Like any good story, the history of White's Bar begins a long, long time ago, in a place far, far away. In fact, it is so far removed from modern day Saginaw that it may seem almost unrecognizable. Perhaps it WAS only a dream....
But it did actually happen just the way I'm about to tell ya.
It's really the story of a fairly typical American family with its share of heroes and villains, successes and failures...and a few tragedies. My grandfather, Lambert "Bert" White founded White's Bar in July 1937. But before that he had lived a whole lotta life.
Bert was the son of Albert White and Susan Kauffman. He was born on 6/21/1897, the oldest of seven children. I never met my great-grandfather Albert, yet his legacy lived on in our family's oral history. Grandpa Bert told me he grew up on a farm in Millersburg, Michigan and that his family never had much money - they would barter cows, turkeys, eggs, and chickens and go into town maybe once a month for staples such as salt, flour, oil, sugar, and soap. They never thought of themselves as poor but life was hard. They did not have "conveniences" like electricity or a telephone. They used oil to light their lamps to produce "light" in the evenings. Great-grandpa never owned an automobile and never learned to drive one. This man was true "backwoods" country. And he was mean. He was a devout Baptist, a believer in fire and brimstone. He believed that alcohol and tobacco were the "devil's work" (Oh, if you only knew, my dear great-grandpa). Albert was never one to "spare the rod and spoil the child". Grandpa Bert, a relative free spirit compared with his volatile father, suffered many a beating. But times were not always so bad. Bert remembers playing lacrosse in the woods with the "Indians" (who lived next door). For a brief time Bert lived a simple rural life - hard - but free from the corruption of the big city...that is until his mother Susan died on November 7th, 1911. She was 37 years old. Bert was 14 years old. He had proudly graduated 8th grade from Case Township School in Millersberg the previous year (qualifying him for a teaching profession, most of his peers never got that far in school). Bert got a job that year workin' the limestone quarry at Rogers City. After a few years of that, young Bert was lookin' for some excitement and began workin' the railroad on the Detroit/Mackinaw Line between Tawas and Bay City. This backwoods boy was seeing the world!!! By this time he was living in Alpena. In 1918 he met his future wife Odetta Elizabeth Byers at a dance in Onaway. By all reports, Bert danced like a man possessed, not at all like the other boys. This unrestrained mojo was what first attracted my grandmother.
Everyone called her "Etta". I called her "Nana" and that was fine with her.
She was originally from Sarnia, Ontario, the oldest of ten children born to George Byers and Celia Felton. Old George was stubborn irishman who hated "those damn catholics". He referred to himself as an "Orangeman". In the late fifties/early sixties, he lived with my grandparents. I called him "Little Grandpa"...cos..uhm...well..he WAS little. He didn't say much and he smelled bad.
I LOVED him.
We even looked alike. To this day he is my hero, and I know in my heart of hearts that when I'm really old like Little Grandpa, I'm NOT gonna say much either. And I KNOW for a FACT that I will smell bad...'cos I already smell bad. Anyway, Little Grandpa died in 1962 when I was 10 years old. I didn't attend the funeral...don't remember why. I missed him and always liked him better than grandpa Bert. Maybe 'cos he never yelled at me like Bert did...

Bert missed WWI. He was exempt from military service because he worked for the railroad. He and Etta married on January 20th, 1919. After the war, Bert moved to Saginaw in search of a more lucrative job in the nascent automobile industry. He landed a job as a foreman for General Motors Grey Iron Foundry. By this time Bert and Etta had three children (three others would die shortly after delivery), Margaret (born in 1921), Annabelle (Born 1923), and Rollin "Billy" (born in 1926).
Family fortunes were improving steadily until the Foundry's dust and fumes affected Bert's lungs. He became gravely ill and was not expected to survive, especially when his appendix burst. But survive he did. His recuperation was lengthy (one year) and complicated. Etta took a job downtown at Cunningham's Drug Store. Later she waited tables at the State & Bay Tavern, owned by Edward and Kittie Bennett. Upon his recovery, Bert understood that he could no longer work at the foundry but was eager to resume his role as breadwinner. It was Etta who convinced Bert that a tavern may hold the key to a succesful transition... from industry to hospitality. Ed and Kittie had operated several business at the State & Bay location since 1926, including a party store, an ice cream parlor, and a grocery store. The property was originally owned by Charles T. Brenner who first executed a title in 1872. Herman and Florence Roys gave an oil lease covering the lot but had no legal interest in the property. In 1926, the Bennetts purchased the property from John and Minna Raquet, Garnet Hall, and Orrin Remensnyder.

Ed and Kittie converted Bennett Grocery Store to the State in Bay Tavern in 1934 following the demise of the "Grand Experiment" (prohibition).
By 1937 they had ENOUGH!
Old Ed was tired of the strain, the daily grind of self-emloyment, and was ready to sell. Bert and Etta were ready to buy. Etta had already established herself with the customers and it seemed like a "good fit"

So Bert purchased the business for the then tidy sum of $1500 ($18,400 in today's dollars). Bert's "Grand Opening" on July 27th, 1937 was a phenomenal success with sales totaling $32.75. All the local beer distributers were in attendance. There was reps from Max Treu Company (Strohs), Schemm Brewery (Red Seal), Sam Izzo (Black Label), Andre Ellis (Goebels), Michigan Beer Distributers (E&B), Banner Brewery (Banner Beer), and Schwartz Brothers (Old Style). Note that there were seven local distributers, specializing in the sale of local or regional beers.
Today there are three distributers and most beers are "national" or "imported". Do you recognize any of these brands? In 1939, a case of beer cost grandpa $1.50. In 1962, a case of beer cost my father $4.00. Today, in January 2003, a case of beer costs an average of $17.45.

The Grand Opening party proved to be a wild & wooley affair with all them reps bringin' keg beer to GIVE AWAY. That's right. FREE BEER!!! The salesmen/reps all had expense accounts and would buy round after round, just tryin' to outdo each other...yes - times were GOOD!
Draft beer sold for 5 cents and bottle beer was a thin dime. We didn't sell liqour until 1949 when government census figures indicated a population growth that allowed the issuance of several coveted "liquor" licenses(Liquor was called "notions" in the business nomenclature of the day. My father continued to use this quaint term through the mid-sixties). Bert got one of them. To coincide with this great fortune, Bert had a new and bigger bar constructed on the northeast end of the building (the original bar - which seated only eight people was placed in the front northwest window). He also covered the carved metal ceiling with some homey pinewood. So now Bert had a full menu of food and beverages....he even sold candy bars for those GI's who came home addicted to the sweet delights of a Hershey Bar - a staple of military K-rations in WWII. Bert and his family lived in a two room hideaway adjacent to the bar(now a storage room) for several years. Here, in the early forties, Etta would prepare home cooked meals to the workers who built Daniel's Theater and the new Arthur Hill High School. White's Bar became a hot spot. A place to go for a good meal, cheap booze, and a family-type atmosphere.
Neighborhood children would walk over to fill up a pale with draft beer to take home to their fathers. This was the very beginning of selling beverage alcohol "to go".
Now, over 75% of all alcohol consumption occurs at home.
For Bert, if you behaved, you were welcome. That meant proper attire, no swearing or indecent behavior, no fighting, no extreme or apparent drunkeness, and NO PUTTIMG YOUR FEET ON THE CHAIRS (never understood why that pissed 'ole Bert off so much). The bartenders all wore starched white shirts buttoned to the top with a necktie. It was truly a family affair...a mom & pop store... with Bert, Etta, all their children, and their children's spouses helping out. As White's popularity increased, Bert even hired a few outsiders to wait tables. Gradually Bert and Etta's fortunes advanced to the point where they built a showcase home at 2281 N. Carolina (used to be Madison Street)that was featured in an article in the Saginaw News. It was an era when government interference was minimal. Less taxes, less or no insurances, less fees for licenses. Grandpa was able to actually keep some of the money he made from sales!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT. He and Etta was even able to vacation every winter in Florida. WOW.
Like old Hank Steinert used to say, "The first count's the most important"

Bert's slender interest in music began in the forties when local songwriting legend, Angelo Lorenzo, worked next door at Daniel's Theater as a projectionist. He also worked the Franklin and the Court movie houses... he was in great demand!
Ange was a hard workin', hard drinkin' man that never made much money from his compositions. He HAD to work 2 or 3 jobs to keep food on the table and a roof over his family's head. Anyway, Angelo would stop by White's after work to "quaff" only a few beers. But according to legend, his friends would always buy him "another round" so that he would stay and lead the group in song and reverie. They all knew Angelo carried his trusty harmonica wherever he went and they also figured that if they fed him enough beer, Angelo would pull out his harp for a group sing-a-along, covering the "hits of the day" - including his own composition, "Sleepy Time Gal".... Grandpa was delighted that Angelo entertained his customers (thus promoting sales) but was appalled at his marginal vocal(yes, he warbled off key, folks!) and musical skills. Hell, grandpa didn't much care for music anyhow and probably didn't know good music if it bit him on the rear end. But Bert did love radio and would sit for hours listening to his favorite shows - usually sports. Whenever I would come by for some attention, Bert would get irritated if I interrupted his listening. He enjoyed peace and quiet. And me...well, I was a loud, hyperactive, pain-in-the-butt kid. I had it comin'....maybe. In his later years, Bert's eyesight failed him and he relied exclusively on his radio. Around 1972, I came back from college to visit, hair grown down to my shoulders. Bert took one look at me and said, "Why don't you cut that long hair, you look like a damn girl"! It was a MIRACLE...my blind grandpa regained his eyesight! It always puzzled me how grandpa's blindness never hindered his perception of me. I was never able to totally gain his favor and acceptance.

Grandpa lived in an era that was both harder yet more innocent than in today's high tech speeded-up world. It was a time before small business shouldered the burden of dis-proportionately large taxes. Social security payroll taxes hovered at 1% for years and years. And insurance bills e.g., liquor liability, on-premise liability, and workman's compensation were not yet mandated. Our post-prohibition government was only minimally intrusive. And it took a good two decades before the legislative watchdogs began to gradually reintroduce restrictions. It was a time when my grandmother prepared and served dinners to hungry customers - from her own kitchen - without scrutiny from public health officials. Prior to punitive and regressive drunk driving laws, police officers like Ted Moulton, Doc Savage, and Chesty Hogan would stop by for a drink...even give someone a ride home....instead of arresting him.
But, alas, this shangrila did not endure and the power and influence of our social control agents (e.g., schools, churches, police, legislators, and media) were gradually but surely expanded at the expense of our 1st and 4th amendment rights - freedom of speech and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. Pretty important stuff!