As with any great Prohibition-era dive bar, Gold Star Bar’s opening date is a source of conflicting information, but previous ownership cited 1933 or 1934 as the likely answer. Of course, suggestions that a speakeasy was run out of the same space prior to the repeal of Prohibition exist, meaning Gold Star Bar probably predates its “official” opening date in some capacity. MaryAnn Reid, prior owner of Gold Star Bar, purchased the bar from original owner Vlasta Vucovic, changing little about the dive bar at that time. The star embedded in the ground in front of Gold Star Bar exists unchanged from that transfer of ownership and likely predates it by some time.
The sign that hangs above Gold Star Bar is a good analogy for what has happened to the space overall, the neon sign above the door a relic of days past but the iconic script of “Gold Star Bar” that once adorned a black wall façade in gold script text was scraped off and removed by the Leydons. That the neon portion of the bar’s exterior signage persists is a relief as it is one of the great dive bar neon signs in Chicago, a classic L-shaped sign with the name of the bar punctuated by an illuminated star on top.
A white sign attached to the neon contraption reads “Rooms Furnished Rooms,” a nod to the hotel that was once run out of the space above the bar. The term ‘hotel’ may be a bit kind in this sense, the rooms above said to have been Polish brothels. A vintage key rack, a remnant of that time in the dive bar’s history, once hung in Gold Star Bar’s main room but was removed along with other Leydon-initiated renovations. It may come as no surprise to learn that on many ghost tours of Chicago, Gold Star Bar plays a prominent role, all manner of sordid tale from its dual brothel and bar operation providing fertile ground for supernatural occurrences.