Thread: A Fake Historical Pub

Doing some more thinking about my novel... My bar is in Long Island. Is it too ambitious to say my bar is 200 years old when the oldest bar in NYC is only 217? Bridge Cafe - Best Restaurant - Best Cafe & Tavern in NY f. 1794

If there's a bar that's 217 years old, why wouldn't a bar 200 years old be plausible? I'd be concerned about the location and what kind of development has taken place over that time that would allow it to survive in one place for so long. That's going to take some research.

The question is on ambition, not plausibility. I take it you mean, Razz, will the reader think you're being big-headed saying you have a bar that old? I doubt it. Most stories get away with audacious elements, in fact I think on some level readers expect it. They want things that are more than ordinary, elite, etc.

If you don't want to make it appear like a peen-contest, then you could throw into conversation somewhere that the original bar had burned down, and this one was designed and named after the one that was built here 200 years ago.

edit: But I'd also stand behind Joseph and Caelum's comments. I don't think 200 years old is unbelievable, audacious, or in anyway uncomfortable for the reader.

Originally Posted by Razzazzika

Doing some more thinking about my novel... My bar is in Long Island. Is it too ambitious to say my bar is 200 years old when the oldest bar in NYC is only 217? Bridge Cafe - Best Restaurant - Best Cafe & Tavern in NY f. 1794

Nah, what would be cool is if Captain Nemo hung out in there with Sam Spade and Amelia Earhardt. Where the discussions could go.