Douglas Tavern c1950

Photograph

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Saugatuck Douglas Historical Society

HM bar scene.jpg 721KB: Front left Jack Seckel - owner Other bartender ??? Looks like Jack - maybe son? Front right Georgia Chase Seckel / Lawrence Shoemaker / Man with glass holding shot glass Robert Dempser / woman beside him may be wife Velma / Next woman Margery Fisch Cartwright / man behind Ralph Cartwright man fact partially hidden ? /Plaid shirt man Larry Monique Per Howard Schultz - This is the Douglas Tavern date ca 1950. Jack Seckel is Howard’s uncle.
HM bar scene.jpg 721KB

Front left Jack Seckel - owner Other bartender ??? Looks like Jack - maybe son? Front right Georgia Chase Seckel / Lawrence Shoemaker / Man with glass holding shot glass Robert Dempser / woman beside him may be wife Velma / Next woman Margery Fisch Cartwright / man behind Ralph Cartwright man fact partially hidden ? /Plaid shirt man Larry Monique Per Howard Schultz - This is the Douglas Tavern date ca 1950. Jack Seckel is Howard’s uncle.

Name/Title

Douglas Tavern c1950

Entry/Object ID

2023.10.364

Description

Two bartenders and their customers smile at the camera for this photo from inside a tavern. No minors were allowed after 9 pm. This image was featured as History Mystery #122 with the text: A local bar scene ca 1950. Name the bar and the people. The following article appeared in the September 8, 2006 issue of The Commercial Record: History Mystery junkies can stop scratching heads and searching old photo albums. Last week's mystery featured a bar scene including two bartenders behind a bar of happy customers. The TV set in the corner dated the photo about 1950. Otherwise it was a genuine mystery. Winning the first "Super Sleuth Award" and an 8x10 historical photo of his choice is Howard Schultz. Schultz had the inside track because his uncle, Jack Seckel, built the place about 1948. The original name was the Douglas Tavern. Hold on to your hat - today the business lives on - it is Ye Olds Woodshed bar and grill on the Blue Star Highway in Douglas. Schultz related that Uncle Jack Seckle was a World War II war plant worker in Detroit. After the war, he was badly injured when a tank he was welding exploded. With a fat workers' comp check in his pocket, he came to Douglas with his wife Georgia. Naturally she was a Douglas native and a member of the Chase family. Her uncle, Bill Schultz, owned a small restaurant which Jack bought, obtained a liquor license and built a new place just across the highway about 1948. The Douglas Tavern was in business until about 1970. Thanks to Florence Ekdahl McCarn who helped to identify the customers, starting with the front left, Jack Seckel, other bartender unknown, Georgia Chase Seckel, unknown man with hat, Robert Dempser and probably Mrs. Dempser next to him, Margery Cartwright, Ralph Cartwright, tall man, unknown man and Larry Monique at the end of the bar.

Photograph Details

Type of Photograph

Digital scan

Subject Person or Organization

Coasta Azul/JoJo's/Woodshed, Seckel, John V. "Jack" 1897-1972, Cartwright, Ralph N. 1921-2002, Monique, Laurence Rufus "Ruf" 1926-1991, Dempster, Robert "Bob" James 1914-1986, Dempster, Velma L. (Hensley) 1912-1979, Riverman, Schultz, Howard E. Jr.

Collection

Commercial businesses

Cataloged By

Winthers, Sally

Acquisition

Accession

2023.10

Acquisition Method

Found in Collection

Notes

These photos were published by Jack Sheridan for Commercial Record "History Mystery" features.

Location

* Untyped Location

Digital data in CatalogIt

General Notes

Note

These image(s) were copied from the SDHC photo blog [or the Jack Sheridan drive if that was a superior version] in preparation for updating the SDHC website in 2023.

Create Date

November 5, 2023

Update Date

June 18, 2025