Jolly Cork

We take the name of our bar and restaurant area from the Jolly Corks, a group of New York actors and entertainers with a penchant for good times. They were so named for a clever trick using a bottle cork, performed for the uninitiated to win rounds of drinks. In 1867,an Englishman by the name of Charles Vivian arrived in new York following a successful theatrical career in London and shared with them his desire to create a fraternal organization akin to the English Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. Seeking a uniquely American animal, Vivian chose the Elk for its peaceful and protective nature, and, inspired by a speech by the famous novelist Charles Dickens, included the ideal of benevolence into our name. Thus, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks was born. As membership grew, the vision of the Order also grew to include charitable works in the community, and in February 1868, the BPOE was formally chartered to the ideals of Charity, Justice, Brotherly Love, and Fidelity.