1428 Fourth Street NE, Minneapolis. I normally don’t do polka, but this place is legendary!

It appears that this building was built as a saloon and flat in 1900, according to the Minneapolis Permit Cards.  During Prohibition it was a cafe/restaurant.  J.C. Johnson ran a soft drink bar in January 1922.  William W. Johnson was listed at this address in November 1924.

JOHNSON’S PLACE

When Prohibition ended, the establishment became (or continued to be called) Johnson’s Place.  Although it was owned by William W. Johnson, it was William’s brother Eugene J. Johnson who received one of 23 on-sale liquor licenses on January 26, 1934.  A New Year’s Greeting in 1938/1939 was from “Bill and Gene.”

The photo below is of William’s son, Johnny, tending bar at Johnson’s Place in about 1935. John died in 1937.  At the bar with the hat on is William’s other son Victor, and Victor’s brother-in-law, Lawrence Mikolajczyk, next to him.

 

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In late 1945, the liquor license was transferred from Eugene J. Johnson to Eugene J. Johnson and William Johnson.

 

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The notepad below indicates that William’s son Victor was a partner in the business after 1938/1939.

 

 

As far as I know, there was no live entertainment at Johnson’s Place, just a jukebox that played 78s, according to Victor’s daughter, Mary Jean Johnson DelPrincipe.

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MAYSLACK’S

By August 1955, the Johnsons had sold the place to wrestler Stan Mayslack.  Mayslack was a colorful character around town, and served only one item on his menu – giant roast beef and garlic sandwiches.

 

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From Mayslack’s website:

The history of Mayslack’s begins with Nordeast native Stashu Maslajek. Born to Polish immigrants in NE Minneapolis in 1911, Stashu – or “Stan” – developed a love of pro wrestling and moved to Chicago to make his mark. “Handsome Stan,” as he was known, was a crowd favorite in the Upper Midwest pro wrestling circles in the ‘30’s and ‘40’s. Along the way he Americanized the spelling of his Polish surname to Mayslack so it was easily pronounceable for wrestling fans. When his ring career ended in the 1940s, Stan Mayslack continued for a time as a wrestling and boxing promoter.

 

Minnesota tugged at his heartstrings, however, and in 1955 Stan and his wife Ann (who everyone called “Butch”) purchased an old tavern called Johnson’s in his beloved Nordeast neighborhood.  Renaming it “Mayslack’s,” Stan began pouring drinks, hiring polka bands and serving his now-famous garlic roast-beef sandwiches.

From the beginning, Mayslack’s was a partnership between Stan and his wife. With Stan making his sandwiches, Butch ran the till using a cigar box as their cash register. Stan and Butch lived in an apartment above the bar. Many times while upstairs, Stan would call down to the bar wanting to know who was there, followed by a free round of drinks for the people he selected. Mayslack’s was famous for organizing bus trips to Gopher and Vikings games and Nordeasters liked to congregate at the bar on Monday evenings to play a card game called Smear.

A neighborhood corner bar from the beginning, Mayslack’s still retains its original “divey” feel thanks to its largely-unaltered interior. As one reviewer noted, “the floor tiles are cracked, the bar is dimly lit, and the booths are creaky and private. It is simply a dive bar. And I immediately loved it.”

The Music

The three main ethnic groups that settled in the early NE Minneapolis neighborhood were Polish, Russian Orthodox and Czech, and it is their polka music that made what is now known as the Nordeast neighborhood unique.

 

 

It is said that Stan Mayslack celebrated everything. He featured parties throughout the year for New Year’s Eve, Orthodox New Year, Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year and more. These holiday parties were always a good excuse to have local Polish polka bands entertain, playing to overflowing crowds. In fact, when it first opened, Mayslack’s bar was listed in the phone book under “Mayslack’s Polka Lounge.” Polka bands from far and wide played regularly at Mayslack’s, and the venue’s rich polka history is widely noted.

While you can still find polka in the jukebox, Mayslack’s has since its expanded its repertoire to include all genres of live local music. What has not changed, however, is that Fridays and Saturdays you can still find a packed house of live music lovers!