Paris 1951: The American Connection

I have heard nothing back from Le Bistrot regarding the former occupant of their location, Au Porte d'Attache.

Today, I sent a similar request to the property management firm, G. Mauduit, which occupies the ground floor of, and presumably manages, the apartment building 36 rue Pigalle, the location of the late Morgan of Oregon, American Bar (The Only Yank in Montmartre). I am hopeful that a real estate firm may know more of the history of their property than a mere successor cafe, in the case of Le Bistrot, does.

My next step, if this line proves unfruitful, will be to try the Paris government property records. (The Hotel Metropole is no longer a hotel and I doubt any of the residents has the slightest knowledge of the history of the building. Also, I have no names or contact info for any of the residents, anyway.) I presume records of sale/purchase transactions, business licenses, etc. are all held at the city level and not the arrondissement.

I wonder what the possibilities of tracking down/identifying Mr. Morgan are?

UPDATE:

Imagine my surprise. I found a reference to Morgan of Oregon, of all places, in a copy of the June 2006 Pawcatuck Pilot, Official Newsletter of USS Pawcatuck AO-108 which reprints a section of a 1952 story of an apocryphal amalgamation of an engineer named "Alfred." As the tale recounts . . .

". . . His greatest sight was the Follies [sic] Bergere, in which he took part as a jockey on a wooden horse. After a day of events, he would always end up in Pigalle at Morgan’s of Oregon, an American bar. He would sit and talk for hours on end to anyone who was within earshot. After spending his last francs he would go to the door and leave and fall back at the sight, for outside was sunlight...then starting another day. After gathering his senses he would take his friend, Mrs. Morgan, and everyone else in the party to the Market Square for Onion Soup—the best in the world.. . ."

So, Mr. Morgan may, in fact, be Mrs. Morgan.

The game is afoot!