The Bar That Posed as an Ice Cream Parlor During Prohibition: Sault Ste. Marie

The Antler’s Bar & Grill in Sault Ste. Marie didn't have its origin as a local saloon...it was a place called the Bucket of Blood Saloon during Prohibition..

How were they able to stay open, serve boozers, and not get busted by the Feds? The saloon had a good cover: an ice cream parlor front. They were doing pretty well from the 1920s into the early 1930s until the IRS stepped in. After an investigation, they wondered how this ‘ice cream parlor’ could make a profit of $900 a month while only selling one quart of ice cream!

After being discovered, the legend states that the Bucket of Blood Saloon became a lemonade stand.....but they refused to sell to minors. Another red flag to the IRS.

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Harold and Walt Kinney from Detroit acquired the saloon in 1948 and started adding steak meals to the bar menu. It has remained this way ever since.

One interesting side story about the Antlers concerns a customer named Tiny T. According to the Antlers web site, for free drinks, Tiny “traded a moose head, his pistol, his watch, his cousin, and his Pontiac. All of the stuff now adorns the upper atmosphere of the bar except for the cousin, (who) sits stuffed on one of the stools.”

In the past, Antler's once had cabins and a motel nearby, both gone, but the restaurant & bar remains. Don’t confuse this Antler’s with the one in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario; the Michigan one is ,located at 804 E Portage Ave, Sault Ste. Marie, across from the Sault Locks.