02258cam a22003613u 450000100060000000300070000600500170001300600020003000700050003200800410003704000110007804100170008905000070010610000290011324500210014226400510016330000470021433600260026133700260028733800360031349000570034950000310040650801080043752010330054553400750157865300180165365300310167165300460170265300290174883000570177785600430183499900190187778650UtSlPG20260610134826.0mcr n260607r20261929utu|||||o|||||||||||||| d  aUtSlPG 7aen2iso639-1 4aPS1 aDecker, Karl,d1868-194114aThe framed fifty 1aSalt Lake City, UT :bProject Gutenberg,c2026  a1 online resource :bmultiple file formats  atextbtxt2rdacontent  acomputerbc2rdamedia  aonline resourcebcr2rdacarrier1 aProduced from Argosy All-Story Weekly April 6, 1929.  aRelease date is 2026-05-10  aGreg Weeks, Mary Meehan & the online Distributed Proofreaders Canada team at https://www.pgdpcanada.net  aThe framed fifty by Karl Decker is a short crime story written in the early 20th century. Centered on a bartender’s prized “first dollar,” it explores sentiment, luck, and the sting of disillusion when a cherished token proves false.

Mike O’Donnell, an old New York barkeep who relocates to Havana after Prohibition, treasures a fifty-dollar bill framed above his bar—the first note ever paid across his counter, gifted years earlier by the suave Red Walker on a stormy opening night. O’Donnell prospers and clings to the bill as a talisman of his success and identity, until an inconspicuous visitor—an American Secret Service man—asks to see it, rips open the frame, and stamps it “Counterfeit.” He explains it’s the work of a long-dead forger, with Red once serving as the passer of fake notes and now himself gone. O’Donnell is absolved of blame, but the revelation pierces his nostalgia, exposing the sentimental cornerstone of his career as a forgery. (This is an automatically generated summary.)  pOriginally published:cNew York, NY: The Frank A. Munsey Company, 1929  aShort stories  aNew York (N.Y.) -- Fiction  aBars (Drinking establishments) -- Fiction  aHavana (Cuba) -- Fiction 0aProduced from Argosy All-Story Weekly April 6, 1929.40uhttps://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/78650  c119368d119368