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It has been 20 years since Kyle MacDonald traded a red paperclip for a pen – and unknowingly launched one of the Internet’s first viral stories.
That first trade happened on July 14, 2005. Fourteen swaps later, MacDonald completed the journey in Kipling, about 150 kilometres southeast of Regina, where the town handed over a house in exchange for a role in the film Donna on Demand.
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Kyle MacDonald holds up a red paper clip in front of his house in Kipling, Sask. on Friday, Sept. 1, 2006. (CP FILE PHOTO/Troy Fleece)
“People walk in for lunch and then ask me where the paperclip house is,” said Billie Johnson, who now owns the house-turned-café. “I’m, like, you’re standing in it.”
The building sat empty for years after the media frenzy faded. But in 2010, Johnson and her mother Ellen bought it through a town tender and turned it into the Red Paperclip Cottage – a café that still operates today.
Ellen was a Red Seal chef trained in Moose Jaw and the cafe menu was built around old family recipes. Johnson said the business quickly became a gathering place, a workplace for her kids and a way to root the paperclip story in something lasting.
Mother-daughter team Ellen and Billie Johnson opened the Red Paperclip Cottage in 2010. Ellen has since passed away, but her recipes remain the heart of the café. (Billie Johnson/submitted)
The café has become a staple in Kipling, known for daily-baked bread, Saskatoon berry cheesecake and homemade soups in the winter.
While the viral buzz has died down, the paperclip story never really left. Johnson said tourists regularly stop in, especially during the summer, often unaware that they have stepped into the final stop on MacDonald’s trade journey.
“It brought the community together,” said Kipling Mayor Pat Jackson. “People know who we are because we did something off the hook.”
Inside the Red Paperclip Cottage, pies and baked goods are made from scratch using family recipes passed down by Ellen Johnson. (Billie Johnson/submitted)
Jackson was also mayor when the final trade happened in 2006. The town embraced the attention — building a giant red paperclip sculpture downtown, incorporating it into the municipal logo and hosting a housewarming party for MacDonald when he moved in.
With the 20th anniversary of that first trade now here, Jackson say the town is starting to think about how to mark the milestone in 2026. She says the trade still draws attention from tourists and journalists, and has become part of Kipling’s identity.
Back at the café, Johnson continues to serve homemade food out of the house. Though Ellen has since died, her presence is still felt in every loaf of bread and every recipe.
“Everything here is made from scratch,” said Johnson. “It’s not your average burger place.”
The story may have started with a paperclip, but Kipling has kept the spirit alive ever since.
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