This week’s Bubbler Talk takes us to the Milwaukee Public Market. Or rather, you could say something calls us to the market — its rooster. WUWM listener Teri Knight asked Bubbler Talk, "What does the rooster represent at the Milwaukee Public Market?"
Knight is referring to the public market’s logo, which is a colorful illustration of a rooster. To really understand the story of our feathered friend, we need to talk about the history of the Milwaukee Public Market itself. The iconic Milwaukee food hall is celebrating 20 years this October.
"It was probably close to 10 years from when it started to when it opened," notes Paul Schwartz, executive director of the Milwaukee Public Market and the Third Ward Business Improvement District (BID). "It was missioned to both be an economic multiplier for the Third Ward, to be an economic catalyst, as well as bridge the gap between downtown and the Third Ward from a planning standpoint and then to support our vibrant food and agricultural culture and scene in the state of Wisconsin."
To reflect its support of local agriculture, the market’s original concept was a bit different than what you see today.
"Originally the public market was an indoor market with about 24 vendor stalls and an outdoor market where I think there were 18 or 19 vendor stalls that were being used, and the market sort of opened on the outside before it opened on the inside," explains Lori Fredrich, dining editor at OnMilwaukee. She notes that four vendors: St. Paul Fish Company, C. Adam’s Bakery, West Allis Cheese & Sausage Shoppe and Aladdin have been with the Milwaukee Public Market since it opened in 2005.
The Milwaukee Public Market was first intended to be more of a traditional farmer’s market space, with an emphasis on fresh food. Fredrich explains organizers also wanted the market to reflect a French influence.
"The idea of Les Halles Centrales did come up in terms of, I think, it was mostly kind of the look, the feel, the purpose of the market. So that sort of centralizing quotient in Paris you know until the 1970s where you know it was about the butchers, and the fisher people, and the agrarians and everyone all coming together in this one place where quite frankly you know Paris got its food. I mean they called it ‘the belly of Paris.’"
While there’s a little touch of Paris, the market ended up being modeled after something a little closer to home — Commission Row. The 300 block of N. Broadway in the Third Ward where produce brokers operated for more than a century.
"When we got done dreaming about making it kind of Parisian I think Commission Row became really the standard because that was the fruit those were the fruit and vegetable vendors, the Italians that came, that settled here in the Third Ward. It gives it a sense of place and that really then became what I think the model was for the market," says Fredrich.
As the concept for the Milwaukee Public Market evolved, Executive Director Paul Schwartz says the rooster has been a part of it from day one.
"So the story goes from us is that the rooster has always been the symbol of farm fresh. It is the wake-up call for most farms, it is the symbol of vitality and pride, and it's certainly become a cultural symbol for the culinary industry as well," he notes. "In the French culture the Gaelic rooster is a national symbol and so I think there is a Parisian or a French tribute to it."
The rooster also has a name: Rocky. Turns out it’s not just a fun alliteration — it’s actually named after a person. "It was to pay homage to the once department of city development commissioner Rocky Marcoux," says Schwartz.
The market is owned by the Business Improvement District, and BIDs are quasi-governmental but are overseen by the Department of City Development. When Rocky Marcoux was the commissioner, he was a champion of the market and in a way encompassed the rooster itself, according to Schwartz.
"[Marcoux] was an early riser and would get there, would be this life force inside the market even if he was meeting with like the only one or two people in the market at 7:00 a.m. He embraced and embodied that spirit, and because ‘Rocky the rooster’ flew so well off the tongue it started as a joke and then just kind of evolved and it stuck," he explains.
So the rooster was meant to represent farm fresh food and celebrate the Midwest with a Parisian influence as well. Later on, it was named after a Milwaukee leader who championed the Milwaukee Public Market. But we wanted to find out what the vision was for the person who designed it: Laure Leplae-Arthur.
Leplae-Arthur was working for the advertising and branding agency Core Creative at the time, and the firm was told the market was going to be more of a grocery store than the food court it ended up becoming.
"The vision that they had originally was much more of a market — dirty, you know farmers would come in their boots, they would hose down the market at the end of the day, and we expected it to be like a European open market. So that was the exciting part of it. It turned out to be really different, which isn't bad, it's just different than what we originally thought it was going to be," she recalls.
With that vision, Leplae-Arthur put together designs that would be simple and industrial, with a farm fresh feel.
"When you're working as a creative you're just thinking you know a little bit all over the place and we thought the logo would just be a stamp logo like big crates that were coming into the market that would just be stamped and sort of rough. We were coming up with ideas like of gathering," she says. "For example we had like illustrations of cherries and people gathering like fruit and the rooster was just an obvious choice for you know a farm fresh feel."
There were a few versions of the rooster, and the one that’s still with the market today has a bit of a Japanese illustration influence according to Leplae-Arthur. Think bright colors, fluid and light but simple. Out of all the logo designs she created, Leplae-Arthur says she personally had a few other favorites.
"For me it was like, really? Like I had so many other [designs] that I liked better. And it's funny how for me I was convinced that the cherries, picking cherries, was the way to go just because I felt like it represented Wisconsin for some reason. So when they chose the rooster I was like 'Oh, OK.' But then in the long run you realize OK they made the right decision."
Plus as a designer, having your work last for 20 years is also an amazing feat.
"Once in a while people will say, 'Oh you should tell them you made the rooster!' And I was like I feel like it's not even mine anymore — it's just taken on a new life. I feel weird saying it's ‘mine' because it really isn't anymore, but it is fun to see," she says.
And Paul Schwartz of the Milwaukee Public Market says Rocky the rooster isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
“It has stood the test of time… The design of it, not overcomplicated, but is a true success story in terms of how it’s represented not only the market itself, but how it [has] represented something we’re all proud of in the state," he says.
Next time you’re at the market, keep an eye out for Rocky and all the other roosters nesting around and ask, what does it represent to you?
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