Otto Moss is a hard shell state in Ohio, born in 1865. He came to Cleveland as a child, lived on East 73rd Street (Otis Avenue before 1906) for most of his life, and founded his own famous restaurant before he was 30 years old. His schedule is perfect, and the location of the restaurant is also ideal: until the 1920s, the area around Dongsi Street (formerly known as Sheriff Street 1906) was the center of Cleveland Theater District, with more than a dozen theaters. Otto Restaurant is located in the existing Klaus Building. In the past 50 years, in addition to entertaining customers and other downtown residents, it has provided food and water for countless actors, comedians, musicians, acrobats, mime actors and imitators. By the way, the Klaus Building was built by William Klaus, who sells and rents theatrical costumes. This is another example of "the right time, the right place and the right people".
Otto's celebrity clients (writers, journalists and politicians, as well as actors) achieved the immortality of photography by signing and giving Otto's promotional stills displayed on glass boxes and restaurant walls. At present, under the management of Cleveland State University, Otto's collection is "Who's Who" artists, including Fanny Brice, helen hayes, Al Qiao Sen, sarah bernhardt, eddie cantor, Maurice Evans, edward everett horton, cornelia Otis Skinner and Paul Mooney. Wil rogersl once said that if he didn't see his picture hanging on the wall during his next visit, he would "photograph this place full of loopholes". Marianne Hewitt, a merchant writer on the Plain, recalled in a subsequent article when she visited Otto Moss at 199 1: "All three Barrymores are there: handsome John surrounded by women; Lionel with shining white hair; A very young and fragile Ethel stared at her affectionately. She may have seen her portrait in 1902. A young Washington field with a scruffy beard dressed as a tramp. George M. Cohan scribbled his name on his forehead. Edwin Booth plays Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. John philip Sosa looked seriously at the photo frame behind the bar.
"And," Hewitt went on, "some people's reputations won't last. 19 13 who is the star of Allah garden, H. Lawson Bart? Young Harry Pierce with carefully parted curly hair? The Elmore sisters? 19011February 3rd, signed Lulu Glazer, or Jesse Merrill, and wrote "Best wishes to the phone girls of' boys'?
Although it is close to the theater (1907), Parker (1883) and Cleveland (1885), Otto Moss's theater is especially close to the well-respected Euclid Avenue Opera House. Built in 1875, the Opera House is located in Sheriff Street (a secondary entrance facing Euclid Street). It quickly became the main venue for all "legal" entertainment activities in Cleveland, and soon marginalized the aging Conservatory of Music in Bank Street (now West Sixth Street). This opera house once belonged to Marcus Hanna, but it was basically destroyed in a fire in 1892. However, Hannah rebuilt the theater and reopened it on1893165438+1October 1 1, probably on the same night that Otto Moss's restaurant was born across the street from the sheriff. The Opera House was closed and 1922 was demolished to make way for the S.S.Kresge store. At this time, the epicenter of Cleveland Theatre is moving eastward, and "movie" has become the most attractive thing in the entertainment circle.
Despite the welcoming atmosphere in his pub, Otto Moss still has the obligation to abide by the social and legal norms of this era, that is, "only men". But as an egalitarian opportunist, Otto circumvented the ban by setting up a private "cheese club" in the basement of the restaurant. The venue features a huge cheese wheel in the center of the room, which provides beer for men and women. The cheese club soon became a fate.