Was Your Hometown Retro?

[Brad Bowers]

I grew up stranded in the suburbia. The elementary school looked like a prison and there were very few places to play or explore.

You didn't grow up in Lakewood, by any chance, did you? Sounds just like my school, especially my junior high school.

Brad

 

[Lincsong]

I lived in the part of Fremont (California Bay Area) that was probably new in the 60s/70s (I grew up there in the 90s).

The racetrack in American Graffitti 2 was filmed at Fremont Raceway.

Fremont was also home to Jimmy "The Weasel" Frattianno in the 1960's and a couple other reputed figures.

 

[Novella]

The racetrack in American Graffitti 2 was filmed at Fremont Raceway.

Fremont was also home to Jimmy "The Weasel" Frattianno in the 1960's and a couple other reputed figures.

Ah nice, I never knew either of those! Fun random facts to tuck away in my mind.

 

[jamespowers]

Well, it used to. Here is the downtown circa 1923.

Here it is in 1960 before the big "accidental fire" that burned half the downtown.

The way it looks now is nothing like this. :rage:

Regards,

J

 

[fortworthgal]

I grew up in a very small, very rural Texas town. The town itself had a population of about 12,000, but I lived just outside of the town. 23 people in my high school graduating class! We even had a party line while I was growing up. lol

We had a town square with an old 1800s courthouse and shops surrounding it. The town had a rich history in the late 1800s/early 1900s and many of the buildings in the downtown area were from that era. There was an old ice cream shop about as wide as a hallway with 5 or 6 stools that sold phosphates and homemade cookies - it is still there and still serving the same stuff! Also, there was the old City Pharmacy that also had a lunch counter with stools. The art deco funeral parlor also sold furniture. The drugstores had huge bins of "penny candy." And, up until about 5 years ago, they still used the same old 3-screen movie theater on the square. Around town, there's a drive-in burger joint that retains the same facade as it had when it opened in the 50s - serving homemade burgers, fried corn, and ice cream. Several of the gas stations are still full service.

On this note, reminiscent of Detroit, one of the most towns with the most potential for beauty I've ever seen is Mineral Wells, Texas. Anyone who has ever been there will think I am completely insane, because now it is mostly derelict and drug trafficking runs rampant. But, in the 1920s up through the 1950s, it was a resort for the rich and famous. The town was known for its mineral water and it became immensely popular. Celebrity sightings around town were the norm, and so the town flourished during that era. Nearly the entire town is art deco. Even the interior of such mundane buildings as the police station and city hall are amazingly still intact and have some of the most fabulous architectural details I've ever seen. The massive Baker Hotel still sits, abandoned: http://users3.ev1.net/~bakerhotel/

It is a shame to see something that was once so amazing (and could be again) sitting derelict.

 

[scotrace]

Not was, is.

Taken at the candy store / soda fountain downtown, May 18, 2006, 12:20PM:

The kids from the high school still come here at lunchtime to get a phosphate.

President Bush stopped here for some candy in 2004.

 

[Sachet]

Taken at the candy store / soda fountain downtown, May 18, 2006, 12:20PM:

President Bush stopped here for some candy in 2004.

Did he get some chocolate covered marshmallows? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm? [angel]


You are so fortunate to have such a place, Scott! Has there always been a conscious effort to maintain the vintage atmosphere or was it mere happenstance and the owners at some point (fortuitously) realized it was a good thing, to be treasured?

 

[scotrace]

Did he get some chocolate covered marshmallows? Hmmmmmmmmmmmm? [angel]


You are so fortunate to have such a place, Scott! Has there always been a conscious effort to maintain the vintage atmosphere or was it mere happenstance and the owners at some point (fortuitously) realized it was a good thing, to be treasured?

He got exactly that!

It was, I think, pure cussedness that preserved it. Change would have cost money and so it never changed. Even now the people who wait on you... well, when I stopped in and asked to take a picture, I got a "Bah! Fine."
The locals accept this. Sort of like Durgin Park in Boston, where a waitress said to me, "Alright buddy, where'd you hide the $#%%@-%#^@$$ salt shaker?"

 

[The Captain]

It's all relative

I was born in '35, so, I guess that the answer to the question is, yes, my hometown was retro. Of course, that is a relative answer. To someone born around the turn of the century, Omaha in '35 would have been as modern as a city could be!

 

[jamespowers]

I was born in '35, so, I guess that the answer to the question is, yes, my hometown was retro. Of course, that is a relative answer. To someone born around the turn of the century, Omaha in '35 would have been as modern as a city could be!

Ah, a first hand account. Well, tell us how it was going up in the Golden Era. Please.

Regards,

J

 

[The Captain]

"In the beginning......"

Well, James, that's going to take me a while as I tend to get very descriptive in my writing, especially in an account of my youth in the midwest. As Sgt. Friday used to say, "Just the facts", but those facts are a little hard to dredge up at times. After seventy-one years my head is filled with everything from FDR to Wal-Mart. Being that my mind is on "dial-up" when I need DSL to quickly download those memories, give me some time to sort them out and I will try to post a "first hand account!"

Thanks for asking!

 

[jamespowers]

Well, James, that's going to take me a while as I tend to get very descriptive in my writing, especially in an account of my youth in the midwest. As Sgt. Friday used to say, "Just the facts", but those facts are a little hard to dredge up at times. After seventy-one years my head is filled with everything from FDR to Wal-Mart. Being that my mind is on "dial-up" when I need DSL to quickly download those memories, give me some time to sort them out and I will try to post a "first hand account!"

Thanks for asking!

That would be great. I don't mind reading books on the subject. So much has changed it gives one sort of a touchstone.

Regards,

J

 

[raiderrescuer]

Hometown Retro ?

I grew up in Dallas Oregon...
The Courthouse is still there...they just added tacky looking add-ons for the new jail! Defiantly Retro! (The Clock still keeps time !)

 

[Twitch]

This was my high school built in 1916. Dubbed 'the castle' for obvious reasons.

 

[raiderrescuer]

Dallas Oregon Radio...

http://www.kpie.org/

They currently play: Old Time Radio Daily 3-4 AM & 7-8 PM.

They had one program where I couldn't I.D. the Narrator until 1/2 way through ...it was a young Milton Berle!

I liked the Jack Benny episodes.

 

[raiderrescuer]

more retro...

The Courthouse today.

The Bowling Alley today.

The Theatre...notice the glass on the ticket booth.

 

[cherry_bomb]

I miss how retro my town was. It felt like time would never catch it up!! One of the original 10 Friendly Ice Cream's was right across the street from my house, soda fountain still intact. The drug store next door to that still had that family run feeling- the old pharmacist wearing the white jacket and horn rimmed glasses who always had a piece of candy waiting for me whenever I went to get perscriptions w/ my great-grandmother. And some of the original signs for hair products and cold remedies were still on the wall from when the store had opened.

The "Center of Town" was more commonly known as "The Green". On one end was the tall white church. Opposite that was the Athenium/ Library. And around the sides were the fire station, the auction hall, a diner, and town hall. It was so quaint. No building (except the church and town hall) is taller than 2 stories.

I remember Veslak's bakery would deliver hard baked bread to my great-grandmother in his old Ford delivery truck. And the first soft serve ice-cream in town could only be had at the Duck pin bowling alley. The barber shop and beauty salons down the street from my house had given my grandparents their hair cuts when they were teenagers, and the insides haven't changed a bit.

I wish it had stayed the same. The Friendly's was torn down 5 years ago and a self car wash is there instead. The drug store next door is now a furniture rental store. A starbucks has now joined the ranks on The Green. And the old diner burnt down around the time I left for college...

I say this all like it happened so long ago... but I'm only 23. My town was lovely. And when I moved to Philadelphia everything changed.... I wish I had appreciated it as much when I was younger, when everything was still intact. It's true what they say "you can never go home".

 

[Atomic Glee]

I'm from Fort Worth, TX - still do live there - and while the outlying parts of Fort Worth are afflicted by typical suburban sprawl, our downtown & surrounding areas are very retro indeed for the most part. We had a bad bout in the '70s where a few classic buildings were knocked down, but these days we're much bigger on preservation. Lots of Golden Age buildings are being reused for residential space in downtown and the surrounding areas. Heck, I live in a 1929 office building - how's that for nifty?

 

[Michaelson]

We were in Ft. Worth a couple summers ago, and there are indeed some BEAUTIFUL Art Deco classics in the downtown area. We throughly enjoyed walking around and admiring the original designs. Even the old train station is something to behold!!!

Wish they'd do some restoration of those monsters down by the tracks!

Regards! Michaelson

 

[ITG]

I'm from Fort Worth, TX - still do live there - and while the outlying parts of Fort Worth are afflicted by typical suburban sprawl, our downtown & surrounding areas are very retro indeed for the most part.

Here are 2 theaters in the downtown area Atomic Glee is speaking about:
The Sundance:

The Palace (at night):

The Palace (by day):

Here's a website with other FW architecture:
http://www.fortwortharchitecture.com/