Ivar’s is celebrating the 106th birthday of its “flounder”, Ivar Haglund, today (Tuesday) with a special meal deal: buy an entree, get a second entrée for $1.06 (and yep, that goes for their $20+ entrees, as well).
Ivar was a man after our own heart, well-known for his pranks and shenanigans. Says his promotional materials:
Ivar Johan Haglund was born to Swedish and Norwegian parents, Johan Ivar and Daisey Maud, in West Seattle in 1905. Performing came naturally to Ivar, and he was soon entertaining family friends by playing guitar and singing tenor. In adulthood, Haglund took his knack for entertaining and folk songs to the Seattle waterfront and opened Seattle’s first aquarium in 1938. His first fish stand was an extension of his aquarium, giving hungry visitors a place to dine. Since then, he created a legacy of quality seafood restaurants throughout the Northwest, with chowders and sauces sold as far away as Mexico and Japan.
Always devising new attention-getting capers, Ivar staged a number of infamous pranks and masterminded numerous stunts in his time including octopus wrestling on the Seattle waterfront and strolling to Frederick and Nelson’s department store with Patsy the seal from the aquarium. Haglund was a regular on KJR and KIRO radio stations, as well as the JP Patches children’s television program. Ivar passed away in 1985, just shy of his 80th birthday, but his Northwest dining legacy lives on in his beloved recipes and seafood restaurants.
A few more notable pranks include:
- 1945 – After a train car leaked its syrup contents on the road directly across from Ivar’s Acres of Clams, Ivar donned a pair of hip boots, pulled on a huge apron and ran into the center of the huge lake of syrup. In one hand he carried a large plate of pancakes, in the other a large spoon. He scooped up the syrup, poured it on the pancakes, and told the crowd, “Eat at Ivar’s. We don’t skimp on the syrup.”
- 1947 – Ivar’s held its first-ever clam eating contest on Pier 54. The winner was Richard Watson, a Seattle cabdriver, who gulped down 110 clams in 10 minutes and became the first ever IPFSACECA (The International Pacific Free Style Amateur Clam Eating Contest Association) World Champion Clam Eater. In 1948, he competed in the great East versus West Clam Eat Off and beat his East Coast challenger receiving the coveted title crown from Ivar.
- 1960 – U.S. Senator Margaret Chase Smith proposed a postage stamp commemorating Maine’s sardine. Appalled by the sardine, Ivar insisted on a stamp honoring the clam instead. Ivar began selling his stamps in the Ivar’s gift shop. U.S. Postal Inspectors didn’t find Ivar’s stamps so humorous and confiscated the stamps and printing plates to be burned in a U.S. Postal Service furnace. Ivar was amused that the Post Office would have its own basement incinerator for cremating bad stamps.
Happy Birthday, Ivar!