1960s (45)

Business · Milwaukee 'New' Riviera The 'New' Riviera was the final, short-lived location of Tony Machi's gay-friendly Riviera bar, at 952 N. 3rd Street in Milwaukee. Machi relocated the business there after a March 1964 fire destroyed 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 Ad Lib Nightclub The Ad Lib Nightclub operated at 323 W. Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee from 1966 to 1975. It opened as an upscale cabaret and supper club that booked nationally known jazz musicians, then shifted Business · Milwaukee Alex's It is documented in a single national gay bar guide from 1970, which suggests it opened around 1969 and operated for only a year or two. No local references to the bar have been located, and little el Business · Milwaukee Antlers Hotel Antlers Hotel was a large downtown Milwaukee hotel that became a well-known cruising destination for gay men. Opened in the 1920s as an eleven-floor, men-oriented establishment with hundreds of rooms Business · Milwaukee Belmont Hotel Coffee Shop (As shown below, while the next-door Gaytime Bar was listed in nearly every national Gay Bar Guides only from about 1965 to 1967, the Belmont Hotel Coffee Shop was listed only off and on in national g Business · Milwaukee Black Nite Black Nite was a downtown Milwaukee tavern that openly welcomed gay and gender-nonconforming patrons after Wally Whetham reopened the former Mary's Tavern under the new name in 1960. It is best rememb Business · Milwaukee Bourbon Beat The Bourbon Beat operated at 400 N. Plankinton Avenue in downtown Milwaukee from about 1961 to 1963 and appears in national gay bar guides of the period. It was a renaming of the Black Nite, whose rep Business · Green Bay Bridgeport Bar The Bridgeport is known primarily from being listed in several national 'Gay Bar Guides' from 1962 to 1966. Through extensive research, just two local references have been found thus far. First, a 'pe 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 Captain's Cabin The Captain's Cabin operated at 400 N. 2nd Street in Milwaukee from the fall of 1963 to December 1966. Operator Wally Whetham opened it after closing his earlier bar, the Black Nite and Bourbon Beat, Business · Milwaukee Castaways It appears in the earliest national bar guides located by researchers, indicating it operated at least as early as 1961, and a 1969 guide praised it as one of the city's most fashionable spots for dan Business · Milwaukee Columns Columns was a Roman-themed cocktail lounge that opened on June 16, 1961 in the lobby of the Pfister Hotel at 424 E. Wisconsin Avenue. Inspired by the film Spartacus, it featured toga-clad and shirtles Business · Madison Dangle Lounge The Dangle Lounge, at 119 E. Main Street in Madison, Wisconsin, was opened in 1966 by brothers Al and Thomas Reichenberger. Originally a piano bar, it became the first all-nude go-go bar in Wisconsin 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, Business · Milwaukee Forum Forum was a Milwaukee gay bar at the northwest corner of 12th and Vine Streets, recalled by contributors as a crowded and lively spot. Locals often referred to it simply as "12th and Vine" so that out Business · Milwaukee French Quarter French Quarter was a Milwaukee bar at 1634 N. Water Street that opened in 1966 and is believed to have closed around 1969. City directories list Milton Rickun as its owner or licensee. Little is docum 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 · Milwaukee Godfrey's 1800 Club Godfrey's 1800 Club appeared in select national gay bar guides from 1965 to 1969, described as a mixed bar with a predominantly Black clientele. It was notably absent from the Bob Damron guides of the Business · Milwaukee Grand Prix The Grand Prix, often listed as the Grand Prix Lounge, was a Milwaukee bar on East Juneau Avenue whose name derived from an earlier racing-themed incarnation. By the late 1960s its interior featured r J Business · Wauwatosa Jimmy's Hi-Fi Lounge Jimmy's Hi-Fi Lounge, later known as Swittel's, was a bar near 68th and State Streets in Wauwatosa, just outside Milwaukee. Jimmy Swittel ran the gay bar on the upper floor, reached through a green do Business · Racine Jo'Dee's International JoDees was a fixture in Wisconsin's gay/lesbian bar scene for nearly as long as any other LGBT bar, starting at least in 1970. It was a Racine and southeastern Wisconsin tradition as well, continuing 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 Loop Cafe Loop Cafe was a downtown Milwaukee diner at 5th and Michigan that served as an after-hours gathering spot for gay patrons from roughly 1964 to 1971. Listed in several national gay travel guides betwee 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 M Business · La Crosse Michael's We have limited information about Michael's bar in La Crosse. A contributor has shared to the Facebook group that Michaels' was the first gay bar opened in La Crosse by Michael Hanson. He relates the 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 Nite Beat Nite Beat was an early Milwaukee lesbian bar, considered the first such bar on the city's south side. Over roughly twelve years it occupied three locations—on West National Avenue and then two sites o 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 Pirate's Den Contributors recalled it as a crowded, lively spot, and locals often referred to it simply as "12th and Vine" to keep outsiders from recognizing the reference. National gay guides listed it as "Pirate Business · Milwaukee Plains Hotel Bar The Plains Hotel Bar appears in a single national gay bar guide from 1964, suggesting it was either only briefly in business or not especially welcoming to gay patrons. No local documentation of the b Business · Milwaukee Prologue A single 1970 national gay guide listed two locations, a "Prologue" at 2690 S. 9th Street and a "Prologue East" at 1962 N. Prospect Avenue, both noted as restaurants, making the precise arrangement di Business · Milwaukee Regency East Regency East was a Milwaukee bar that operated from 1965 to 1970, remembered as a semi-elegant venue in a rough neighborhood along North Water Street. Its address appears inconsistently across the sca 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 Seaway Inn Seaway Inn was a popular Milwaukee gay bar and restaurant at the corner of Jefferson and Wells Streets, near the Pfister Hotel. Otto Schuler opened it in 1959 in a former vegetarian restaurant buildin S Business · Madison Stop Lite Wilson Street, operating from about 1969 to about 1975 and owned by Jack McManus. According to recollections it drew lawyers at lunchtime and lesbians in the evening, and was profitable enough to no l 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 T Business · Green Bay The Mayfair Lounge Very little is known about The Mayfair Lounge. It is believed to have opened as early as 1961, as the earliest national gay bar guides all were listing it in 1963 and 1964 guides (Lavender Baedeker Gu Business · Milwaukee This Is It This Is It opened in 1968 at 418 E. Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee, founded by June Brehm, who reportedly named the bar on first seeing the location. It became Wisconsin's longest-running LGBTQ ba 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 W Place · Milwaukee Walker's Point Walker's Point is Milwaukee's historic LGBTQ+ neighborhood on the city's near south side. From the mid-twentieth century onward, South 2nd Street and surrounding blocks became the densest concentratio 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 Business · Milwaukee Your Place Your Place, widely known as "The Y.P.," was a highly popular Milwaukee gay bar from May 1965 to July 1994, and was the first gay bar in what became the city's primary gayborhood. Opened by Jim Dorn an