“Hudson River ale” is a jocular slang term that was used in some New York City restaurants for “water.” The seldom-used term was cited in print in 1936 and is of historical interest today.
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February 1936, American Speech, “Linguistic Concoctions of the Soda Jerker” by Harold W. Bentley, pg. 41:
And for water: Aqua pura, Chaser of Adam’s Ale, City Cocktail, City juice, Dog soup, Hudson River ale, ...
2 March 1936, Cleveland (OH) Plain Dealer, “Soda Jerkers Dish Up Fancy Idioms” (AP), pg. 8, col. 8:
Water may be designated as “city cocktail,” “city juice,” “dog soup,” “Hudson River ale,” “Potomac phosphate,” “Lake Michigan straight” or “tin roof,” and jelly may be descriptively termed “nervous pudding, “shimmering Liz” or “shimmy.”
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Disappearing Foods: Studies in Foods and Dishes at Risk:
Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery 1994
Edited by Harlan Walker
Tolnes: Prospect Books
1995
Pg. 215:
‘One leg of a pair of drawers’
The American Soda Fountain Lingo
By Robin Weir
Pg. 219:
Hudson River ale...Water (!)
Google Books
Hash House Lingo:
The Slang of Soda Jerks, Short-Order Cooks, Bartenders, Waitresses, Carhops and Other Denizens of Yesterday’s Roadside
By Jack Smiley
Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, Inc.
2012 (Originally published in 1941)
Pg. 86:
Hudson River ale—water
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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