ABSTRACT
Possibly the embattled editors of the Masses, returning from court in the late summer of 1918, may have paused in the center of Washington Square for a look around as newly free men out from under an indictment for sedition. Doing this, they would—with the clear new eyes of freedom— note that quite a few changes were taking place in their beloved Village. For one thing, there seemed to be greater numbers of uptowners arriving at the Washington Square terminus of the open-top Fifth Avenue buses. For another, visitors to Bohemia no longer seemed to fan out vaguely in search of quaint restaurants such as the one where the waiter sneered “Bourgeois pigs!” at inoffensive diners. After clambering down from the tops of the buses, most of these trippers seemed to walk with purposeful stride to 58 Washington Square South, where a compelling sign noted the location on the top floor of Bruno's Garret.
