Oshkosh Saloons of 1902: The Meentzen Saloon on High

The Meentzen Saloon, 141 High Street.
John Meentzen, Proprietor.

John Meentzen was born in Germany in 1846. When he turned 21 he lit out and headed straight for Oshkosh. He spent his first few years here scuffling by, making shoes, selling cigars, and tending bar. By 1883 he had saved enough money to launch his own saloon on High Street. He’d call that place home for the next 27 years. Here's how it was 1902.

John Meentzen’s Saloon; page 104 Oshkosh Up to Date, 1902.

And that right there is a classic, turn of the century saloon: mustache towels, spittoons, gob-stained floors, the brass rail, the boxy wooden partition... Most of that finery was probably financed by the Oshkosh Brewing Company. Meentzen's place was a tied house with OBC as its sponsor. The brewery footed the bill for the operation with the understanding that Meentzen would sell no other beer than that of the Oshkosh Brewing Company. This sort of arrangement was common before Prohibition. Now it's illegal (sort of). It was a sweet deal for Meentzen. He lived above the saloon rent-free.

I want to direct your attention to the middle of the mirror behind Meentzen's bar. Can you see the little hatchet hanging there (click the picture to enlarge it)? I might know the story behind that.

In the summer of 1902, Carrie Nation – the saloon-smashing prohibitionist from Kansas – paid a visit to Oshkosh. During her visit here, Nation stopped by Meentzen's saloon threatening to bust the place up. But Meentzen wouldn’t let her through the door.

While Nation was in Oshkosh, she went around selling souvenir hatchets like the one seen behind Meentzen's bar. It was how she financed her roving madness. I suspect the hatchet in the picture above might have been Meentzen’s mock tribute to the time Carrie Nation paid him a visit. The 1902 picture would have been taken not long after Nation's trip to Oshkosh.

Oshkosh Daily Northwestern; July 21, 1902.

John Meentzen as he appeared in 1900.

The beer still flows at Meentzen’s old place. Of course, the name has changed many times over the years. Today it's called The Reptile Palace. The general layout there is still pretty much as it was when Meentzen was working the bar.

141 High Street.

The Crawl Continues...

Our next stop on the 1902 Saloon Crawl is The Opera Buffet. 

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Notes

Carrie Nation’s visit to Oshkosh was one for the ages. You can find out all about that here.