shot house
n.— «In two places on the Bowery and one on Park Row arrests were made and alleged liquor confiscated. The police say that the three places were “shot houses” where liquor is sold at 5, 10 or 15 cents a drink.» —“Liquor Toll Inquiry Ordered By Tuttle” New York Times Oct. 10, 1928. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Carl in Sebastopol, California, was reminded of his childhood on New York’s Lower East Side while ready Harry Golden’s book For 2 Cents Plain (Amazon), the title referring to how customers ordered a plain glass of seltzer. For a little...
The edge of the Grand Canyon. A remote mountaintop. A medieval cathedral. Some places are so mystical you feel like you’re close to another dimension of space and time. There’s a term for such locales: thin places. And: did you ever go...