After my adventures at Summerfest ended with The Old 97’s and Son Volt it was time to find some air conditioning and a few cold pints. A short walk off Water Street we found the Newsroom Pub, neighbor through a secret passage of the Safe House, and home of the Milwaukee Press Club, longest continuously operating press club in North America, since 1885!

It seems there’s quite a bit of history with this organization and its social gatherings. The bartender filled us in on the club’s past and present as the bar and adjoining supper room are still used as a popular meeting place for journalists and reporters. The two rooms hold about 300 autographs signed in chalk on small rectangular boards. Most are on slabs of black matte material with the oldest names scribbled on the wood of the walls from the previous establishments, which were cut out of the walls after a varitey of club moves. Now names like Babe Ruth, Theodore Roosevelt, Jimmy Carter, Bob Hope, Gene Autry, Harry Truman and Walter Cronkite adorn the walls with hundreds of other plaques in the care of The University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. The total collection is said to be one of the most impressive in the world.

That’s not all! Above the mantel of the bar sits Anubis, the Sacred Cat! Word has it that when the club was making one of it’s moves two members found the petrified cat between two walls and has since made Anubis their mascot.

Anyway, you owe it to yourself to stop by The Newsroom for a look the next time you are in Milwaukee. I just can’t believe that I wasn’t asked for my signature!