650 Clinton Street was not always a bar. From 1887 through 1891 the building is listed in the Camden City Directories as the home of Tanser & McElwee, a painting business owned by Thomas W. Tanser and John H. McElwee. The building was later was converted into a saloon and  acquired by Philipp Berger.

Philipp Berger was the proprietor of the saloon at 650 Clinton Street in the years 1919 through 1921, according to Camden's City Directories and the 1920 US Census. Born in 1859, he had emigrated from Germany in the 1880s, and was became a citizen in 1892. By 1920 a widower, Philipp Berger resided above the bar, along with son William J. and daughter Loretta M. Berger. He owned the property as of 1920. Philipp Berger apparently passed away before 1930. His son William had by then moved from Camden.

The bar at 650 Clinton Street was acquired in the late 1930s by John F. McKenna. John F. McKenna was born in Gloucester City NJ. A fine ball player as a youth, he attracted the attention of Philadelphia Athletics star first baseman Stuffy McInnis, who got him a post as a pitcher on a semi-pro team at Old Orchard ME. After World War I, John McKenna was living in New York, supporting himself in a variety of jobs, including selling sheet music, and as an usher at the New Amsterdam Theater. During this time he met the great American humorist Will Rogers, and he soon was working for him, traveling the country and spending some time with Rogers in Hollywood, before returning to the East Coast.

John F. McKenna had opened up his cafe in Camden at 319 Federal Street by 1931, and he was listed at that address in the 1940 Camden City Directory. In 1939 he received a liquor license for 650 Clinton Street, and he moved his operation there. This is where he made his home, with his wife Catherine. McKenna's Cafe operated at 650 Clinton through at least 1947.

John F. McKenna should not be confused with the John McKenna, who operated McKenna's Tavern at 640 Pine Street, the corner of Pine Street and Newton Avenue from prior to 1918 through at least 1931.

October 21, 2003

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October 21, 2003

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