THE SALTY FROG

A late afternoon sun beats down on the 2-lane highway that runs through the still beating heart of tiny downtown Tuttle, Oklahoma. Most folks are hanging out at the baseball fields watching little league or t-ball.

But inside what used to be a landmark drug store, Annette Littlejohn is making a drink whose history is frozen in crushed ice.

"I'm not really sure who started it." Annette Littlejohn said.

For more than 80 years the Star Pharmacy occupied this space on Main Street, and for much of that time folks would come in and order something called a 'Salty Frog'.

It only has three ingredients. Ice, salt and lime juice. But something about it hit the spot. Annette remembers her first "Salty". And so does current Tuttle Chamber Manager, Laura Douglas.

"Just coming in the pharmacy when I was a little kid with my mom and dad.", Douglas said.

It is an acquired taste. Salty and sour, sort of like a crushed, frozen pickle. But people around here really like them. Townspeople were sad when the old Star Pharmacy closed. And they were sad again when the soda shop that Annette Littejohn tried to run closed too. But through changing times the 'Salty Frog' endured.

Just down the street at the 'Brain Freeze' snow cone stand Alexandria Baker still makes 'Salty Frogs' for the thirsty.

"Oh yeah. Everybody asks for these.", Baker said. "But recently everybody's been asking for shaved ice instead of regular cubed ice. So I guess that's the new thing."

A layer of ice, a layer of salt, a sprinkle of lime and go again. When the summer hits and while the sun beats down the "Salty Frog" lives on, long past even the businesses that made it a unique town symbol.