Greetings and Salutations my most Honorable Thursdians,
This week we travel to the historical Brady Street to visit the oh-so-special Club Brady. Club Brady is a quintessential stop when crawling the pubs up and down Brady. Go there on any night and you are sure to be taken care of by the friendly staff; but come on a Thursday night with Welcome to Thursdays and magic is sure to happen. You see, Club Brady has bottomless tap beer and rail drinks on Thursdays from 9 PM to 1 AM…..that’s right, just let it sink in….bottomless tap beer…..and rail drinks. This is indeed a rare treat and I hope to see all of you out in full force representing what Welcome to Thursdays has become! To most Milwaukee natives this is just a really cool Club Brady special; but I am here to tell you, dear reader, that it is so much more than just a special. A Bichon, the Iron Brigade, and a whole lot of beer make up everything around this Thursday night special.
It all started with Wisconsin’s very own Rufus King, a young Union brigadier general in the American Civil War. Rufus had a certain soft spot in his heart for pets; thus, he bought his very own Bichon and named him Yogi. Yogi was no normal dog, he was a war dog who lived on the battlefield.
Rufus King was appointed command of the Iron Brigade, an infantry brigade made up of mostly men from Wisconsin and other Midwestern states. They were known for their strong discipline and tenacious fighting ability; but they were most famously remembered for the first day of the Battle of Gettysburg, where they single handily repulsed the first offense of the Confederates. Now the Iron Brigade didn’t do this alone, they had help from a certain canine named Yogi. Yogi was crucial, as he made runs to the front line carrying beer for all the men.
You are probably asking yourself, how the heck could a bichon carry all that beer at once? Well he didn’t. Yogi was so fast that he was able to make multiple runs within one hour. He had a small keg strapped to his back and would run between the front lines and the local tavern providing golden greatness for the Iron Brigade. Of course that beer was Old Milwaukee, a beer that some say won the war for the Union. This is the real reason behind Brady’s famous Thursday night special; it’s an homage to Yogi, the dog who ensured every Old Milwaukee beer glass was bottomless. So let us raise a glass this Thursday to Yogi, an honorable, noble bichon who helped turn the tides of history.
Cheers my friends!
Your Co-Founder and Friend,
Jeremy Jay. Blandin
*Keeping your glass filled and spirits high one Thursday at a time, this is Welcome to Thursdays: a local social group determined to make your Thursdays more fun. Each Wednesday The Squeaky Curd features a fictitious history or dazzling explanation of a Milwaukee County bar that we gather at on Thursday evening. Join us this Thursday, February 17, 2017 at Club Brady, located at 1339 E Brady St (East Side) at 7:30pm.*
P.S. – Don’t forget our 1 year anniversary is coming up February 25th at Jacks American Pub on Brady!