photo taken from GoTime.com
I noticed the tiled trough at the foot of the bar as soon as I sat down for the first time at Merchant’s Saloon on 2nd St. and Franklin in Oakland. Upon inspection I saw the gutter was on a slight slope and ended in a drain at the other end of the bar. The tile was small, tightly laid and clean, but obviously had been there for a very long time. As I ordered my drink I asked the bartender, “Hey, that little… dip in the floor down here? Is that for…”
“Yep. It’s a pee gutter,” he answered nonchalantly.
I looked around the room, it was obviously a punk rock dive, the walls covered in spray paint, Sonic Youth playing on the jukebox, pool tables in the back that were probably older than I was. I knew it was a stupid question, but I had to ask anyway, “So, do people just…?"
The man glared at me for a long moment, with that distinct gaze of bartenders as they size a patron and estimate how long until they are going to have to toss this jerk out. “Look, man, there are bathrooms right over there. I think you can make the twenty foot walk, don’t you?”
“Oh. Hold on. No, I didn’t want to use it. I was just curious about it’s origins. I guess this must have been here since a time when only men were allowed in bars. There is something very Old West about guys just having to go pee while they're drinking and be damned if they’re going to get up, so just do it at the bar. And the owners not only allowed this, but designed the floor specifically for it.”
“Its very libertarian,” the bartender agreed.
“That’s a real piece of history you have there.”
“You wanted to use it, didn’t you?”
“A little bit,” I confessed.
I’ve been to Merchant’s many times in the years since that first visit and any time I bring a new person I consider the major selling point of the bar to be it’s historic artifact of public urination. Most of my friends aren’t as intrigued as me, a few think I’m disgusting for even being interested in such a thing, but that tiny hold over from a long gone era speaks more to me about Oakland history than just about anything in Jack London Square a couple blocks away. And knowing what I do about Jack London, I think he would agree.
Over the course of this blog, I will be researching the history behind some Bay Area bars that have played import roles to the many different communities we are lucky to have here. And then I will get drunk at them. I will chat with the bartenders and patrons to see what connection they have with the bar and if they have any stories of their own that haven’t made it into archived newspapers and history books.
This project is an assignment for my Bay Area History class at Cal-State East Bay, but I hope to make it readable, perhaps even pleasurable, to anybody interested in Bay Area history or even just the back story to their favorite watering hole. Obviously, I’m going to be able to spotlight just the tip of the alcoholic iceberg, but I am open to suggestions to bars that are glaringly being neglected. On my list of potential candidates thus far is:
Heinold’s First And Last Chance, located in Jack London Square itself.
photo taken from Yelp.com
Esther's Orbit Room in West Oakland (Unfortunately, Esther’s has closed recently, but from what I know it has played a fascinating part in Oakland’s African American community).
photo taken from oaklanddailyphoto.blogspot.com
Vesuvio, the former Beat haven next door to the famous City Lights Bookstore.
photo taken from Yelp.com
Café du Nord on Market St in San Francisco (rumor has it there is a bootlegger tunnel running underneath).
photo taken from Yelp.com
The House of Shields in downtown San Francisco (rumors have hinted to a similar tunnel running across the street to the Palace Hotel which has been used not just to smuggle booze, but presidents of the United States).
photo taken from Yelp.com
The Condor Club (one of the nation's first strip clubs and the venue for the infamous Carol Doda [I happen to know the sordid and deadly tale that ended her run there and, boy, is it juicy]).
photo taken from Yelp.com
Smiley’s in Bolinas (in continual operation for over 150 years).
photo taken from Yelp.com
