Oshkosh Saloons of 1902: The White Seal

The White Seal Buffet, 300 Block of N. Main Street.

Peter Stein and John Larie, Proprietors.

Peter Stein and John Larie were born in Wisconsin. Both were the issue of parents who had migrated from Germany. For first-generation Americans of German descent, owning a saloon was the embodiment of the American dream. Stein and Larie dreamed big. Check out this place...

The White Seal Buffet; page 22 Oshkosh Up to Date, 1902.

You don't see many old saloons decked out in white. The White Seal was all about projecting an atmosphere of elegance. It was variously described as "Wisconsin's most beautiful buffet" and "The finest bar west of Chicago." Towards the rear of the building was the club room. It was just as prim as the barroom. Let's have a look.

In case you're wondering, La Preferencia was a Cuban cigar. You could buy one of those in Oshkosh in 1902 for a dime. Below the cigar sign is the restroom. That's how luxurious this place was – they had an indoor bathroom. Plenty of Oshkosh saloons didn’t. And just outside the bathroom door is the sink. There are still a number of taverns in Oshkosh that have exactly this sort of arrangement.

Alright, let's get to the ugly. At the back of the room, you can see a doorway. That would have been the “ladies’ entrance.” The club room was a place where a woman could take her beer in peace. Because unless she was a prostitute or barmaid, she wouldn't have been welcomed in the front bar. There was a loud squabble in Oshkosh during this time whether women should even be allowed in saloons.

In 1899, the Oshkosh common council had seriously kicked around the idea of banning all women from the city's saloons. During the debate, second ward Alderman Charles Heath spewed, "I don't consider this matter a question of personal liberty in any sense." Thankfully, that breed of dinosaur no longer roams our land.

The White Seal is gone, too. That beautiful bar gave way to a parking lot. It breaks my heart.

From the 1903 Oshkosh City Directory.

The White Seal used to stand here, near the northeast corner of Waugoo and N. Main streets.

The crawl continues….
I’ll post the next stop on the 1902 is the Little Cozy Sample Room at 216 N. Main.
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Notes
John Larie was among the Oshkosh saloon keepers behind the launch of Peoples Brewing Company. There's more on that here.

Oshkosh Up to Date is a book from 1902 that forms the basis for this series of saloon stories. For some background on Oshkosh Up to Date, click here. To see a digitized version of Oshkosh Up to Date, click here.