20     |    VIPPensacola.com

story by

 

Liesel Schmidt | 

photos provided by  

John Blackie/UWF Historic Trust

Wanna

  Trade?

B

ars aren’t generally considered to be worthy of becoming a 
museum exhibit, but with the kind of patronage and history 
that the iconic Trader Jon’s enjoyed during its fi fty-odd 
years as one of Pensacola’s favorite places to get a good drink 

and trade a few tales, it’s become precisely that. Now deconstructed 
and pieced back together in the TT Wentworth Museum, visitors can 
imagine themselves in the bar, a part of the scene “back in the day” 

when the man behind the bar—and the namesake himself—poured out 
the drinks, the stories, and the charm like only Trader Jon could.

A native of Brooklyn who later tried his hand at owning bars in 

south Florida before making his way to Pensacola, Martin “Trader 
Jon” Weissman was, in fact, a trader of things, bartering for military 
memorabilia and various other oddities in exchange for drinks and 
pricing those drinks based on the perceived value of the items on offer. 

It was a unique part of his appeal and a key component of 
the décor, creating an atmosphere unlike any other as his 
collection grew to include more than 10,000 items that 
now command a value topping over two million dollars. 

In its former life as a working bar, Trader Jon’s claimed 

a corner of Palafox Street to welcome one and all—most 
notably becoming a watering hole for off-duty Navy pilots 
and military personnel who enjoyed the camaraderie and 
one-of-a-kind personality of Trader Jon, a lover of all 
things aviation whose respect for airmen led him to buy 
adjoining space to the bar and open a museum dedicated 
to the Blue Angels. Such a collection of items, both in 
Trader Jon’s museum and in the bar itself, have become 
relics of the past, of course. But even more importantly, 
they have become the keepers of tales, treasures with 

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5/22/17   4:53 PM