'THE PICKLE' TURNS 75
'THE PICKLE' TURNS 75
NISSWA MUNICIPAL LIQUOR OPERATION IS STILL GOING STRONG Ye Old Pickle Factory – much better known to locals and visitors alike as "The Pickle" — celebrates its 75th year in 2025. Where did the unique name originate? A former longtime manager of The Pickle said that on a busy day back in the mid 1970s, the phone kept ringing and a person who answered said, "Pickle Factory," so the caller would hang up, thinking it was a wrong number. Terry Wallin, Pickle manager for the past 15 years and a full-time employee since 1991, has heard other stories as well regarding the city's municipal liquor operation's name: A grandpa told his grandkids he was going to The Pickle Factory, and they thought he was going to buy pickles. The bar was busy and someone said, “We're putting 'em in here like putting pickles in a jar.” A city-owned operation, The Pickle Factory's profits are used every year to reduce the city’s general fund levy — which helps the city's taxpayers. Almost every Minnesota town had a municipal liquor establishment in the 1950s to help generate income for cities. That's not so today. The Pickle's busiest time of year is during the Fall Festival/ Smokin' Hot BBQ Challenge on a Saturday in mid-September each year. Other busy times are during the Nisswa City of Lights event, held the Friday after Thanksgiving; the Winter Jubilee held annually in mid-February; and Freedom Days held each July 3.
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Providing the Brainerd Lakes Area with exceptional fireworks shows year round. 60 | Nisswa Chamber Guide 2025