Heinold's First and Last Chance
Heinold's First and Last Chance is a pub opened in 1883 by Johnny Heinold in what is now Jack London Square in the waterfront of Oakland , California.
The addition to the name “First and Last Chance” refers to the fact that in earlier times Heinold's was the first or last opportunity for many seafarers to get large amounts of alcoholic beverages before or after a long voyage Drink drinks.
The Hafenkneipe gained wider fame through the American writer Jack London , who spent his youth in Oakland and collected ideas for his novels Call of the Wild and The Sea Wolf at Heinold's . In memory of Jack London, the pub is also known as "Jack London's Rendezvous".
Beginnings and naming
The building, preserved to this day in its original shape, was built in 1880 from the remains of an old whaling ship at the foot of Webster Street in Oakland . After it had served as a sleeping place for the workers in the nearby oyster beds in the first few years, the German-born Johnny Heinold († 1933) bought it in 1883 for 100 US dollars and, with the help of a ship's carpenter, converted it into a pub.
During Prohibition in the 1920s , Heinold's, located near the ferry terminal for the route between Oakland and Alameda , was the first or last opportunity for many travelers to drink alcohol, as the serving of spirits was prohibited in Alameda, unlike Oakland . Due to the fact that Heinold's was the first or last chance for many of Oakland's "big voyages" to drink large amounts of alcohol, the name of the pub was finally officially changed to Heinold's First and Last Chance .
Jack London's rendezvous
The San Francisco- born writer Jack London spent his youth in Oakland. After spending some time at sea and traveling the US and Canada as a hobo , he returned to Oakland and graduated from high school. At the age of 17, he confessed to Johnny Heinold during one of his stays in his pub that he was planning a university course and wanted to become a writer. Heinold then lent London the necessary money and London enrolled at the University of California in nearby Berkeley .
Although he broke off his studies after a year, London gathered numerous ideas for his later works during his evenings at Heinold's. In his autobiographical novel John Barleycorn , London mentions Heinold's seventeen times. The meeting with Alexander McLean, who served London as a model for the figure of Wolf Larsen in the sea wolf , also took place in Heinold's .
Heinold's today
The dimly lit pub used to this day - and the last commercial establishment in California - gas lighting . Chairs, tables and many other furnishings date from the time when Johnny Heinold ran the pub. There are bills on the walls with the signatures of sailors who went to war and wanted money for a drink on their return. Hundreds of business cards are pinned to the ceiling and walls. This custom dates back to the time when regulars Johnny Heinold offered their goods and he replied that he would buy them as soon as he was rich. The sloping floor is also characteristic of the pub. The one-sided lowering results from 1906 when, as a result of the great San Francisco earthquake , part of the piles on which the pub is built sank into the muddy ground. In one corner of Heinold's there is a clock that has been idle since that very moment.
Since September 1, 2000, the federal government of the United States has listed Heinold's on its list of important historic places, the National Register of Historic Places .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Entry in the National Register Information System . National Park Service , accessed May 23, 2016
Coordinates: 37 ° 47 ′ 37.5 ″ N , 122 ° 16 ′ 28.7 ″ W.