[Poetry] Face on the Bar Room Floor--Signed with Signed Postcard of The Old Pine Tavern, Jefferson, Ohio

Item Details

[Poetry] Face on the Bar Room Floor--Signed with Signed Postcard of The Old Pine Tavern, Jefferson, Ohio

Mimeo copy measures 14 x 8 5 inches, previously folded into quarters. Several small holes along margin plus at folds. mildly soiled. Verso blank. Good condition.

Mimeograph copy of the famous poem "Face on the Bar Room Floor" signed by John Henry Titus. The poem supposedly written in 1872 has remained popular and has been referred to numerous times in movies and pop culture. True authorship remains in dispute with two authors, Hugh Antoine d'Arcy and John Henry Titus claiming title to the poem. 

John Henry Titus' 1947 obituary in the New York Times states "Mr. Titus never established a clear title to authorship of the famous poem. Most of the glory has gone to Hugh Antoine D’Arcy, an actor of the Eighties and Nineties, who had told a convincing story of its origin before his death in 1925 at the age of 82.

Unbiased observers have held that both claimants appeared to be in the right to some extent—that both had written different sets of verses on the same theme in widely different styles. Mr. Titus’ version was published in the Ashtabula (Ohio) Sentinel in 1872, while the poet was working as a tanner in Jefferson, O. The D’Arcy version appeared in the New York Dispatch in 1887." 

Our copy is signed by Titus in ink possibly in 1932; a pencil notation at top reads, "60 years ago". Another pencil notation at bottom reads "90 years 1st of Feb."  This mimeo copy has several dropped letters which have been replaced in manuscript. 

The signed printed photo postcard is of the Old Pine Tavern in Jefferson, Ohio, copyright 1934. "Birthplace of the author and spot of spectacular scene in "The Face on the Br Room Floor."

An intriguing set of Americana items.