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"A seedy speakeasy for the rogues of New York’s magical community."
— Description of the speakeasy[src]

The Blind Pig was a wizarding speakeasy and jazz club that operated during the 1920s in New York.[2][3][4][5] Located at 124 Macdougal Street, its entrance was magically disguised by an enchanted advertisement.[1][6]

Atmosphere[]

Accessed via an enchanted poster in a seedy New York back alley, The Blind Pig was an underground bar and hangout for down-and-outs of the American wizarding world. There amongst the smoke and grime, patrons would likely see dodgy dealings, goblin jazz singers and house-elves serving gigglewater.[7]

History[]

The-Blind-Pig-Poster

The magical Art Nouveau-styled poster at the entrance of ‘The Blind Pig’ speakeasy

The Bling Pig was owned by a goblin gangster, Gnarlak.[2][3][4]

The pub also had a goblin band that played jazz. The band features a lot of different instruments that needed to be played but only four goblins to play them all so, out of practical necessity, the overworked goblin that acted as the brass section became a multi-instrumentalist. A singer was also added and the quartet of players became a trio.[7]

The establishment was apparently frequented by prostitutes and criminals.[8][9] A giant was also a known visitor to the Blind Pig in 1926. Newt Scamander visited The Blind Pig while looking for information about the trouble befalling New York in 1926 and spoke with the owner Gnarlak in person.[2]

Drinks[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • "Blind pig" is an old American slang term for a speakeasy.[10] The term derives from a practice that certain speakeasy operators used to circumvent prohibition, whereby they would charge customers an admission fee to view a curiosity (typically an animal), then serve them a complementary alcoholic beverage.[11] This practice allowed them to serve alcohol while technically obeying the ban on its sale.[11]
  • Alcohol remained legal under the wizarding government of the United States during the period that the country's No-Maj government enforced prohibition in the 1920s and early 1930s.[12] This raises the question of how a wizarding pub like The Blind Pig could be considered a "speakeasy" when alcohol was legal. Critics of the MACUSA's policy on alcohol argued that its legality made wizards and witches stand out in crowded cities where the majority of the population were No-Majs living under prohibition.[12] Thus, it's possible that wizarding saloons could be considered "speakeasies" in the sense that they had to operate clandestinely, so as not to attract the attention of No-Maj authorities and reveal the existence of the wizarding world. It's also possible that some wizarding pubs were unlicensed because they were run and/or frequented by criminals. The Blind Pig, being run by a gangster and apparently frequented by prostitutes, would seem to fit this bill.
  • On a non-magical note: the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa has a place that, in student parlance, is called "The Blind Pig". This place is the Postgraduate (PG) Club; the nickname comes from the fact that "there is no "I" in Postgraduate!"

Appearances[]

Wiki
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Notes and references[]

New York, NY, USA
NewYork
Streets 43rd Street · 44th Street · 5th Avenue · 6th Avenue · Barclay Street · Broadway · Brooklyn Bridge · Canal Street · Centre Street · East 73rd Street · Lexington Avenue · Lispenard Street · Macdougal Street · Manhattan Bridge · Mercer Street · Monroe Street · Pike Street · Rivington Street · Times Square · W. Elsworth Street · West 24th Street
Boroughs The Bronx · Brooklyn · Manhattan · Queens
Neighbourhoods 11th District · Diamond District · Liberty Island · Broadway · Tribeca
No-Maj places of interest Alonzo Zema Paper & Twine (439 Rivington Street) · Blanchard & Gable · Brobeck Theatre · Brockman Theatre · C. D. McLeod's Bargain Store and Curiosity Shop · Central Park · Central Park Zoo · Clipper Building · Columbia Bank · E. Wheeler Multigraph Machine Co. · Garrice & Sonnleitner Co. (241 Barclay Street) · Ginzberg Delaunay · Glovers Comedy Theatre · Jacob Kowalski's apartment (435 Rivington Street) · Janek & Pelowski Co. Handkerchiefs · The Kingly Court · Kowalski Quality Baked Goods (443 Rivington Street) · L. Caruso Music · M. N. Hora Co. · M. Voltolini & Co. · Macy's · Moreton Dale Canning Factory · New York City Hall · Orpheum · Pegasi Theatre · S.J. Bernstein Watches · Second Salem Church · Shaw Tower · Singer Building · Sovereign Theatre · Statue of Liberty · Steen National Bank (1790 6th Avenue) · V. Hahn's antiques shop (239 Barclay Street) · Valerie Valion Perfumers · Voclain & Co. · W. C. Morritt Theatre · Warners' Theatre · Woolworth Building (233 Broadway)
Wizarding places of interest The Blind Pig (124 Macdougal Street) · Ebbingdales Wonders for Wizards · Fleury's Fancy Fauna (33 Centre Street) · Goldstein sisters' apartment (679 West 24th Street) · Magical Congress of the United States of America (233 Broadway) · McTawny Broomsticks · The New York Academy of House-Elf Training · Wizard Broadway
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