MICKEY RATZ

115 S. Front St.

(R.I.P.) 1993-2000

In the early 90’s before anyone had heard of Drag Brunches or Pride Celebrations, when it was considered taboo and perhaps even slightly dangerous to be a crossdresser or openly gay in the Bible Belt, at 115 S. Front Street in Downtown Wilmington, there stood Mickey Ratz. A safe haven for the alternative crowd, it was one of the only places Downtown you could catch a drag show, where being openly gay was accepted, and where you could go dance to great club music no matter your sexual orientation.

Mickey Ratz AR Poster

$100.00

Open Edition Available Jun. 12 - Jun. 30

11 × 17 in. (28 × 43 cm.) on 100lb cardstock

Includes QR code for Augmented Experience

Locally Printed a block down from the original Mickey Ratz Location

Free Shipping in the Continental US

MY Story

At the end of the 90’s the 2nd owner of Mickey Ratz (it had passed hands once already) ran into financial hardships and sold the business to a young couple (The Bahr’s) who also happened to be the owners of the building.

I (Johnny Bahr III) have a few memories of this time period. I remember my dad sending me outside to retrieve a rent payment from the owner (before my parents became the owners) and seeing a man pull up in a bright red corvette, skin like brown leather, blonde hair, wearing cutoff jean shorts and a tank top, gold rings adorning his fingers and handing me an overstuffed bank envelope pregnant with cash. I didn’t really know what my dad did but remember thinking he was some kind of boss and it was cool that people brought him money.

When my parents became the owners, I was barely a teenager and the machismo of a boy growing up in southern culture kept me from stepping foot into the building while it was operating, but occasionally my younger teenage sisters would go dance in the early hours of opening (with my parents supervising of course), and I would help my dad with fixing the building when issues arose.

While it was an exciting time initially, my mom was finishing a degree in the day while running the club at night, my dad was running his business full time, all while raising three kids in their beginning teenage years (myself included). The nightlife hours began to take their toll, Ibiza (another dance and gay oriented nightclub) opened up in that time period as a competitor and with too much strain on the family my parents decided to shut the doors permanently and abruptly in 2000.

The former club space sat empty for years after while the upstairs was rented out as (2) studio apartments.

As my sisters and I came of age, we were allowed to walk downtown or get dropped off and bring friends into the space. My sisters would have band practice and play music in the DJ booth and with the full bar still intact, I would go drink (underage..shh) expired booze with my friends and mess with the DJ equipment and go through the large assortment of dance music CD’s (I was into punk and rock music at the time so I would bring my Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, NOFX, and Iron Maiden CD’s to play while we drank 3 year old red stripes.

Eventually, the place was gutted and renovated and put up for lease. It would later become home to a fine dining spot “Aubrianna’s” for many years, then “Tails” (an upscale piano bar) that closed when COVID arrived. At present day it is home to Prost Biergarten.

The DJ equipment, and some of the fixtures ended up in the basement at BAHRHAUS and became forgotten relics. About 10 years ago, after the passing of my father my Mom and I decided to clear out all the junk that had accumulated in the basement and got rid of most traces of Mickey Ratz. While purging decades worth of forgotten objects and bits and pieces I came across the old Mickey Ratz signage and it instantly brought back memories of driving by at night and seeing drag queens hanging outside by the entrance, remembering my mom sleeping in from being out working certain nights, and the awkwardness of going to school in the south and casually calling friends “gay” and “fags” knowing all the while my parents actually owned and operated what was known as a predominantly gay establishment. I decided to keep them and figured at this point they are a unique part of Wilmington’s History and culture and how I could somehow incorporate it into an exhibition one day. Eventually, about a decade later, I did.

MICKEY RATZ TODAY

My parents sold the building before my fathers passing (R.I.P.) and while Mickey’s has been long gone (over 2 decades now) I was hit with a bit of nostalgia when I found out that PROST BIERGARTEN has been hosting a Mickey Ratz Revival event for a few years running.

INVISIBLE LAYERS + MIckey RatZ

In 2025, I began experimenting with AI animation capabilities and programming Augmented Reality experiences into my artwork for my first fully augmented artshow (32 pieces in total). While searching for a frame in the basement for an artwork, I came across the old Mickey Ratz sign and struck by inspiration I decided to bring it up from retirement and give it an artistic treatment and bring the Mickey Ratz Character to life. It was a hit at the exhibition and my first guests actually pulled up old photos from inside Mickey Ratz with their friends from over 20 years back. I have since developed deeper respect and appreciation for my parents taking a calculated risk way back then when being out and proud was not necessarily socially acceptable and having ZERO experience with how to run a nightclub. It is with great pleasure that I offer up the chance for a few collectors to own a truly unique piece of Wilmington’s cultural history.