Tightwad

Tightwad, Missouri city limit sign.
Photo by MrChaf (flickr)

I posted about a few places in Tennessee a couple of weeks ago and it looks like this week might be turning into Missouri week.

Today’s name: Tightwad, MO.

So, how does a town get to be called Tightwad? Well, the story is that a postman was making his deliveries and saw a watermelon that he wanted. Instead of carrying it around all day he convinced the grocer to set the watermelon aside until the end of the day. Well, when that postman got back to the grocer’s there was no watermelon. The grocer had sold the melon to someone who agreed to pay 50 cents more than the postman. What a tightwad! (the postman’s word, not mine). And the name stuck.

Today, there are 63 people in Tightwad, Missouri, or at least that’s what the sign says at the city limits. There is also a bank called, of course, the Tightwad Bank. It’s a real, FDIC-insured bank, and if you want to open an account, the Tightwad Bank website has all of the info you need. If, instead, you want a funny shirt, it looks like you can buy one on CafePress, (that’s not my store, I don’t have one – yet).