Tourism Yukon has started a strange (but they insist, very real) search for donated human toes. The macabre contest comes after a brown, mummified toe served in a famous cocktail in Dawson City went missing.
The toe was stolen last Saturday by a patron when the bartender wasn’t looking and mailed back Thursday with an apology note.
The letter read: “I’m deeply sorry. I was way too drunk and lost my mind celebrating a special Yukon date. I returned it as fast as possible and not damaged. Sincerely, a drunken fool.”
In an effort to ensure that the hotel never runs out of severed digits, Tourism Yukon is asking willing donors to upload pictures of their toe offerings to Instagram with the hashtag #makeatoenation and tag @travelyukon. The tourism organization even has its own website to profile the contestants.
The catch: the winner must formally agree to donate their appendage after they die.
It might sound like a lot to ask, but consider this: the bar has collected more than 10 donated toes since the inception of the cocktail in 1973.
The bar prefers to use big toes in the cocktails, since they present less of a choking hazard, but they still accept secondary digits.
Terry Lee, the 80-year-old “Toe Captain” who officiates the toe ceremonies, said he’s “ecstatic” to be reunited with the missing member.
“I’m still pretty upset about what he did because it set this whole hotel into complete turmoil,” he told CTV News Channel on Friday.
Lee has since soaked the toe in alcohol to “make sure everything is kosher” and will dry it out in salt before using it again in the drinks.
The strange tradition began after a captain found a solitary human toe preserved in a jar in an abandoned cabin -- or so the legend goes. The toe is believed to have come from a rum-runner who had to amputate his toe after accidentally soaking it in icy water in the winter.
According the Sourtoe Cocktail Club, more than 70,000 people have tried the signature beverage at the hotel. It’s typically served with a shot of whiskey, and drinkers must touch the toe to their lips to become an official member of the club. (For those who don’t drink alcohol, the toe can be plunked into any beverage.)
