Wolski's Tavern has one of the most recognizable bumper stickers in Brew City. It's a simple white sticker with blue writing that read "I Closed Wolski's" slapped on the bumpers of cars, on street signs, in bathroom stalls, on guitar cases and countless other surfaces all over the world.
The sticker tradition started in the late '70s, and Bonder says he blows through 20,000 stickers a year.
And yet, so many Milwaukeeans have never closed the bar.
OnMilwaukee.com contributor Dave Begel is one of these people.
"I've closed just about every bar in Milwaukee, but never Wolski's," says Begel. "And the reason is simple: the roads around there are so confusing that I figured if I closed it -- which would mean I was pretty drunk -- I might never get home and my wife would be even more pissed than normal. I mean you could just go in circles around there and never get out."
Frank Hillson is another East Side bar regular who closed The Landmark, Vitucci's, Hooligan's and numerous other taverns, but never Wolski's.
"Every time I see one of those stickers, I make a vow to never close Wolski's," he says. "I must be a rebel at heart."
Milwaukee's Janet Schiff says she never closed the bar, or went to the bar, because she misinterpreted the bumper stickers. She thought the bar was closed for business.
"I thought that Wolski's was closed due to public demand. This was before learning that Wolski's was a bar and what it meant to ‘close' a bar," says Schiff.
Wolski's stickers are spotted, literally, all over the world. One of Bondar's favorite stories involves two well-dressed ladies, about 60 years old, who walked into the bar while he was bartending.
"They said they drove up from Chicago, just to check out Wolski's because they had been on an African safari together, and saw a Wolski's sticker in the middle of nowhere," says Bondar.
Bay View's Russ Facia has a similar story.
"Last time we were in Istanbul, the first bar / restaurant we happened to walk in had an ‘I Closed Wolski's' sticker on the wall," says Fascia.
Matthew Eells appreciates Wolski's in theory, and yet, has never stopped by the bar, let alone close it.
"I find the bumper stickers comforting and it makes me feel like I'm part of something larger. I've attended their anniversary party at the Lakefront Palm Garden and sat next to the Mayor, yet never stepped foot in the tavern. I don't know anybody who goes regularly," he says.
Elizabeth Clark says she lived on the same block as Wolski's for three years, but never walked in to check it out.
"I got the feeling it was cliquey and full of regulars, so I just never went in," she says. "I went to Jamo's and Hi-Hat instead. It's funny, though, because now I sometimes tell people I lived on Pulaski Street and never went into Wolski's and they act like I committed a crime."
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
