Personalize your mug at Carbondale bar

CARBONDALE - If you take a seat at the bar at PK's in Carbondale, it is impossible not to notice the famous wall of mugs that reaches the ceiling. The mugs are made of wood and are sold to patrons for $25.

Gwen Hunt, who has owned PK's for 59 years, said there are benefits to owning your own mug. You can leave it there to be washed and placed back on the wall when you are finished with it, and you can also get more bang for your buck.

"People who have their own mugs can get a 16-ounce beer because they all hold 16 ounces, and all our other mugs are only 12 ounces," Hunt said.

She also said that having drink ware made of wood has its advantages.

"You can usually drop one of our mugs from the wall without it breaking a making a big mess," she added.

Hunt began ordering the mugs from a woman who made them in Tennessee in the 1970s. Anyone who buys one is free to decorate it anyway they would like. It is not unusual to find someone enjoying a beer in PK's who has used the same mug for more than 20 years.

Hunt saves the mugs of former SIU students and places them on shelves over the pool table area. She said many alumni have returned several years later and come in for a drink from their old mug.

While the wall of mugs is one of the things that PK's is famous for, the small tavern has also brought in some famous clientele. Folk singer Joan Baez dropped in after a 1974 concert in Carbondale and enjoyed the place so much she decided to leave word behind for future visitors.

"I wasn't here for that, of all the days," Hunt said. "She wanted to go to a low-key place after her show and came here and liked it so much she wrote a message on the ladies' room wall."

The message reads, "One cool bar. All the best, Joan Baez. Feb. 6, 1974," and is covered by a frame.