Most small towns have one, a historic hotel, in various stages of repair, a small group of locals, most known by a nickname, and a brass bar with cold drinks.
With the development of our country, came hotels, and often the only place that could be licensed to sell a libation was the hotel’s beer parlour.
Chris Doering, his wife Connie Biggart, and Rob Pohl and his wife Margarit have been getting to know quite a few of them. They are working on the Beer Parlour Project. This celebrates old-school hotel watering holes. They are documenting the history of the space, coming and learning stories from the locals and capturing it with modern digital photography as well as shooting scenics with vintage black and white film cameras.
On Saturday, June 14, they made a stop at the Waldorf Hotel.
Doering and his wife are history buffs and have been doing writing and research for years. They teamed up with photographer Rob Pohl and worked on projects. Often as they were working, they would be in a small town, and stop by the local watering hole for a snack and cool one.
“We did this a couple of times and we started looking around at these old hotels and noticed there's a lot of history right where were sitting drinking a beer and eating a burger,” said Chris.
This sparked an idea, that has grown into their project.
“We started thinking this could be a project. We’ve done coal mines grain elevators, but this would be a really people-oriented project as compared to the other ones,” he explains.
They have targeted 100-120 old taverns and have already visited over 30. They started planning in 2019, and then COVID-19 hit. They rebooted in 2022 and have been going strong.
Along the way, they have been documenting their work through collecting stories and taking photographs. They are posted at www.Beerparlourproject.com. They hope to eventually exhibit the work and possibly publish a book on their work.
He explains when they reach out to some establishments, there is a little suspicion on the other end of the phone, but after they explain what they are doing most are quite open. They spend an afternoon or evening with the innkeepers and the patrons, tour the space, and talk to the locals.
“Initially there was a lot of resistance and pushback. After about four or five, they are calling us now,” said Chris.
He explains they often go into the establishment blind to its history or reputation. They instead start the story from the people.
“We go in and learn what we can. We talk to people and say ‘Give us a story.’ We can often read about when it was built, that’s great, but let’s find out about the guy who brought a horse in, or did something interesting here,” he said.
The locations range from charming to downright scary, but he says they have never had any trouble. They respectfully approach the patrons and get consent before filming.
“Everybody opens up and sometimes they are lined up to chat,” he said.
In other instances, why have visited places where the only person to talk to is the owner.
To add to the charm Rob creates images using some retro camera equipment on this day he was shooting with an Ebony brand large format view camera with bellows, taking pictures on 4X5-inch black and white film. While the camera is from the 1990s, the technology goes back more than a century. It has its drawbacks in low lighting but brings a more authentic feel to the work.
Rob processes the negatives and then prints the work, while Doering assembles the background history, and posts the completed project to beerparlourproject.com.
Right now it is a labour of love, and they are not making any money from the project. They are paid in a lazy afternoon, with cold beer, good company and great conversations.
