Omaha Exploration

These photographs of Cattleman’s Bar were taken by John Vachon during his trips to Omaha starting in 1938. This as well as his other work intrigued me enough to look more into his background as well as this bar in particular.

Born in Minnesota, John Vachon moved to Washington D.C. to attend graduate school at Catholic University of America. He studied English and literature with the intent of becoming a writer. Forced to leave school a few months later, he took a job for the Farm Security Administration’s (FSA) Historic Division. The FSA which was created as a part of the New Deal had an influential photography program from 1935 until 1944. The mission was to document the challenges of rural poverty and farm life. As John’s responsibilities for maintaining the FSA photographic file increased, his interest in photography grew. It wasn’t until 1937 that he wanted to become a photographer himself.

His first extensive solo trip took place in 1938 when he traveled to Nebraska. It was during this time that he took an extra assignment which consisted of photographing Omaha. Walking hundreds of miles during his week in Omaha, he says it was at that point that he developed his own style with the camera and reached artistic maturation. During the Omaha assignment he added 208 photographs to the FSA file.

One of those photographs is the one of Cattleman’s Bar and Cafe. Located at the intersection of 26th and O St, it seems that it didn’t become Cattleman’s until 1936. Starting around 1919 and possibly earlier, it had been Stockman’s Cafe. Those businesses were popular with out of town ranchers as well as workers at the nearby stockyards and meat packing plants. After Cattleman’s closed in the 1940’s, it became Jubilee Bar. The building was later razed after Highway 75 was constructed.

Going forward, I’d like to look into some of his other photographs. These posts may not be as detailed as some of my deep dives but I hope you find them as interesting as I do.

Please feel free to comment to share your thoughts and memories.

Until next time, keep exploring!

Bonus Pics