Sliding bookcase

A sliding bookcase is a bookcase that is designed to slide, and it typically used to hide the presence of secret rooms or spaces.[1] Sliding bookcases were used in the United States during prohibition to hide liquor.[2] They have also been used to conceal entrances to bars and marijuana grow operations. People have hidden in secret rooms concealed by sliding bookcases to escape detection during police raids.[3][4] Safe rooms, also known as panic rooms, may be concealed by sliding bookcases.[4] Sliding bookcases may be designed to slide and to swing open using hinges.[5] Several places in the world have sliding bookcases. They have also been portrayed in works of fiction, such as library environments, and in elements of popular culture such as television shows.

Places with sliding bookcases

Sliding bookcases have been installed by homeowners[5][6] and builders. Sliding bookcases have been used to conceal rooms where marijuana growing operations have occurred.[7] In Bradford Leigh, a hamlet in Wiltshire, England, police discovered a large hidden room with 600 cannabis plants that was concealed by a hinged bookcase.[7]

Anne Frank House

The (reconstructed) movable bookcase that covered the entrance to the Secret Annex at the Anne Frank House

During World War II at the Anne Frank House, Anne Frank hid from Nazi persecution with her family and four other people in hidden rooms at the rear of the 17th-century canal house, known as the Secret Annex (Dutch: Achterhuis). The rooms were concealed by a movable bookcase.[8] Anne Frank did not survive the war, but in 1947 her wartime diary was published.

Bars

The Back Room in New York City has a second "hidden" bar within it concealed by a sliding bookcase.[9][10] The Firehouse Hostel and Lounge in Austin, Texas has a sliding bookcase that leads to the bar.[11] The Parlour is a bar in Jacksonville, Florida that has an entrance which is concealed by a sliding bookcase.[12] It also has an unmarked alley door that has a black awning.[12] The Speakeasy was a theater and club experience in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco that occurred in January-March 2013 that included the feature of a sliding bookcase that led to "Club 23", a bar and casino parlor.[13] Club 23 was opened after the show, and only "select few patrons" were allowed entrance.[13] Additional entrances included two fake walls.[13]

Bredlau Castle

The Bredlau Castle in Lake Elsinore, California has a sliding bookcase that reveals an area used to hide liquor during prohibition in the United States.[2]

Pixar

Pixar's location in Emeryville, California had a hidden room hidden by a sliding bookcase.[14] It was initially discovered by Pixar animator Andrew Gordon, who opened a hatch door in his office that revealed a hidden room that was designed to provide maintenance workers "access to a portion of the building's ventilation system".[14] Gordon eventually converted the room into a full bar with furniture and carpet, and added a camera in the office aimed at the door to provide warning about anyone approaching.[14] The space was called "Lucky 7 Lounge" and the "Love Lounge".[14] The sliding bookcase was made operational by "a switch hidden in a bust of Shakespeare".[14] The hidden room is on the DVD of "Toy Story 3" as a bonus feature, which is narrated by Gordon.[14]

In fiction

Libraries in fiction have sometimes been characterized as existent in secret rooms, hidden by sliding bookcases.[15]

In popular culture

The Batman television series had a sliding bookcase that was activated by a hidden switch located inside of a bust of Shakespeare.[16] When the bookcase slid open, the Batpoles that the actors slid down to go to the Batcave were revealed.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Connell, J. (2004). Creating the Inspired House: Discovering Your Place Called Home. Taunton Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-56158-691-2.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Greene, E.J. (2005). Lake Elsinore. Images of America. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4396-1447-1.
  3. ↑ Ash, Allison (December 30, 2014). "Encinitas woman arrested for running alleged 'drug house' is a no-show in court". 10News. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Ramirez, Chris (January 29, 2009). "Stripper pole, booze found at teen party". Amarillo Globe-News. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 MMK (September 17, 2014). "14 Secret Bookcase Doors, Always Fun And Always Mysterious". Architecture & Design. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  6. ↑ Underwood, Lynn (February 22, 2014). "Bungalow makeover is eco-friendly - and cat-friendly". The Record Courier. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Hartley-parkinson, Richard (January 30, 2012). "A licence to deal: James Bond-style sliding bookcase leads police to hidden cannabis farm and haul of deadly shotguns". Daily Mail. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  8. ↑ Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, B.; Shandler, J. (2012). Anne Frank Unbound: Media, Imagination, Memory. The Modern Jewish Experience. Indiana University Press. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-253-00755-1.
  9. ↑ Lescroart, J.; Inc., Let's Go; Walsh, S.; Zimmerman, M. (2009). Roadtripping USA. Let's Go: Roadtripping USA. St. Martin's Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-312-38583-5. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Best Secret Bar". New York. May 2, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  11. ↑ Salem, Gracie (August 8, 2014). "Behind the Case". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Rich, Jamie (November 10, 2013). "The Preservationists at the Parlour". First Coast Magazine. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Frojo, Renée (December 31, 2013). "Tenderloin Speakeasy prepares for super-secret show". San Francisco Business Times. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Moyer, Edward (May 19, 2012). "Getting in on the secret of Pixar's 'hidden' speakeasy". CNET. Retrieved May 2, 2015.
  15. ↑ "The Library World". Volume 6. Library Supply Company. 1904. pp. 126–130.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Nagy, Andrew (May-June 2014). "Secret Doors". Cigar Aficionado. Accessed May 2, 2015.