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Dirty John's

my roommate and I had names for the regulars that we made fun of failing to recognize that made us regulars. So many fun memories from that bar. I bet there are a lot of fun times that I don't remember.

I remember doing that very thing until my now wife pointed out that i would walk in there, make the rounds greeting the regulars and the bartender would have my pitcher and shot of rumpleminze waiting at the bar without me even ordering :) Roommate bounced there and i became very familiar with the staff. Great times at that bar. Can not bring myself to go in there now and visit blah blah social club or whatever its called that took over the spot.
 
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I was explaining to my dad over Thanksgiving that you used to get two big birthday parties at Iowa: when you turned 19 and could get into bars and again when you turned 21. Too bad Sally Mason f’ed that up.

The first time I browned/blacked out was at Fieldhouse. A friend of a friend was turning 21 so I drank pitchers for free. We stood by the pool tables upstairs and watched people grind and dance for too long.
 
They have added a nice little lunch counter thingy with hot sandwiches and other foods. It is just a perfect neighorhood store now.
They might have added that but they removed their old focaccia. For those that had it in the 80's to mid 90's, it was an amazing creation. And yes, the beer and wine selection. The good ole days!
 
I remember getting our $19 old style keg from dirty Johns every week. Man I miss that keg fridge.
 
Money definitely went much further back then. The Old Field house used to have $.50 buckets of beer (About 3/4 of a picture). 32 oz refillable cups of Long Island Ice Tea for $.50. $1 burger baskets everywhere. Thing is you could find jobs that paid $7-$10 an hour (1980). Servers in bars made bank. I remember my brother making $300 in tips on a Football Saturday nearly every game. Whole Chickens would go on sale at $.19 a pound. 3lb Bags of apples for a quarter. Tuition was $110 a credit hour. Free over 12 Credit hours. Books were expensive even then. You would often spend $300 to $500 a semester for textbooks. We had it tougher than the people who went to school in the late 1960's early to mid 1970's. They could go home for the summer and get a summer job working in the shops (Deere, Ford, CNH for example) and make enough to cover room board/tuition and spending money for the year. On the downside, they had to deal with the draft.
 
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Don’t forget about the Q bar.

spent a lot of time there crafting my pool game and watching The Swag upstairs. $.10 Draws on Monday’s, 1/2 pool on Tuesday and $1 pitchers on Wednesday

They had great music upstairs on a regular basis.
 
I was explaining to my dad over Thanksgiving that you used to get two big birthday parties at Iowa: when you turned 19 and could get into bars and again when you turned 21. Too bad Sally Mason f’ed that up.

The first time I browned/blacked out was at Fieldhouse. A friend of a friend was turning 21 so I drank pitchers for free. We stood by the pool tables upstairs and watched people grind and dance for too long.
I’m so far removed from that. Is it 21 only now at all the bars?
 
Don’t forget about the Q bar.

spent a lot of time there crafting my pool game and watching The Swag upstairs. $.10 Draws on Monday’s, 1/2 pool on Tuesday and $1 pitchers on Wednesday

My junior year i lived on Iowa Ave and had to walk past it every day on my way home from campus. Not once did I make it past there without stopping in for just one beer. Which usually turned in to many. I lost count of how many times i would be waiting for them to open the next morning so i could grab my 'lost' bookbag.
 
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Dude, the day we made the connection was glorious.

We already knew about the "hot chick" that worked at Pearson's - but we NEVER thought we'd get to see her sweater puppets until the fateful day one of was leafing through the Girl's of the Big 10 issue and there she was.

It was like living out that J. Geils Band song. :)
Sorry but WOB on sweater puppies
 
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