Fortunately, two of the major relics made it through the explosion the original sign, and the half of a Montana State University goal post which students marched to the bar after the victorious Cat/Griz game in 2005. ![]() “We used brick and wood, Montana style, that brought back a lot of memories of the original bar,” Kaber said. When they re-built, the thought process was to make it timeless. In 2009, downtown Bozeman experienced a huge explosion which took the bar down. “People said it wasn’t the same old R Bar,” Kaber explained. However, long-time patrons weren’t totally sold. It was remodeled in 2001, fifty-four years after the bar opened, replacing what was old. Oddly enough, school buses in town for sporting events would come through, and everyone would stop and buy a hat before the tournament.”Ī downtown mainstay, the bar was in keeping with the historic architecture on Main Street Bozeman. “Grandfathers, fathers- it’s always an example of what a small world it is. “When you’re wearing an R Bar hat, everywhere you go, someone knows someone who knows of the bar, and they want to tell you their story,” Kaber laughs. Eventually, the hat became so popular it was in the top five of the Playboy’s must-have hat list. Promoting an iconic small town bar, in a college town, people who visited wanted to have something to commemorate their time. It was during this period, the R Bar hat became a popular collectible, (particularly the corduroy). ![]() Showing their appreciation, the bar hosted a Friday afternoon club,” Kaber says, “from 4pm-6pm we offered 25 cent beers.” The Rockin' R Hat ![]() In 1978 the establishment sold to one of the now current owners who kept the same feel and clientele, but it soon became a favorite haunt of college students as well. “In 1947 it was a working man’s bar the place you went to have a drink with the boys after work,” explains Tony Kaber, General Manager of the Rockin R Bar, aka “The R Bar,” the name derived from a local brand.
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