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According to a Post Gazette article by Barbara Cloud in 1999, the owners of the Sewickley Speakeasy restaurant wanted the cement wall down by the road to be
a window to the restaurant.
The images in the long mural include friends and parents of the owner as well as the bartender of the Speakeasy, but other figures are of celebrities from another era. WC Fields is easily recognized. Lena Horne, Gary Cooper and Marlene Dietrich take you back to Old Hollywood. The time frame, of course, is meant to connect to the name of the restaurant.
In an Allegheny Times article, Sandra Fischione Donovan describes each of the panels:
- Three guests at the entrance. Rudolf Valentino is whispering the password and other European celebrities of the era wait for admittance.
- Caesar Romero and Marlene Dietrich add romance to this panel while a waiter passes by. Luis Armstrong is shown to their right. His portrait was influenced by the style of artist Henry O. Tanner.
- Clara Bow, bartender Michael McLaughlin, Al Capone, Izzy Einstein (a prohibition officer), Paul Pivaronas (stepson of the owner), Moe Smith (another prohibition officer) and Joseph Baker.
- A scene from the main dining room with Greta Garbo, owner Deb Pivaronas, George Gershwin (playing the piano) and Ike and Betty Hardman (parents of the owner).
- Movie star William Powell, Bette Davis, rum runner Joe Kennedy, Gloria Swanson, Jean Harlow, Rudolf Valentino, Myrna Loy and Gary Cooper
- A tribute to the Cotton Club, this panel has Bill
Bojangles
Robinson and Lena Horne with Mae West in a huge hat.
We've been unable to locate a photo of this mural when it was in good condition.
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