Snuggle up with some holiday cheer as OnMilwaukee shares stories of everything merry and bright in the spirit of the season.
The OnMilwaukee Ho Ho Holiday Guide is brought to you by Harley-Davidson Museum and MolsonCoors.
This article was updated for 2024.Fat Daddy’s, 120 W. National Ave., has a unique tradition during the holiday season. It doesn’t have a name, per say, but for a few weeks in the month of December customers can buy a bucket of glass ornaments – or individual oranaments – and throw them with vigor at the walls and on the floors.
"You just can't throw them on the bar or at another person, obviously," says Fat Daddy's co-owner Stefani Jaksic.
Inside every ornament – and there’s thousands of them – Jaksic placed a tiny piece of pink or orange paper. And if it’s orange, it’s a winner.
Prizes include gift cards, swag, booze, apparel, a free party on "The Fatmobile" shuttle and more.
Years ago, Jaksic got the idea after smashing bulbs in an Up North tavern and she decided to try it at her bar. At first, people weren't so sure about the idea, but it didn’t take long for them to get into the cathartic fun.
“At first people were hesitant, but over time, it’s become very popular,” says Jaksic. “Now customers start asking around Thanksgiving, ‘when are we gonna smash bulbs?’”
Jaksic buys the glass ornaments for the next year the day or so after Christmas when they are 50 to 75 percent off at box stores. If it’s a good haul, she and her helpers will have multiple carts filled with bulbs.
“Once someone behind us in line was like ‘you must have a huge Christmas tree,’” says Jaksic.
The bar floor, needless to say, is covered in tiny shards of glass and glitter – bartenders do not have to clean this up, it’s handled by the cleaning staff – but there have been no injuries or foul play. Customers recognize it’s all in good fun.
At worst, people leave with some glitter on their shoes, but this isn’t anything Fat Daddy’s customers aren’t used to. For much of the year, Fat Daddy’s is a volleyball bar with some of the city’s most popular sand pits.
“For seven months out of the year our customers track out sand on their shoes, so for a few weeks, it’s glitter. They’re used to it,” says Jaksic.
Bulb smashing is available during December any time Fat Daddy's is open: 4 p.m. to close during the week and 11 a.m. to close on weekends. Follow Fat Daddy's on Facebook.
Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.
Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.
