“C’mere, this is how it happened,” began Joe Kelly, bartender at Smokey Joe’s since 1962. He leaned down close to the bar, about to recall one of the establishment’s many legendary tales.
This one involved former President Harry S. Truman, Smoke’s and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
As Kelly tells it, President Truman, along with his group of Secret Servicemen, was on campus sometime in the early 1960s to deliver a speech at Irvine Auditorium. At 10 o’clock in the morning, the former president, waiting at the Faculty Club bar, had a hankering for a shot of Jack Daniel’s whiskey. But, “just by luck,” the bar was out of the requested liquor. Not one to be daunted, Truman set out for Smokey Joe’s instead. “He took a good shot of it,” recalled Kelly, with a roguish smile.
The next day, a Smoke’s bartender, having heard that the president had come in for a shot of whiskey, refused to believe the story. He scolded his co-worker for misplacing a bottle of liquor. That is, until the next issue of The Daily Pennsylvanian proved that Truman had, in fact, been on campus. According to Kelly, the bartender quickly changed his tone. “You better not have thrown that bottle away,” he allegedly said. “You should’ve gotten him to sign it! We would have put it up in here on the wall!”
Kelly provides wisdom and stories as readily as he does lager. And there are many stories to tell when it comes to Smoke’s.
Contrary to popular belief, its name is not an homage to the two bartenders who both bear the name Joe. Rather, it preceded these men, having originated in the 1920s, during the Prohibition period. It is believed that the bar is named for the man purported to be its original owner, Claire Smoker, of whom little else is known, according to current co-owner Paul Ryan. Because drinking or selling alcohol was illegal at the time, Smoke’s was originally a waffle and pancake house on 36th Street, serving up breakfast to students and locals.
A bar since 1933, Smoke’s has moved around over the years and only came to its current spot on South 40th Street in 1978. This location, now lodged between The Marvelous record shop and Radio Shack, retains much of the original wood paneling, furniture and artwork from the bar’s earliest days. Part of its timeless charm is due in large part to the bartenders, many of whom have been a part of the Smoke’s family for decades.
One of these beloved bartenders is Kelly, 81. On a rainy Saturday afternoon, Joe recalled fond memories over a pint of Yuengling Lager, the bar’s most popular brew. Kelly has spent most of his life in the Philadelphia area, “with the exception of my time in the service,” he explained. Joe served in World War II and the Korean War, and was part of the military occupation in the 1948 Palestine War. But, quipped Kelly, with a twinkle in his eye, “The toughest battle was World War IV: that’s when I got married.”
The other Joe behind he bar, Joe Whelpley, is perhaps better known among students. He has been working there since the 1970s, when he himself was an undergraduate at Penn. To many, he is a fixture at Smoke’s and another icon of its longstanding roots in the University community.
Although there have been many bars on campus throughout Penn’s history, Smokey Joe’s seems to have best withstood the test of time. The Arch building on Locust Walk at one time housed the Palladium Restaurant and Bar, which was co-owned by two Penn professors, but it relocated to 47th Street in 2000. Other bars, like New Deck Tavern and The White Dog (both on Sansom Street), have rich histories but have not developed such a pronounced affiliation with Penn.
According to Ryan, son of former owner Paul Ryan, Sr., Smoke’s has outlived many of its competitors for a reason. “The market is what it is,” said Ryan. “We work hard every night. We treat the students as customers, with respect. I think a lot of bars try and treat college students less respectfully than say, a stock broker. We try to treat everyone the same, no matter who they are.”
Seniors at Penn seem to hold a special connection to the bar — perhaps because they feel it links them to a rich history of Penn upperclassmen who have been there before them. College senior Jackie Lazor favors Smoke’s because when the night comes to a close, “I can expect to see everybody I know there.” Maybe this is what President Ford meant when he called Smoke’s “the 17th institution of higher learning at the University of Pennsylvania” during his 1975 commencement address — it’s where seniors learn to come together as a unified class, on the brink of becoming alumni. Senior Jenna Kalin agreed, “You can always count on familiar faces at Smoke’s at the end of the night.”
Many seniors may also love Smoke’s because it represents a rite of passage, since the bar’s strict enforcement of the legal drinking age keeps many underclassmen out, though not for lack of trying. Former Smoke’s bouncer Dan Afergan, C’05, jokingly recalled “seeing some of the worst fake IDs ever made.”
Afergan also explained why Penn alumni retain their affection for the bar long after graduating. “What makes it so great is that it’s part of Penn tradition and history,” he said. “I know that the bar was the same years before I came, and every time I visit Penn it’s good to know that Smoke’s is the same.” Afergan said he will never forget the moment when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004, and he “bought every Sox fan a shot.” And most fondly, he said he remembers Ryan singing Radiohead’s “Creep” during Senior Week every year.
For many, Smoke’s seems to be a sort of time capsule. “It really hasn’t changed at all,” Ryan mused. “The music changes, the atmosphere changes, the dress changes, but the students are still pretty much the same.”
After recounting memories at the bar, Kelly kindly offered a tour of the walls, which are covered with signed photographs of notable patrons, including politicians, famous alumni and football heroes — all of whom have enjoyed a drink or two at the bar at some point. Featured on the wall is Glenn Davis, of the Army-Navy football game fame, who received the Heisman Trophy in 1946. “We’ve had three Heisman Trophy winners in here,” Kelly said.
Then come Dolph Tokarczyk, C’48, a Penn football player who was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1949, and his sons Dolph Jr., W’88, and Justyn, W’93, both Penn football alums. There is Jack Kelly, C’50, brother of actress Grace Kelly and a participant in the 1948 Olympics in single-skull rowing.
The bartender then pointed out 1970s Philadelphia Police Commissioner and Mayor Frank Rizzo, as well as current governor and Penn alumnus Ed Rendell, C’65, who “comes in once in a while,” according to Kelly.
Most recently, Vice President-Elect Joe Biden, whose son Beau graduated from Penn in 1991, stopped by Smokey Joe’s, an event documented in one of the newest additions to the photo display.
The wooden tables lining the walls, among the pieces of original furniture in the bar, are covered with scribbles and carved initials from years past. “A lot of old-timers come in, and they look for their initials,” Kelly said. Alexis Stein, C’05, said she likes the fact that the tables at Smoke’s were around in the 1970s, when her parents were college students. “It’s history at its finest,” she said.
In fact, many alumni return, with a spouse and children in tow, to visit the bar that played an integral role in their family’s history. Ryan said he has seen “a lot of in-house romances. I’m starting to see even the children of people who met at Smoke’s.” His own son is currently engaged to a woman he met at the bar as an alum. Ryan has had four children, in addition to a brother and a nephew, go through Penn, “so we’ve definitely got that Penn connection,” he said.
Although Smokey Joe’s is a distinctly college bar, it maintains a diverse clientele. “It’s basically a neighborhood bar, where the neighborhood changes every four years,” Ryan explained. “And the neighborhood is comprised of people from all over the world… who come together at Smoke’s, and they have fun and make memories for the rest of their [lives]. And that’s pretty much the whole purpose of the place.”
Yet the bar is somehow able to evolve along with Penn and West Philadelphia. It balances both progression and preservation; it has that magic ingredient that makes a bar so much more than a bar. As many well know, Smoke’s hosts popular weekly events and concerts, such as Kenn Kweder, who performs at the bar every Tuesday night. Smoke’s also welcomes Penn bands to its stage on Sunday nights and hosts a spelling bee and a Quizzo tournament each week.
“Smokey’s” — as Ryan calls it — “is not a place where people come for alcohol, and a lot of people don’t understand that,” he said. “They think, ‘Oh it’s a bar where people go for a drink.’ But it’s really a social place. It’s a place where people can go and meet their future husbands and wives.”
