I took the bus up to Denver's Tattered Cover Bookstore, where I once worked as the bookkeeper, yesterday afternoon, and from there walked down East 17th Avenue toward downtown. Right after I passed Stoney's Uptown Joint, a local hipster hangout, I noticed a new bar going in called The Dew Drop Inn. It is a name right out of the 40s and 50s, and reminded me of the stories of humorist Jean Shepherd, who wrote a number of very funny books about growing up in Northwest Indiana, including In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories and Other Disasters. If you haven't read them, you are in for a real treat when you do. In any case, Shepherd made a number of movies for both PBS and for the big screen, too. My favorite, which he wrote and narrated, was The Great American 4th of July and Other Disasters. This was a really excellent PBS production, funny and poignant at the same time. In one scene, Shepherd waxes poetically about the proud tradition of the local neighborhood tavern, and mentions the names of some, including the Dew Drop Inn, a corny name if there ever was one. I wonder if the place here in Denver (seen above with a photo of Shepherd superimposed on it) is going to be a Jean Shepherd themed bar, with his movies showing continuously on a screen and copies of his books for sale? I certainly hope so. It will give that hipster joint next door a run for it's money.
No comments:
Post a Comment