With a slogan like “The best of the breast,” one can’t help but wonder. So last Thursday I decided to venture out to the infamous Silver Dollar strip club to see what all the hype was about.
I entered the club to find nothing but horrible heavy metal ringing in my ears, reminding me of some really cheesy 1980s B-movie. There was a total of approximately
five girls dancing that night–most of whom were not gorgeous. The club was western-themed, inside and out. There was no cover charge for girls, but there was a $3 fee for guys. There was a group of about eight mid-20-year-olds sitting at the table in front of us. The service at the club was pretty good, and the employees and dancers seemed fairly friendly. The drinks were cheap (for women) that night, which is always nice: $1 well drinks, $2 domestic beers, and $3 for the house special. Unfortunately, we missed 25-cent Pabst night, held every Monday.
What I think really made the night exciting for me was the emphasis on audience interaction. I went outside to interview one of the strippers, and came back inside to find what appeared to be one of the people whom I had come to the club with, onstage, on her way to having her bra unhooked by one of the dancers. She went on to head up
to the stage two additional times throughout the night. She even managed to pick up some decent tips and free drinks. Apparently, one of the dancers had seen her sitting near the stage and asked her if she was going to join her up there. She obviously didn’t hesitate.
My friend who decided to test her skills at “dirty dancing” was obviously just having a little fun, but one might wonder what it is like for a person who does this type of thing on a regular basis.
“I’m here for the money from the stupid boys,” said Capri, a 25-year-old Lane Community College student who dances at the Silver Dollar.
Capri, who plans to become a parole officer once she gets finished with school, said she is doing this job to pay her way through college. She enjoys her job, but for her it is strictly business.
“I am here to make money, not to make friends,” she said.
Capri said the job can be fun if the right customers are there, not the “dirt sacks,” as she likes to refer to the men who treat her like a piece of meat. She recalls her most insulting experience with a customer — her first night on the job. A man stuck a credit card into an inappropriate area while she was performing onstage.
Capri’s parents are aware of her actions, but they know she has a good head on her shoulders, so they are not too concerned. She has made it clear to them and to herself that, “this is another chapter in my book — a chapter that will end.”
Although my experience at the Silver Dollar was only especially exciting based on particular circumstances, Joseph Lanford, a 27-year-old DJ at the club, said there are several occasions at the club that make for great excitement and draw a crowd.
“Crazy nights are strippers’ birthdays. Girls spray each other with whipped cream and lick it off one another,” Lanford said.
Lanford also mentioned that Halloween is a great time for people to come to the club.
“There are two entrances. One for guys, one for girls. Females have to enter a haunted house if they want to come in. There is freaky stuff in the haunted house,” he said.
Although the Silver Dollar has its stories and crazy moments, there are provisions placed upon the club and its dancers. Lanford said that the Oregon Liquor Control Commission sets the price for all of the drinks and regulates some of the dancers’ actions.
“If a dancer pinches her nipples while on stage, the OLCC fines her $1,000,” Lanford said.
The Silver Dollar shares a street with another strip club, the Hot Body Club, but Lanford said there isn’t much of a rivalry.
“It’s not as much of a competition. Because we are so close, people tend to hop from one to the other. I can’t knock it. There, it is a strip club. Here seems like more of a party,” Lanford said.
Former University student Jesse Cooper said he prefers the Silver Dollar.
“Of all two strip clubs in Eugene, the Silver Dollar is my favorite,” Cooper joked, “and it sure beats all the strip clubs in Springfield.”
“We like to involve people; we don’t really attract perverts. We’re just a party atmosphere,” Lanford said.

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