Milwaukee exudes coolness for countless reasons: its setting on Lake Michigan, beautiful homes, ornate downtown buildings,
ghost signs, and a gastronomical experience few cities can match.
While the city’s thriving microbrewery scene has had a role in putting Milwaukee on the maps to which it absolutely belongs, the city’s past need not be forgotten.
Giant breweries like Miller dominated the city at one time, providing citizens good jobs. Many have closed and
beer is now just a relative fraction of the overall
local economy, but old signs remind you that brewers long dominated the city before a certain eponymous baseball team stole fans’ hearts this year (and then broke them last night--sorry Milwaukee Brewers fans!).
Then you have the old haunts where local brews are savored. Old standbys like Wolski’s Tavern (where ladies were and still are welcome, above left) still remind you of a time when drinking beer was unladylike and not for the proper gentleman, either. Our society has become a little more progressive and open since those almost forgotten days, but a walk through Milwaukee’s streets is yet a cheerful reminder of the old days and the good days to come. Luckily the beer signs keep those long gone times alive.
Schlitz, an old Milwaukee standby
old rusted Pabst sign, Brady Street, Milwaukee
Blatz beer still advertised at Regano's
Wolski's Tavern, where all of the above can be enjoyed
Lakefront Brewery, a sign of the future
