Miscellaneous Mining Items/Bisbee Match Safe Front

Miscellaneous Mining Items

Bisbee Match Safe Front.JPG - BISBEE MATCH SAFE - Brass and steel celluloid advertising match safe ca.1905, marked BUTTE SALOON on front with POOL-BILLIARDS-CIGARS BISBEE ARIZ., back shows risqué nude (possible soiled dove?) in color, brass top and bottom with match striker, 2 3/8 in. tall x 1 3/8 in. wide x 7/16 in. thick [Bisbee, Arizona was founded as a rowdy copper, gold and silver mining town in 1880 and named in honor of Judge DeWitt Bisbee, one of the financial backers of the adjacent fabulous Copper Queen Mine. Today, Bisbee is the county seat of Cochise County located 92 miles southeast of Tucson with a population of 5500. During its late 19th-century mining heyday, Bisbee was the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco and was known for such bawdy locales as Brewery Gulch, then a stretch of rowdy saloons and brothels along Brewery Ave. The Butte Saloon was located at the intersection of Brewery Ave. and Broadway in Brewery Gulch, one of over 50 bars and brothels running 24 hours a day to accommodate the miners coming and going from various shifts in the mines. Bisbee was incorporated in 1902 as its population soared. By 1910 its population had swelled to over 9000 people and included the suburbs of Warren and Lowell which were consolidated into Bisbee proper during the early part of the twentieth century. In 1917, open-pit mining was successfully introduced to meet the increased copper demand of World War I. By 1950 the population had declined to less than 6000. In 1975 the Phelps Dodge Corporation halted its Bisbee copper mining operations. The history of the Butte Saloon is somewhat sketchy. The saloon with a rooming house above the bar was in operation as early as 1905 with G. M. Stoltz as its owner. A review of the local newspaper, the Bisbee Daily Review, during the early years of 1905 to 1915 shows frequent instances of rowdy behavior and fighting in the bar and illegal prostitution in the rooming house. It appears to have been well known to the local police, not unlike many of the establishments along Brewery Gulch. Sometime around 1911, the Butte Saloon was purchased by L. A. Brown and C. R. Thornrose. Brown’s interest was purchased soon thereafter by Gus Swanson. In June 1914 the saloon was purchased from Swanson and Thornrose by Victor Pistonetti from Tombstone. During World War I, a military camp was located in Lowell. Military rules prohibited any brothels within 3 miles of the camp essentially shutting down the red light district along Brewery Ave. for the war’s duration. The red light district never reopened. History of the saloon following the end of the war is unknown.]

Bisbee Match Safe Front | BISBEE MATCH SAFE - Brass and steel celluloid advertising match safe ca.1905, marked BUTTE SALOON on front with POOL-BILLIARDS-CIGARS BISBEE ARIZ., back shows risqué nude (possible soiled dove?) in color, brass top and bottom with match striker, 2 3/8 in. tall x 1 3/8 in. wide x 7/16 in. thick [Bisbee, Arizona was founded as a rowdy copper, gold and silver mining town in 1880 and named in honor of Judge DeWitt Bisbee, one of the financial backers of the adjacent fabulous Copper Queen Mine. Today, Bisbee is the county seat of Cochise County located 92 miles southeast of Tucson with a population of 5500. During its late 19th-century mining heyday, Bisbee was the largest city between St. Louis and San Francisco and was known for such bawdy locales as Brewery Gulch, then a stretch of rowdy saloons and brothels along Brewery Ave. The Butte Saloon was located at the intersection of Brewery Ave. and Broadway in Brewery Gulch, one of over 50 bars and brothels running 24 hours a day to accommodate the miners coming and going from various shifts in the mines. Bisbee was incorporated in 1902 as its population soared. By 1910 its population had swelled to over 9000 people and included the suburbs of Warren and Lowell which were consolidated into Bisbee proper during the early part of the twentieth century. In 1917, open-pit mining was successfully introduced to meet the increased copper demand of World War I. By 1950 the population had declined to less than 6000. In 1975 the Phelps Dodge Corporation halted its Bisbee copper mining operations. The history of the Butte Saloon is somewhat sketchy. The saloon with a rooming house above the bar was in operation as early as 1905 with G. M. Stoltz as its owner. A review of the local newspaper, the Bisbee Daily Review, during the early years of 1905 to 1915 shows frequent instances of rowdy behavior and fighting in the bar and illegal prostitution in the rooming house. It appears to have been well known to the local police, not unlike many of the establishments along Brewery Gulch. Sometime around 1911, the Butte Saloon was purchased by L. A. Brown and C. R. Thornrose. Brown’s interest was purchased soon thereafter by Gus Swanson. In June 1914 the saloon was purchased from Swanson and Thornrose by Victor Pistonetti from Tombstone. During World War I, a military camp was located in Lowell. Military rules prohibited any brothels within 3 miles of the camp essentially shutting down the red light district along Brewery Ave. for the war’s duration. The red light district never reopened. History of the saloon following the end of the war is unknown.]

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