Bar puts out ad for severed human toes

The Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, Yukon, suffered a major blow last month when the Canadian establishment's signature cocktail -- a drink containing a mummified human toe -- was ruined by a troublemaker known only as "Josh from New Orleans."

The "sourtoe" cocktail dates back to the 1973 and for $10, customers can add the leathery digit to any drink. The tradition is not to consume the toe, just let its black, wrinkled flesh touch their lips as they imbibe the surrounding liquor.

But Josh didn't care about tradition. The out-of-towner slammed back the toe in a shot of whiskey before dropping $500 cash -- the bar's original fine for toe-swallowing -- and disappearing without a trace.

The hotel is now running ads on its website and menu for new toes, ABC reported Thursday. Hotel spokesman Adam Gerle says the bar still has one toe left, but even so, "we've been welcoming new toes."

The ad on the hotel's menu states:

Got frostbite? The Downtown Hotel in Dawson City, Yukon is currently seeking toes for its World Famous Sourtoe Cocktail.

Donor will be forever immortalized in the Sourtoe Hall of Fame.

Contact adam@yukonhotels.com for details.

Gerle told ABC they've already had "a few offers," primarily from people who suffered an accident or will soon be undergoing a medical procedure entailing toe-removal.

The original "sourtoe" -- which allegedly belonged to a trapper who lost it to frostbite -- was accidentally swallowed in 1980, and the hotel has gone through about a dozen toes since.

All subsequent toes were donated to the saloon, and sit in a bath of picking salt when they aren't in use. Bar officials say that booze's high alcohol content keeps the toes sterile, despite the fact that they may touch the lips of more than a dozen people on a given night.

-Huffington Post