Millennial Corruption and the Last Chicago Bar Standing
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| This Unassuming Facade Hides Chicago's Best Saloon |
Sometimes when I go to the Old Town Ale
House of late there is a somberness that reminds me of Emily Dickinson poetry
or Classical Greek tragedy. It’s a
strange thing to feel and it’s the opposite feeling that first led me to frequent
the place. The owner, Bruce Elliott (who writes a fantastic blog: http://brucecameronelliott.blogspot.com/)
often talks (and writes) about the regulars of old and relays some truly eccentric and interesting characters and tales, but he usually ends his reminisces with a line like, “I’m afraid to say it, but I don’t believe we will replace the characters that have recently left us by death. People of that caliber just don’t walk through the door so often anymore.” I have heard this line a few times now, usually after an engaging tale about these societal misfits that cut their own path through this world while drinking heavily and often at our beloved saloon. They most always sound like people I’d like to have gotten to know and I wish that more of them were still around.
often talks (and writes) about the regulars of old and relays some truly eccentric and interesting characters and tales, but he usually ends his reminisces with a line like, “I’m afraid to say it, but I don’t believe we will replace the characters that have recently left us by death. People of that caliber just don’t walk through the door so often anymore.” I have heard this line a few times now, usually after an engaging tale about these societal misfits that cut their own path through this world while drinking heavily and often at our beloved saloon. They most always sound like people I’d like to have gotten to know and I wish that more of them were still around.
When I think of this and look at all
the other old Chicago saloons still in business that have lost their way, I
hate to say it, but I worry about the Ale House’s medium-to-long term future. While
the Ale House still has the right interior and a fantastic bar to sit at, it also
has something much more difficult to acquire- it has an aura around it- a
palpable energy of a previous time when bars were full of unique, drinking men, intriguing, strange ladies and lots of conversation.
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| An Interior Shot of the Old Town Ale House on a Quiet Night |
When I sit in the Ale House, I see the bar that artists and writers like Nelson Algren, John Belushi,
Mike Royko, Roger Ebert and so many others used to frequent. I believe that they would still be
regulars if they were around. And
even though they are not, there is still a wide variety of interesting
customers who regularly show up.
The Ale House is one of the only bars I know of where conversation is
still the most valued currency and anyone can participate in a discussion unfolding at the bar. It’s intellectual, it’s political, it’s
thought provoking and, sadly, it’s a dying breed.
So many other vintage bars in
Chicago that I’ve explored since moving back after a 20+ year hiatus (not to
mention the ubiquitous and generic sport bars that now seem to be everywhere)
lack what the Ale House offers. Despite
keeping their interiors in tact, they have become so Millennial, so superficial
and so boring. Places like Glascott’s,
Gold Star, Rainbo Club, and many others, have beautiful vintage bars with worn
interiors and storied histories, but they’ve lost the people and vibe that made
them great. Shallow myopic kids that
look alike, talk alike and are more interested in their phones than socializing
and having a proper discussion seem to have taken over these places. These new bar regulars lack interest in
anything outside of the few topics they focus on and they easily get offended
if you push back on them in discussion. Intellectual curiosity is as dead to them as Voltaire, Sartre,
or Bukowski (and many have no idea who these people were).
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| Just some average Millennials having a Blast out at a Bar |
The Ale House also has this
young generational demographic moving in and, as with all the other places
they’ve previously conquered, they’re like a cancer slowly eating away at the
fabric of the bar’s inner spirit and that’s where this somberness I’m feeling
comes from. Sometimes, when the
place isn’t very packed, I just sit at the bar and watch and
listen to them. It’s not an encouraging
thing to behold. Since some of the long
term regulars had moved on to face their existential fate just
before I showed up, I think this Ale House Millennial clique has felt empowered
and entitled, but why or to what is anyone’s guess.
Excluding the owner, aka the Geriatric Genius, most of the
old timers who are still around do not know or want to know these newbies and
prefer to just ignore them. That’s
fine, but it doesn’t bode well for the future, as they got youth on their side and
we got Charon on ours. I worry
that the Ale House will follow the path of what all the other old
school joints have become and Chicago will lose a very special place (and I’ll
have to find another watering hole).
Of course, this cannot happen overnight, as the bar has top-tier
bartenders- Grasshopper, Johnny Ale and Mr. Mike- to keep the rudder steady and corral a still solid
core of artists, drunks, old timers, skanks, and other personalities that show
up regularly. In addition, we have
the Genius, one of the most unique and intellectual bar rats I’ve ever had the
pleasure to come across, who is also a highly skilled marketer with his blog, viral social media posts,
and television appearances, which keeps new meat walking through the door. So do not abandon hope just yet, we may
just be able to ride through this Millennial dyspepsia and keep the bar
respectful to its history while maintaining its atavistic character.
Also, I believe new characters of stature should slowly find
their way over to fortify our forces against this cultural march toward mediocrity
that threatens to undermine Chicago’s last great saloon. Only time will tell, but for now, all we
can do is grab a stool to defend our territory, order some drinks, keep the
conversation flowing and see who shows up.
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| Painting by Bruce Elliott, aka, the Geriatric Genius |
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Hello Dear Readers! Another blog I wrote
that touches upon the temperament of Millennials (and quite a humorous and sad tale
if I do say so myself) is Schlitzed. Give it read:
