Vic De Rose interview

Interview with Vic De Rose - Part III

For 47 years, Vic DeRose has operated a barbershop at 864 N. High Street. In this installment of an interview with Andy Klein, he remembers some of the bars in the neighborhood.

Andy: What kind of clientele did King's Palace next door get?

Vic: Working type of person. At one time they had a kitchen going back there but it didn't pan out. The family still owns the building.

Andy: How long did Morris Froehlich operate the business?

Vic: He passed away. I know my dad planted a tree in Israel in his memory. I did the same thing for the Stern brothers up here.

A: Did Morris actually work the bar?

V: Oh yeah, but where he really made a lot of money, he was a bondsman. Back in those days, if I needed a bond, I'd just call him, and he'd say "Okay, go ahead."

A: What was the wildest bar in the neighborhood?

V: On the corner here, next to the carryout, was Neff's bar, that was a pretty wild place. If you were looking for trouble, go down to Mike's, you always found it. I think it's still that way, I don't know. I've been in there one time, I was looking for one of my cousins, who someone told me they thought they saw in there, and I thought, "What the hell is he doing in there?" I went into Mike's and the guy sitting on the first stool was a customer and he grabbed me by the arm and said, "What are you doing in here? This is no place for you!" I said I'm looking for somebody.

A: Did you find him in there?

V: No. It used to be a rough bar.

A: What about the Dutch Kitchen up the block between First and Second?

V: Arrow Grocery store was on the corner of 2d and High. The owner, Mr. Mendlewitz, also owned the bar, but he had a relative of his run it. They had a reputation for being a rough place.

A: What other bars were in the neighborhood?

V: Up around the corner was My Mary's, where the dairy store is. The fellow who owned it came back from the First World War and introduced in Columbus, so I've been told, what is known today as the hamburger sandwich, but never got a patent. They sold those there. I don't know if they sold dinners or not.

A: That was in a building where the UDF is now.

V: The bar was on the corner. It came up to the sidewalk. There was a shoe repair where the tattoo place is now. Just north of that, the fenced in area, there was a used car lot, and then just north of that was a business owned by a guy named Harry who sold used tires.

A: And across the street, where the Donatos is now?

V: That was an apartment building that was struck by lightning, and it was condemned. It was a big building, a hundred apartments. On the corner of the alley of that building was a company that made embalming fluid. There was a carryout on the corner, Neff's bar took up 3 or 4 spaces, and the last thing on High Street was a restaurant. I ate many many breakfasts in there.

A: What was the first name of the Neff that ran the bar?

V: Just Neff. When he come in here to get a haircut, he had 3 or 4 people, they also got a haircut. Whoever was with him, when he got a haircut, they got a haircut whether they needed it or not.

A: He liked a crowd of people around him? or was he just trying to drum up business for you?

V: He liked a crowd around him. They say once you got to know him, he really was a nice person, but if you didn't know him, you thought, Oh my gawd, I'll have nothing to do with this guy. But he was a nice person. This Neffhad a sister, she was a police officer, one of the first women to go on the force.