Monday, September 08, 2003
Site of the Marquee Wars.
As I view the corner of Lafayette, 8th Street and 6th Avenue today, I think of about 1961. I see that the church building seems derelict and the tavern has been razed and there's not much left to show that it was once a battleground of the Marquee Wars, where the ambitions of two groups clashed.
The church there (The Church) had had a bone to pick with neighboring night spots. After a Saturday night, the taverns' big night, there was often a mess left for the church people to clean up before Sunday, the church's big day. No one likes cleaning up after someone else's fun and complaints were filed but largely ignored. There was a culture clash, a lack of communication and bad blood between the devout and the debauched.
It came to pass in those days that many churches were replacing the traditional sign boards posting: time of the next service, pastor's name and subject of the next sermon with large electrically lighted marquee. On theirs, The Church advertised "GOD IS THE ANSWER".
One of the taverns, The Spot, with insufficient forethought, used its marquee to sign, "WHAT'S THE QUESTION?"
The devout seemed devoid of a sense of humor and responded with calls to the liquor board, the police, and city councilmen. They rose up in arms. Letters to the editor demanded removal of the impertinent question.
Feeling the pressure, The Spot cleared their marquee and the church folks crowed. Victory for the crusaders!
But victory was short lived. The Spot, having found that questions were objectionable, posted their own statement. "BOOZE IS THE ANSWER"
You think they were mad over there on the righteous side of the street before?! They were hopping at the sight of this heresy. Explosive sermons enlisted allies for this second skirmish of the marquee war. Extra exclamation points were added to The Church's marquee: GOD IS THE ANSWER!!! Letters to the editor were redoubled. "BOOZE IS THE ANSWER" would not stand!
Then, the Dunbar band began a long run at The Spot signaling a marquee change. Not fully realizing what was wrong with the original question, or why a legally licensed establishment could not advertise its wares, but wanting no more trouble, they took the easy way, climbed the ladder, turned the 4th letter of the sign on its side, climbed down, brushed off hands and admired the advertisement for the opening of a new and popular band led by Boone Dunbar. The sign read "BOONE IS THE ANSWER!"
It was allowed to stand that way for a short while and then replaced by something more traditional (Old Milwaukee $1.99). What seemed so important at the time is forgotten by almost everyone today but that's the way I remember the marquee wars of 1961.
