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History
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Historic World Headquarters of the Bitters Club Built in 1899, by Danish immigrant Tom Nelsen, the hall has served as a social center for island residents and visitors. Throughout the years, it has housed the tavern, movie theater, dentist office, pharmacy and ice cream parlor. It has also been the headquarters of the world renowned Bitters Club. On display are many photos of early island residents and landmarks, as well as the original movie projection equipment from 1910. The adjacent pub was added in 1902. The elegant back bar, built in 1850 was brought by sailing ship from Michigan. |
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The custom of drinking Angostura Bitters as a stomach tonic was established at Nelsen’s Hall by Tom Nelsen. Throughout most of the 90 years, Tom drank nearly a pint of bitters a day. He credited his long and healthy life to this habit. Tom would be proud to know that today, because of him, Nelsen’s Hall is the single largest purveyor of Angostura Bitters in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. During prohibition, Tom applied for and was granted a pharmacist’s license and dispensed his stomach tonic to the local residents. Even though Angostura Bitters is 90 proof, Tom was allowed to serve his tonic, so his saloon remained open. This makes Nelsen’s Hall the oldest legally continuously operated saloon in the state of Wisconsin. |
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Today
Drinking Angostura Bitters at Nelsen’s Hall is still a tradition on the island. More than 10,000 people each year join the Bitters Club, by drinking a shot of bitters and receiving a membership card from Nelsen’s Hall. Members can be found in almost every state and many foreign countries. As a result, more bitters are consumed per capita at Nelsen’s Hall than any other place in the world.
The Hall continues to play a major roll in the island’s social history as a center for weddings, birthdays, family reunions, banquets and just plain fun. Hopefully this tradition will carry on for many years to come and as Tom Nelsen used to say “Gos De Dang It. You are a stranger here but once.”
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Contact Us
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Nelsen’s Hall |
| E-mail: bitterspub@itol.com | ||
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