Benjamin Fogelman opened the original Benny The Bum’s (“Where the famous gather”) on the ground floor of the Regency Ballroom circa 1936.

On the second floor of the Regency Ballroom, internationally acclaimed African American artist Dox Thrash developed his influential carborundum printmaking technique while working at the Philadelphia Fine Print Workshop. The jobs for visual artists program was funded by the Federal Art Project of the Works Progress Administration.

At some point under the ownership of Alvin Fogelman, Benny The Bum’s moved to West Philly. The nightspot had jazz on the weekends.

The space was previously the home of the Red Rooster Café, the jazz club where John Coltrane met McCoy Tyner in 1957. The building is still there. It’s a bonus stop on All That Philly Jazz walking tour, Stroll Along the Strip.