Harry’s Bar

Harry’s Bar was opened in 1931 by bartender Giuseppe Cipriani . According to the company’s history, Harry Pickering—a rich, young American had been frequenting Hotel Europa in Venice, where Giuseppe Cipriani was a bartender. When Pickering suddenly stopped coming to the hotel bar, Cipriani asked him why. When Pickering explained that he was broke because his family found out his drinking habits and cut him off financially, Cipriani lent him 10,000 lire (about $500 US [$7,839 in 2015 dollars]). Two years later, Pickering returned to the hotel bar, ordered a drink, and gave Cipriani 50,000 lire in return. “Mr. Cipriani, thank you,” he said, according to the Cipriani website. “Here’s the money. And to show you my appreciation, here’s 40,000 more, enough to open a bar. We will call it Harry’s Bar.”

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