Batwing Doors in Old West Saloons
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- The Famous Batwing Doors in Old West Saloons
Thanks to Sam the Bartender for tossing me out on my keister.
Thanks to Reneé Cloutier for filming it!
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Everytime one of these opens a pianist is forced to stop. It's part of their Pianist Vow.
Just don't shoot the Piano Player.
Right! In the rulebook.
Also if a gunfight happens, stop playing, and when the fight is over, immediately go back to playing!
The Gunfighter coming in might want to sit in and play like a concert trained classical pianist. Then after some Mozart and Beethoven turn and challenge the Gambler to a duel. For that script use a search engine for "The Shooting of Dan McGrew".
Then in the 1980's they made a comeback. Their creak denoting when a patron in the video rental store was entering the "unique" section of filmography.
HAHA!
Ha Ha! Loved it! 😃 Didn't expect to see that TRex on my range! Thanks for covering this subject. I plan on building a closing inner door set on my saloon sometime this year. When I installed my doors was the first time I observed a set of double spring hinges. They are a very complex mechanism compared to a simple hinge.
DUDE!! I love your videos!
there he is folks the fastest gun ever
Gonna have to stop in for a whiskey But I'll be packing TUCO
Glad you enjoyed it, Tuco. Yeah, Bommer did a good job with those.
@@branson626 🤔🤔mr bob mundans here ????,😮😮
A dog with one arm in a sling stomped in through the bat wing doors.
The piano player stopped playing, the barkeep stopped wiping the bar and the dealer stopped dealing the cards. The smokey room fell silent. All eyes were locked on the dog as he scanned the room through squinted eyes and said:
"I'm lookin' for the man that shot my Paw"
LOL!
That's one of those jokes that I've heard hundreds of times and it still makes me laugh.
My great grandfather fell out of his crib laughing at that joke.
Oh that's a good one
_Ouch._
We had some of those doors entering the kitchen in a house I grew up in. I’m sure my mom got tired of all my cowboy entrances.
HA! Cool.
I installed a set of these doors between my kitchen and the living room in a small cabin I rented many years ago. Instead of Bommer hinges I used Gravity Hinges. They are much simpler (read: cheaper) and what were probably used before the Bommer double acting spring hinge was invented.
Very true. I didn't think about gravity hinges being used in the 19th century but they sure might have been!
A these years of watching westerns and I thought they were just called swing doors. Thanks, Santee.
You're welcome.
They were called 'Café doors' in the building industry since the 1970s. More specifically: "Arch top Café doors" (if solid); "Café doors" (if solid with a flat top); Arch top louvred Cafe doors (with ventilating louvres) and yup, you guessed it, Louvred Café doors (square top door with ventilating louvres)
In a Victorian design book I have from 1904, they are labeled as "swinging saloon doors" and sold from $3.90 to $5 per *pair* in pine. if 1-1/8" thick. Add 20% if you wanted 1-3/8 Also available in oak (no prices listed)
Still better security than Walgreens.
HA!
Definitely, I use to work at one.
Nice videos. 5 minutes. No long winded oratories, no long intros, direct and to the point. 🤠
Thank You!
In Lebanon Oregon in the 1950s one saloon had swinging doors,you could hear the laughter and holler a halve block away.mom would make us hurry past so we wouldn't see what was going on behind those swinging doors.
HAHA!
It was High Noon, just outside the Gotham Saloon. A devious outlaw named Joker the Kid was standing in the center of the street. Deputy Robin B. Wonder seen him and ran for help, and then suddenly a horse blacker than a chunk of coal in a barrel of oil came racing up the street and stopped suddenly.
Sheriff Bruce W. Manbat stepped down and approached the fiend. The outlaw shouted DRAW! Sheriff Manbat jumped out of the way before Joker the Kid could hit him, did a roll and shot an outlaw that was up in the windows with a rifle pointed at him. The Joker was shocked, but even more shocking, a saloon girl: Kitty the Lady, pulled a gun and shot a goon who was about to blast Manbat with a shotgun!
Finally Joker the Kid raised up his gun, put his finger on the trigger… but it was too late. Sheriff Manbat got him! Gotham was saved once again!
Somehow the joker managed to slip away again before he could be hogtied.
Okay, now I really want a 19th Century Wild Western Batman/Justice League spin-off so badly! Although if it already exists, I'd love to know the name of it!
🤠
There is a Batman story that's set in the 1880s called Gotham by Gaslight first came out as a comic book in '89 and they made it into a animated movie in 2018. The story is about Batman going after Jack the ripper
watch pit for US Attorney Dent, he goes by the tribal name of Two-Face
@@deadhomer8468there’s several stories involving Batman set in the old west as well, most recently in Return of Bruce Wayne
Interesting. Based on the 1886 patent, the ubiquitous (in Hollywood Westerns, much like the 1894 Winchester), double hinged, batwing saloon door would not have been around in cowtowns during the days of the great cattle drives.
Except you could get the same effect using leather or canvas for the hinges. These weren't storm doors or exterior doors, but more like the equivalent of a screen door today.
@@mattlien5844 No really. Simple leather or cloth hinges still only allow the door to swing one way due to the wood of the door being flush with the edge of the jamb.
Therein lies the issue.
@@gravemarker I was thinking of a screen door on an old cabin we used to stay at when fishing. The screen door was a couple of inches from the jamb. The gap was covered with a strip of loose canvas that ran the length of the door. It allowed the door to open either way without letting too many bugs in.
Yes. The patent. Not everything had a patent when it was first being used
You really winged it on this one. A real swinging bit of history
HAHA!
And Don’t let the Door hit in the a** on the way Out it all makes sense Now
Yep
That was so cool. I love your audio/visual clips, Santee. You ALWAYS add just the right ones. NOONE does it better, IMO. 🤠🤗👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thanks so much!!
The pizza parlor I frequented as a kid had these doors and my best friend was having his 10th birthday there. As I walked through the saloon doors I said very loudly, "Belly up to the bar, boys, the drinks are on me!"
The entire restaurant cracked up. To this day, I have no idea where my 10-year-old self got this line. 😂😂
LOL!!!
Kids say the darnedest things 😂
Also a great addition to any kitchen 👌 🤠
Yes indeed!
I love the look of Bat wimg doors
Me too
Batman goes into a Bar ohhh I like that design for the doors I got an idea 😀😀😁😁😁
HA!
These doors have the power to even make Santee seem threatening, 😨. Those would be the days.
Well, I have threatened and followed through many times. Heck, I've been a manager!
Another great start to my weekend 😊
Glad to hear it!
Great content no one really thinks of about these doors. Them thar doors driving you batty? Did you do yer own stunt at the end? Love the shots of the Terror of Tiny Town!
Yes, I can still roll around on the ground...but it's slow!
I never knew the name of these doors. Never even really gave it much thought but now I know. I love when Saturday's come because it means another great video from santee. Thank you so much 🤠🤠
Glad you like them!
3:01 - Rustler's Rhapsody should be ranked alongside classics like Airplane! and Blazing Saddles...
Absolutely.
Hey, real good fall, unless that was a stunt guy.....😊
Awww, thanks. That was me.
I used a different type of hinge on my doors, the gravity type. I don't know how authentic they are or how long they've been around, but they worked in my situation. I did have some high winds catch one and rip it off though!
Yikes!!!
seen those too
Ok Santee, fess up. What did you do to get tossed out of a Saloon? :))
I had a single heavy full sized door in an old farm house I rented. Nice thing was that if it was fully opened (either in the kitchen or pushed into the dining room) it stayed open.
A slight tug on the open edge of that door and it would swing shut. Mostly it stayed open so as not too knock over my son who was a toddler back then. Even my two dogs could not push that door open. I did not want them to get their tails pinched by that door either.
Interesting about the farm house door.
I used to have those doors in my kitchen! I LOVED them!
So cool!
Santee, these really are about the best, most entertaining videos on UA-cam. My hat is off to you!
Thank You! Hope you are learning stuff as well.
I never thought about there being anther door accompanying the bat wings. I never thought about it because it makes perfect sense.
HAHA! Yes.
I'd hate to be the janitor sweeping up all the sand and dried mud LOL
I'm sure they didn't move all the whiskey from the shelves every time they closed, but even in the movies it can seem like they never close and there's a packed party 24/7. And while they always show the wild west in the summer, it's America...there's very few places without at least some winter weather, and even summer can have some pretty chilly nights.
My great grandma had a set of these in her house and they were one of my favorite things about visiting her as a kid.
They were installed on the addition of the house that my great grandpa had built by himself sometime in the 60's I believe. The addition was a large living room that had a pool table in the middle so you'd walk through the "cowboy" doors to go play pool.
Fun memory
In the old movie ‘The Terror of Tiny Town’ there’s a scene where one of the ‘cowboys’ literally walks completely under the doors. But yet he reaches up and swings the doors anyway. Yeah, I know. I’m going to hell for laughing at that. 😂😂😂😂
They meant for you to laugh at it!
Santee could you do a video on scopes and scoped rifles in the west, please and thank you.
yes
Another good one!
Glad you think so!
Santee, Thank you very much for the fun education of the Old West. Love it. You and Mrs. Pew Pew have a beautiful and blessed weekend. Your Gunslinger Brother
Same to you!
I LOVE the batwing doors in the old Saloon scenes
Ain't they cool?
I hope this doesn't mean your a "Swinger" !
Ha!
One of my grandparents place had them in their basement and no I didn't do any cowboy acts with them because I was too busy playing pool, or playing the SEGA in that basement so there was no reason going into that part of the basement.
But unfortunately the house burned down and not sure if they replaced the bat doors when they rebuilt the house because we moved out of town after the house was finished as well my Grandpa sold the house about 10 years ago so I know nothing if he replaced the bat doors.
Wow!
@@ArizonaGhostriders That was the only place with bat doors I can remember where I think visit a few places with them but being a little kid with limited memories until I got better at remember everything where I have one of the best in the whole family that I recall what happened 10+ years.
that intimidation factor may be based in truth, you hear the hinges or the doors opening so you have a glass ready for whatever they order when they get to the bar
and the ghost is a great character, thank him for us if you can 🤣 he got me to subscribe 😎
Thank you.
My mom always told us to get out side & let the stink blow of us all the time
🤠🤠
I always thought it was to keep the women and kids from seeing inside👍👍👍😎☕
Yep, I mentioned that as well.
How did you make an entire video about saloon doors without a clip of Yul Brenner from Westworld?
...Or any of the other 9,000 movie clips showing saloon doors?
💯
Reminds me even more of my great times working in the Ghost Town shows dept, at Knott’s Ghost Town, back in the day! There’s nothing like the feeling of walking through those swinging, double doors, especially when heeled, & dressed in a “close enough to period correct” manner, unlike our farby, golden-throated pard, Buster Scruggs! (Or, Marty McFly, for that matter.)
I surely do miss the experience of just how it feels to lean on the double spring hinges, just enough for them to kinda roll out, pulling them away from the door frame, without damage, or injury to m’self!
Another terrific video, pards!
Keep yer powder dry!
Thanks, man! Glad you have those great memories.
Ha this is the first time I've come across your channel! Wonderful! This is a quality, funny, informative, well-put-together production. You got my sub.
And whoever that is that's profiled at the end there, he looks like a really good kid. Reminds me of my grandson.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Town Marshal: "Stay away from them swingin' doors, son. There's nothin' in there for you."
Urchin: "But my Daddy's in there!"
"There's nobody in there but an old drunk."
"That's my Daddy!"
LOL!
3:31 .. "Pin and Hole" gate style hinges (still used on stake trucks to this day) would have served ss double swing hinges before the invention in question. And a simple double "Gravity Ramp" design could be added/created by any Blacksmith to make them self centre easily.
Yep, they were around. I've just found no evidence they were used for the batwing doors.
Howdy Santee, I've been watching for a few years, I love the videos and history you expose. I'm from your neck of the woods and always felt a "draw" to the old west. Albeit, I don't know much about it. I had a few ideas, im unsure if they have been covered but may be interesting.
Big nose Kate, mail and correspondence how it worked, pony express?, and the battle of picacho pass/peak being the western most Civil War Battle.
Keep it up! And before you ask, yes it's my real name, and yes John b is in some way my ancestor haha
Thanks for watching. Some of those requests I've done. Picacho is on the list too.
Thanks for teaching me something else that I didn't really know much about. Never really thought much about batwing doors. I wonder if Batman has a set down in the batcave, well anyway thanks again, Santee, from your old Rebel pal, aka the Gray Rider, or just plain ol' Eric from the Great and Sovereign State of North Carolina.
You are so welcome!
Hey Santee, how about western footwear, especially for women??? Thanks, Kodiak
Did a couple of them.
Where you come up with this content, I don't know. You're totally UNhinged. 🤣 Terror of Tiny Town? Geez...
LOL!!! 🤠🤠
I would imagine before the double spring hinge, they could have used a gravity return type.( opening the door would have the effect of lifting it slightly, gravity would force the door return to its normal closed position upon release.) outside of the local blacksmith coming up with something clever. just a guess.
Absolutely. They had those gravity hinges from the 1870s.
They might also be more sanitary than touching a handle, which would have made an even bigger difference back then. Nowadays though I don't think they would even make much sense, largely because every building is temperature controlled now, and have industrial fan setups to ensure ventilation standards. Businesses could literally lose product otherwise, even bars, because an open bottle of most alcohol is not going to stay fresh for very long if it's constantly exposed to changes in humidity and temperature. Same with materials in the building itself. Temperature control plays a bigger role in modern businesses than people realize, and even modern building principles. Back then of course there was no such thing as air conditioners or even fans.
The outdoors is dustier than people realize too, which you find out eventually when you have places that constantly have an open door or window, dust finds a way in and ends up everywhere, requiring extra cleaning over time.
Nowadays the cafe door ideas are seen in restaurants' kitchens mainly.
Good topic. I’ve seen this kind of doors almost exclusively in western movies, and in “Old West” themed establishments built in imitation of movie sets. I’ve looked at a lot of old photos of barrooms, and, as your narrator confirms, not many of them show “bat wing” doors. Not that they didn’t exist, but they don’t seem to have been the norm.
Thanks for sharing your research!
There was a tavern in Bucoda, Washington that had those, this was back the late 1980s early 90s. I had never gone through one so I did the classic fling them open and step through... got chewed out by the bartender...
HAHA!
A thought...
The lack of a double-swing spring hinge does not preclude doors installed to swing closed due to gravity.
However, we are still left with the question of why even have any sort of half-door?
The only thing I can think of is to screen the view of passing proper ladies, so they don't have to see the vile debauchery going on inside.
Well, I answered "why the half door" in the video, including the debauchery one.
Nice to know. I have lived Arizona much of my life, even when forced to move east for years (¡Sin trabajo, no hay virilidad!!).
Oh ok.
What is the point of the doors themselves though? They don't block the elements and they don't prevent entry, so what are they even for?
Watch the video, there's an explanation about 1:41..
The ones in the historical photo seem a lot more substantial than the Hollywood version. In particular, they seem to cover a lot more vertically--I can believe they'd keep some dust out while still allowing a breeze.
🤠🤠
Nice. I almost expected Batman to show up, but I guess he was busy lol!
I guess
That last scene had the girl of my dreams------ a woman who would look up to me! (I only met one in El Cajon, but didn't get her number).
HA!
Decades ago I worked in the desert southwest. Many of the road houses had boards up outside the door. They went from the knees to above my head. Somebody told me that saloons put these up so a cowboy could stand outside and let his eyes adjust to either the sunlight or the dark without being ID'd before walking away from the building. This kept him from getting bushwacked right away when he couldn't see. Don't know if it's true or a drinking story somebody told me.
Cool story!
Then watching Arizona ghost riders for a few years now, what's happy to see you on there. Hopefully it will help to get you out there a little further. Good Job Mr.
😀
NGL....I've been wanting to add a small (cause of the door frame size) set of these to my house where the entrance to the living room is lol. Also the idea of helping to lure people in with the sounds of a saloon is still a marketing idea today with food joints. In malls specifically Cinnabon is known to pump the smell of fresh baking cinnamon buns to help make people come to their stall more than others....the smell of food and then the sight of a long line of people wanting to get food from one place makes for a good off the cuff marketing.
Yessir!
There is an older type of hinge that was in existence prior to the double spring hinge. Not sure what it was called. It came as a two piece assembly made from wood, oak usually with a wooden pin in it. The upper part had angled cut that would leave a 'V' shape point and the lower half had a corresponding v notch in it. When you pushed on the door, it would raise a bit on the hinge and when you released the door, it would swing back into its rest position with the v point sitting in the v notch. Like a cam and follower. Can't draw one here but I have seen them and know how to make them.
Yep, and that one dates back to the 1870s. Not sure if they were used for saloon doors, but they sure were for inside swinging doors (kitchens, businesses).
I ain't no Tuco the Ratt but I did email this question back in November of last year to Santee. Guess Tuco thought the same thing.
You did! Tuco hit me up first, though.
The house we grew up in had these going into the kitchen. Major finger pincher . Our walls were made with lava rock. The open spiral staircase to the basement was the best. good memories
Interesting!
Huh. Never realized they had an actual name. Just called them "swinging doors."
Glad you learned.
Santee since this is about saloon doors can you do a video on what types of activities might be found in saloons
I know drinking would occur but what about drinking games or gambling games like poker because as we all know in the movies there's always at least one saloon shootout that happened over a game of cards
so outside of drinking, talking with neighbors\friends, and potentially having lunch what activities would be found in saloons that would allow a cowboy who just came into town or a worker in the town to unwind after a long hard day at work
I've done a few videos on Saloon entertainment. 🤠🤠
Nearly all of the rationale's put forward here would be better served by just propping the main door open and the child screen suggestion doesn't convince me either. I'm not saying that these weren't the reasons given at the time, but lets be honest, the only real reason for having batwing doors, is so that men can make a dramatic entrance.
Maybe!
Also let the stink out of all the people in it
🤠
Told my nephew years ago they invented spurs so they could roll the drunks outa the saloons easier & the batwing doors were so they didn’t have to stop and open a door. He didn’t believe me. Don’t know why. I got a honest face.
HAHA!
I have over a hundred photos of Old West saloons, but not one of them shows a batwing door. I will look more closely at the photos from the interior vantage point to see if there are batwings hung behind the regular doors. Thanks for the video.
Yeah, like I mentioned photos of them are pretty rare (but clearly they existed). Trouble is in those black and white photos the doorways are always really dark
I feel like I need to put a set of these on one of the doors around the studio, just for that
ambience. 🤠
Maybe, Jedi.
They do make nice ambience, but more for structures leading from outdoor to indoor that will be constantly moved through. Inside, it's less appealing because you eventually get tired of all the extra effort of pushing through some doors that can smack you or get caught on something you're wearing, and they're not quiet either. Not necessarily loud, but not quiet. That compared to the simplicity of simply walking through an open doorway, the open doorway wins when it's an indoor room to room transition. Would make sense for a walk-in closet though, as it could then even offer some privacy if one changes clothes in there. Or for something like a man cave room, personal bar, etc. But for things like kitchen, living room, etc....they're more trouble than they're worth.
I can remember having these in a house I visited but the hinges were pins at the top and bottom of each wing (door) with the bottom pin shaped with a cam (for lack of a better word) which forced the wing to center under the weight of gravity. Perhaps these were the designs that pre-dated patent hinges?
They were patented about 1870...something!
Bill took a big risk speaking that way to the Runt from Reata Pass, even if he already left the Used-To-Be.
Yep
Yeah I always thought something was way off when in almost every movie it only shows the saloon having those batwing doors. Anyone could just walk right in the saloon after it closed and take all of the whiskey they wanted
Right.
Wow, I never thought about saloons, like any other business, need to lock up at night. I never noticed those double doors behind the swinging ones.
Glad you learned!
great narration voice and eloquence and great content
subscribed and commenting for the al gore rhythm
Thank you very much
They can be mounted with the high part of the arch in the middle (as shown) or more correctly with the low part in the middle and the longer side of the door mounted to the frame. The latter makes for a longer lasting door. Hinges farther apart with less weight supported in the centre. Carpenters of the day knew how to make things last!
Very true!
I like tuco. I have had a old west town Halloween display for a few years now, and i made my saloon doors from old window shutters. Peck
Yep
Hello Arizona Ghost Rider. Ted from Texas. I definitely enjoy looking at your episodes. Thank you man
Much appreciated.
also seems like a good way to even when the normal doors are open to indicate the separation from the public walking spaces and the inside of the saloon.
Yes
Thanks for the great Info! We have a set of these coming up at one of our Estate Sales this week, they came out of a saloon in San Francisco. Our client bought them at auction years ago for almost $10k!
That is awesome!
The hinges need not have springs in order to close on center, though. It could center due to a "V" shape cut where the plates meet on the axis. Old trick
Right, and those types were around earlier. You see them in inside cafe/kitchen doors mostly.
New to the channel, but I've checked out a videos, and I love the content!! I've loved Westerns and Cowboys since I was a kid, so it's cool to find a channel like this.
So glad you like it.
Great episode Santee, I really enjoyed it.
Behave yourself in those drinking establishments, or they may put a knot on your head before throwing you out next time. 🤠
I will....maybe.
I think they could also deter a stray horse or curious donkey from just wondering inside.
Yes
Suppose bats had human style doors in their saloons?????????;;
HAAH! Probably.
This makes me wonder Santee if Batman has bat wing doors on the bat cave?🤔🤠🇺🇲
Maybe
This is the only song I know about swinging doors.
ua-cam.com/video/BGZNABsSJos/v-deo.html
Nice
in the midget westerns the little guys had to reach upvand swing the doors...
🤠
Pretty sure I saw one of those bats poop on your hat while they were flying out of the saloon over your head.🤣🤣🤣
Likely
Awesome video Santee. I found myself hinged on your every word.
I swung the info in there for ya.
So those weren’t really around til the 1880’s or so. That’s interesting.
Seems to be the case.
3:50 .. The hinges for the removed standard doors are still visible in this shot!! :)
Yep!! Probably for the shot of Kirk opening them so far they were afraid he would hit the other doors.
Batwing doors are commonly used to separate customer and staff spaces.
Sure are nowadays.
I plan to get some Batwing doors for my room one day, I think that would be so cool!
Yes
They were just cool
yes.
Great video as always, interesting how many uses the batwing doors had.
Thanks for watching!
Tried to work in dingbat somehow. Couldn’t do it. Dang.
🤠🤠