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| Located in the heart of historic Spenard, Chilkoot Charlie's first opened its doors on January 1, 1970 in what had been The Alibi Club. "Koot's," as it is affectionately called by locals, began as a neighborhood watering hole with a live piano bar. The bar was very limited in size then, occupying only the part of the building that is now the South Long Bar. Owner Mike Gordon and a partner bought the bar having convinced themselves that an Alaska-Theme bar would be successful in Anchorage. Upon purchasing The Alibi Club, Gordon promised the doubtful former owner, Skip Fuller, that he would triple the gross sales within a year. At the time, Gordon was also working at KHAR radio and NY Life Insurance Co. in Anchorage. It was at KHAR that he met Alaskan author and radio personality Ruben Gaines, and the two quickly became friends. It occurred to Gordon one day that one of Gaines characters, Chilkoot Charlie, would be an excellent icon for his new bar. It had once been suggested that the bar should be named the Humpie Bar or Chilkoot Charlie's. Gordon invited Gaines to lunch and told him the idea. The bar would get exclusive rights to the name Chilkoot Charlie, and in exchange, Gaines could sell his books, cartoons, records, etc. from the bar. Gaines thought it was a great idea, and with a hand-written contract, Chilkoot Charlie's was born. It is interesting to note that this one lunch meeting has arguably done as much to add character and flavor to Spenard and Anchorage as a whole, as any other event to date.Anchorage was about to become an oil boomtown as oil was discovered in abundance on Alaska's north slope. Anchorage grew quickly and Chilkoot Charlie's grew with it. By the end of its first year in business, Chilkoot Charlie's had become Alaska's favorite bar. Gordon had indeed tripled the bar's gross sales, and then some. Customers flocked to Chilkoot Charlie's to enjoy its Alaska atmosphere and outrageous entertainment. The costumed bartenders (Gordon included) provided laughs by the ton. A favorite was one of Gordon's characters called Rocky the Flying M*ther F*cker. Gordon would wear a World War One infantryman's uniform, a leather pilot's helmet, and scarf. Customers howled with laughter at the non-stop antics. Music was provided by the bar's original band - The Rinky-Dinks, and later on by a piano player by the name of Mr. Whitekeys. Mr. Whitekeys now runs The Fly-By-Night Club here in Anchorage. It was he who coined our logo "We cheat the other guy and pass the savings on to you!" The crowds grew steadily, and before long an expansion was needed.
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