Saratoga Liquor Co. - Seattle
Charles Hascall owned and operated a saloon located at 812 2nd Ave in 1904 and was granted a liquor license as the president and proprietor of the Saratoga Liquor House located at the same location in June 1905. The site had previously been the location of a variety of saloons and owners (The Drum; H.C. Schacht; N.J. Nyquist; F.E. Sherman; McNatt/Snyder/Hayes and Hascall) since 1891 and remained as the Saratoga Liquor House under Hascall's ownership until 1914. He appeared to be the sole proprietor for "Stroh's Bohemian Beer" in Seattle and was in operation until shortly before 1915.
Langert Wine Co. - Spokane
Charles Langert was a wholesale liquor dealer who started in Tacoma in 1881 when he acquired a storeroom and warehouse for liquor distribution. He was the sole agent for a variety of whiskey brands and had a great knowledge of foreign winegrowers and distillers which helped him build a quality stock and aquire a reputation known throughout the country. The Langert Wine Company began operation in 1910 at 422 Sprague Avenue in Spokane and closed its doors 5 years later due to Prohibition. It was listed as a distributor - not a bar or saloon. This was the newest of the Langert Companies dealing in spirits and had an estimated net worth of between $10,000 and $20,000 at its closing.
Hotel Savoy - Seattle
When the Hotel Savoy opened for business in 1905, the company hired John McDermott as manager. He was formerly of the Palace and St. Francis hotels in San Francisco. The hotel was known as the "Gibraltar" of Seattle, absolutely fire-proof composed of steel, concrete and marble. It's motto was "Twelve Stories of Solid Comfort” and at 12 stories high, it afforded a scenic water view. The president of the Hotel Savoy Company was Edwin F. Sweeny and the dining room was managed by a gentleman from Monte Carlo. The hotel entrance was 1212 2nd Ave; the bar entrance was at 1214 2nd Ave and the cafe entrance was at 1216 2nd Ave. The liquor business lasted until prohibition in 1915 and the building was demolished on August 31, 1986. The site is currently occupied by a 772 foot tall building formerly known as the Washington Mutual Tower.
Los Angeles Wine Co. - Seattle
The Jaffe business interests in the wholesale and retail liquor industry of early Seattle encompassed several companies including the Imperial Liquor Company. This company was started by Joseph L. Jaffe in 1908 and lasted until Prohibition in 1915. It was a saloon and combination family liquor store that also dealt in the wholesale business. Joseph C. Barman was secretary treasurer and manager of the company having taken over for M. Nelson in 1912. The business outlets for this company were located at 305-307 & 311 Pike and 818 First Avenue and the firm used the brand name "King's Crown" in various local newspaper and billboard ads throughout the city. The saloon store that was in combination with the liquor store at 311 Pike was known as the College Buffet. Louis Ruiz operated the store on First Avenue in 1911 until its closing in 1913 which then became the Los Angeles Wine Co. operated by I. Rosenthal from 1913-1914.
Note: 818 1st Ave, listed as Royal Bar and Cafe. (1905-1910) and Los Angeles Wine Co. (1913-14)
Durkin's - Spokane
James "Jimmie" Durkin (1859-1934) gained notoriety in the Inland Empire of Eastern Washington as Spokane's legendary liquor tycoon. By 1872 he was working in a bar. Eventually Durkin moved on to learning the wholesale liquor business in Perham, Minnesota, where on August 8, 1882, he married Margaret Daily and they went on to have three sons and two daughters. In 1886 Durkin headed out west to Washington Territory. He arrived in Colville W.T. and with the $2,500 he'd saved, Durkin opened Colville's 10th liquor outpost. Within a few years his nest-egg had grown into a small fortune totaling over $65,000. The draw of the big city attracted Durkin and in the spring of 1897 he relocated in Spokane. Durkin eventually had three shops (Mill St.(now Wall) & Sprague Avenue, 121 Howard Street, and 415 W Main Avenue) which lasted until Prohibition in 1915.
H. Tarnow - Seattle
Harry Tarnow began in the Seattle liquor business working for Jaffe and Company and was its Secretary-Treasurer in 1898. He opened his own company located in a storefront at 215 2nd Ave. S. between 1907-1911 and was associated with the brand "Old Sport" whiskey. Not much else is know about Tarnow as he was not listed as a wine or liquor merchant in Seattle directories after 1911 as the establishment was taken over by Harry Levin (who also owned the Hub Liquor Co.) and the business was re-named as the Lion Liquor Co. at the 215 2nd Ave. location.
Note: An article from the 1909 "Seattle Illustrated Magazine" described him as such: "Mr. Tarnow is a native of Germany, but has lived in Seattle for twenty-one years, and has made a host of friends that speak in unqualified terms of his business capacity and integrity, and hold him in the highest esteem. The company makes a specialty of family trade, handling the famous old Sport Bourbon or Rye, and supplying a large number of the wealthiest and most discriminating families in the city with the choicest wines and liquors."