The Live and Let Live Oyster Saloon

The name (or motto) of the saloon does not, of course, apply to the oysters. What it was meant to refer to was the cheapness of the oysters, as is revealed in an 1860 court case over the phrase "Live and Let Live."

The New York Clipper ad dates from 1853. Seven years later the saloon was owned by George W. Chadsey and Myron A. Decker, who were sued in that year by Erastus Genin. Genin said that he had run an oyster saloon at 212 Broadway for the past 14 years, under the name "Live and Let Live." Genin's saloon was in the same building as Barnum's American Museum (it was probably around the corner on Fulton Street, in the picture on the left). Barnum was among the witnesses who submitted an affidavit in court conforming that Genin had a right to the name.

Chadsey and Decker pointed out that there were at least three other oyster saloons in New York with the same name (which they did not bother to prove). And, they noted, the phrase "Live and Let Live" was a common motto - Genin had not invented it.

But the judge felt that "it is established that a party may acquire a property in words used as a sign exclusively by him for a considerable time." He ruled in Genin's favor. This is an interesting early case of trademark rights, predating the first successful US trademark legislation by more than 20 years.

The ad is from the New York Clipper, 1853. The 1860 picture of Broadway at Fulton from NYPL Digital Gallery.

Sources

"Another Trade-Mark Case," New York Times, Dec. 27, 1860, p. 2.
"Property in a Sign - The Case of the 'Live and Let Live' Saloon," New York Times, Fe. 19, 1861, p.3.