A Tavern Tale

Taverns hold a special interest for exonumists (token collectors) because of the bar chits or tokens they issue and use. Technically, they are called trade tokens. The bartender gives the tokens to a customer to be used on a future visit. In Milwaukee, saloons began using bar tokens in the 1890s, and taverns continue to use them. Initially, they were made of brass, then aluminum, and in the 1950s, they changed to plastic with the rise of the material, which is cheap to produce.

They are made in different colors, shapes, and denominations. The older pieces were good for 5 cents, the price of a glass of beer. In the 1940s, the denomination was raised to 10 cents for a beer. And the prices on the tokens have increased ever since. Wisconsin numismatist Gene Johnson, in 1993, wrote the book “Trade Tokens of Wisconsin,” listing the thousands of all known Wisconsin pieces. Old trade tokens are always being discovered, with new ones made for new taverns.

Milwaukee was incorporated as a city in 1846. Like always, drinking establishments (called saloons before Prohibition in 1920) were among the first commercial buildings in a new town. The rural hamlet of New Coeln in the Town of Lake, WI, a farm community, was founded in 1845, and by 1847 they had 50 settlers and a new Catholic Church named St. Stephen’s, and later they added a shoemaker, blacksmith, two saloons, post office and a school. It never grew lots.

It was 1850 when one of the two saloons was built with the now address of 5905 S. Howell Ave.. and was named the New Cologne House. The German settlers named it after the famed German City of Cologne on the Rhine. The saloon was a two-story Cream City brick building. The upstairs was originally divided into sleeping rooms, and in the late nineteenth century, it was re-configured into a ballroom. The farmers who traveled from Racine County to Milwaukee regarded the saloon as a halfway house and slept on the second floor of the saloon when making the trip. It also served as a stagecoach stop between Milwaukee and Racine. Attached to the saloon was a frame grocery store and the New Coeln Post Office. New Coeln went away in the late 1950s, thanks to Milwaukee annexation.

One of the tokens in this tavern’s exonumia legacy. Supplied photo

As you can imagine, the building has had many owners and names during its lifetime. The original name was the New Cologne House. Then came Deuster’s Saloon and Jacob Klein Saloon. In 1957, it was called the Oriole Nest Inn, and by 1980, the name became On the Rocks. In 1983, it received its present name of Landmark 1850 Inn. You may know this tavern by one of the prior names. In 1987-88, the owner applied and received the designation of a historic building on the National Register of Historic Places. They also received the same recognition from the State of Wisconsin. There is a metal plaque mounted on the outside south wall of the tavern telling of the building’s history and rich identities.

The tavern, like most others in Milwaukee, issued trade tokens. They issued a set of three, 38mm, thick plastic tokens; Red-Good for one 12 oz. Macro Tap Beer; Blue-Good for one 12 oz. Import or Micro Tap Beer; White-Good for One Shot or Single Rail Drink. They also issued a wooden nickel printed in green, which reads One Free Drink Token. The tavern is across the street from Milwaukee’s Mitchell International Airport. The next time you fly in or out of Milwaukee, stop by the Landmark 1850 Inn to enjoy a schooner of beer and the history and ambiance.

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