B is for Bus Stop!

Hey Kids,

We fired that Italian guy who did the write up for Amante. I mean, really, who writes with an accent? Also, no one trusts foreigners.

This week, our partner bar has agreed to donate one dollar of every drink to Roots International Academy, a junior high school in Oakland, to fund after school programs and field trips. If you had any thoughts of skipping out, this is not the week to do it. How often do you get to "d...rink for the kids" anyway? Staying for another drink is actually the responsible thing to do. And with budget cuts in place, the kids don't get to play music or sports unless you show up and drink more. Think about it.

http://www.oaklandschoolsfoundation.org/roots

And hey, new pick up line: "Hi, I don't usually buy girls drinks, but since it's for underprivileged children in Oakland, I feel that it would be socially irresponsible of me not to." Boom. I got her numba. How do you like dem apples?

Location, location, location. This week we'll be back on campus, at ye old The Bus Stop. You know it well, but do you know the full history of the Bus Stop? I didn't think so. Read on for more, details at the bottom.

Originally established in 1857 as The Busty Top, the first owners of what is now known as The Bus Stop sought to capitalize on the wealth of horny sailors, miners, loggers, kickballers, thieves, and other lowbrow miscreants who had come to California looking for gold, but hungry for women. As the northern-most outpost of the Barbary Coast, and thus often the first stop for miners and loggers coming down from Marin, Sonoma, and beyond, the Busty Top quickly gained a devoted following as the "cheapest little whorehouse in town." It wasn't long before even the saltiest of the Top's "ladies of the evening" were known worldwide. Amongst the more famous employees in the Top's heyday were Liverpool 'Lil, Henrietta Fillmore, Marina "Fingers" Chestnut, Octavia Buchanan, "Shanghai" Kelly O'Toole, and, of course, the venerable Mollie Stone. The Top even employed the first well-known gay "man of the evening," Philip "Phil the Drill" Castro. Unlike most establishments of the time, the Top's prostitutes were not exploited and tossed out on the street once they reached the wrinkled old age of 34 (34 was old back then, and very wrinkly). Rather, the Top provided a generous pension plan, usually promoted from within, and even provided seed start-up money if its employees decided to open up their own shop. As the owners said, "we encourage our girls to spread their legs, yes, but then we help them spread their wings." Some have referred to the Top's owners, Bill Kleiner and Adrian Perkins, as the first venture capitalists in California. Some of the Top's more successful employees went on to found eateries, grocery stores, and rival businesses, while others moved into politics and philanthropy, or died of venereal diseases.

On January 18, 1920, the San Francisco Chronicle's headlines read "Busty Top Busted." Prohibition had finally hit, and the city's most famous little whorehouse was shut down. The owners were jailed and the remaining employees scattered. But new owners soon took over, supposedly to provide coffee and other non-alcoholic refreshments, giving a wink and a nod to the Chronicle headline in renaming the place "The Busted Top." Within days of opening, however, the Top became one of the more popular speakeasies in town. When officers stopped by (those who weren't on the payroll), the alcohol was hidden behind fold-away walls, and the patrons would simply state that they were having some water, coffee, or soda pop while waiting for the bus. It wasn't long before the "Busted Top" was referred to as "The Bus Stop." "Waiting for the bus" became code for having a drink, and "riding the bus" code for sex. A "free ride" was sex with another patron or a generous whore, while a "nickel," "dime," or "quarter ride" referred to sex with a cheap, standard, or expensive whore. Other terms, such as an "oil change," "greasing the axles," "stuffing the tailpipe," or "looking under the hood" were quickly adopted into the lexicon. Soon, one could "wait for the bus" at any of over 5,000 establishments in San Francisco alone.

But the end of prohibition signaled a dark day for the Bus Stop. Swingers were replaced by suffragettes, men left town in droves to work on New Deal construction projects, and the fear of impending war soon gripped the city. It seemed the Bus Stop, and "waiting for the bus" alike were doomed to fade into San Francisco's history.

Flash forward to the heady, cocaine-fueled days of the 1980s. Reagan was king, money was everywhere, gas was cheap again, neon was a fashion statement, and hair was almost as big as cocaine and David Bowie. What a time to be alive! The Busted Top was re-opened as the Bus Stop, touting expensive drinks, a shoulder-pads only dress code, and great bathrooms to do coke in. The revamped Bus Stop is still alive today, though shoulder pads have been set aside for 80's nights and the drinks are now cheap (thanks inflation!).

So when it's getting late into the night this coming AlphaBar, just take a minute to look around and savor the history at the Bus Stop. Maybe pour yourself a traditional prohibition-era PBR, rock some neon or a side pony-tail, mine the bar for gold, try to get a "free ride" or an "oil change," or pretend you're a cheap prostitute with a heart of gold. And as always, kids, its AlphaBar, so keep it classy. But not too classy.

Deets:

Alpha Bar at the Bus Stop
1901 Union Street at Laguna
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
8 pm to closing