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A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE WONDER BAR & ITS PLACE IN MADISON CULTURE
Madison’s Wonder Bar, at 222 East Olin Avenue, is a rare surviving example of the Prohibition-era roadhouses that were once part of a network of outposts and hideouts that grew up on the outskirts of Midwestern cities and along its rural and suburban highways during the 1920s and 1930s. Aided by the growth of the automobile, these nightclubs served illegal alcoholic beverages and food to eager patrons and also hosted lively entertainment, contributing to the era’s popularization of jazz throughout the United States.
Notorious figures from Chicago, including Al Capone and the Touhy Brothers, operated roadhouses in Illinois and Wisconsin. The Touhy brothers used “Eddie’s Garden Lunch,” opened in 1932 (renamed “Eddie’s Wonder Bar” in 1934) as a base for their gang’s ongoing gambling and racketeering operations, which included laundering illicit earnings from their Chicago gambling ring, as well as the illegal distribution of liquor into Wisconsin. Located just outside Madison’s city limits on the new Highway 12, the Garden Lunch was financed by Roger “the Terrible” Touhy and was owned and run by Eddie Touhy and his wife into the 1940s.
Since then, the vernacular fortress-like brick building has had different names and different owners and an enthusiastic following among Madisonians, who have appreciated its good food, welcoming ambience, and place in Madison history. Recently Madison’s Prohibition roadhouse has become recognized as eligible for Landmark status as a representation of a significant period in American history.
Notorious figures from Chicago, including Al Capone and the Touhy Brothers, operated roadhouses in Illinois and Wisconsin. The Touhy brothers used “Eddie’s Garden Lunch,” opened in 1932 (renamed “Eddie’s Wonder Bar” in 1934) as a base for their gang’s ongoing gambling and racketeering operations, which included laundering illicit earnings from their Chicago gambling ring, as well as the illegal distribution of liquor into Wisconsin. Located just outside Madison’s city limits on the new Highway 12, the Garden Lunch was financed by Roger “the Terrible” Touhy and was owned and run by Eddie Touhy and his wife into the 1940s.
Since then, the vernacular fortress-like brick building has had different names and different owners and an enthusiastic following among Madisonians, who have appreciated its good food, welcoming ambience, and place in Madison history. Recently Madison’s Prohibition roadhouse has become recognized as eligible for Landmark status as a representation of a significant period in American history.
"INFORMATION" has CIRCULATED RECENTLY THAT
THE WONDER BAR IS NOT WORTH SAVING.
THIs "INFORMATIOn" IS NOT ACCURATE.
INSTEAD…
- As recently as 2021, the Wonder Bar was operating as the Wonder Bar Steakhouse, a favorite restaurant and gathering place for a broad cross-section of Madison residents and visitors to Madison.
- In the landmark application submitted in 2021, the Wonder Bar was reported to be in excellent condition for landmarking.
- During the 1920s and 1930s, "Wonder Bar" was a name given to many drinking establishments in the US and in Europe to indicate an atmosphere of conviviality and escape.
- Madison’s Prohibition roadhouse has earned a place in the heart of Madisonians as well as in the annals of the city's and nation;s history.
To go to an explanation about the Wonder Bar's proposed demolition, click here.
To LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WONDER BAR’S HISTORY
AND LANDMARKS, READ ON…
Some of the stories that circulate about the Wonder Bar are documented, and some are not.
The building’s fortress-like appearance has enhanced its myth. What is documented is that Roger “the Terrible” Touhy’s financed the building and that the Touhy gang, which was organized in 1920, battled Al Capone for control of illegal trade in that area. In addition, it is fact that when Roger Touhy broke out of the Stateville Correctional Center in 1942 and hid in an apartment in Chicago, he arranged for an intermediary to travel to Madison and ask his brother for some money. The FBI, meanwhile, watched the Eddie’s bar closely.
Wonder Bar was a common bar name of the Prohibition era, a play on “wunderbar,” the German word for “wonderful.”
Many unrelated bars across the United States used and still use the name. A German-language musical play, Die Wunderbar, played in Vienna before being adapted on Broadway in 1931 and starring Al Jolson. Three years later, in 1934, a movie called The Wonder Bar included a blackface musical number, but nothing in the historical record documents why Oscar Hein and Ray Hansen, who operated the bar as the Wonder Bar that year, took on the name. The claimed connection between the Madison bar and the film is an inference and not a documented fact.
Landmarks are officially designated as historically, architecturally, or culturally significant to Madison by the Common Council.
This designation is governed by Madison’s Historic Preservation Ordinance (Chapter 41 of the Madison General Ordinances), and is administered by the Landmarks Commission. No one may demolish, relocate, or materially alter the exterior of a landmark, add a new structure to a landmark site, install a sign on it, or divide the landmark site without a Certificate of Approval from the Landmarks Commission. The owner must also maintain the landmark. Designation does not regulate interior remodeling or how the property is used.
The Wonder Bar’s nomination for landmark status is based on its “association with broad patterns of the history of the nation, state or community."
The Landmark nomination for the Wonder Bar in 2021 tells the story of the building's role during Prohibition from 1923 to 1936. It lists the physical condition of the building as “excellent” based on a review of its building permits since 2008, which indicate that plumbing, HVAC, and electrical wiring were replaced and/or repaired in 2009 and 2010. The Wonder Bar was also re-roofed in 2019. The appearance and the exterior integrity of the Wonder Bar has not changed over time and it remains Madison's only extant example of Prohibition roadhouse architecture.
Development and preservation can exist side by side and complement one another.
It is possible to integrate the Wonder Bar into the overall plans to redevelop the site by either leaving the Wonder Bar in place or moving it elsewhere on the site. The building and its front parking lot, which occupy only about 12% of the site (based on McGrath’s 2022 approved plan, which would have left the Wonder Bar at its current location on the site) could be rehabilitated and returned to use as part of a new development.