Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon | |
Location | 48 Webster St, Oakland, California |
---|---|
Coordinates | 37°47′37.5″N122°16′28.5″W / 37.793750°N 122.274583°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1880 |
Architectural style | Queen Anne, Western false front |
NRHP reference No. | 00001067 [1] |
ODL No. | 3 |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | September 1, 2000 |
Designated ODL | 1975 |
Heinold's First and Last Chance is a waterfront saloon opened by John (Johnny) M. Heinold in 1883 on Jack London Square in Oakland, California, United States. The name "First and Last Chance" refers to the time in which for many sailors, the pub was the first and last chance to drink alcohol heavily before or after a long voyage.
Heinold's First and Last Chance is also known as "Jack London's Rendezvous", as it was the inspiration for scenes from the Oakland writer's novels Call of the Wild and The Sea Wolf.
The pub in its original form was a preserved building from 1880, built from the remnants of an old whaling ship at the foot of Webster Street in Oakland, where it remains today. It was originally designed as sleeping quarters for the workers of the nearby oyster beds, and was used as a bunk for nearly three years. In 1883 it was purchased by German-born Philadelphian Johnny Heinold for 100 U.S. dollars and with the help of a ship carpenter, converted into a pub which he named J.M. Heinold's Saloon. [2]
The pub's central location near the ferry between Oakland and Alameda made it a popular first or last destination to drink alcohol, as its consumption and sale were illegal in Alameda. Heinold's First and Last Chance was also a popular spot for sailors leaving or arriving through the Oakland port on long trips, known as the first or last place to drink alcohol in larger quantities. The popular nickname "First and Last" stuck, and the pub's name was eventually officially renamed to Heinold's First and Last Chance.
"Heinold's" is the official[ citation needed ], and more accepted, spelling of the name of the establishment, owing to its etymology; despite this, the name of the pub as painted on the front outside wall is "Heinolds'", with the apostrophe presumably erroneously following the S meant to indicate the possessive. "Heinholds", with no apostrophe at all, is a common misspelling.
Heinold's First and Last Chance is one of the two most notable "Last Chance Saloons". The term "last chance" was a name widely used by saloons in the U.S. beginning in the 19th century to indicate to customers that this was the last stop to purchase and consume alcohol before entering a dry county, or other places where alcohol was not easily obtainable.
Oakland author Jack London, after spending some time out at sea and traveling throughout the U.S. and Canada, returned to his hometown to complete his high school education. As a schoolboy, London would study at the bar's tables that remain today. At 17, he confessed to Johnny Heinold during his stay at the pub that he was planning to attend University and pursue a career in writing. Heinold lent London the money needed for tuition, and he enrolled at the nearby University of California, Berkeley.
While London only made it through his first year of college, Heinold's pub introduced him to the sailors and adventurers that would influence his writing.
Many of London's evenings were spent at Heinold's pub, gathering ideas for his later works. In his autobiographical novel, John Barleycorn, London mentioned the pub's likeness seventeen times. The pub was the place where London met Alexander McLean, a captain known for his cruelty at sea, [3] on whom the protagonist in London's novel The Sea-Wolf , Wolf Larsen, is based. [4]
Jack London's Rendezvous became the bar's nickname in more recent years because of its influence on the author. A sign was added to the original roof with the title.
John Heinold ran the bar until 1939 when his son, George, took over. George ran the bar until 1969 and then his wife, Margaret, stepped in to run the establishment, continuing the tradition until 1984 when Carol Brookman became the proprietor. [5]
Heinold's is the last commercial establishment in California with its original gas lighting. The tables, which reportedly came from a whaling ship, and other furnishings date back to the days when Johnny Heinold ran the pub. The walls and ceilings are covered with business cards, hats of past patrons and money, often signed by sailors about to deploy so they would have money for a drink waiting for them upon their return. [2]
The bar still holds the original potbellied stove used to warm the room, their only source of heat since 1889. Bob Fitzsimmon's boxing gloves, Jim Jeffries' boxing gloves, and John Heinold's hat remain where they were hung; the original bar glassware and mahogany bar are still in use today.
One of the most notable characteristics of the pub is the very slanted floor. The uneven ground formed in 1906 during the great San Francisco earthquake when a portion of the piles the pub is built on in swampy ground sank. In the corner of Heinold's is a clock that has been stopped since the moment of the 1906 quake, at 5:18.
Some say Heinold's First and Last Chance is haunted. Brookman, the current owner and other saloon employees have reported hearing footsteps and finding doors left open. [6]
On January 12, 1998 the Friends of Libraries U.S.A. added Heinold's to the Literary Landmarks Register. Outside they placed a plaque that reads:
Literary Landmarks Register designates Heinold's First and Last Chance as a National Literary Landmark. Befriended by Johnny Heinold at this original site, Jack London met many seafaring and waterfront characters which he later immortalized in his adventure novels. Heinold's is referred to several times in his book John Barleycorn.
On September 1, 2000, the United States Federal Government listed Heinold's First and Last Chance on the National Register of Historic Places. [7]
A pub is a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in the late 17th century, to differentiate private houses from those open to the public as alehouses, taverns and inns. Today, there is no strict definition, but CAMRA states a pub has four characteristics:
John Griffith Chaney, better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to become an international celebrity and earn a large fortune from writing. He was also an innovator in the genre that would later become known as science fiction.
The temperance movement is a social movement promoting temperance or complete abstinence from consumption of alcoholic beverages. Participants in the movement typically criticize alcohol intoxication or promote teetotalism, and its leaders emphasize alcohol's negative effects on people's health, personalities and family lives. Typically the movement promotes alcohol education and it also demands the passage of new laws against the sale of alcohol, either regulations on the availability of alcohol, or the complete prohibition of it. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, the temperance movement became prominent in many countries, particularly in English-speaking, Scandinavian, and majority Protestant ones, and it eventually led to national prohibitions in Canada, Norway, Finland, and the United States, as well as provincial prohibition in India. A number of temperance organizations exist that promote temperance and teetotalism as a virtue.
A tavern is a type of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and be served food such as different types of roast meats and cheese, and where travelers would receive lodging. An inn is a tavern that has a license to put up guests as lodgers. The word derives from the Latin taberna whose original meaning was a shed, workshop, stall, or pub.
A bar, also known as a saloon, a tavern or tippling house, or sometimes as a pub or club, is a retail business establishment that serves alcoholic beverages, such as beer, wine, liquor, cocktails, and other beverages such as mineral water and soft drinks. Bars often also sell snack foods, such as crisps or peanuts, for consumption on their premises. Some types of bars, such as pubs, may also serve food from a restaurant menu. The term "bar" refers to the countertop where drinks are prepared and served, and by extension to the overall premises.
"John Barleycorn" is an English and Scottish folk song listed as number 164 in the Roud Folk Song Index. John Barleycorn, the song's protagonist, is a personification of barley and of the alcoholic beverages made from it: beer and whisky. In the song, he suffers indignities, attacks, and death that correspond to the various stages of barley cultivation, such as reaping and malting.
Jack London Square is an entertainment and business destination on the waterfront of Oakland, California, United States. Named after the author Jack London and owned by the Port of Oakland, it is the home of stores, restaurants, hotels, Amtrak's Jack London Square station, a San Francisco Bay Ferry ferry dock, the historic Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon, the (re-located) cabin where Jack London lived in the Klondike, and a movie theater. A farmer's market is hosted among the retail shops on Sunday mornings. The former presidential yacht USS Potomac is moored at an adjacent slip.
Last Chance Saloon was a popular name of a type of bar in the United States that began to appear in the 19th century as an early expression of border economics. Saloons situated near areas where alcohol was not easily obtainable frequently took the name as a literal indication to customers that this was their final opportunity to imbibe before progressing to an area where obtaining, selling or drinking alcoholic drinks was prohibited. The phrase "last chance saloon" also has common British metaphorical use, based upon this historical context.
John Barleycorn is an autobiographical novel by Jack London dealing with his enjoyment of drinking and struggles with alcoholism. It was published in 1913. The title is taken from the British folksong "John Barleycorn".
A Western saloon is a kind of bar particular to the Old West. Saloons served customers such as fur trappers, cowboys, soldiers, lumberjacks, businessmen, lawmen, outlaws, miners, and gamblers. A saloon might also be known as a "watering trough, bughouse, shebang, cantina, grogshop, and gin mill". The first saloon was established at Brown's Hole, Wyoming, in 1822, to serve fur trappers.
The Ten Bells is a public house at the corner of Commercial Street and Fournier Street in Spitalfields in the East End of London. It is sometimes noted for its supposed association with at least two victims of Jack the Ripper: Annie Chapman and Mary Jane Kelly.
A drinking establishment is a business whose primary function is the serving of alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises. Some establishments may also serve food, or have entertainment, but their main purpose is to serve alcoholic beverages. There are different types of drinking establishment ranging from seedy bars or nightclubs, sometimes termed "dive bars", to 5,000 seat beer halls and elegant places of entertainment for the elite. A public house, informally known as a "pub", is an establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises in countries and regions of British influence. Although the terms are increasingly used to refer to the same thing, there is a difference between pubs, bars, inns, taverns and lounges where alcohol is served commercially. A tavern or pot-house is, loosely, a place of business where people gather to drink alcoholic beverages and, more than likely, also be served food, though not licensed to put up guests. The word derives from the Latin taberna and the Greek ταβέρνα/taverna.
The San Francisco Brewing Company was one of the oldest micro-breweries and bars in San Francisco, in addition to being one of the first four brew pubs in the United States. It was not always known as the Brewing Company, as only in recent decades did it take the moniker. It was located on the edge of what was once known as the Barbary Coast, at the intersection of Columbus and Pacific Avenues. It was formerly known as the Andromeda Saloon and the Albatross Saloon.
The Prohibition era was the period from 1920 to 1933 when the United States prohibited the production, importation, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, and finally ended nationwide under the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified on January 16, 1919. Prohibition ended with the ratification of the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed the Eighteenth Amendment on December 5, 1933.
Jack London's San Francisco Stories is an anthology of Jack London short stories set in the San Francisco Bay Area. The book was edited by Matthew Asprey. The preface is a reprint of Rodger Jacobs' 2003 essay Ghost Land, a personal meditation on Heinold's First and Last Chance Saloon in Oakland, CA. The anthology is published by Sydney Samizdat Press through Amazon.com's CreateSpace print on demand service.
A biker bar is a bar that is frequented by bikers. Some are owned or managed by people who are friendly toward bikers. Some bars and restaurants advertise that they are "biker friendly" to attract more bikers and motorcycle (bike) enthusiasts. Biker bars are patronized by people from all walks of life, including bikers, non-bikers, and motorcycle club adherents, including outlaw motorcycle clubs.
Historic bars and saloons in San Francisco were some of the earliest businesses during the formation of the city. Many of the first businesses to spring up in San Francisco during the California Gold Rush era (1848–1855) supported the influx of new men, including bars and saloons, breweries, horse racing tracks, and others forms of entertainment.
This is an index of drinking establishment-related articles.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)