News

American swallows pickled human toe at Canadian bar

By Fran Jeffries
Aug 28, 2013

Leave it to an American to shake up tradition.

An American worker deliberately swallowed a pickled human toe in a bar in Canada on Saturday night, according to a report in nationalpost.com.

The Downtown Hotel bar’s bizarre 40-year-old Yukon ritual calls for kissing — not swallowing — the toe.

Here’s how it’s supposed to work: The “Sourtoe Cocktail” ritual let’s a patron order his or her drink of choice with a little something extra — a floating human toe. Those who are bold enough to kiss the preserved toe gets bragging rights. To deter shenanigans, the bar charges a $500 fine for swallowing the toe.

The unidentified man, who is believed to be from New Orleans, washed the toe down with a beer chaser and then slapped $500 onto the bar.

The bar owner and others who appreciate their ritual were not amused.

But all is not ‘toe-tally’ lost. The bar expects to continue to get donated replacement toes.

Read more about this toe-swallowing story here.

About the Author

Fran Jeffries is a Newsletter Producer. She joined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2005 as an Education Editor. She worked as a Breaking News Editor and Social Media Producer before joining the Newsletter team.

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