On June 7, 1966, Ivar Haglund (1905-1985) buys Pier 54 on the Seattle waterfront, home of his Acres of Clams restaurant, for $500,000.
Haglund composes a full-page advertisement to announce the purchase and to line up his puns.
"For me to own a wharf would be a paradox (one dock is plenty) -- besides it would take acres and acres of clams to swing the deal. Then I said, What the hake, be fearless or you'll be pierless. So now I'm a member of the Elliott Bay pierage, a dock duke 54th in a line of piers!"
In 1968, when the Port of Seattle attempted to buy Pier 54 for a proposed world trade center, Haglund refused, largely for sentimental reasons. He loved his pier. By that time Haglund had two other restaurants, the Captain's Table on Elliott Avenue below Queen Anne Hill and the Broadway Ivar's on Capitol Hill.
Sources:
Bob Hansen, "Ivar Buys Pier for $500,000," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, June 8, 1966; "Pier 54 Sold to Ivar Haglund," The Seattle Times, June 8, 1966, p. 6; "Ivar Buys Pier 54," Port of Seattle Reporter, July 1, 1966, p. 7.
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