[1] Van Beeren ran an open establishment where lesbians and gays could freely associate as long as there was no kissing, which would have violated the vice laws and have cost her her liquor license.

[1][3] Her mixed clientele included artists, intellectuals, pimps and prostitutes, sailors, and Major Bosshardt, the disapproving head of the Salvation Army.

[1][2][4] Van Beeren was flamboyant, craving the spotlight, and often dressed in a sailor suit or leathers, entertaining her clients with singing and dancing.

[5] The use of the term owl for heterosexuals has been attributed to a device van Beeren used when the bar was being raided or when homophobic patrols were sweeping the area.

Greet, van Beeren's younger sister, continued to operate the business until 1982, when she closed it because of the heroin trade expansion in the area.

Some of the items from the bar were incorporated into the Amsterdam Museum in 1998, but for the most part, the building remained untouched until Greet, shortly before her death, sold it to her niece, Diana van Laar.