The Ghosts of Sophie's Past

I'm not too sure of the details of this picture, when exactly it was taken or how it was acquired. All I know is that it's a picture taken in the storefront at 507 E. 5th Street, in the space that is now Sophie's. This past Monday evening at Sophie's, Jessica the bartender brought this photo out and several of us were gathered around it speculating as to when it was taken. We figured somewhere between 1890 and 1900, most notably because those appear to electric, and not gas, lamps hanging from the ceiling. Apparently the photograph was discovered by the current landlord of the building, who is related to some people who owned the building a few generations ago. Again, I'm sorry I don't know the specifics (and that this is such a poor copy shot taken with my cellphone). But me being the photography/history buff that I am, this image casts a certain spell over me. Never would I have guessed that this space has changed so little over the course of an entire century. I mean, it looks exactly the same as it does today (see below for comparison). The bar is in the same location and places to sit are on the right side as you walk in. Of course there isn't a pool table anywhere in this photo, and the windows in the back haven't been boarded up yet. But I just love the guy seated in the front all the way to the right and how he's holding his playing cards. It's definitely got a bit of a Jacob Riis "Bandits' Roost" feel, straight out of the pages of Luc Sante's "Low Life."