B
right past the oldest sanctioned
bowling lanes intheUnitedStates.
HollerHouse, indeed, looks likea
house, blending in perfectlywith the sur-
rounding residential neighborhood. It has
twicemade
Esquire
magazine’s“BestBarsin
America”list,mostrecentlylastyear.Atfirst
glance, it appears tobe just a tavern, albeit
anawfullyoldone,withno indication that
anyonebowlshere.
Butastairwaybehindadoorat the right
of thebar leadsstraightdowntohistory.
There, in the
basement, are two
lanesthatleavelittle
room for anything
else.Theproprietors
often set up a video camera that streams
livefootagetoascreen inthebarupstairsso
folkscanwatchcontests.Grati iswelcome
onthewalls:
JulieB.CameHollerin’All
theWay fromCali
Thisplacerocksandsodoes
Milwaukee,Andy
Bowlershere, too,keepscorethemselves.
Unless it’s a scheduled bowling night, it’s
besttocallaheadsothatownerMarcySkow-
ronskicanarrange forapinboy.
“A goodpinboy’s faster than amachine,”
Skowronski insists. “Tipsaregood.”
The lanes aren’t easy compared tomod-
ern synthetic ones, which aremanicured
withoil to squeeze strikes from less-than-
perfectthrows.Justtwoperfectgameswere
rolled in thenation in 1909, the year after
HollerHouseopened. Compare that to the
2010–2011season,whenmodernequipment
and lane conditions helped contribute to
58,617perfect games in theU.S., according
totheUnitedStatesBowlingCongress.None
ofthosehappenedatHollerHouse,whichre-
centlyredidthesinkingfloorintheapproach
areabut leftthe lanesalone.
“Ifyoucanbowlgoodon thesealleys, you
canbowlanywhere,”Skowronskisays.
There are some serious relics on the
premises, from two-holedwoodenbowling
balls tonewspaper clippings of box scores
memorializing featsofBabeRuthwhenhe
pitched for theBostonRed Sox before be-
ing sold to theNewYorkYankees in 1919.
Bowling-team photos from the 1930s im-
mortalizebow-tiedhurlerswithsuchnames
asKoscierski andRozmarynowski.Nearby
hangs awho-knows-how-old sign urging
voters to supportThomas Szewczykowski
in the race for alderman. Thewalls are red
and the floor is red andwhite, same as on
thePolishflag.
Ina scrapbook, Skowronski has aphoto
of the lateHarveyKuenn, who guided the
Brewers to theWorldSeries in 1982, stand-
ing insideherbarwithagrinonhis faceand
asnowshovel inhishands.
“Wehadasnowballfightinhere,”Skowron-
skirecalls.“Wehadsnowallovertheplace.”
Theestablishment remains amecca for
bowlerswho travel fromas far awayasChi-
cago, says Skowronski, whohasworked at
HollerHousefor56yearsandstillopensthe
bareachdayat4p.m.
“Theyallwanttobowlontheoldestalley,”
shesays. “Justtothrowacoupleballs.”
HOLLER HOUSE
2042WESTLINCOLNAVE.,MILWAUKEE
•
(414)647-9284
Regular
AmericanWay
contributor
BRUCERUSHTON
,
who rarely breaks 150, is proud to have rolled the final
ball atArcadeLanes,oneof thenation’s lastsecond-story
bowlingalleys, just outsideSt. Louis.
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