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The Evening Crowd at Kirmser's: A Gay Life in the 1940s

Average customer rating:

Seeing Gays at home, in the middle of the continent
Gay life in the past
Spare, elegant memoir
Interesting slice of history
Gay Life After WWII...............

The Evening Crowd at Kirmser's: A Gay Life in the 1940s
Ricardo J. Brown
Manufacturer: University of Minnesota Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0816636222

Book Description

It is often difficult to imagine gay gathering places in the decades before the Stonewall riots of the 1960s, and nearly impossible to think of such communities outside the nation's largest cities. Yet such places did exist, and their histories tell amazing stories of survival and the struggle for acceptance and self-respect.

Kirmser's was such a place. In the 1940s, this bar in downtown St. Paul was popular with blue-collar customers during the day, then became an unofficial home to working-class gay men and lesbians at night. After Ricardo J. Brown was discharged from the navy for revealing his sexual orientation in 1945, he returned home to Minnesota and discovered in Kirmser's a space where he could develop his new self-awareness and fulfill his desire to find people like himself.

The Evening Crowd at Kirmser's is Brown's compelling memoir of his experiences as a young gay man in St. Paul. In an engaging and open writing style, and through stories both humorous and tragic, Brown introduces us to his family, companions, and friends, such as Flaming Youth, a homely, sardonic man who carried the nickname from his youth ironically into middle age; Dale, who suddenly loses his job of six years after an anonymous note informed his employer that he was gay; and Bud York, an attractive and confident man with a fondness for young boys.

A lifelong journalist, Ricardo J. Brown (1926-1998) was born in Stillwater, Minnesota. During his long career, he worked for the Alabama Journal, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner of Alaska, and as the Minneapolis bureau chief for Fairchild Publications.

William Reichard is a poet and fiction writer, and author of An Alchemy in the Bones (1999) and To Be Quietly Spoken (2001).

Customer Reviews:

Seeing Gays at home, in the middle of the continent.......2006-12-06

This book's intelligently edited, avoiding the temptations of solipsism. I met an elderly Kirmser's regular close to death, and this book helped me understand the comfort to be found -- and yearned for -- in the home of political progressivism during a reactionary social era.

Gay life in the past.......2005-05-13

I found this book to be absolutely delightful. Given the time, place and circumstances, I think Mr. Brown made the best of his situation and had a nice life. His experiences were ordinary but told so vividly I had a good idea of everyone and everything mentioned. To me he spoke not with disappointment and sadness but I think he maintained a sense of pride in himself and has fairly good memories of his young gay life in Minnesota that I am so glad he shared with us. Even though the book is short and rather expensive, don't miss out on reading this. If only Mr. Brown had lived to hear our comments and know his writing was published. I read a lot of biographies and this was one book where the person seemed well adjusted, not unhappy with themselves and made the best of life.

Spare, elegant memoir.......2004-08-14

Ricardo Brown's posthumously published memoir of gay life in 1940's St. Paul, MN is a series of sharply etched vignettes of the lives of gay men and women at a time when homosexuality was still "the love that dared not speak its name." After acknowledging his homosexuality to his superior officer in the Navy, an act of almost unbelievable courage considering the time period, and receiving a dishonorable discharge, Brown returns to his home town and finds refuge amid a small group of habitues at Kirmser's, a seedy "queer bar" run by a German couple. The book is comprised of reminiscences about the lives of these pre-Stonewall gays and lesbians. Brown's gift for the telling anecdote and bringing people and places to life in a few well-chosen words is evident on every page. Paradoxically this results in the whole being less satisfying than it might be, as one wishes for more detail and context about these people. Still, for the modern-day reader, "Evening Crowd" is an fascinating window into the not-so-long-ago past.

Interesting slice of history.......2003-09-01

A fascinating look at a gay underculture that existed in the 1940s. I enjoyed the anecdotal style, the snapshots. I'm sure the author could have shared much, much, more about his life, but appreciate what he did choose to tell - those stories that centered around the bar and its patrons. Anyone who reads this book cannot help but come away with a deeper understanding of the social history of twentieth-century homosexuality. Thank you Ricardo Brown.

Gay Life After WWII......................2003-04-21

I am often leery of memoirs published by University presses as they tend to be filled with stoic facts, are often boring, display little emotion, and reveal very little of the real person being showcased. This book is certainly an exception in every way, as it reads like a novel, and is filled with fascinating, intimate details of Ricardo's life. Ricardo J. Brown's memoir offers us an exciting look into gay life of the late 1940's. Brown was discharged from the navy for being a homosexual, and returned to his working-class life in St. Paul, Minnesota. Most of this memoir centers around a bar called Kirmser's that catered to working class men during the day, and at night became a hang-out or underground club for gay men. It's Brown's own personal observations, feelings, and experiences he shares with us of the friends he made during these nightly visits to Kirmser's that are so enlightening, fascinating and fun to read. Some of the stories are sad and tragic, too. It's the honestly in the telling of these stories that will captivate you. A few personal photos have been included in this memoir.

If you want a glimpse into what gay life was life in the time before Stonewall, then this book is an excellent choice. It's a small book that's filled with the life of a time most of us know little about, but would like to know more about. Gay life in the 1940's was quite different than today and certainly very closeted. What will always remain the same whether it is 1945 or today is the love, emotions, and personal intimacy that people share and have in common. A remarkable memoir!!

Joe Hanssen

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