M & M Club Reunion to be Held May 8

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I don’t recall the first time I set foot in the M & M Club. It was sometime in the late 1980s and I became a regular for years thereafter. I vividly remember the last time I went there (along with several hundred others)—it was on Mother’s Day, May 8 2016 for the Club’s reunion on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of its closing in 2006. In fact, I can tell you the next time I’ll cross that famous threshold. Coincidently enough, it will be on Mother’s Day Sunday, May 8 of this year for the 16th anniversary reunion of that closure. 

If you’re an LGBTQ boomer, chances are you have a collection of fond memories of the many hours you spent at the M & M Club. Out, closeted or curious, you probably considered Milwaukee’s favorite corner gay bar a home away from home. In its early years, you probably felt safe and sound inside surrounded by the classic ambiance of a cozy Cream City tavern, amongst peers, and sheltered by the large wooden panels that covered the club’s store front style windows.

Originally opened as a Pabst Brewing Company Saloon in 1904, its large floor to ceiling windows were intended to let the light in and allow passers-by to glance inside and perhaps be persuaded to join the revelry inside and have a pint or two. Nearly three quarters of a century later, Bob Schmidt and partners Leo Peters and Jime Moes, on the auspicious national bicentennial date of July 4,, 1976, no less, opened the M & M Club (more familiarly known as M & M’s). Given the almost clandestine nature of the gay life at the time, those welcoming windows were shuttered to keep prying eyes out and protect the identities of those inside.

Breaking Out

But then came Schmidt’s historic act when he took a crowbar and removed the plywood window covers late one night in 1984.  A police patrol at the time thought he was breaking in. In fact, he was breaking out. No doubt to the consternation of some patrons yet for most an act of the pride, being LGBTQ was no longer a reason to hide.

Along with M & M’s community center-like role over the course of its three decade-long history, this symbolic and historic act of opening local gay life to the outside world prompted the Shepherd Express to honor Schmidt with its LGBTQ Progress Award in 2016.

It’s the only LGBTQ bar in Milwaukee that I’m aware of that has had a “reunion.” There’s a long list of bars that have closed over the years. Some, like the Ball Game, have had longer runs. Others, like the Factory/Inferno, the Wreck Room, 219, Boom & the Room, Triangle, the Nut Hut, the Boot Camp, Fanny’s or a litany of others, all had their heyday, some longer than others, but none, to my recollection in any case, have ever had a full-blown reunion.

It may be because those other bars had more specific clientele bases with little intersection with other segments of the community. Whether through softball teams, drag shows, strippers, a popular bartender (or bartendress) or simply for a seedy charm or up-market ambiance, each had its impact on and engagement in the LGBTQ scene as we knew it.

None, however, had either such broad appeal to the greater community as M & M’s. None could boast such a storied history that has since become the stuff of both nostalgia and local lore as M & M’s. It is almost as though Cream City’s LGBTQ life after Stonewall can be divided into the M & M Club and the post-M & M Club eras. 

Although the business has changed names a couple of times since M & M’s closure in 2006 and some changes have taken place to the interior (sadly, the phone booth is gone), the current occupants, the Tied House, have maintained the old haunt and will be opening its doors to welcome M & M alums. Some are flying in for the occasion, as is Bob Schmidt himself (who just turned 83!).  I understand there will also be a show featuring our divas KV, Dita Von, Shannon Dupree, maple Vaneer, Goldi Adams and Shawna Love. Of course, there will be many a memory shared and, perhaps, a rendition of that old familiar tune “For the Good Times.”

M & M Club Reunion details may be found at the “M&M Club Alumni and Friends” Facebook page.