Thursday, September 19, 2024
There are a lot of unique things about Wisconsin, but I recently ran across a “Facebook” site that nails an aspect of my state that many of you will remember, but is fading away.
The site is called “Wisconsin Old Lady Bars,” it’s about a situation that was quite common when I was younger – the “ma and pa” corner tavern. Country bars were a family business, and when the husband passed away, sometimes quite prematurely, that “ma” continued to run the bar after she was widowed.
These usually had simple business plans — be a warm and friendly spot for the locals to congregate, maybe with kids or a dog in tow. They might serve hamburgers from a grill, or heat up a frozen pizza if you were hungry. Many did a small fish fry on Friday nights, with one person running the miniscule kitchen while another made the brandy old fashioneds or delivered cold tap beers in little glasses. The small glasses meant the bartender really had to keep hopping to keep them full.
The Facebook site contains hundreds of postings of people’s recollections of “old lady bars,” most long gone, but a few that are still active.
I remember the times when it was not appropriate for a woman to go to a bar alone, even a little local one; and I would guess that some looked a bit askance at a woman who ran a bar on their own. It probably took a bit of “gumption,” with the easier path selling out and finding a more traditional woman’s job once her partner died. If she had children, being in the bar all evening made it hard to manage the kids. For some, with a mortgage to pay off, it was an economic necessity to stay and make a go of it alone.
The term “Old Lady Bars” bothers me a bit. I don’t find the phrase “young ladies” objectionable, but when someone talks about old ladies it’s often in a derogatory way – “drives like an old lady,” is a good example. But I’d have trouble coming up with a better term than this highly recognizable one – “Senior female bartenders?” “Retirement age woman bartenders?”
I remember a few old lady bartenders; they were class acts.
Two I remember right off hand. Mike and I used to stop in at what was “Ada and Eddie’s” on the Peshtigo River quite often when we were dating. I never knew Eddie, but Ada was a favorite of ours. We’d shoot some pool and chat with her, always an enjoyable experience. I never heard anyone oafish enough to use foul language in front of that kindly lady. Later we’d come with our kids, who’d enjoy the pinball machine and an orange soda before we went down to the river to throw rocks.
The other was at the Evergreen Bar in Porterfield, which was our neighborhood bar when we lived on highway 180. Don and Bev Moberg owned it at the time, but occasionally Donnie’s mom would cover an evening bartending. She was always dressed as nicely behind the bar as she was when we saw her at church; she’d have a lady-like amount of blush on and a pretty pair of earrings. She was soft-spoken and sweet, and it felt like you were having a conversation with a kindly grandmother. We never witnessed any loutish behaviour when she was bartending; you immediately respected her and acted accordingly. And if anyone dared get disrespectful or crude when she was working, I bet the locals would have promptly shut that down.
It feels like it is less common for small bars to stay in the same family ownership very long these days; in fact, the tiny country neighborhood bars with their minimalist kitchens are an endangered species. We pass many of them, run down and vacant, when we travel Wisconsin back roads. But according to the Facebook site, there’s still a few around; worth a stop for the memories these women evoke in me. The site has a real charm to it for those of us of my age.
I welcome commentary, alternative viewpoints or ideas at this e-mail address: JanieTMartin@gmail.com
Janie Thibodeau Martin
