"A beefsteak" (May 30, 1950 article)

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   From the NEW YORK HERALD-TRIBUNE, 30 May 1950, pg. 9, col. 7:

_"Beefsteak," A Political Shindig,_
_Is a Place for Hearty Appetites_

Westheimer Market Provides 3,000 Lbs. of Steak,
   1,5000 Lbs. of Lamb, Plus Other Meats

By Clementine Paddleford

   No one has truly eaten until he attends a "beefsteak."  This is a form of gluttony that belongs especially to New York and the political arena as the barbecue and the chili bowl belong to Texas.  Now at long last we have put a "beefsteak menu" under the belt.  The occasion was the beefsteak dinner and dance given by the John De Salvio Association 2d Assembly District, Inc., in memory of Jimmy Kelly.  The place was Webster Hall, East Side, Manhattan.  The meat man who prepared those 3,000 pounds of steak, the 1,500 pounds of lamb chops, the 425 pounds of hamburger, the 1,300 pounds of split kidneys with bacon was none other than son Sidney, of William Wertheimer and Son, the meat purveyors, located at First Avenue and Nineteenth Street.
   The Wertheimer Market has been specializing in the selecting, cutting and selling of beefsteaks for big eating affairs since the turn of the century.  They supplied meat for "Beefsteak" Tom McGowan who was the big beefsteak functionary (arranging beefsteaks as a hobby) until his death in 1924.  Then the Wertheimers took over as there was no one else around wanting Tom's job.
   No chefs in the shop, but they will engage chefs and waiters and set a party in action and keep it smooth-running without extra fees.  That to be obliging and because Sidney Wertheimer has a great respect for meat and doesn't want his fine steaks ruined by poor preparation.
(Long article cut--ed.)
   During the prohibition years the beefsteak degenerated, Sidney Wertheimer tells us, into polite little gatherings in home bars.  And (Col. 8--ed.) women were there.  And women are a corruptive element.  They want to introduce napkins and fruit cups and such siliness.  Now the old fashioned beefsteak is come again to full flower.  Bear and meat on the menu; and rightfully only men on the guest list, but the women push in.  Since prohibition was outlawed the Wertheimer firm has been averaging 100 beefsteaks a year and that means parties where more than 100 pounds of beef are required.  Any amount sold under that doesn't count as a party.
   For home affairs, and these are usually women-planned, the meat firm cuts steak ready for the grill to ship from Florida to Maine.  They prepare exactly the same steaks for home entertaining as for gang affairs where men eat with their fingers and drink beer out of cans.