Trader Jon's: Cradle of U.S. Naval Aviation

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“Trader Jon’s was a place where Naval Aviators went to relax, swap stories and enjoy each other’s company. I cherish the memories of my time spent there.”
U.S. Senator John McCain

“Trader Jon’s: Cradle of U.S. Naval Aviation” is a history of one the most famous bars in American history—and a tribute to all the U.S. Navy Aviators who passed through its doors. A gritty strip joint in which local women made good money taking off their clothes, it also was the secret location for the initiation of Nubie flyers for the legendary Blue Angels.

“Some people have been offended that the book contains interviews with some of the strippers who worked in the bar, along with their photos,” explains the author, “but that was done at the request of Trader Jon, who had great respect for the women, many of whom grew up in his neighborhood.”

For nearly four decades, Trader Jon’s was where the men who trained to fly the monster jets of the U.S. Navy let down their hair before going off to fight—and sometimes die—in lonely battles above obscure patches of water and land over Korea, Vietnam, and Bosnia. It was where America’s astronauts contemplated their future as they gazed at the time-worn artifacts of the past.

“Navy bases all over the world have attracted strip joints,” says the author. “But Trader Jon’s was different from all the rest. Trader Jon was a true gentleman who paid tribute to the sailors who manned the ships and the pilots who flew the jets, while creating a virtual museum unlike anything else in the world.”

Trader Jon’s was where nearly every major symbol of the American Dream, including John Wayne, Bob Hope, Henry Fonda, and Elizabeth Taylor, found temporary solace. Artifacts lined the walls, pasted floor to ceiling, along with hundreds of framed photographs of the pilots, astronauts, and movies stars who visited the bar—and from the ceiling hung giant model airplanes, their wings tipped in mock flight as they circled within the soft glow of 25-watt passion lights.

When Trader Jon’s owner, Martin Weismann, died in 2000, the bar was closed. Among those who mourned the bar’s passing is Retired Vice Admiral Jack Fetterman, who recalls Weismann as someone who never said anything bad about anyone: “You talk about bonding, and you talk about brotherhood, and you talk about what naval aviation was all about. Trader kind of provided that foundation.”

One measure of the Navy’s deep regard for Weismann is the singular honor it afforded him by naming a runway after him—TRADR-ONE.

James L. Dickerson, author of “That’s Alright, Elvis,” “Mojo Triangle: Birthplace of Country, Blues, Jazz, and Rock ‘n’ Roll,” and “Last Dance at the Sudden Death Café,” spent many hours in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s with Trader Jon’s owner John Weissmann, along with photographer Steve Gardner, documenting the history of the bar. Gardner is also known as Rambling Steve Gardner, a well-known, Tokyo-based roots music performer.

REVIEW

This is an interesting piece of Americana. The US reviewer's presumably knew the bar, and the aviators, and wanted more on them. For the UK reader, however, this is an intriguing slice of US life . . .This book focuses on a series of interviews and photographs by a writer and photographer when the acts were strip shows, and Trader Jon ruled supreme. The photos are restrained, and are aimed at showing character, rather than flesh. The writing tries to give a voice to the dancers, and does so well . . .