Keens Steakhouse: the Clay Pipe Collection Hanging From the Ceiling

Keens Steakhouse is a restaurant opened in New York in 1885, famed for the tens of thousands of clay pipes hanging from its ceiling. Its significance to pipe history comes not from its kitchen but from having carried the custom of patrons leaving their own pipes in the restaurant's keeping into the twentieth century.

Today the establishment is said to hold more than fifty thousand pipes, making it one of the largest hoards of clay pipes gathered under a single roof.

Founding and the Herald Square Years

Its founder, Albert Keen, ran the New York branch of the London-founded theatrical and literary club the Lambs Club before opening the restaurant. In 1885 he founded his own independent restaurant under his name. The establishment sat right in the heart of Herald Square, the era's theater district, and became a gathering place for actors, producers, journalists, and publishers. For a long time the restaurant admitted men only. In 1905 this rule went to court: the stage actress Lillie Langtry, refused entry, sued and won. Keens is located today at 72 West 36th Street and is regarded as the last surviving establishment from Herald Square's old theater district.