Monday, March 1st 2010
Bowl Milwaukee: Mini History
By Michelle Eigenberger
It’s 4:00 p.m. and Marcy Skowronski lights up the signs in the windows of her Holler House. She’s 80-some years old, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Marcy owns this bar, and if you want to know a bit about it and the 101-year-old bowling lanes downstairs, just order a beer. There’s nothing on tap here, only bottles or Blatz in a can. For some neighborhood flavor, ask for the Polish beer.
Bowling at the Holler House is a time capsule of vintage Milwaukee.
People come from across the country to bowl the oldest
certified, continuously operational lanes in America. The wood in the lanes is original and the hard-working, sweaty kid in back is your pin boy. He’s re-setting the pins after each frame (and you’re keeping score by hand, too). A 24-hour advance notice is usually required to bowl so Marcy can find you a pin boy.
If it’s your first time to the Holler House, throw your bra in the rafters. It’s encouraged. The origin of the tradition is vague, but on your first trip, take it off, sign it and throw it up there. Before the bar’s 100th anniversary celebration in 2008, there was 40 years worth of lingerie hanging from the ceiling.
If you find your score suffering at the Holler House, give the mini bowling at Koz’s a try. It’s been called the “most honest bowling in America,” as nearly anyone can rack up a perfect score. Mini bowling used to be a favorite pasttime of Milwaukeeans, but now Koz’s is the last of it’s kind in town.
The four 16-foot alleys use nine inch tall pins and four pound balls. The pinsetters here are manual too, and just like at the Holler House, tips are encouraged and appreciated.
This is as Milwaukee as you can get, where the last remnants of bowling’s golden age still thrive. These places remain fully stocked with stories of simpler times, peculiar traditions and of course, cold beer.
Neighborhood: South Side
