Roll Down The Barrel

teh
I was sort of moved by this picture on the front page SJ-R this morning. No, not by Kevin Davlin with a beer in hand, but by the demolition of what remains of The Barrel Head.

Not so much recently, but I have had a lot of good times in that place. I think I’ve only been in The Barrel Head maybe twice in the last six years but there was I time, particularly when home from college, when I spent many a night in there with friends.

Back in the day, before Davlin took over ownership of the place, it had some rather nutty proprietors that enforced some weird rules.

One night, circa 1983, a bunch of us went in there late, sat down and ordered drinks. One of us, a young man who grew up to be Springfield’s famed photo-blogger Jerome Prophet, decided he was hungry. He was told the kitchen had just closed. Fine, he thought, and went out the door, across the street to Steak’n’Shake and came back with a small bag of food. Well, The Barrel Head management was not amused. They told him he couldn’t eat the food he brought in. The young JP protested, saying he would gladly purchase food from the establishment in which he sat BUT THEY WEREN’T SERVING ANY! I can’t remember who won in the end but it was a great confrontation.

Anyway, it’s sad to see the old place go. I hope the new one is a good place too.