1974 McDonald's Collector Cards - Cleveland, Ohio

All notes and images from the awesome Waffle Whiffer collection:

This is one in a set of six trading cards given away at Cleveland, Ohio area McDonald's restaurants in 1974. Each card features a McDonaldland character visiting a cultural center of interest. On back is a description of each location, operating hours and a discount offer on some of them. These cards are slightly larger than baseball cards. I think these were a late Spring, end-of-school-year, give-away to promote fun Summer activities for kids.

Featured here is "The Grimace" at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

Note that he's referred to as *The* Grimace here, less than a year after his transformation from the four-armed "Evil Grimace".

Featured here is Mayor McCheese at Hale Farm & Western Reserve Village in Bath, Ohio in Summit County.

Featured here is Big Mac at the Cleveland Health Museum and Education Center.

Featured on this card is Captain Crook at the Great Lakes Historical Society Museum in Vermilion.

Featured here is Ronald McDonald at the Cleveland Zoo in Brookside Park.

Featured here is The Hamburglar at Blossom Music Center, located between Cleveland and Akron.

Algemac's Restaurant Postcard Menu - Glendale, California

An oddly-shaped postcard menu from Algemac's Restaurant in Glendale, California. Not sure of the date but it is probably from the 1950s or early 1960s. Here's what the outside looked like and article about Algemac's in 2008, and here's what happened to it.

 

 

The Careless Navigator Restaurant Menu - Treasure Island, Florida

Kapok Tree Inn - Clearwater, Florida

The Kapok Tree was opened in 1958 by Richard Baumgardner in Clearwater, Florida. The restaurant thrived in its early years, relying mainly on word-of-mouth advertising.
The Kapok Tree Inn had several themed dining rooms including the Main Dining Rooms, the Grape Room, the Chandelier Room, and the Patio Room. The complex was so large that there were two souvenir stands within the complex.
Business boomed and five other Baumgardner owned restaurants opened around Florida in the early 1970s.
Due to family squabbles and other various issues, by the late 1980s, all but the original restaurant closed. The original remained opened for a few more years and closed on May 14, 1991.
All of these postcards are from my collection. If you click on the postcard, it will send you back to my flickr and will give you a description of the room.
For a much more comprehensive history of the Kapok Tree Inn visit Benz Place.

Steve's Gay 90's - Tacoma, Washington

Steve's Gay 90's restaurant was located at 5238-40 South Tacoma Way in South Tacoma, Washington. Originally known as Steve's Cafe, the restaurant was opened by Steve Pease and John Stanley in 1941. After a few years of operation the name was changed to better fit its atmosphere and decor.

The restaurant offered cocktails and American food served smorgasbord style for a nominal charge, with dining music  and entertainment in the evening. The Gay Nineties had a smorgasbord table and booths decorated to appear like "surreys with fringe on top." Checked table cloths and wagon wheel chandeliers complete the down home look.

In the mid-fifties, Steve's added to their unique treasure trove an actual cable car, converted to street driving, bought at auction in San Francisco and driven to Tacoma. The Cable Car Room then opened with replicas of Tacoma and San Francisco cable cars as booths in the cocktail lounge. The crowning gem was the Opera House, opened in a mid fifties expansion, furnished with antiques from the South Tacoma mansions and featuring a twice nightly floor show with can can girls, among other performers.

Sadly, due to years of declining business, Steve's business partner "redistributing" restaurant, and changing tastes, Steve's Gay 90's Restaurant closed its doors in 1977. The building appears to be empty, but the shell of the sign survives.

Special thanks to the Tacoma Public Library for the information and some of the text above. You can see nearly 100 images of Steve's from the Library's fantastic image archive here.

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YouTube Video of the Day:


The Wonderful World of Wash 'n' Wear - 1958 RCA Washing Machine 

The new "RCA Whirlpool Imperial Mark XII Laundry Pair" washing machine is put through its paces during this sponsored 1950's infomercial. The film also explains the benefits of the new man made fibres being used in clothing.
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In the Heart of Downtown's Motel Postcard of The Day 

Motel 6 - Boise, Idaho

Then: 
2323 Airport Way Boise, Idaho 83705 91 Units, TV, Phones, Pool

Now:
It's still standing and it's still a Motel 6.
This place is permanently etched in my mind. I grew up in the Boise area and remember seeing this sign lit up from Interstate 84. I love this sign so much that I want to take it behind the middle school and get it pregnant.  The rest of the place is not much to look at. It's a pretty standard chain motel but I am certain that this is one of the places that started my fascination with motels.
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QSL Corner
Skyking and Freckles! Skyking wants to drink away the pain and the large-chested Freckles is alerting someone somewhere that Skyking is holding up the bar. I had no idea that there was a town in Pennsylvania called Shoemakersville. It makes me imagine an entire town of elves and cobblers.

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What Makes The Pie Shops Ticker: I was born and raised in Idaho. I was in the Idaho History Bee when I was in 4th grade. I am fascinated by Idaho History and this has to be one of the best blogs around on the subject...Want something safe and fun to do this weekend? May I suggest taking a trip to Guidancetown U.S.A.?.....Please don't squeeze the Charmin but feel free to squeeze the Butternut Bread....I am currently an intern/volunteer for the Historic Preservation Commission of South Bend and St, Joseph County here in Northern Indiana. There is a bit of a war going on between the HPC and the St. Joseph Country Public Library over the historic Avon Theatre in downtown South Bend. The commission is working on saving the theatre. The library, which now owns the building, wants to tear it down. I hope the commission wins. No other notes for the day. I plan of having a drink or twelve and watching some goofy old movies. Maybe even Gidget. Have a fantastic weekend. The end. ************************************************************************
Questions? Concerns? Neat stuff you want me to post?
You can e-mail me at jordan@thepieshops.com.
My other stuff:
Flickr, Facebook, In The Heart of Downtown, Twitter, The Pie Shops Tumblr, Cardboard America, Color Transparency, 73s and 88s, Seattle World's Fair and Skate Your Date!

Recommended by Duncan Hines

Duncan Hines was born on March 26, 1880 in Bowling Green, Kentucky. During his many years as a salesman he traveled all over the country - he averaged 40,000-60,000 miles of car travel a year – he ate most of his meals in restaurants. Hines soon knew the best place to get a great meal in cities and towns all over the country. At the age of 55, Hines and his wife Florence compiled a list of recommendations for their favorite places to grab a bite and sent it to friends as Christmas gifts. In 1935, Hines self publishes, "Adventures in Good Eating", an expanded list of recommended restaurants. The book was a big success and in 1938 he released a companion book, "Lodging for a Night", which featured a list of  the finest motels and hotels.

According to the Duncan Hines website:
After being featured in the Saturday Evening Post, Hines' popularity grows. Soon most Americans have food and lodging books in their cars for quick reference. "Recommended by Duncan Hines" becomes a nationally recognized seal of approval. Businesses that were included on Hines' list were allowed to post a "Recommended by Duncan Hines" seal on their signs and in their windows. (A few examples here, here, here, and here.) After being added to the list, businesses were expected to maintain their quality or they would be taken off of the list. 
In the 1950s Duncan Hines sold the rights to his name to a newly formed company called Hines-Park Foods, Inc. At one point there were more than 250 different products featuring the Duncan Hines label.In 1956, Hines-Park Foods became part of Procter and Gamble. Shortly after, Duncan Hines introduced their now famous cake mixes, which were marketed nationwide along with several other items under the Duncan Hines name.

Duncan Hines died on March 15, 1959.

Side note from Mental Floss: A 1946 profile in Life touched on Hines’ penchant for drinking neat gin or whiskey, but he also enjoyed “Mrs. Hines’s cocktail.” The ingredients: the juice of a watermelon pickle, a whole egg, cream, gin, grenadine, orange-blossom honey, and lime juice.

Here you read a copy of "Duncan Hines: The Man Behind the Cake Mix" by Louis Hatchett
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YouTube video of the Day: Duncan Hines 
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In The Heart of Downtown's Motel Postcard of the Day

Smith's "Uptown" Motel - 
Sioux Falls, South Dakota 

Then:
9 blocks west of business district on Hiway #16, Sioux Falls, S.D. Air conditioned, free TV in rooms, individual phones, wall to wall carpeting. Combination tub and shower. Beverage rooms. 24-hour service. 37 units including kitchenettes. AAA Approved. Recommended by Duncan Hines.

Now:
The building is still standing and now it's called Nite's Inn. The basic frame of the sign is there but the charm is gone. The clock, the Phones-TV-AAA sign, and the awesome SALESMAN STOP sign are absent. The reviews aren't terribly kind. My favorites lines are "yes its clean gzzzz" and "NO DO NOT STAY HERE unless you are a lot lizard!"
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All Hail the QSL!

Her name is TEENY CHATEAU. That is a glorious name. It sounds like something someone would name their manifesto shack in the woods. By someone, I mean me.
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What Makes The Pie Shops Ticker: A family in Ohio found around 700 old baseball cards in their attic and they might fetch upwards of $3 million...I'm a big fan of 500 Tasty Sandwiches and I could really go for a sandwich right now....I love this photo from 1940....This isn't exactly old but it makes me giggle...This World War II poster warns you to Stop Needless Noise to aid in your "War Nerves"....The New Aero Willys - Almost Like Flying....Pretty cool shot of New York City, 1971....On this day in 1914, Babe Ruth made his professional baseball debut. The SI tumblr has a cool photo of a young Bambino from 99 years ago...A Ray gun, ham, a grocer and Cryovac all in one strange ad...Love this photo of Wanda Jackson at a recording session at Capitol Records in the 1950s...and it just get any better than gifs of the gorgeous Grace Kelly in To Catch a Thief.
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Questions? Concerns? Neat stuff you want me to post?
You can e-mail me at jordan@thepieshops.com.
My other stuff:
Flickr, Facebook, In The Heart of Downtown, Twitter, The Pie Shops Tumblr, Cardboard America, Color Transparency, 73s and 88s, Seattle World's Fair and Skate Your Date!

Coon Chicken Inn - Portland, Oregon

Coon Chicken Inn had 3 locations; Salt Lake City, Utah, Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon. I am going to be focusing on the Portland location for this post.

The first Coon Chicken Inn was opened in Salt Lake City by Maxon Lester Graham in 1925. The Seattle location open in 1929. The Portland restaurant was the third and final location and it opened in 1931.

Here's a little history from the Coon Chicken Inn website:

All three sites were booming and a cabaret and orchestra were added in Seattle and Salt Lake with a larger dining room and the addition of delivery trucks for outside catering. 
Maxon decided that if a gimmick were added for the children, it would help bring in the parents. He added the famous head logo to the entrances of the Inns it was a huge winking, grinning face of a black man wearing a porters cap. The words "Coon Chicken Inn" were spelled out on teeth framed by monstrous red lips. The doorway was through the middle of the mouth. At the time it proved quite popular. The logo of the Inn was on every dish, silverware item, menu and paper product. 

There was a variety of food served but the specialty of the house was, of course, fried chicken. Flickr user Krystal South has uploaded the menu. The cover, the left inside, the right inside and the back cover.

You should out this incredible bit of history from the Illinois Digital Archives. It's all the notes from the original postcard order from the Curt Teich company and photos of the the place (which makes it even more jarring) . I want to kiss this archive on the mouth. It's absolutely fascinating.

In the late 1950s the Grahams got out of the restaurant business, keeping the properties and leasing them out to other restaurant operators. The Portland site has become The Prime Rib. You can see the basic layout is the same but it has changed quite a bit in 50+ years.




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YouTube video of the day: 1959 Betty White commercials in color.




Betty White is timeless and I absolutely love the fact that this videos are in glorious color.

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QSL Card of the Day:




It's a pretty simple card, but I like the drawings and had no clue there was a town called WAR!

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In The Heart of Downtown's Motel Postcard of the Day:


Aggie's Motel - Port Angeles, Washington


The back reads:
535 East First
Port Angeles, Washington
Starlite Room
Coffee Shop
Dining Room
Motel

The arrow confuses me. It's as if the owners said, "Hey, maybe instead of having an arrow pointed at our motel we should have it pointed straight at the ground just to let people now that there is cement underneath us." Either that or they're telling their customers exactly where they'd like them to go. Note the one street light right above the sign.
Can anybody tell what the logo is on Aggie's Pent House? It looks like a man riding a rabbit with tuning forks for ears.
Here's what it looks like now. The motel is gone, but it looks as if the building was just turned into offices.

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Questions? Concerns? Neat stuff you want me to post?
You can e-mail me at jordan@thepieshops.com.
My other stuff:
Flickr, Facebook, In The Heart of Downtown, Twitter, Tumblr, Tumblr, Tumblr, Tumblr, Tumblr and last but not least, Tumblr

Long John Silver's Menu

Here's a 1970s-era Long John Silver's menu from the awesome Waffle Whiffer collection.

The Redwood House - Los Angeles, California

This is a menu from the Redwood House in Los Angeles, California. Not sure of the date of this menu. I am guessing it's 40s or 50s.