Bars Pins and Buttons
Description: Powder River, Wyoming is little more than a ghost town these days, but it used to have two restaurants, a motel, and a gas station, supporting not just locals and travelers along the U.S. 20 highway, but also the Standard Oil refinery. Now all that remains is an elementary school, a post office and a handful of very rural residences. One of those restaurants was the Tumble Inn, a roadhouse in every sense of the word. The log cabin housing the Tumble Inn was moved to Powder River from Ten Sleep, Wyoming, in 1923 and operated as several businesses before the Tumble Inn took up residence in 1942. With a full bar and kitchen, the Inn kept passersby happy for decades, but after the refinery closed, things slowed and topless dancers were added.
Description: Denver's Colorado Mine Company was one of those places that wasn’t what it seemed. It was a dive bar of sorts, but slightly classier and wrapped in a unique style of western kitsch with a menu to match. It was the kind of place your mother had warned you about, but that only made it that much more fun to hang out there. The restaurant lives on in America's collective consciousness as the creator of the "Fool's Gold" sandwich, one of Elvis Presley's all-time favorites, so much so that he would fly his private jet from Graceland to Denver just to get his fix.
Description: A tiki bar is a themed drinking establishment that serves elaborate cocktails, especially rum-based mixed drinks such as the Mai Tai and Zombie cocktails. Tiki bars are aesthetically defined by their tiki culture décor which is based upon a romanticized conception of tropical cultures, most commonly Polynesian. Some bars also incorporate general nautical themes or retro elements from the early atomic age
Description: Taking cues from other NYC roadhouse-style bars, this Financial District saloon opened its doors in 2009 and made its bartenders the main event. The Horse's all-female cast of booze slingers was known for entertaining feats including bar-top dancing, fire-blowing, and hula-hooping, all while serving cheap drinks. The Iron Horse had a full menu that included your typical bar fare, and if you went on a Sunday, burgers and hot dogs were on the house when you bought a drink.
Description: Although the first tobacco plantations were set up in Virginia in 1612, tobacco was smoked only in pipes in the colonies. The cigar itself is thought not to have arrived until after 1762, when Israel Putnam, an American general in the Revolutionary War, returned to his home in Connecticut from Cuba with a selection of Havana cigars, and large amounts of Cuban tobacco. Before long, cigar makers were popping up in cities everywhere and American-made cigars using both import and domestic tobacco were in high demand. One such maker hailed from Philidelphia, Pennsylvania in 1908. Going by the name Binding Tie and leveraging artwork filled with Masonic symbolism and imagery, this particular maker remains shrouded in mystery...
Description: Located in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood, the Walrus Tavern was a legendary live music venue that hosted countless blues and rock 'n roll shows over the years. When it wasn't playing host to local bands and all-time great blues singers, the tavern was a true neighborhood watering hole, providing frosty libations and reliable tavern food. Unlike most places, the Walrus didn't close up shop for lack of customers or ever-increasing rents, rather it burned to the ground in 1984. The concrete pad it sat on remained vacant for decades until another bar opened up next door and annexed the Walrus pad as a beer garden, aptly named 'The Walrus Beer Garden.'
