How do you get into Blind Bear?
We have not confirmed it. Blind Bear is in the directory because it calls itself a speakeasy, and that is the whole of what we can stand behind about its door.
Drinks of the era
We have not seen this venue’s own list, so what follows is the period rather than the bar: Jack Rose, Diamondback, and Brown Derby are all drinks of this era, and each links to its origin and its build.
Where Blind Bear sits
Blind Bear is in Memphis, Tennessee, in Shelby County, in the Deep South of the United States.
Our directory currently lists three speakeasies and hidden bars in Memphis — too few for a city guide of its own yet, so they sit on the Tennessee page until there are more.
Measured from the map pins, the closest of those to Blind Bear are Fat Charlie’s Speakeasy, about 2.1 km away and Bar 33 – Memphis Speakeasy, about 14.8 km away.
Tennessee holds 24 listed venues in this directory. See them all on our Tennessee speakeasy guide.
Prohibition in Tennessee
Tennessee did not wait for the federal government. Statewide prohibition took effect here in 1909, eleven years before the Eighteenth Amendment came into force nationally on 17 January 1920. By the time the Volstead Act was being enforced across the country, Tennessee already had an established illegal trade and the habits that went with it.
More on the period in our history of Prohibition in Tennessee.
What the newspapers recorded in Memphis
Searching the Library of Congress run of Tennessee newspapers for speakeasy, blind pig and bootlegger across 1920 to 1933 returns dated pages anyone can open. These are from Memphis:
- The news scimitar, June 23, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
- The news scimitar, December 8, 1920 — read the page at the Library of Congress
Planning a visit
You can reach Blind Bear by phone on (901) 417-8435 and through its own website.
The address is 119 S Main St Ste 100, Memphis, TN 38103. Open in Google Maps.
What we have confirmed
For Blind Bear we hold street address, telephone number, and official website. We do not yet hold social accounts, opening hours, a published drinks list, an online booking link, or a listed-building record.
It is in the directory because the description in the source data describes it as a speakeasy.
Overture Maps carries this venue; OpenStreetMap has no matching record.
The source data classifies the premises as a bar.