For decades, customers at Wintzell’s Oyster House in Mobile have laughed at one of the restaurant’s most famous wall signs: “Free oysters to any man 80 years old accompanied by his father.”

The offer, long treated as a humorous impossibility, finally became reality when Jimmy Rush celebrated his 80th birthday by walking into the downtown Mobile restaurant with his 99-year-old father, Jim Rush. According to FOX10 News, it was the first time the offer had ever been redeemed.

The moment was decades in the making for the Rush family. The Mobile television station reported that Jimmy and his father had been visiting the downtown restaurant together since 1972, when they would attend Friday night Mardi Gras parades and stop in for oysters beforehand.

The sign eventually became a long-running family goal. Carl Rush, Jimmy’s brother, said the family had talked for 25 to 30 years about whether their father might live long enough for one of his sons to turn 80 and finally qualify for the offer.

When that day arrived, the family turned the occasion into a celebration. About 60 relatives and friends gathered at the restaurant, where Wintzell’s honored the sign’s promise by serving Jimmy a dozen free oysters.

In a Facebook post, Wintzell’s Oyster House said the Rush family had long been part of the restaurant’s story and helped turn one of its most famous traditions into a real-life milestone.

The story has drawn so much attention that the father and son found themselves on national television appearing on ABC World News Tonight with David Muir.

The moment also cast new attention on one of Alabama’s best-known seafood institutions. Wintzell’s Oyster House began in 1938 as a six-stool oyster bar and has grown into a dining landmark known for its oysters, seafood specialties and walls covered with thousands of the founder’s homespun sayings.

The Alabama broadcaster also noted that Jim Rush, now 99, is a World War II and Korean War veteran who said he remains in good health aside from losing his vision and takes no medication.

The family is already thinking ahead. Carl Rush said he will turn 80 in October 2028, when his father would be 102, and hopes they will be able to return and do it all over again.

For generations of customers, the free-oyster sign has been part of the charm of visiting Wintzell’s — a joke that seemed impossible to claim.

Until now.

Sherri Blevins is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You may contact her at [email protected].