Philadelphia NEWP. The Dude Saloon Token
NewEnglandRarities
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At the Whitman Philadelphia Expo I was fortunate enough to acquire a piece for my pictorial collection that I have been after for quite sometime. This piece is from Birmingham Alabama and is the Dude Saloon Token. There are only 6-7 examples known in all conditions, 1 AU55, 1 VF and the rest are in lower grade and holed. This piece is the finest example known and is the Rulau Plate Coin for the variety (Rulau AL-Bi 7). There is some great history behind this coin and when I started looking for pictorial tokens, I figured I would never own this piece. Rulau gives some great information about this token (as well as the saloon and building) in his book, Standard Catalog of United States Tokens 4th Edition. Here is what he wrote;
“The Dude Saloon (open 1871-1907) stood at the southwest corner of Second Ave. and 20th Street near the heart of the business district, in the first three-story brick building built in Birmingham. It was a beautiful and elaborately furnished bar – for men only! It was both saloon and restaurant, and had “boarding” rooms upstairs.
Birmingham in the 1880s was known as the “Pittsburgh of the South” industrially, but it was also called “Bad Birmingham” socially. It had saloons and brothels on most street corners. The homicide rate was high.
In 1886, the biggest boom year of the 19th century, Birmingham had 17 saloons, one brewery, four whiskey warehouses and many brothels. There were less than 25 policemen and vigilante justice was frequent.
The “three best bars” in Birmingham in 1891 were the Dude Saloon, Peerless Saloon and Bank Saloon. All this saloon glory ended in 1907 when Birmingham was first voted “dry”.
Captain J.B. Webb came to Birmingham in 1871, the year the city was founded and built the Webb Building housing the Dude Saloon. It was an impressive structure overshadowing the city center when it was built. Today the Webb Building still stands, housing Yogo’s Frosty Frozen Yogurt (as of 2004).”
Above is a picture of the Dude Saloon building in the mid 2000s, needing a major facelift. It was decided by the owners of the building to renovate the property to make it more appealing to potential tenants. Below is a picture of the building as it stands today, totally renovated and housing new businesses as of today.
This piece has an incredible history and has been in some serious token collections over the years, and I am honored to be able to add my name to the pedigree chain.
New England Rarities...Dealer In Colonial Coinage and Americana
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Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
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<< <i>The Dude abides! >>
<< <i>VERY nice NER! What dealer did you pick this up from? >>
It did not come from a dealer, I bought it out of the personal collection of a longtime token collector. I basically "bothered" the owner for over a year and most likely he got sick of me asking him about it and decided to sell it
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<< <i>VERY nice NER! What dealer did you pick this up from? >>
It did not come from a dealer, I bought it out of the personal collection of a longtime token collector. I basically "bothered" the owner for over a year and most likely he got sick of me asking him about it and decided to sell it
Looking for Top Pop Mercury Dime Varieties & High Grade Mercury Dime Toners.
Click on this link to see my ebay listings.
<< <i>The Dude abides! >>
Todd, this is not 'Nam. This is bowling. There are rules. MJ
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
-Paul
In the last four years, I've found exonumia turns my head more and more.
My dad is 84 years old and many times he has used the term "Dude" in conversation. He has never explained to me his definition of "Dude", however I suspect that if he saw your token he would agree that the man pictured on the token would most definitely be a "Dude" in his eyes.