Johnnie's Cafe

George H. Jones operated a saloon at 1674 Mount Ephraim Avenue according to the 1918–1919 Camden City Directory. Prohibition was enacted in 1919, and liquor sales were banned. Many establishments remained open under “soft drink” licenses, selling low-alcohol-content beer. Harry F. and Margaret Purdy operated 1674 Mt. Ephraim Avenue as Purdy’s Cafe through at least October of 1931.

When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, a full liquor license was obtained for 1672 Mt. Ephraim Avenue, the corner of Mount Ephraim & Van Hook Street, in Camden NJ. In 1934 the bar was operating as Johnnie’s Cafe.

The Camden Courier-Post reported in June of 1939 that Henry Knauer received a renewal of the liquor license for 1674 Mount Ephraim Avenue. The Camden City Directories for 1940, 1943, and 1947 report Edward Knauer as the proprietor, and the 1947 Directory reports that Henry and John Knauer worked there as bartenders. During these years the bar was known as Knauer’s Cafe.

By 1956 the bar was owned and operated by William H. Hubert, and was known as Hubert’s Cafe into the 1970s. William H. Hubert had run a bar nearby, at 1200 Jackson Street, in the late 1940s. He passed away in the fall of 1973.

From the late 1970s through the late 1990s the bar was popularly known as Giacomo’s. New management stepped in around 1999, and a very bad crowd began frequenting the spot. The bar was shut permanently by 2001.