 Bars (taverns) in Early Brillion This will start a series on historical businesses in Brillion The Real Giese’s The Real Giese’s is a fourth generation family bar located at 116 N. Main Street. The ownership was taken over by Scott Giese in 2003. His dad Ronald inherited the business in 1986. This bar has a rich history in Brillion, being one of the first taverns built in Brillion in the late 1880’s by first owner, Peter Falck. Falck owned and operated the tavern until he eventually sold it to Lewis Giese in 1924. The tavern changed names from Falck Saloon to Gieses. Lewis and brother Rob ran the tavern until Lewis sold the business to the second generation son, George in 1936. In 1943, George contacted Bang’s Disease and gave half of the business to his brother, Arvin Giese. Arvin then gave his portion back in 1948, when he was institutionalized for a short period. George owned the business solely until 1961, when he gave half back to Arvin again. IN 1964, Arvin changed the name of the bar to Planters Home, although most people still referred to it as Giese’s. In the early years, whiskey and wine came in barrels. There was a lady’s parlor in the back, where women spent their time while the men finished games of sheepshead and skat in the tavern. Women weren’t allowed in taverns in those early days. In the rear of the saloon was a stable owned by Giese’s. The stable brought in German and Bohemian farmers who spent their time in the bar playing cards and drinking while their women shopped. During Prohibition, farmers brought in moonshine which was stored underneath a fake floor under the stables. Rob and Lewis served the moonshine in the bar. Rumor has it that the saloon was raided once. Lewis was home ill that day so Rob ended up serving several months in the House of Corrections. The city later condemned the stables and converted them to city buildings and a parking lot. In 1938, Arvin’s claim to fame in his previous occupation was a “Fat Lady” in the circus. Arvin, age 22, weighed somewhere in the vicinity of 540 pounds and dressed in drag for the amusement of many. His chest measured 96 inches and his waist was 108 inches around. Giese maintained his weight by eating eight meals per day. He also worked in a night club. In his circus act, Giese impersonated a fat lady. His slogan was “500 lbs. of hospitality at your service’. In 1938, he attempted to gain enough weight to compete for the World Championship Fat Man Title, but the man he had to beat, weighed more than 730 lbs. In 1947, he moved back to Brillion to help his brother George run the bar. Arvin co-owned and operated the bar until his death in 1980. After Arvin’s death, legal complications involving the last will and testament not being properly written, forced the Giese family to buy the bar business back through a Sheriff’s auction in order to retain ownership. George continued to run the bar until 1985, when Bob Giese took over management and had the name changed back to Giese’s. He managed the business until 2003. More recent changes were made when Ronald’s son Scott took over in 2003, including changing the name to The Real Giese’s, as well as restoration of the inside and outside. It has the original oak bar, and the same ceiling that Peter Falck put in when the building was first built. There are stories that the back bar was part of the Chicago World’s Fair in 1939. However, that has not been verified. [Information taken from the Brillion 125 Year Book, by Zander Press] ……………………………………………………………….. A side story: In the late 1870’s and 80’s, there were 3 saloons in operation in Brillion. It was never disclosed what the three saloons were, but 2 had dance halls, where they had all night Saturday dances. When these came into being, the old settlers in town were scandalized. If any young people attended they usually went home promptly at twelve o’clock. When Sunday night dances were introduced, the old settlers wondered “What is this town coming to?” and were even more upset. There was only one capital crime in Brillion during that time and that was a “whiskey murder”. A bunch of “Scandinavian “ woodcutters, high on liquor, were coming down the street on a Sunday afternoon and met a number of Irish boys from Maple Grove and unpleasant words were exchanged. The Scandinavians , went into their boarding house nearby, took up guns and fired at random into the bunch on the street instantly killing a young man. The shooter was sentenced to prison for life, but as rumor has it, he was pardoned some years later. In 1876, Chas. A. Thompson , a local school teacher, organized the Lodge of the Independent Order of Good Templars. This was a temperance society composed of both sexes, and within a couple years had a membership of about 80. Soon after, a Templar of Honor was instituted, membership consisted of adult men. They soon reached a membership of 50 or more. Because of these two orders , changes took place. Drinking became decidedly unpopular. Practically all the young ladies were members of The Good Templars and if a young man did not belong to one of the lodges he was out of luck when he sought a young lady’s company. One of the saloons closed up, literally put out of business and the one remaining business was so reduced that he took the first opportunity to sell out. One was in connection with a hotel, which was continued as a Temperance Hotel, and the proprietor’s two sons and two daughters joined the lodges. Eventually many of the leaders of those lodges, gradually moved from town and new people took their places. Interest waned and both lodges gradually died, but they left an influence that lasted for many years and very few ever resumed drinking again. We don’t know whether or not Giese’s was one of the bars. We have never found proof one way or the other. [Info taken from the “Pioneer Boys Story of Brillion” written by Elmer Fuller] K& J Inn Another well known establishment was K & J Inn, located at 206 S. Main Street. Barney and Monica Jensen were the first owners. They sold it to a Kramer, who owned the business for a short time. He sold it to Kermit and Mabel Cmejla and Ken and Joyce Stellbrink bought it from them in 1969. Stellbrinks owned and operated it for 41 years. The walls were decorated with Joyce’s favorite entertainer, Elvis, from the Giant Velvet Elvis that hung behind the bar to various songs played on the juke box. Not much changed in this little bar throughout the years. They were involved in the local tavern leagues, and hosted bean bag, dart leagues and pool tournaments. Several of the patrons could be found playing one card game or another with Joyce on any given day. Just a nice, friendly neighborhood bar and a favorite hangout for many area residents. It was a sad day on Sunday, August 28, 2011 when the Inn caught on fire and was considered a total loss. Joyce got the call while sitting in a waiting room in a hospital where her 92 year old father was having hip surgery. She rushed home to find her business engulfed in flames. She and Ken bought the bar after working at his parent’s bakery downtown and Ken found he had a bad allergy to the flour. They began looking into other businesses and bought the bar soon after it became available. They ran it for roughly three decades until Ken passed away and then Joyce ran it by herself for another 10 years. [ taken from article in the Brillion 125 year book published by Zander Press]
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 “Butch” Peters was born July 20, 1900, in the Town of Brillion to William Peters and Sophia Gross Peters. He was the fourth of five children, having one older sister, two older brothers, and one younger sister. His father was a carpenter and tavern owner. His mother was a dedicated housewife and mother. He was an average student, loved sports and was a star basketball player in his high school years. The Brillion News had many articles regarding the games and the high scoring of “Butch” Peters. He was also a member of the Literary Society. He graduated from high school on June 15th, 1917. That same week, The Brillion News ran an ad for the Brillion Iron Works. “Man wanted at once – wages $2.50 per day.” He started working at the Iron Works shortly after that. He also painted barns and at one point worked on highway construction. [Taken from a letter written by his niece, Audrey- April 9, 1986]
He also helped form and played on the City Basketball Team and was one of Brillion’s all-time basketball greats. Even as a member of Brillion High School’s basketball team of 1916-1917, he gave promise of developing into a great player. The team, incidentally, was one of the school’s finest. It was not, however, until after his graduation from high school that he really came into his own. It was then that he joined up with the Brilliant Harvests (organized in 1911). The team, after a year, became an unbeatable combination. Today it is recognized as Brillion’s greatest basketball team, and was one of the outstanding squads in Wisconsin during the golden 20’s. The team drew enormous crowds and the fans loved them as they rolled up one victory after another. As the team won one game after another, it began to look for new worlds to conquer, and soon it was meeting the best traveling teams of the day, such as the New York Nationals and the Denver Aces, at that time probably the outstanding teams in the nation. Butch played an important role in all the team’s victories. He was a tower of strength on defense and a constant threat because of his shooting ability on offense. Some of the members of the Brilliant Harvests were Frank Kleiber, Art Ott, Ed Schmelter, Dr. Schlei, Walter Schmidt, Charles Mintz, Tom Ryan, Leon Ariens, Karl Barnard and Arno Scharf; although, they didn’t all play on the team at the same time. [parts taken from the August 1944 Iron Works Chatter] He became more and more involved in the town of Brillion, a pattern which he followed all his life. He had great faith and love for Brillion and believed Brillion could become a thriving community and a good place to live. On November 24, 1924, he eloped in Waukegan, IL, with Linda Bungert, daughter of Fredrick and Ella Bungert of Ellington, WI. Linda worked for a time at the Iron Works and for a time at the Lutheran Aid in Appleton. Linda was born May 3,1898. She had two brothers and one sister. She was raised on a farm and lived there until she came to work in Brillion. She attended Bushey Brothers Business College and graduated from there August 16, 1918. In her younger days, she loved to dance. She was fun loving and was known to be a practical joker. She had a very dry wit, a fantastic memory for people, dates, and places, which she retained until she died. She devoted her whole life to her husband by supporting him and loving and caring for him until he passed away. In her later years, she developed serious eye problems, which resulted in partial blindness. This tragedy in their lives precipitated all the contributions to the Eye Institute and Medical College. On June 23, 1933, The Brillion News published a note of bankruptcy of the Brillion Iron Works. On September 15, the News ran the following, “Pending reorganization of the firm by the bond holders, purchasers at last week’s sale, R.D. Peters has been put in charge of the office by trustees of the bankruptcy”. On September 1, 1933: “Bond holders of the bankrupt Brillion Iron Works on Tuesday purchased the plant at public auction for $2,700.00 and included besides the plant proper, personal property, real estate, patterns, and patent rights. The majority of bond holders were residents of Brillion”. One of those “residents” was Butch Peters. This period was very difficult for Butch and his wife Linda. They mortgaged their home, and were deeply in debt. He would be out on the road selling during the day and pouring Iron at night. Butch at that time, thought he was about to lose everything, but a friend encouraged him to hang in there and the rest is history. To make matters worse, it was during that time that Butch and Linda found out they could have no children. They tried to adopt and were turned down because of their financial situation. By the time they were financially stable, they felt they were too old to adopt a child. They would have loved to have children, but since they could have none of their own, they went on to do many things for other children in Brillion and the area. Butch was an avid hunter and fisherman. His many contributions to conservation stemmed from this great interest. In 1946, they found a lovely property on Wheeler Lake. This became their refuge and a place to relax from the stress of the business world. They enjoyed their place until 1976, when he could no longer handle it due to his failing health. He had such a love of life, such a vitality and interest in everyone and everything around him. It was probably why he was so successful in everything he did. He was determined to make things work – he was unassuming and unpretentious. He was a concerned about the welfare of his workers as he was of his own family, and this concern showed in the growth of the business and the co-operation of all his employees. He loved a good party, and he and Linda did a lot of entertaining. Butch Peters was the owner and president of the Brillion Iron Works for 36 years – from 1933-1969. In 1969 it was sold to Beatrice Foods. He remained the president until 1973, at which time he became president of the Board of Directors. The sale to Beatrice began a long line of new owners ending in 2016 with the closing of operations for good. Mr. Peters started the Brillion Housing Corporation which built many homes in the city and later he helped fund the Community Center. Mr. and Mrs. Peters also funded the current Public Library. He was instrumental in building Brillion’s first Medical Clinic on Wisconsin Avenue. That building had facilities for a doctor and a dentist and was used for many years. He was also a big supporter of the Brillion Boy Scouts. He also established the Peters Foundation. In the early years, all the churches in Brillion were gifted each year from his Foundation. The Foundation continues to provide scholarships to Brillion High School seniors every year. Donations to other causes include: The Crane Foundation in Baraboo, Rawhide Boys Ranch, Milwaukee School of Engineering, Medical College of Wisconsin, where the Foundation endowed a chair at the Eye Institute, Northland College in Ashland, and many other places, especially those related to conservation or schools. In recent years the Foundation has provided free concerts by the McDowell Chorus and the Milwaukee Symphony and to many other causes in Brillion. Mr. Peters developed Dementia or Alzheimers in his last years and died on August 3, 1981 at the age of 81. { Info taken from letters from his niece, Audrey, The Brillion Chatter and thanks to Betty Wolf for sharing the information} Article compiled by Pat Wallace. |
contributing AuthorsPat and Dean Wallace of the Brillion Historical Society and Editors of the quarterly Brillion Historical Society Newsletter. Special guest authors as noted in articles. ArchivesCategorieshome membership/donate exhibits about blog
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