My Outtakes: Bring Back Trader Jon’s has sparked some lively conversations.
Though it’s not a flag, the downtown hole-in-the-wall bar is part of our history. The former strip club became a hangout for aviators, attorneys, journalists and celebrities.
Some believe it would be a mistake to bring back Trader Jon’s. A friend wrote, “In this PC World, it would be impossible to bring back TJ’s. That bar is a part of history and should remain there.”
Another reader reminded me that Trader’s wasn’t exactly a wholesome place – “Do you want to bring back all the smells and filth that also was Traders? …Are you aware up until the 80’s Traders was a sleazy stripper bar? Yes, a lot of flyboys and celebrities visited and the memorabilia was amazing. However, the coolers were never clean and reeked badly. The bottled beer always had that smell. The biggest draw was Trader himself who was a colorful guy.”
My reply has been that we can’t recreate the old Trader’s but we can create a place to attract the hundreds of veterans who trained at NAS Pensacola to downtown Pensacola, a place were they can share their stories and memories with their friends and family.
There is a Facebook page dedicated to Trader Jon’s – i know trader jon. The photo above is from that website.