Anthony's Bar revisited

As I read LAObserved a short time ago, a paragraph on Anthony's Bar caught my attention, because I was once a regular there myself. I still recall my first drink at Anthony's, I was eighteen years old, as I ordered my Budwiser the bartender asked to see my license, but failed to note my birthdate was 1953, must have been the dim lighting.

Here's what Kevin Roderick said

"Steve Harvey has an item today about the long-vanished bar across from the Times (and City Hall) that was so popular with pressmen you had to watch where you sat to avoid getting ink on your clothes."

Popular with the pressmen is an understatement, as employees would exit the Spring Street doors from the Times building, all one had to do was follow the trail of black ink on the sidewalk to find your way over to the bar. Before moving the presses to the current location (8th and Alameda) drinking on the job was overlooked, as long as the presses continue running. When the new pressroom was created in 1989 a zero tolerance policy was instituted regarding drinking on the job.

Here's what Steve Harvey said in today's paper

My musings about vanished downtown bars in L.A. reminded ex-Timesman Jerry Clark of a character who hung out in Anthony's, across the street from City Hall (and this newspaper).

"His name was Danny but he was more commonly referred to as 'Leftover,' " Clark said. "An upbeat, likable man in his early 30s, Leftover worked in a state office building and would spend his evening hours at Anthony's, almost always staying to closing time at 2 a.m.

"He got his nickname when Tony, the day bartender, opened the place at 6 a.m. one morning and found him sitting on a barstool, waiting for 'first call.' He had fallen asleep in a booth the night before and went unnoticed when the night bartender closed up.

"That was the day he got stuck with the 'Leftover' sobriquet."

We all knew Leftover, and if he wasn't at Anthony's it was like something was missing.

Thanks for the memories Steve.