Celebrate the 21st Amendment (Part 1)

Conveniently landing on a Saturday this year, December 5th marks the highpoint of the holiday season -- the 96th anniversary of the ratification of the <a  href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty-first_Amendment_to_the_United_States_Constitution>21st Amendment</a> and the repeal of Prohibition.  Why not mark the occasion at one or two of Seattle's oldest bars -- establishments that have been around since the end of prohibition and sometimes longer?  The Seattle area has a number of bars dating back to 1933 or 1934, and not all of them are in Pioneer Square or the Pike Place Market areas.  Let's begin with some historical sites that even many long-time locals tend to miss.

The Double Header - 407 2nd Ave - Bar since 1934

Seattle now has the second largest LBGT community in the U.S., but relatively few people recognize that hidden behind an undistinguished dive exterior in Pioneer Square is a bar that once was the gay mecca of the west, and which has a solid claim to be the oldest continually running gay bar in the country.  The "mecca" perhaps more aptly applied to the bar downstairs, the infamous "Casino" in the space currently occupied by Heavens nightclub, and the Double Header has not been dominated by gay patrons since gay culture shifted to Capitol Hill in the 70s.  But it retains a mixed, if smaller, straighter, and more sedate crowd, and remains a silent testament to drag queens dancing on tables, the occasional fights between lesbians and visiting sailors, and celebrity visitors from Rudolph Nureyev to Johnny Ray to Margot Fonteyn to Tallulah Bankhead (who is said to have entered ringing a cowbell and shouting, 'Avon calling all you beautiful mother ****ers!"

Here is a snippet from HistoryLink.org, which quotes from Paulson and Simpson's "An evening at the Garden of Allah:"

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In most cities, men were not allowed to dance together. The Casino paid Seattle policemen "protection money" and there men danced happily with other men. Nicknamed "Madame Peabody’s Dancing Academy for Young Ladies," the Casino was considered the most open place for gays on the West Coast.  Shortly after the Casino opened, a new patron, Vilma (1912-1993) visited the Pool Room. "Vilma," one of Seattle's "best known gay men," arrived in Seattle in 1930. He worked in the Double Header Tavern, a gay bar, on the weekends until the illness that led to his death in 1993. He was interviewed in the early 1990s. Following is a description of his first visit:

"Two friends of mine [had] visited Seattle and raved about it. That’s all I heard, Seattle, Seattle, Seattle and this fabulous place called the Casino and all the neat kids there....  The Casino was the only place on the West Coast that was so open and free for gay people. But John [Delevitti] paid off the police; he was good at working the payoff system."

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More on Seattle's oldest bars over the next few days.

<a href=http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/view?q=kbar%20%22double%20header%22&uname=peterga&psc=G&filter=0#>More photos from the Double Header</a>

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<b>Read more:</b>

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A very informative book on the history of gay bars and culture in Seattle is <i>An evening at the Garden of Allah: a gay cabaret in Seattle</i>, by Don Paulson, Roger Simpson.  Used copies are available on Amazon and a portion of the book is available online <a href=http://books.google.com/books?id=CU-9C9ubAK8C>here</a>  Entertaining snippets of Double Header and Casino history, usually relying in large part of the Paulson's work, can be found at <a href=http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews35_40/page13.cfm>SGN</a>, <a  href=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=1167>historylink</a>, <a href=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=4154>historylink again</a> and the <a href=http://www.seattlepi.com/local/320946_doubleheader23.html>Seattle PI</a>.

Questions for Paulson:

• How solid is the claim to the oldest continually running gay bar in the country?
• Who is in the painting?  (Vilma?)

References:

http://books.google.com/books?id=CU-9C9ubAK8C

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=1167

http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=4154

http://www.sgn.org/sgnnews35_40/page13.cfm

http://www.seattlepi.com/local/320946_doubleheader23.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_LGBT_community_in_Seattle

Celebrate the 21st Amendment (Part 2)

In honor of this Saturday's anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition, we continue to our look at some of the oldest bars in the Seattle area.  This post again focuses on some of the lesser known historic bars in the Seattle area.

The Cabin - Est. 1933 - Shoreline

The Cabin is in a now surburban neighborhood where you'd never stumble upon it if you weren't seeking it explicitly or lived next door. But it was a working port with a few summer homes when the structure was built in 1927, and when, in 1933 it received one of the first five or six post-prohibition liquor licenses in the state of Washington, and became what is now the oldest continually running business in Shoreline.

The Cabin has better than average tavern food, a good selection of beers and standard drinks, and a very nice patio area where you can see the sound. But what gives the place it's essential character is the undulating floor and bar as the place has unevenly settled over the years after being moved on (and apparently left on) logs.  The unique slant -- which may make one feel wobbly even before your first drink -- makes The Cabin well worth a drive to Richmond Beach.

Celebrate the 21st Amendment (Part 3)

This post continues the discussion of some of Seattle's oldest bars in honor of the upcoming anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition (Sat. Dec 5).

The Oldest Bar in Seattle

Establishing the date of origin of Seattle's oldest bars and determining which is the <i>oldest</i> bar in Seattle is a more complex undertaking than it may seem.  Not only do a few of these dates rely on hearsay history or just dates written on old photos, but the decision is sometimes further complicated by a succession of different owners and businesses in the space, which may or may not have retained the name and may or may not have been bars at all.  Of course if we require that an establishment has been continuously running as (legal) bar, then none can date further back than the ratification of the 21st Amendment in December 1933.  But I mark a contemporary bar's start date as either 1) the earliest date a bar was established in the same physical space (regardless of any non-bar businesses intervening between then and now); or 2) the earliest date some location first used a continuously maintained business name.  Let's first discuss one of my favorite bars, and one which commonly makes the claim to Seattle's oldest.

Jules Maes

Jules Maes is fairly commonly reported as having been established in 1888, and ergo Seattle's oldest bar.  This date is displayed prominently in signs within the bar itself, and various media reports have Jules Maes himself <a href=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19960310&slug=2318127>running a saloon/speakeasy from the location</a> since that date.  However, I have found little evidence to confirm that claim, and based on the <a href=http://www.georgetownhistory.com/2008/04/brick-store-georgetowns-oldest-brick.html>most comprehensive histories</a> I could find, this cannot be true. The building was constructed in 1898, it was first a saloon in 1907, and it was first leased to Jules Maes in 1936 (Jules attended and/or owned other bars in the area in the early 1900s, but not earlier). Thus I see no credible way to date it back to 1888, and I count its date of origin as a bar on 1907.  I do so even though it has not been a bar at all times since that date (of course no building was officially a bar through Prohibition) and even though Jules Maes himself did not lease it (and rename it) until 1936.

Even though I don't count Jules as Seattle's oldest, I do think that more than any other bar it does preserve that great vintage saloon feel.  And I am delighted that it remains in business despite many scares, such as the time of its sale in 2000 when it was <a href=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/a-real-reason-to-drink/Content?oid=4033>widely assumed</a> that it would be shut down as a bar.  And if <i>any</i> bar in Seattle would be haunted, surely it would be Jules Maes, which inspired a recent ghost story set in the joint written by <a href=http://stalkerfuni.com/Page_7_ARW0.html>Funi Daniels</a>

The Pioneer Square Elders

If we place the start date of Jules Maes at 1907 or later, where does that leave the search for Seattle's oldest bar?  From what I can find, it leaves us smack in the middle of the tourists, and the three Pioneer Square classics: <b>Merchants Cafe</a> (1890), the <b>Central Saloon/Tavern</b> (1892), <b>Doc Maynards</b> (1890s) and the <b>J&M Cafe</b> (1902).  Of course Merchants too claims to be the oldest bar in Seattle, and indeed the oldest restaurant on the West coast continually running in its current location.  The claim looks fairly well-founded, although "continually running" should be used with caution, e.g. in 2006 the business was shut down for several months after the landlord evicted the owner and did some remodeling.  Merchants arose, as we all know, out of the ashes of the <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Seattle_FireGreat Seattle Fire</a> of 1889.  It was designed by W. E. Boone (a direct descendent of Daniel Boone) in "a very pared down version of the Victorian style with elements of Richardsonian Romanesque/ early Chicago School." (<a href=http://web1.seattle.gov/DPD/historicalsite/QueryResult.aspx?ID=1105417527>seattle.gov</a>)  Merchants' history and its grand 30-foot bar make it a fine choice for your Repeal Day celebration.

Doc Maynard's was not actually owned by Doc Maynard, but it is routinely refered to as occupying the refurbished space of an 1890s public house, and this seems quite credible given that it is in the Pioneer Building, which was built in 1891.  Dating "Doc Maynard's" itself back to the date of this earlier pub may be a bit questionable, but this is how I mark it given the guidelines described above.  The Central was established as in 1892 as "Watson Bros. Famous Restaurant," and claims to be the "oldest saloon in Seattle," (perhaps because Merchants refers to itself as a "cafe"?).  Watson Bros. was renamed "The Seattle Bar" in 1901, and then again to the "Central Cafe" in 1919.  And while it may not be particularly relevant to Prohibition, the Central of course played a much larger role in recent Seattle music history, as throughout the 80s it was the steadiest of a very small number of clubs that would regularly host interesting music, including many fondly remembered sets by the little known local bands Nirvana, Mudhoney, Alice in Chains, and Soundgarden, as well as college station favorites like Sonic Youth and Janes Addiction.

The J&M Cafe could have made its own claim to being Seattle's oldest bar, as Messrs. Jamison and McFarland opened their bar in 1889, even though they did not move into the "new" location until 1902.  The J&M Cafe didn't attract the sort of crowd I enjoy, but it always seemed packed on weekend nights, which made it all the more shocking when it closed earlier this year.  While I won't miss the frat-like crowd and the cover bands, I will miss its grand Australian mahogany bar and cathedral ceilings.  The J&M closing reminds us how suddenly these venerable establishments can disappear forever, so go out and support your local saloon on Repeal Day!

More references:

Central MySpace Content - Link