
My father told me that during the Great Depression in the 1930s, politicians campaigned on the promise of “a chicken in every pot.” During the 1970s in Uptown, it seemed there was a “bar on every corner.” Sometimes there were two or three in a row. It seemed you never had to walk more than a block to find a bar. A reader wrote to say he thought this bar was on the northwest corner of Broadway and Buena. A quick check of Google Maps for 903 West Buena revealed that the same building is still there, though the bar has changed and the neighborhood around it is much improved. Check it out by clicking the link above. However, the reader also told me that he saw a building permit at this location, so more change may be in store.
During this era, beer commercials were a mainstay of television advertising. Schlitz’s theme was “When you’re out of beer, you’re out of Schlitz.” Hamm’s talked about the purity of their water. Their theme was “From the land of sky blue waters,” a reference to Minnesota. Their main brewery at the time was in St. Paul, on the Mississippi River. This corner bar featured live country bands, another staple of Uptown.