Before serving in the Army during World War II, Joseph Carville found work in a packing house in South Omaha. Upon his return in 1946, he opened a bar called the Elbow Room in the Blackstone neighborhood. The popular bar was prominently located across from the Blackstone Hotel at 36th and Farnam.
After Kiewit announced its intentions to build its headquarters at the same intersection, Joe relocatedhis bar to a building that was constructed in 1920 and originally housed Hyman Goldengerg’s Standard Grocery at 50th and Center. After obtaining approval to transfer his liquor license, he remodeled the space. Joe continued to operate Elbow Room until his death in 1973 when he was 63 years old.
At 27 years old, Fred Dettmer opened Dettmer’s Bar at 1512 Dodge in 1966. He was forced to relocate to 1415 Douglas in 1970 when Union Pacific constructed its office building. When the city acquired the property to build its downtown library in 1975, Fred was forced to move again. Neighbors complained when he attempted to transfer his liquor license to a former service station in the Field Club neighborhood at 36th and Center. Known as “Filthy Fred” due to the atmosphere of his bar on Dodge, Fred once claimed the slow pitch softball team that he coached and sponsored had won eight straight league championships with a cumulative record of 107-5. He once showed up to manage the team in a tuxedo.
Fred relocated his bar to the former Elbow Room at 4973 Center in 1975. I read that the bar had a large projection screen. One person recalled watching the entire first season of Saturday Night Live from the bar. After taking bets from a police officer in 1977 Fred was charged with operating a bookmaking operation from the bar. That spelled the end of Dettmer’s Lounge. The commercial corner which included the bar as well as two other brick buildings and an apartment were listed as a package deal for $130,000 in 1980. It briefly went by the name Ruff’s Lounge before Larry Morrow restored the Elbow Room name.
Like its counterpart to the west, Fan Tan Club, street widening projects have left the front door perilously close to traffic whizzing by on Center. As a result, the main entrance was moved to the back of the building where there’s a small parking lot. In recent years, Eric Gates has turned it into a fun, clean and comfortable neighborhood dive that is considered to be among the best in town. Often referred to as The Bow, it has earned a reputation for offering one of the best bloody mary’s in town.
In 2014 dive bar expert Steve Gates said that The Elbow Room looked like a “classic American dive bar”. While it looks small from the outside, there’s actually a fair amount of elbow room once you’re inside. You’ll also find plenty of entertainment options including a television, pool table, jukebox, dartboards, pinball and a shuffleboard.
Please feel free to comment and share your memories.
Until next time, keep exploring!
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