Bowling at the Holler House

by

Milwaukee History

Located in Lincoln Village’s South Side historic Polish neighborhood at 2042 West Lincoln Avenue, the Holler House’s basement houses the oldest officially 10-pin sanctioned bowling alley in Milwaukee Country. The bowling alley is still tended by human pinsetters. Neighbors are known to fall asleep to the sound of bowling pins crashing in the lanes. It was founded in September of 1908 by “Iron Mike” Skoronski and known as Skowronski’s. His son Gene married Marcy in 1952 and they renamed it Gene and Marcy’s. After Gene died in 1990, Marcy Skowronski ran the tavern until her death in December 2019.

Marcy began bartending at Helen’s Maplewood Tavern in Oconomowoc on Okauchee Lake. She was hired to be a cocktail waitress but ended up bartending. Upon owning her own establishment with Gene, Marcy could usually be seen with a Gin Rickey in her hand. Until her death Marcy was one the best, sassiest bartender/bar owners in Milwaukee.

It’s quite possible she met more rock stars and celebrities than anyone else in the city. She cared little about someone’s fame or notoriety. As an example, Marcy made Brewers’ manager Harvey Kuehn mop the bar after he brought a snowball fight inside the bar. Marcy focused on sound business operations, customer behavior and service that would be rewarded with reasonable tips. Her quirky personality shines in one of my favorite stories about Marcy: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel writer Jim Stingl remembers when Marcy told him her first career was “reading porno to the blind.” 

New Name, New Notoriety  

During the mid-1970s the venue became known as the Holler House when a woman used the phrase when commenting about the noise within. It was about that same time that Marcy and some friends had a few too many and decided to remove their bras off and hang them up. Shortly after, it became common practice for first-time visitors to the bar to do the same, whether inebriated or not. In the decades to follow, the Holler House became almost as well known for the hanging bras as for its historic lanes. Every so often, as bras became worn out, Skowronski would take them down to make room for a new batch.

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Through the years, the Holler House was inspected numerous times by the Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood Services. The bras never were an issue. In April 2013, a new female inspector visited the Holler House. It was her opinion that the bras represented a fire hazard and informed Skowronski that the bras had to be taken down. The written order noted: “Curtains, draperies, hangings and other decorative materials, suspended from walls or ceilings, shall meet the flame propagation performance criteria of NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) 701.”

It was not known whether the inspector considered the bras to be “hangings”, “decorative materials” or both. “Either she had a bad day, or she didn’t like me,” Skowronski theorized in a Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story. Marcy did not take the bra ban well. She called a local reporter and quickly news of “Brassiere-Gate” was known not only in Milwaukee but the entire Country. At this point Milwaukee Alderman Bob Donovan stepped in, urging the written order be rescinded. In May 2003, the order was dismissed because the Holler House had a smaller maximum occupancy than first believed therefore a less stringent fire code applied.

Holler House still looks much the same as it did when it opened. The lanes are made of real wood laid over a century ago and oiled with a spray can.  Scores from games are still recorded on wall hung paper. The Skowronski family continues to own the bar and still embodies the grittiness and greatness of this unique Milwaukee tavern.