A Horse Tale

When passing by Bakalars Sausage Co. at 2219 South Ave. in La Crosse, some sharp-eyed people may have noticed a marred emblem located behind the firm's sign (see photos). What is/was it? It's all that is left of a plaster relief of a horse's head . . . part of the building's decoration when it was built in 1902 as a horse stable for La Crosse's Gund Brewery. When Bakalars purchased the building in late 1961 they chiseled the horse head off (leaving just part of the mane which still can be seen) because they didn't want their customers thinking that the firm sold horse meat. Maybe it's just me but but it's too bad Bakalars could not have been more classy and covered the horse's head up in some tasteful way instead of chiseling it off in a half-ass manner and leaving a scar behind. In protest, I have never spent one penny at Bakalars . . . though that's not hard to do since I'm a vegetarian. Ha!

From Auction Block to City Block

Last summer I went to the Harry Viner auction in La Crosse and while looking at the various items to be sold off I spotted a Peerless Beer sign for Ed's Cigar Store (see photo at left). Peerless Beer was the signature brew made by La Crosse Breweries (the former Michel Brewery) which closed in 1956. A check of La Crosse city directories found that Ed's Cigar Store was run by Edward Langhofer from about 1954 to 1958 at 323 Main St. in downtown La Crosse. I thought the sign was cool in relation to La Crosse's business history so I snapped a photo of it and went on my way, not giving it much more thought. Several months later I was surprised to see what had to be the same sign (see photo at right) gracing Shooter's Bar at 120 Third St. S. in downtown La Crosse with Shooter's replacing the Ed's Cigar Store part of the sign. I find it somewhat odd to use a beer that was last made over 50 years ago to advertise one's business but I suppose Shooter's owner is a history or brew buff and wanted to bring the sign back to life. Being a local history buff myself, I tip my hat his way for showcasing a bygone part of La Crosse's history and not letting it collect dust in storage as it had been doing.

Sign Play

I spotted this sign at a mattress store in La Crosse and enjoyed the little guy peeking over the top of the sign. But my first thought was "Shouldn't he be sleeping since the sign notes Quality Sleep?" Plus, the sign gives the impression he is in bed with a sheet or blanket pulled up to his face. So when I got home I used Photoshop to change the eyes on the guy and make it look like he's sleeping. Works for me.