2022.88

Found in Collection

Toad Davis notes: Father was Roy H. Davis owner of Artists Inc in NY, NY Father working for ad agency in Chicago ca 1950 Toad hung out at the old Wallys Wallys became a hang out for gays Gays were hanging out in town before 1950 Blue Tempo opened in 1960

Content of Mr. Davis' handwritten notes, typed out by John Kerr in 2020 From Donald Auldan (?) Davis TOAD, one of the 3 owners of the Blue Tempo House of Music. TOAD’s father Roy H. Davis, owner, artist, and owner of Artists Incorporated, in New York, N.Y. and Jacob Ahde, local businessman. At this time I was working for McFarland, Aveyarda Chicago based advertising agency. The Blue Tempo was originally going to be named Toadville U.S.A. but when applying for my license the then village of Saugatuck turned me down on the name, they didn’t want Saugatuck known as Toadville U.S.A. and The Blue Tempo didn’t start out as a Gar bar, and wasn’t the first in West Michigan. I grew up in Saugatuck and other local fellows and myself had a bar hangout, “Wally’s” on the South East corner of Butler and Hoffman, I had even painted a map of Saugatuck which hung in the bar, but then the Gays started going to Wally’s and we locals lost our bar hangout. A few of us old Wally’s customers decided to get even, and decided to take the Fruit exchange sign off of the Fruit exchange, which was across the Street from the Marilyn Monroe’s café. We got the sign down, and got it to Wally’s, but we never got the sign up. We got caught in the act. Wally’s may have been the first Gay bar? But Saugatuck seemed to always have Gays there. Our Blue Tempo didn’t bring them. I was the one who had the Idea of making the place, with an artie atmosphere and having live musicians from around the states that played Jazz music live. I did all of the painting in the bar, designed the layout of the bar, after the stairs were built down to the bar area, and enclosed. I painted a knight in armor full size but if you looked close, he was wearing a wristwatch. Then in the bar I had one wall with a mural of a castle on a hill. Look close and you saw a jeep going up a road to the castle. Thru out the bar there were natives, cartoon type full size and playing the musical instruments of today. Another wall had many colorful fish and around the bar were mannequins in German uniforms that I had brought back from Germany after World War II, where I had served over 2 years until I returned home when peace was declared. I opened the bar in 1960, the summer the Big Pavilion burnt down. The business was good for 3 years, and about 1964 is when the Gays started to take over. The Gays didn’t like the jazz music, I contacted the Michigan Liquor Commission and asked them what I could do. The liquor laws then stated that no Gays could congregate in liquor bars. The laws are different now! About 1966 my father died and the deed for the property went to my step-mother who sold the property to a Chicago group of Gays who wanted the bar license and who moved into the upstairs as my new landlords. They did everything possible trying to get the license. They brought in two strong armed boys from Chicago who carried guns. They hassled regular customers, broke neon lighting, then had our electric turned off, upped our rent, and finally padlocked our doors. Then 2 friends and myself broke the padlocks off the bar. We had a truck and took out coolers, ice machine, tables, chairs and what wasn’t glued down. We took to Douglas to then Crampton’s and put in storage there. I had run ads in the Chicago papers for the bar license sale and I had put money down on property that Henry Hopper owned, with plans of a new bar. But it was winter time and at that time Saugatuck was strictly a summer resort and so no calls from backers and the liquor commission had given me only 2 months to find a buyer. The property that I had planned to build the new bar on is now where I am living now, Ridgewood Oaks Apts, 1037 Maple St. Saugatuck. At the last my time to sell I got Tom Johnson who owns the Crow Bar who offered me a small fee for the license. This went into escrow until Mr. Johnson could find a location to put the license. This went on for over 2 years. Tom Johnson died and the sale of the license went on to Tom’s son Mike Johnson. My lawyer, Mr. Coup, took his fee, had told me when the sales agreement went thru he would try and get the IRS to step down. Hah – that’s a good one, the IRS got the bulk of the sales money but I did get $2000 that I gave to my girls. I had a nice mortgaged home in Allegan that my wife got for her and the children which she finally sold. I went back after the sale of the license driving semi’s, didn’t do very good. The truck blew a motor and I ended up running the old Snug Harbor gas station which was the old Bus station, kiddy corner from the Village Hall downtown. Well I was the last one to run the Snug Harbor station downtown Saugatuck. Yes! The Blue Tempo was an ice house years ago. Back in the days when a team of horses went down on the ice by the Butler and cut up ice in chunks, handed it to Barflies then, and stored it in the basement and in the summer the iceman would sell it to people who had ice boxes. But then along came refrigerators and goodbye ice boxes and lake ice. Also our winters aren’t as cold now and lake doesn’t freeze quite so thick. We had bought the property and building from Edward Marie Demeter who had gotten the place from Burrlie’s. There were 8 motel units, 7 hotel rooms and the bar which was 2 rooms on the Street level. I had a restaurant upstairs, then a bookstore and a slot car race track. And that’s it. Years ago when Snug Harbor was a thriving bus stop, Allie Daggett was the then taxi driver. Allie started with horse and buggy the taxi and then 2 cabs and that was one of my first jobs in Saugatuck, driving for Allie Daggett. Then later Arlene Hodley and Clair Slater started competition against Daggett and I then switched and drove for C&S cab company. Lots of cab business back then. My first Saugatuck job, when my family moved here from Chicago, was the Duck Pin bowling alley (I set pins). Erv Grubbs manager was across the St. on Butler St. kitty corner from Village Hall which is now an antiques store shop. And this is where I received my nickname TOAD. Went hiking across the river by Mt. Baldhead, found a brown toad which I thought was a brown frog and Erv Grubbs said that anyone that got near me would get warts and that’s my TOAD story. Toad Davis notes: Father was Roy H. Davis owner of Artists Inc in NY, NY Father working for ad agency in Chicago ca 1950 Toad hung out at the old Wally’s Wally’s became a hang-out for gays Gays were hanging out in town before 1950 Blue Temp opened in 1960