How nice was this bar? Let’s look at the evidence: the matchbook is from the fifties. The telephone exchange is Main; the address is “21,” both of which indicate a location in the old heart of town. Translation: a dive.

And that’s what it was.

The illustration shows a rather peculiar tableau – a young lady is camping out in traditional Western gear – no bra, a vest, high-heeled boots – when an arrow in the tush interrupts her wiener roast. Oddly enough, the angle of her skirt indicates that she reacted to the shot by shooting her pelvis backwards in the direction of the injury, which is rather counter-instinctive.   Perhaps a subsequent series of matchbooks show her shivering in the desert night, unable to move, hearing the predators growl in the shadows beyond the dying fire.

I hope she had a better fate than the bar; it was razed during urban renewal, and 21 Washington Av. North is now an empty lot. But you can see the old marquee here.