1950s (22)

Business · Madison 602 Club 602 Club was a Madison, Wisconsin tavern at 602 University Avenue, opened in 1951 by Dudley Howe in a former bar called "The House of Sparkling Glasses." Known for its tolerant atmosphere, it was supp Business · Milwaukee Bull Ring Bull Ring was a discreet gay bar at 1250 N. 12th Street, near the former Mount Sinai Hospital, operated by Reginald LeClaire from about 1953 to 1962. The building, at the corner of 12th and McKinley, Business · Milwaukee Clifton Tap Clifton Tap was one of Milwaukee's earliest known gay bars, operating as the tavern of the Clifton House Hotel at 336 W. Juneau Street through the 1940s and 1950s until about 1965. Run by William Mans Business · Milwaukee Club 26 North Avenue that began as a jazz venue drawing nationally known performers and later embraced the 1950s drag floor-show craze. Among its featured acts, the international drag performer Billie Herrero Business · Milwaukee Diplomat Musical Lounge The Diplomat Musical Lounge opened in August 1958 in a former Pabst tied-house saloon on Milwaukee's West Juneau Avenue. After new operators redecorated the space in vivid colors, it became a flashy, G Business · Green Bay Gail's Bar Gail's Bar is the earliest documented bar acknowledged as "gay" in the Fox Valley area of Wisconsin. It was run by Gail Rachels, wife of former Green Bay mayor Otto Rachels. The Spartacus American Bic Business · Milwaukee Gay 90's Gay 90's was a Milwaukee bar that operated from 1945 to 1968 across three successive locations, ending at 433 W. Michigan Street next to the Royal Hotel. A contributor remembered the "Old Gay 90s" as Business · Milwaukee Gaytime Bar Gaytime Bar was a Milwaukee tavern at 731 N. 4th Street that operated from the mid-1940s until 1968. It opened as a renamed successor to Sally's Cocktail Bar, a venue popular with gay men that had dra Business · Madison Kollege Klub Kollege Klub was founded in 1953 by Jack Meier and his sons at 714 State Street in Madison, Wisconsin, on the site of the earlier Campus Soda Grill. While primarily a student beer bar, it was listed i Business · Milwaukee Lampost Bar The Lampost Bar operated at 440 W. Michigan Street in downtown Milwaukee from about 1946 to 1963. Owned by brothers Charles and John Piscuine, it was a long-standing underground gambling venue that dr Business · Milwaukee Mary's Tap Mary's Tap, also called Mary's Tavern, was an early Milwaukee tavern at 400 N. Plankinton Avenue that counted gay patrons as a significant part of its clientele in the late 1950s. Previously known as Business · Milwaukee Mint Bar The Mint Bar had one of the longest histories of any Milwaukee gay bar. Opened by Christ Mares on New Year's Day 1949 at 422 W. State Street, two decades before Stonewall, the small, cozy tavern was a Business · Milwaukee New Yorker Lounge The New Yorker Lounge operated at the northwest corner of 5th and Michigan in downtown Milwaukee from 1952 until July 1975. Originally run by former Milwaukee police officer George Bemis, it appeared Business · Milwaukee Pink Glove Pink Glove was an exceptionally short-lived Milwaukee gay bar at 631 N. Broadway, open for just 67 days in 1958. Opened by Marvin and Harold Klein in a remodeled former cocktail lounge, it is believed Business · Milwaukee Pink Pony Pink Pony was a men's cocktail lounge on West North Avenue, remembered as a gay-friendly bar from the mid-1950s into the early 1970s. Opened in 1953 in a former delicatessen, it was taken over by Albe Business · Milwaukee Riviera Riviera was a Milwaukee cocktail lounge and restaurant at 401 N. Plankinton Avenue, occupying a pre-Civil War warehouse that had earlier housed a gay-friendly tavern called the Anchor Inn. Reopened as Business · Milwaukee Sailor Ann's Sailor Ann's, originally the Sail & Rail Hotel & Buffet, was a Milwaukee dockside tavern opened in 1900 by Anna Gravelyn near the Reed Street Yards in Walker's Point. Serving Great Lakes sailors, dock Business · Milwaukee The Fox (Fox Bar) The Fox opened in December 1948 at 455 N. Plankinton Avenue, at Clybourn, in an old saloon formerly known as the Clybourn Inn. Long and exceptionally narrow, it was sometimes nicknamed "the Skinny Fox Business · Madison Three Bells Owned by Melvin Andre and managed by Ken Burns, it was popular with former servicemen after World War II and drew a mixed crowd that included gay men, lesbians, and college students. It appeared in na Business · Milwaukee Tic Toc Club Tic Toc Club was a Milwaukee nightclub at 634 N. 5th Street, opened in 1940 by Albert Tusa. One of the city's first air-conditioned nightclubs, it was nationally noted for its Gardenia Room dinner the W Business · Milwaukee White Horse Inn White Horse Inn was a Milwaukee bar near the intersection of McKinley, 11th, and Winnebago Streets, documented in city directories from roughly the mid-1950s. It is chiefly remembered through oral his Business · Milwaukee Wildwood The Wildwood, also known as German's Wildwood, was a women's bar at 1430 W. Walnut Avenue on Milwaukee's near north side, operating from October 1959 to 1964. Remembered as a hangout for very butch le