Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Silver Dollar Bar ...

I freely admit that I have an unusual fondness for kitschy destinations ... and Montana certainly has its share of those. I haven't visited nearly as many of them as I'd like, though.

One destination in that category is "Lincoln's 50000 Silver Dollar Bar," in the little town of Haugan, out on I-90 almost to the Idaho line. The place started its long run back in 1952, when a single silver dollar was embedded in the top of the bar. Soon, the bar's patrons began a tradition of adding dollars to the display, and before long there were thousands of them, each labeled with the donor's name. The place was called the "10000 Silver Dollar Bar" for a long time, and I've heard that there are now over 70,000 silver dollars embedded in the building today, making even the revised name seriously obsolete. Of course, a whole series of other tourist-related businesses are now attached to the bar, including what purports to be the largest gift shop in Montana.

This is an early postcard view of the bar ... probably from about 50 years ago, when there were only a mere 6,000 silver dollars in the whole place.

5 comments:

  1. I remember going there once when I was on my way back to Oregon with my kids. I thought it was totally and bizarrely cool, but I never did find the Montana Native bumper-sticker I was looking for. I love that stuff! Thanks for posting.

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  2. Glad to see that you have "returned". I have been checking and hoping that you would be back on the screen.

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  3. How am I missing these posts?!?!
    Isn't this a cool place? I haven't been there since I was quite young...I'm sure there are a LOT more silver dollars, now.

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  4. I'm sorry for the relative silence over here lately, and for the major delays in posting ... my commitments in the real world keep interfering. Hopefully by this fall I can get back to a more regular schedule. (And in the meantime, I'll keep posting when I can! :-)

    And I definitely need to figure out an excuse to head west, so I can check out this bar ...

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  5. Glad to hear you'll eventually be back from the "real world". BTW, we stopped at the Polebridge Mercantile when we were there in June, and the sticky bun I had was the best I've EVER had! Well worth the trip, a wonderful funky ambiance (like so much of Montana) and a lovely drive. They also have internet connections. :o)

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