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That photo of the exterior of Uncle Sam's was not from the Des Moines location, but from Davenport Iowa instead.

Since I submitted that I just wanted to clear that up.

Yeah, I was going to say, I knew my memory was fading, but that wasn't my recollection of the old Uncle Sam's in Des Moines at all! The building that Uncle Sam's was in was the old Katz Drug building with the famous Katz neon sign. It is now a state office building. Used to be an old Hinky Dinky supermarket across the street (anyone remember those?). The old Catholic church that was next to the back parking lot is still there (in fact, I believe is on the state's historical registry list). If those parking lots could talk!?! I made out in my car many a night and had a few rumbles in the parking lot. Hey, Wally Cleaver, do you remember the rumble that Starsky and Hutch had with Mr. Heck and cohort? I'll bet a few Des Moines coeds lost their virginity in that parking lot.

Hey Starsky!  Yup, I was there for the rumble you spoke of but would rather remember the "other" action in the parking lot you alluded to in your post. I have many fond memories of fun nights spent partying until closing time and then going to breakfast with the guys or home with a babe. Know you do too...Is nice to know there are a lot of people out there with the same recollections.  Would love to party at Uncle Sam's again with all of them! You are right, the Catholic church is still there as is Miller's Hardware across the street.  Used to park there on Tue and Wed nights when the Uncle Sam's parking lot was full.  Always got there late on those nights, because of our mutual friend Tom...

Hey, did we really look as nerdy as that photo above? Those guys look like wimps in that photo. I do remember the knit pants and the platform shoes. It was great that a guy that's only 5'9" (I think I was 5'10" at one time, but I think I've shrunk) was 6 foot with those monster shoes on. Those were the days. I've got a picture of me with those slacks on, my platform shoes, and playing drums down in my basement. Had the long hair and beard. People used to say I looked like Al Pacino as Serpico. In fact, I remember one of the waitresses at Des Moines who had a crush on Pacino and picked me up one night. Went back to her dorm room over at Drake and we made love and spent the night. Next morning I woke up and sure enough, on the wall was this HUGE poster of Pacino as Serpico. I didn't know if you could post other photos like that or not, but I got them. I wonder where that coed is today... can't even remember her' name. If she reads this though... give me a call or leave me a message. We had some good times.

Always heard alot about the Des Moines US club. The photo of the Davenport club brings back GREAT memories!!!! Anyone else here from the Davenport ot Des Moines clubs?

I was a manager for Uncle Sam'a in the mid to late '70's. I ran clubs in Knoxville, TN; Lincoln, NE; Davenport, IA; and Houston, TX. My name is Bob Yarbrough but my nickname then was Cowboy. I would love to hear from former employees and customers. It's fun to read all the comments from all of you.
Tony Greco, US manager owns a restaurant in NYC. Richie is somewhere in Florida, Miami area I think.
If anyone knows how to contact Jim Chapman I would really like to find him. Jim worked with me in Davenport anf at another club in Orlando, FL, also awned by the same company thet owned Uncle Sam's.

When I turned 18 in Michigan in January 1977, Uncle Sam's at Telegraph and Schoolcraft was the first bar I ever went into. What a great place! I lived in Livonia, only about 5 miles away so that was an added benefit of hanging out there. When I started going to Wayne State in September 1977, my east side friends would come over to Uncle Sam's on the west side one Saturday night and us west siders would go over to their east side hangout Harpo's the next Saturday night. Wild times! There was also an Uncle Sam's in Houston, where I now live, and the lady who is now my wife hung out here in Houston at the Uncle Sam's back then. So we were 1200 miles apart back in 1977 but connected by Uncle Sam's!

Jim Chapman is on Facebook