site.
In 1955, a young hotelier named A.M. "Sonny" Sonnabend assumed the presidency of the Childs company, and pointed the enterprise in a new direction. In a series of coordinated transactions, the company's name was changed to Hotel Corporation of America, it acquired the Plaza Hotel
Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel in New York City is a landmark 20-story luxury hotel with a height of and length of that occupies the west side of Grand Army Plaza, from which it derives its name, and extends along Central Park South in Manhattan. Fifth Avenue extends along the east side of Grand Army Plaza...
in New York (across the street from the Savoy-Plaza Hotel, which Childs had developed), and entered into long-term leases for three other hotels in Boston, Cleveland, and Chicago. The company was then structured into three divisions: restaurants, manufacturing and distribution of packaged foods (via subsidiaries Receipe Foods, Fred Fear
Fred Fear & Company
Fred Fear & Company was, at one time, the largest seller of pure maple syrup, clam juice, and Easter Egg colors in the United States. It was founded in 1892, and once operated plants in St. Johnsbury, VT, Brooklyn, NY, and Lewes, DE. In 1954, the company was acquired by the Childs Company....
, and Louis Sherry
Louis Sherry Inc.
Louis Sherry Inc. was an early 20th century company known for quality confectionery products, particularly candy and ice cream. It was founded by New York restaurateur Louis Sherry and Lucius M. Boomer, then Chairman of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. The company was acquired by the Childs Company in...
), and hotels.
In 1961, substantially all of the remaining Childs restaurant operations, now greatly diminished in number and considered part of the company's past, were sold to the Riese Organization (National Restaurants Management Inc.), which as of 2009 operates more than 100 restaurants throughout New York City, including franchised units of Dunkin' Donuts
Dunkin' Donuts
Dunkin' Donuts is an international doughnut and coffee retailer founded in 1950 by William Rosenberg in Quincy, Massachusetts; it is now headquartered in Canton...
, KFC
KFC
KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...
, Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is an American restaurant chain and international franchise that offers different styles of pizza along with side dishes including pasta, buffalo wings, breadsticks, and garlic bread....
, T.G.I. Friday's
T.G.I. Friday's
T.G.I. Friday's is an American restaurant chain focusing on casual dining. The company is a unit of the Carlson Companies. Its name is taken from the expression TGIF...
and Houlihan's
Houlihan's
Houlihan's is a Leawood, Kansas-based American contemporary restaurant chain. The first Houlihan's opened on April 1, 1972 on Kansas City's Country Club Plaza, and is now in 21 states...
. A number of the Riese properties are former Childs Restaurants.
In 1970, Hotel Corporation of America (formerly Childs) was again renamed, to Sonesta International Hotels Corporation . As of 2009, the company operates 25 hotels on 3 continents, and owns several cruise ships, and is still led by the Sonnabend family.
Architecture
Despite their market position, Childs Restaurants were distinguished for their architecturial quality, and former locations continue to be appreciated by historic preservationists. In his design and construction efforts, William Childs and his internal architect of 30 years, John Corley Westervelt, consulted and engaged respected architects including William Van AlenWilliam Van Alen
William Van Alen was an American architect, best known as the architect in charge of designing New York City's Chrysler Building .-Life:...
(modernist designer of the Chrysler Building
Chrysler Building
The Chrysler Building is an Art Deco style skyscraper in New York City, located on the east side of Manhattan in the Turtle Bay area at the intersection of 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue. Standing at , it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State...
), Dennison & Hirons, Pruitt & Brown, and McKim, Mead, and White
McKim, Mead, and White
McKim, Mead & White was a prominent American architectural firm at the turn of the twentieth century and in the history of American architecture. The firm's founding partners were Charles Follen McKim , William Rutherford Mead and Stanford White...
. One design critique from 1924 declared that Childs "...stands as a milestone marking an enormous advance in the taste of what we are pleased to describe as the ‘common people’ of America". In more recent years, celebrated architect Robert A.M. Stern described the Childs design as "austerely-elegant", and recgonized their savvy in tailoring design to environment, such as in midtown Manhattan, where Childs was the first to make “dramatic use of large sheets of curved glass for
corner windows", now a common technique.
Notable locations
- NEW YORK
-
- 41 Cortlandt Street, New York, NY (First Location)
- 604 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY
- 423-25 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY
- 26 Beaver Street, New York, NY (Site of Standard Oil Building)
- 194 Broadway, New York, NY
- 285 Broadway, New York, NY
- 391 Broadway, New York, NY
- 625 Broadway, New York, NY
- 1164 Broadway, New York, NY
- 1439 Broadway, New York, NY
- 1501 Broadway1501 Broadway1501 Broadway, also known as the Paramount Building, is a 33-story, 131.5 m office building located between West 43rd and 44th Streets in the Times Square neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. It once housed the Paramount Theatre....
(at 43rd Street), New York, NY (below the Paramount TheaterParamount Theater (New York City)The Paramount Theatre was a noted movie palace located at 43rd Street and Broadway in the Times Square district of New York City. Opened in 1926, it was the premiere showcase for Paramount Pictures and also became a popular live performance venue. The theater was closed in 1964 and its space...
) - 1551–1553 Broadway (at 46th St NW corner), New York, NY
- 1546 Broadway (between 45th & 46th Streets), New York, NY
- 2276 Broadway (at 82nd Street), New York, NY
- 300–304 W 59th St (SW Corner Columbus Circle), New York, NY
- 2102 Boardwalk, Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY (designated landmark by New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission)
- 1208 Surf Avenue, Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY, 11224-2816 (Current home of Coney Island USA and the Coney Island Museum)
- WASHINGTON, DC
- 1423 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W., Washington, DC
- 2 Massachusetts Avenue N.W., Washington, DC
- NEW JERSEY
- Tennessee Avenue, Altantic City, NJ
Related businesses
Although legally separate from the core Childs Restaurants chain, the founders and various family members operated a number of other businesses throughout the 20th century. Below are brief summaries of those operations.In 1929, William Childs purchased a historic property near his home in Basking Ridge, NJ, and converted it – without making any structural modifications – to an inn and restaurant. The Olde Mill Inn and The Grain House Restaurant This upscale operation was distinctly different from the traditional Childs Restaurants, yet it also met with great success. The family continued to operate it for some time, but The Olde Mill Inn and Grain House Restaurant was eventually acquired by The Bocina Group, which continues to operate it as of 2009.
In December 1929, after being ousted from the core company, William Childs announced that the family had taken over the Archambault Restaurant at 2678 Broadway, and would relaunch it as "Old Algiers" – the first in a series of "old-world" themed restaurants. In this business, he partnered primarily with three nephews, Ellsworth E. Childs, William S. Childs, and Wallace A. Childs. The new company was soon organized under the corporate name Old London Inc.
Old London Inc.
Old London Inc. was the name of a proposed group of eating establishments begun by restaurant pioneer William Childs. Childs was deposed in 1929 as the head of the $37,000,000 Childs Restaurant chain. A 1930s undertaking, Childs' business eventually lost momentum during the Great Depression...
, which was also the theme of their second 1,000-seat location, launched in 1931 at 130 West 42nd Street. This enterprise did not expand much further, likely due to William's advancing age. He died in 1938, and is buried behind the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church near his New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
estate, with a large number of other Childs family members..
As of 2009, the original F.O. Hendrick location is still an operating diner, now called the Anytime Cafe.
Family-controlled period
- Samuel S. Childs, Co-Founder and President (1889–1925)
- William Childs, Co-Founder, Vice President & General Manager (1889–1925), Chairman & President (1925 – 1929/30)
- Luther Childs, Director (? – 1929)
- Ellsworth Childs, Director (1906–1929), Treasurer (1929)
- William S. Childs, Director (? – 1929)
- F.O. Hendrick, General Manager (? – 1929)
- William A. Barber, General Counsel
Later period
- S. Willard Smith, President (1929–1931)
- William P. Allen, President (circa 1932)
- George D. Strohmeyer, President (1933–1941)
- Edward C. Field, President (1941–1948)
- John F.X. Finn, Court-Appointed Trustee (1943–1947)
- John L. Hennessey, President (1948–1949) (Former President of Statler Co., Inc.)
- John J. Bergen, Chairman (circa 1950)
- N. Clarkson Earl Jr., President (1950–1951) (Former executive at Howard Johnson'sHoward Johnson'sHoward Johnson's is a chain of hotels and restaurants, located primarily throughout the United States and Canada. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Howard Johnson's was the largest restaurant chain in the United States, with over 1,000 restaurants...
Restaurants) - Charles CrouchCharles CrouchCharles Crouch, merchandising executive, was born in Augusta, Georgia, Sept. 15, 1898, son of Joseph William and Lily Crouch. In 1932, he purchased six of the former Clarence Saunders stores in the San Francisco peninsula area and founded Peninsula Stores , of which he became the first president...
, Executive Vice President (circa 1950) - Abraham M. Sonnabend, President (1954–1963) (Converted Childs into Hotel Corporation of America, later Sonesta International Hotels Corporation)
Popular culture
In the 1953 musical Wonderful TownWonderful Town
Wonderful Town is a musical with a book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein...
, which depicted life in New York City during the 1930s, the song "What A Waste" (music by Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein
Leonard Bernstein August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990) was an American conductor, composer, author, music lecturer and pianist. He was among the first conductors born and educated in the United States of America to receive worldwide acclaim...
; lyrics by Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
& Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
) in Act I includes the lyrics:
Girl from Mobile,
Versatile actress,
Tragic or comic,
Any old play,
Suffered and starved,
Met Stanislavsky.
He said the world would
Cheer her some day.
Came to New York,
Repertoire ready,
Chekhov’s and Shakespeare’s and Wilde’s.
Now, they watch her flipping flapjacks at Childs.
What a waste,
What a waste,
What a waste of money and time!
The poem "Spain in Fifty-Ninth Street", written by E.B. White, tells the story of a brief but emotional interaction between a Childs hostess and a random customer (described as a "man of affairs") at the "Spanish Childs" location, presumably on 59th Street. White wrote a number of other short stories and poems that referenced or featured Childs, likely due to the daily presence of the establishments in his life during the late 1920s and 1930s in New York City.
Composer George Antheil
George Antheil
George Antheil was an American avant-garde composer, pianist, author and inventor. A self-described "Bad Boy of Music", his modernist compositions amazed and appalled listeners in Europe and the US during the 1920s with their cacophonous celebration of mechanical devices.Returning permanently to...
, who also spent part of the 1920s in New York City, selected a Childs Restaurant as one of several iconic American locations (along with The Bowery and the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
) for the setting of his 1930 opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Transatlantic
Transatlantic (opera)
Transatlantic is a Grand Opera in 4 acts by George Antheil written in 1928 to a libretto by the composer. It was premiered in Frankfurt on May 25, 1930...
.
Playwright David Belasco
David Belasco
David Belasco was an American theatrical producer, impresario, director and playwright.-Biography:Born in San Francisco, California, where his Sephardic Jewish parents had moved from London, England, during the Gold Rush, he began working in a San Francisco theatre doing a variety of routine jobs,...
incorporated a complete reproduction of a Childs Restaurant in his 1912 production of Alice Bradley's The Governor's Lady
The Governor's Lady
The Governor's Lady was a theatrical play written by Alice Bradley, directed by David Belasco and produced by Belasco and his son-in-law David Elliott. It opened at the Republic Theatre in New York in September, 1912, and starred Emma Dunn, Emmett Corrigan, Gladys Hanson and Milton Sills. The...
.
The song 'Manhattan', written by Rodgers and Hart in 1925 for the musical 'Garrick Gaities',
and famously recorded by Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald and others, includes the lines –
"We'll go to Yonkers – where true love conquers – in the wilds,
And starve together dear – in Childs"