Journeys
Strange Things Done Under the Midnight
Sun
Strange things are
done ‘neath the Midnight Sun, and one of the strangest is the Sourtoe
Cocktail. One would expect a Dawson
bar to have a specialty Sourdough Cocktail – this seems reasonable. But what about a Sourtoe Cocktail?
This drink is world
famous, and it contains a petrified human toe.
Walk into the
Sourdough Saloon in the Downtown Hotel any day during happy hour, and you’ll
see a seafaring-type character initiating the brave into the Sourtoe Cocktail
Club. Captain Bill Holmes will tell you the story of the original appendage
connoisseur, Captain Dick Stevenson, as he gently plops the pickled toe into
the drink of your choice. (Sorry, no water allowed).
If you swallow your
fear (and NOT the toe – Captain Bill is strict in his rule that any lost toe
must be replaced) and slam back the toe-filled drink, you are officially among
the nearly 15,000 worldwide members of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club.
Bill Holmes took over
from Dick Stevenson as captain of the Yukon Lou, a paddlewheeler that once gave
tours of the Yukon River. The other duty Holmes took on was the toe.
Captain Dick began
the Sour Toe saga in September of 1973. The idea sprang from a human toe found
in Dick’s new cabin and a conversation about an Ice Worm drink in a famous
Robert Service poem.
By the time Captain
Dick retired, he’d gone through seven different toes (some swallowed). There’s
even a log book containing the names of almost 15,000 sourtoers. Captain Bill
has added to the list,, which includes a six month-old child and a 91 year-old
toe-swallower. Recently, a toe went missing over the Christmas holidays, but it
was replaced by a good-natured donor.
The Sourtoe Cocktail
Club continues to draw crowds, since 2003 is the 30th anniversary of
the famous toe.
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