Ninety years later, some of the world's most renowned bars are similarly hidden away, but only to keep an aura of exclusivity.
Serving classic cocktails, albeit often with a modern twist, they disguise themselves in increasingly ingenious ways so that you truly have to be in the know to get in.
Here are seven of the best.
As one of the spiritual homes of the speakeasy, New York has to come near the top of any speakeasy list.
No secret bar in the city is as renowned as PDT.
An acronym for Please Don't Tell, this East Village legend is accessed via a phone booth in a hot dog joint called Crif Dogs.
Mixologist Jim Meehan creates brilliant, innovative twists on classics, served to a few drinkers at a time (no standing allowed) kicking back in leather booths and admiring the taxidermy.
PDT recently popped up for a month at Hong Kong's Landmark Mandarin Hotel, to great success.
PDT, 113 St. Marks Place, New York; +1 212 614 0386
Bank Bar (Manila, Philippines)
Bank Bar's Nutter Club cocktail.
Manila's burgeoning new Fort district is home to scores of bars and restaurants, none more surprising than Bank Bar.
It may seem like a seriously cheap night out when your date walks you into a 7-Eleven, but there's a surprise in store.
Look for the storeroom -- there are two, many have been caught out -- and walk through, past the provisions to a heavy curtain that pulls aside to reveal Bank Bar.
Inside is a surprisingly large bar with a huge collection of bottles, a buzzing young crowd, cigar room and DJs.
Among the menu highlights is the Nutter Club, made with London dry gin, lemon-pistachio meringue, Angostura bitters and a pistachio salt rim.
Bank Bar, G/F, RCBC Savings Bank Corporate Center, 26th St., Bonifacio Global City, Manila, Philippines; +63 (0)2 544 5776
Ounce (Taipei, Taiwan)
In Taipei, Ounce is a cocktail bar hidden away behind a secret door in an unassuming neighborhood cafe.
Opened in 2012, it celebrates all things infused, fermented and distilled.
Don't expect a menu.
Staff speak to every client lucky enough to get in, focusing on delivering a cocktail that fits exactly what they want, be that a classic or an impromptu creation.
