“Now you’re beginning to see a city getting very complex and demanding all sorts of specializations ... that begins (Marquette’s) introduction There were always other brewers, packers and into the broader urban economy and the profes“Marquette ... did send a bulldozer in to take the manufacturers — in Pabst’s case, he consistently sions that uphold a complex urban economy,” said Jablonsky. building down quickly ... because it had dragged had Schlitz, Blatz and Miller to contend with. on for years,” Jablonsky said. “Had Frederick Pabst not been here, there would That complex urban economy is what makes Milhave been beer royalty in Milwaukee, but he was waukee more than just Marquette’s location. It still the king of kings, the brightest of the luminar- also becomes a place to work and a place to have Milwaukee’s Royalty fun. The work of the industrialists Allis, Pabst and ies,” Gurda said. Plankinton created a job market in Milwaukee and When Allis died in 1889, Plankinton in 1891 and Pabst in 1904, Milwaukee lost what could be called Also, according to Jablonsky, Marquette’s initial consequently built the city that made Marquette three of its finest entrepreneurs. Without them, the successes at the end of the 1800s cannot not be di- into a university. city may not have built itself as well or as quickly rectly attributed to the Plankinton, Allis or Pabst Perhaps Gurda put it best. “Cities start with jobs influences. as it did. — they start as economic entities and become so They weren’t the only people making a difference, “Marquette almost could have been in the cornfields much more.” and it wouldn’t have mattered,” said Jablonsky. however. Jablonsky explained that Marquette’s reasoning for quick action was to prevent the university from wasting more time and money.
ously did was create all sorts of employment opportunities.”
“What really stands out is that you had a critical But at the turn of the century, the growing popumass of entreprenuers,” Gurda said. “Milwaukee lation in Milwaukee began to affect the way Mar- Sara J. Martinez contributed to this story. really got more than its proportional share of the quette taught its students. entreprenuers and enterprises, so what that obvi-
with Becky Simo rebecca.simo@marquette.edu
I
t’s got its share of nicknames: Brew City (OK, I see where that comes from,) Mil-Town (lame, but I get it) and Cream City (huh?)*. It’s got a lot of beer: Miller Brewing Company, Sprecher Brewing Company, Stonefly Brewery and Lakefront Brewery all call Milwaukee home. It’s got Arthur “The Fonz” Fonzarelli permanently standing on the RiverWalk (“Aaaayyyyy!”). Then there are the brewery tours, sausage races at our Major League Baseball games and the memorable recent parade that consisted of hundreds of Harley-Davidson motorcycles riding down Wisconsin Avenue. It sounded like a plague of locusts, lasted for what felt like several hours, blocked traffic and made it impossible to cross the street. And yet, somehow, everybody was mostly OK with this. Yes, Milwaukee’s a pretty weird place. Some might even call it a pretty tacky place. Whatever you think of a city that celebrates drinking, noisy
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motorcycles and erects statues of bygone celebrities, Milwaukee is, for many of us, a home away from home for the next few years. And you know what? It has kind of grown on me. I have to admit, though, there are still some things about this city that I don’t quite understand.
So, my new theory, which is probably pretty obvious to most of you, is this: it all comes down to the beer.
I mean, beer is a pretty common element in college students’ lives, and it’s a major source of income for this Brew City of ours. It is everywhere at parFor some reason that I cannot quite figure out, Mil- ties, baseball games, barbecues and probably in waukeeans really enjoy brewery tours. In an effort your fridge. A quotation so famously attributed to to debunk this mystery, I did some serious, scien- Benjamin Franklin reads, “Beer is proof that God tific research. And by serious, scientific research I loves us and wants us to be happy,” and while there exists virtually no documentation that Franklin mean asking my roommate about the topic. did say those words, the phrase has become the “It makes it OK to be drunk and try all kinds of mantra of many. beer. It’s kind of expected,” she said. “Plus, you can get a lot of beer for usually a few dollars. What’s It is all about the beer. And in Milwaukee, a city not to love? It’s not alcoholism, it’s a sophisticated that’s flowing with the stuff (sometimes literally, depending upon which Friday-night party you’re at), I tour!” guess it’s only natural that beer-lovers would want to Sophisticated tour, indeed. I figured that was a see exactly how their brew of choice is made. pretty good explanation, but it made me think. * “Cream City” comes from a certain type of brick Why brewery tours? There are plenty of other things made from Milwaukee soil that has a light, creamy that are manufactured here, and everywhere, but as color. Still, I think it’s a stretch. far as I know, people don’t make a habit of visiting, say, the Klement’s sausage plant. And who would Views in this column do not necessarily want to? Raw meat being ground up and, well, I reflect the views of Marquette University. won’t continue so you can still eat the stuff without gagging. But trust me, it’s not pretty.