Items From Pump Room To Go Up For Auction
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicagoans can own a piece of local history when fixtures from the famed Pump Room go on the auction block this coming Friday.
The public sale begins at 10 a.m. Friday for the artwork, furniture and fixtures of the Pump Room and Ambassador East Hotel, both at 1301 N. State Pkwy. in the Gold Coast.
Included in the sale, said spokeswoman Lindsay Hayes, will be the Pump Room bar, priced at $10,500.
The restaurant's legendary Booth One will be sold through closed bidding. It is not the original Booth One, which is in storage at the Chicago History Museum, but it's nevertheless been in use for decades and it recalls the elegance of bygone times.
Hayes said the booth has its own phone jack and number. She said the firms handling the sale are trying to determine if the phone connection can be sold with the booth.
New York hotelier Ian Schrager owns the property and has closed the Pump Room for renovations while the hotel is remaining open through the work.
Hotel Content Liquidators and SPR Partners are handling the sale, which is supposed to go on daily for 12 days or until items are sold out. Oil paintings, a bar stool allegedly used by Frank Sinatra, a baby grand piano, glassware and antique phones will be among the items offered.
Not included will be the celebrity photos that lined the Pump Room walls. Schrager apparently has plans for them in future decor.
The Pump Room opened in 1938, when founder Ernie Byfield was inspired by another venue called the Pump Room in 18th century Bath, England, where Queen Anne and other London socialites gathered.
Irv Kupcinet met the sources for his legendary column at Booth One. The booth was also where Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall celebrated their wedding, as did Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood. Frank Sinatra was also a frequent guest at the booth.
Judy Garland included the Pump Room in the lyrics to her song, "Chicago," where she sings, "We'll meet at the Pump Room, Ambassador East, to say the least."
The restaurant used to feature a Great Signature Book, which includes the names Marlene Dietrich and Cole Porter. John Barrymore is reputed to have urinated on the book after drinking too much champagne, according to the Sun-Times.
The Pump Room remained a hangout for the stars well after Byfield died in1950. During the shooting of "The Sting" in the early 1970s, Robert Redford and Paul Newman dined there on ham sandwiches and pilsners, the Pump Room Web site said last year. Michael J. Fox, Eddie Murphy, Jim Belushi, David Bowie and Mick Jagger also all paid visits.
And on one occasion, a then-obscure drummer was denied entry for not wearing a jacket, according to the Pump Room Web site. That drummer turned out to be Phil Collins.
The Pump Room was downsized a year ago. The dining room was closed to the public, and live music was eliminated. The bar remained open with a smaller menu.
The Chicago Sun-Times contributed to this report, via the Sun-Times Media Wire.
