By PATRICIA JONES
Last week we learned about the saloon at Dobby’s Frontier Town. In frontier towns, saloons and brothels or bordellos provided a profession for unmarried women, since there were few occupations open to them. Most worked in a bordello for only a short period of time and soon married.
Later Alliance boasted a side business at the Pick-A-Rib Restaurant in south Alliance, one that lasted for about fifty years. The waitresses were not there until they could find husbands. They considered their work a profession.
These young women were hired to wait tables, and they found they could make a lot more money in the rooms upstairs! Nebraska at that time required all waitresses to pass physicals certifying that they were disease-free. Soon women were coming from all over America to work at Pick-A-Rib to get their certification, allowing them to move on to more lucrative locations like Denver or Las Vegas. The local men certainly enjoyed the quick turnover of girls and patronized the business regularly.
In 1968 the Pick-A-Rib (and its side business) were closed down by the Alliance Police. If you go to the Knight Museum, you can find a listing of the customers patronizing the establishment at that time. You won’t find Dobby’s name in the arrest records, however. He was the mayor of Alliance and authorized the raid. Then he helped tear the building down.
The main level of this saloon was built at Dobby’s. The room upstairs was moved in and is furnished with items and ladies’ undergarments from the early 1900’s. Saloon girls could step out on the balcony and let men know they were available!
Dobby’s Frontier Town is located at 320 East 25th Street/ Nance Road, Alliance. The town is open 10:00-6:00 daily for self-guided tours, and donations are appreciated.