Don't forget Proffitt's.

(link...)

White's still exists in the Tri-Cities with several locations around Johnson City. Hill's was sort of like if Big Lots and Kmart were to merge.

Jilly's on Market Square. Probably not there long. Just happens to be where I purchased my non-traditional wedding dress.

Tuckers Records (?) on Market Square.

The Toggery on Cumberland, fine men's clothing.

The Athletic House on Gay Street and various other locations.

Gateway Books at the corner of Gay and Main, and a few other locations. Best bookstore in town for quite a while.

Cole's Drug Stores, I believe.

Tic Toc Drive-In on Magnolia.

Let's go way back, the drug store on a corner of Cumberland where the student center sits. Ernest & Ernest, maybe?

Zayres. Also Millers in Oak Ridge used to be in Loveman's. I think it was always (?) Millers in Knox, though. Someone will correct, I'm sure.

What was the cool hobby store downtown? The Hobby House, maybe?

What was the cool hobby store downtown?

In the early to mid 1960s The Hobby Shop on Clinch got all my spare money for a growing HO scale model railroad in Dad's basement. How well I remember the thrill of finally getting an A-B-B-A set of Santa Fe War Bonnets out of lay away.

And speaking of 'fallen flags' of commerce, we can't forget the supermarkets of the 'Old Coon Hunter' Cas Walker. I remember his new stores being nice and bright and clean but, as they aged, cleanliness and maintenance took a back seat.

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I was also thinking about Gateway Books and the A-House that the Mrs. mentioned, and also the Toggery.

Some others are Gateway Sporting Goods and Surplus City on Chapman Highway. And of course, Cas Walker's.

And the original Fowler's Furniture downtown, which was nothing like the new incarnation.

On Sevier Ave. there was Kent's Drug Store and Sevier Hardware and Variety, and Bondurant Bros. Applicance and Electronics, plus one of the White Stores and a King's Grocery store a block apart.

Also Blue Circle drive-ins.

Then there was Woodruff's on Gay Street. And the Fogartys men's store, also on Gay Street.

Hall Brown and Fogarty's reminded me of another that I bet no one remembers.

Squiz Green had a haberdashery and fine mens clothing store on Gay. It may have been on the corner with the Bijou, don't remember because I think I was about two years old (or maybe that's where Fogarty's was, or maybe they were both there).

My dad worked in the store for Squiz Green and later as an accountant and general manager for Squiz's Hand Craft Cleaners operation. He was the best dressed accountant downtown and had some great hats.

(As I recall, Squiz Green was the Jewish Cas Walker of downtown. He would sell you the clothes and then make more money cleaning them for you.)

Schriver's Menswear on Gay Street.

RIP Marvin...

Wade's Bakery had several locations and don't forget Kern's Bakery on Magnolia. Does anyone remember Homer's restaurant or Wright's Bakery on Broadway? Wright's Bakery is where the first Shoney's was located in Knoxville.

I almost forgot the S&H Green Stamp stores.

My late husband, Joe Sbuttoni, was a journalism student at UT when I met and married him (we were both 19). He worked as a copy boy at the Journal, where one of his jobs was driving Guy Smith home at night. Another of his jobs was writing stories about local boys who were killed in SE Asia. He'd get the info by phone, but he'd usually have to go the their homes and try to talk the family out of a photo. I remember how disgusted he was on one occasion when he came back empty-handed because the widow had reacted to the terrible news by going shopping. Her family informed Joe that she'd "...gone to Zayres's." He figured she was spending his life insurance money in advance.

Sadly, he graduated and met the same fate as the boys he'd written about. I didn't go to Zayres's, though.

This is a real stream of nostalgia consciousness thread. I was googling "Squiz Green" and found this excerpt from a murder mystery that mentions his store (which according to the novel was on Market Square) and some other East Tennessee lore from the 1950s. It also mentions the Tennessee School of Beauty, where my mom went, and characters who fought at Cassino in WWII, where my Dad was.

And then, I was telling the Mrs. about it, and mentioned that it was written by some guy named Richard Marius, and she said oh yeah, she remembers him. He was a UT professor and a friend of her Dad's (and apparently one of the Nixon protest co-conspirators).

It's a small world...

Been around for a long time..I think Coffin's opened in 1928..first on Clinch..then in the mid fifites moved to where the store is now..Bearden Center.

It was opened by Hector Coffin then his son Jim Coffin took over & now Jim's son Park is in charge.

For a while Jim's brother Charley owned the store on Broadway that closed some years back.

Coffin Shoe Company owned by 3 generations of Knoxvillians.

Zesto ice cream, on Kingston Pike, somewhere around or just past Homberg area, I think. With six kids that was one of the few places we went for treats.

Lazy Susan restaurant, again on Kingston Pike, somewhere around Naples, I think. Might have even been the same building.

George's was an old Knoxville department store that may have been bought out by Atlanta-based Rich's which came in and built the big, red-glazed brick building on Henley at Clinch that is now the UT Conference Center. My family church, First Methodist was right behind it, where the Hilton parking garage is now, and us kids used to play in the garden area, which had trees, a pool and a fountain back than. that was a cool store, with a very fancy restaurant on the top floor, a decent cafeteria and a bakery on the ground floor and a tunnel under Henley connecting it to the parking garage across the way. That place had everything, including Kermit Ewing's wife, Mary, running the snooty home decor department on the third floor.

From a slightly later era, my favorite haberdasher was Oops, which then became Goofs. First on the strip then they moved to Magnolia near the old Catholic High.

I still have a pair of their wide bottom cordury jeans, just for nostalgia's sake.

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"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse."

We used to go downtown every year to get new clothes just before school started. Mom herded my brother and me onto the bus that ran between Oak Ridge and Knoxville (she called it the 'local breakdown') and we made the entire day of it.

I know at my age my taste buds aren't what they used to be but the hamburgers from the Krystal on Gay street were such a treat. And then there was the Orange Julius or, if you were really adventurous, a Pineapple Julius. In later years the fascination with both went away.

I still have my mother's Mary Starr cookbook, too. One of the most memorable recipes she used to make was a chocolate truffle called Martha Washington Jets. One variety had a bit of instant coffee in the fondant and it was so good. The taste of the lemon variety hit me squarely in the face about a month ago when I bought a container of Kays Lemon Custard ice cream and poured some chocolate syrup on a dish of it.

And remember the Capri 70? I saw the Knoxville premier of 2001: A Space Odyssey there in 1968. We arrived in a pea-green '59 VW Beetle covered with multicolored stick-on flowers and I wore a matching pea-green velveteen Nehru jacket and a gold plated copper peace symbol that I had made.

Good Times!

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I know at my age my taste buds aren't what they used to be but the hamburgers from the Krystal on Gay street were such a treat.

That was my favorite. My parents would give me some money to eat at the counter there while they ate at The Brass Rail a few doors (?) down. That Krystal didn't put mustard or ketchup on the burgers, both of which I hated. Just fresh off the grill with the diced onions they were cooked with.

Blue Circle and later the Brass Rail on Gay Street.

Saw "The Sting" at the Capri Cinema.

And what was it "Crazy Al's?" with the TV commercials?

As long as we're talking theaters, I still miss the Park. The first time I ever went there I was 16 and my grandmother took me to see Gone with the Wind (no, it wasn't 1939). I remember she cried loudly when Melanie died and embarrassed my 16 year old self exceedingly.

Used to go there when I was in college too.

I loved Mad Jack's TV commercial with Percy, an african American midget. Jack would sing "Me and my dog and my best black friend..."

Jack tried to make a comeback as a daredevil in abut 1990. He was preparing to jump off some building into a vat of Jell-O, and he was juping off the roof of his garage onto a pile of mattresses. This was some years after he got in trouble with that stripper down in Florida -- as I recall, the cops found him passed out in her bathtub drunk after he broke into her house.

Shakey's Pizza on Kingston Pike had good pizza but didn't last long that far from town. The Jolly Ox was located on Kingston Pike in front of Bearden High School. The real name was Steak and Ale but local laws prohibited the use of "Ale" or any alcoholic beverage name on an outdoor sign.

There was a drive-in located on Kingston Pike in the Bearden area that served hamburgers with a slice of pineapple.

The original Cider Barn on Clinton Hwy at Emory Rd. had great cider in several flavors.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread. This Knoxville expat has certainly enjoyed being reminded of pieces of his childhood. Two eateries that I haven't seen mentioned yet - Padgett's in Lonsdale, and the Round Up in South Knoxville... and I still miss Kay's Ice Cream. I'm glad the one on Lindy Road is still open. Ah, nostalgia.

thank you one and all for these great memories of retailers and stores and restaurants of our area.....a really nice "trip"...may I add a few...ready ? ...The Jiffy !! various locations around town, West Haven location was "mine", located on Western Ave. across street from the old Cas Walker store..pretty decent hamburger and fries combo in a basket and cokes that really were cokes !! How about the Copper Kettle restaurant & drive-in on Oak Ridge Hwy in West Haven, across street from what is now Shoneys..theres a gas station where C.K. used to be...I go back as far as late 50's and do remember Rich's on Henley St...how about Rexall drug stores ? or Emery 5 & 10 ? Bradley's drug store next to White Stores ? I remember everything you all have mentioned on here except "George's". How about the "Tic-Toc" drive-in on Magnolia ? How about "Earl's"..1221 North Central..thats 1221 North Central..remember how he would repeat the address so much on his commercials ? "See that couch and cheer ? $199.95 just like you see it there...." hahaha... when I was super young, I remember seeing a roller skating rink with a neon sign on top with a winged skate that moved back and forth...this was in Fountain City at that "triangle" area on old Broadway just south of Austins steakhouse...sorry to be long here...thanks again for memories !! Jimmmy

I am pleased to see that Regas is still in business, though I wasn't happy to see its no longer locally owned, but is part of a chain.

(To be fair, I only ate at Regas once -- my family took me there when I graduated UT.)

"I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat." -- Will Rogers

It's still locally owned by the Conner restaurant group. And there is only one Regas. And actually I believe it's still owned by the Regas family but operated by Conner.

(There was a Regas Riverside Tavern and Regas Westside Tavern but they sold those, don't remember to who, and the Riversade was recently purchased by Ruth's Chis and converted.)

White Stores/Whiteway -- noted for being a grocery store that wouldn't sell beer, which got them business from religious conservatives. Become Red Food, then Food City.

White Stores didn't really become Red Food. White Stores were bought out by Food City. Red Food was a Chattanooga company and opened its own stores. Red Food was bought by BI-LO. BI-LO then sold its Knoxville area stores to Food City. Some became Food City, others closed.

I remember Food City was the first grocery in Lenoir City to sell beer. Before that it was just the "beer joints" with the drive up windows to get your beer.

I can still taste those "green stamps". That is, until I got wise and started using a sponge to wet them.

How about the Copper Kettle restaurant & drive-in on Oak Ridge Hwy in West Haven

We used to cruise the Copper Kettle when I was in high school but we just called it 'The Pot'. I have been there many times but don't recall ever actually going inside for a meal.

I remember Jimmy Don's black and white '56 Chevy that featured a doorbell he rang as he slowly circled.

Obviously I really enjoyed American Graffiti and Hollywood Knights.

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remembered a few more....best hotdogs in the world, coldest GLASS bottle soda pops, and the loudest police scanner in town could all be found at Petty's Roadside Market on Western Ave (between Texas ave. & Pleasant Ridge rd.), Wheat's Florist, Velda Rose Cleaners.

Speaking of hot dogs, RIP Smoky Mt. Market.

(And speaking of Velda Rose Cleaners, my Dad bought the one on Chapman Highway and ran it for several years.)

yep, right there at the intersection at the end of the bridge...do you remember the RC cola man billboard where his head would go from side to side looking at the RC and some other drink in his hands ? hahaha that smile on his face was killer !!!

Oh, yeah, I had completely forgotten about the creepy RC Cola man!

(Thankfully, the JFG sign at the end of the other bridge has survived. I think it may be a designated historical landmark or something.)

The Handy Dandy market on Emory Road in Powell (just a block or so from Powell High School) had a great deli that made yummy hoagies.

"I'm not a member of any organized political party. I'm a Democrat." -- Will Rogers

yep I hope it survives..its the best part of the meal...J. Floyd Goodson would be proud.

From the early '70s till the World's Fair the Strip lived up to it's name with bars from one end to the other.

The Pickle U Pub,Foxey Lady & The Cats Meow to name a few..& of course The Last Lap.

Was it..Bradley's Station that was on the present World's Fair Site near the train trussel? That place was WILD!

And the L&N in the old hotel off Western & Broadway.Oh yes..The Torch.

Plus Vic & Bill's is no longer in the Fort..Hey Good Buddy..was the way Bill always greeted you.

Sam & Renee of Sam's Party Store fame & the orginal Falafel Hut have left the Fort also.

Last but not least..Hawkeyes..the home of ANIMAL HOUR!..is gone but not forgotten.

yeah Bradley Station was located just east of the train bridge on the north side of cumberland. Awful place, crowded to the max and smelled like piss and vomit as soon as you walked in. Had bands from Atlanta alot of the times, I remember Cowcatcher (w/Tiny) fairly decent band. Also there was a Friday's Child around there somewhere (same kind of bar w/live band). I remember on the south side of the strip there was a bar that had just a drummer playing live with the PA system music. Can't remember the name.

We used to cruise the Copper Kettle when I was in high school but we just called it 'The Pot'. yeah, thats what we called it, too. Did Jimmy Don used to walk alot on Hazelwood Rd. before he got that car ? Did he shoot pool at the rec hall ? over.....

Jimmy Don rode a Cushman scooter before he got the Chevy. I have no idea about Hazelwood Road.

How I used to want a Cushman when I was a kid. Forget the BB gun, you could put somebody's eye out with one of those things.

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I think it was for Delman Haynes Pontiac.

Delmar

I thought it was Twin City Buick.

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it was Twin city. thanks.

IIRC the eye patch guy was Gailen (sp?) Porter. If you go back to this summer you'll see where we were discussing his political career.

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"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse."

Porter is doing ads currently for cogdill dodge on tv, the "eye patch" guy is not Gailen Porter.

What a great thread!!

I remember the old Oak Terrace restaurant in Oak Ridge that my mom used to take me to.

I usually got one of the small steaks ( it was a round cut) but they also had a atomic burger with mashed potatoes and Gravy. One of the big memories was when the cook could come out with a big plate of biscuits to hand out to everyone with honey to cover em with....

There was also the Back Door Pizza parlor. I remember eating there. I dont remember the pizza being as good as Big Eds, but when I was little my family ate there a lot.

There was a Federal Bakery in the Oak Ridge Shopping area, along with Millers, McCrory's, JC Penny and the JCPenny Anex,
I remember the Federal bakery had really good wedding cookies that were a cookie with some icing in the middle, usually blue or a lite red. They were cheap too, like a dozen for maybe a couple of bucks.

and the Gateway bookstore.

I remember driving there from Wartburg on Sunday morning sometimes as it was the only thing open at all. I just had my driver's license and I could go there on about 2 bucks worth of gas, buy a book and be home before my Mom got up...

Gateway was open early as a lot of folks came in from all over to get the Sunday NY times and Atlanta papers.

I remember the Laughing Monkey hobby shop as the first place I saw Avalon Hill games and such. It was in the main shopping center, but moved to the other side of town going toward k25. I dont remember when it closed, but I just started going to the Yankee Peddler.

Of course, you can tell an old time Oak Ridger, (besides the glowing in the dark part) by how he or she would give directions. If they tell you its past where Frenches used to be, ya know they have been there a long time.

I think Frenches closed in the early 70s.....

No Matter Where you go, There you Are!!!!

My Great Grandparents in the late 50's & early '60's rode the train down from Deleware & stayed @ the Farragut Hotel during Thanksgiving weekend.

They stayed at the Farragut other than the Andrew Johnson because it was closer to Millers where they stocked size 5 shoes that my Greatgrandmother wore.

We always watched the Christmas parade from their hotel room which back then was on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

I will never forget the first time I went to the S & W.My Grandfather took us there..man I thought those steps & the waiters taking your food up the steps was the coolest thing EVER.Wasn't music played on an organ? After we ate we went to see 101 Dalmations @ the Tennessee Theater.

One of the waiters went on to work @ Ramseys until he passed away about 15 years ago...I think his name was Slim?

Before the cafeteria on White under the Shrine Lodge became Ramseys it was Birleys.

My aunt & uncle ate there after church thru out the 60's.Plus my cousins Rehearsal dinner was held there in '65 & my grandmothers 90th birthday party was also celebrated @ Birleys in '75.

I ate at Ramseys till it moved to Central Ave Pike about every day.

And before the Lodge was built the area was a park.Stair Tech played their home games there as well as industrial league softball & UT intramural games.Also my Dad played neighborhood ball games there.

The kids in the 30's dubbed the park..The Rose Hole.

I remember the old Oak Terrace restaurant in Oak Ridge that my mom used to take me to.

I seem to remember that Thursday was 'pork tenderloin night' with gravy and biscuits, or was it Tuesday?

And the entertainment at the Back Door in the seventies. Remember the guy who played banjo as he sat in the rocking chair - rocking out of time?

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Anybody else remember Vatican Pizza?

The Mountain View Hotel in Gatlinburg was a grand place. My parents took me there for my 16 birthday. The hotel has been torn down and replaced by a cheap amusement park that has been closed for years.

La Catania's just off the strip at 17th and Lake Avenue was popular for the students and the downtown business people at lunch.

...on the south side of the strip there was a bar that had just a drummer playing live with the PA system music. Can't remember the name.

Big Daddy's. (IIRC.)

My Dad owned a store on Central from '59 till winter of '62.It was called the Economy Shop.Near the Western Auto.A block or two from Sears.

I recall a service station owned by the Linsey brothers up the street..anybody remember that service station?

Also did Big Jim Hess own a store near there?

ah yes..big Jim Hess..."Nobody, but NOOOOOOOOOO-BODY !! Anyway the correction for the record (who cares ?) is the following: Mike Hatmaker is the guy selling at Jim Cogdill Dodge, not Gailen Porter. Sorry about that. Moving on....I do remember Lindsays service station @ Baxter, and the Merita Bakery down Central a little ways...Merita had a giant clock on top of their sign...a real clock with a face and hands !! Imagine that !! remember shoppers: if it's in stock, we have it " ! (sign seen behind parts counter at the old auto parts store on a hill off of Cherry st. (can't remember their name).

Btw, this board will be delighted to know Merita is a Union Shop, unlike the old Kern's (now Swann's) bread factory.

And they seem to be staying in business better, as Kern seems to be barely hanging on. How could that be, union thuggery and all?

I've been in the Home Depot garden center a few times in the summer and wondered how anybody could work day in and day out with that wonderful scent of Merita's baking bread filling the air.

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ThE national Shirt Shop on Gay Street

As a life long Knoxvillian who is now 39 years old, for some reason I cannot get the thought out of my head that back when I was a kid in the early 70's, the Coster Shop Bridge was a suspended green steel bridge that spanned a good 1500-2000 feet around by the paper company on your right as if you were traveling south on I-275. I vaguely remember when the highway department rebuilt that short stretch of 275 around the Coster Shop by demolishing the old road and taking fill dirt from the South-western side of Sharp's Ridge at the gap to fill in where I think the bridge used to be. Can some one please confirm by thoughts about this. I still hear people referring to the Coster Shop Bridge today when they are talking about that part of I-275. Was the Coster Shop bridge a suspended steel bridge originally?

I have vague memories of being a child and going to Hills to get free autographed photos of the Dukes of Hazzard boys. Don't think they were there, just think Hills was giving them out. It was a fun junk store to visit. I think Little Sisters is gone now and Adam's Apple, they were fun stores to visit.

Stone Mountain was a fun store to go to on The Strip, I remember going alot in 89-90. There was also one in Nashville. Oh, and Kotzi's (?)restaurant in Franklin Square and The Silver Spur on Lovell road, both late 80's early 90's and we used to have arcades, I forget the names, there was one in Halls and one on Papermill I liked.

Little Sisters is on Walker Blvd, just off Broadway.

Yes I remember the Coster Shop Bridge being actually a bridge. Still think of it as such. Don't pay much attention to the embankment.

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"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse."

You are correct on your recollections..it was an old green bridge..over time, a buddy of mine and I watched the tear-down, the excavation on Sharps Ridge, the thousands of dump truck loads of dirt to fill in that small section, and the eventual new road poured throughout the "S" curve...we watched it from his front porch; we had just been laid off from Allied Chemical. Wish I had took some pictures of the progression. To me, that section will always be known as "Coster Shop Bridge", just like Easttown Mall sure as hell ain't "Knoxville Center". -HJ

Hey HJ,

Shoot me an email at Ronthehandyman@frontiernet.net

Does anyone remember Los Charos (sp?), maybe one of the first 'real' Mexican restaurants in Knoxville? It was located off of Western Ave. near where the Art Museum is and the old House Hanson Hardware Co. Also, what about Rancho Burgers from Taco Rancho that was on Kingston Pk.

When I was growing up in the 70s, my mother would often take me to the Blue Circle chain restaurant on Central near Broadway, I believe. It was a kind of a diner-themed place with little burgers similar to Krystal's. She also took me to Weaver's Cafeteria on North Broadway (we lived in Fountain City, as you might have guessed ;)). Two other places already mentioned that I loved going to were the sandwich shop in Miller's (also a treat to go to because I had an aunt who worked in the home/kitchen department) and Sears on Central.

Odd to believe with all this nostalgia for places serving burgers and the like, I'm a vegetarian, now. ;)

I was thinking of the World Festival the other day, a fest put on at the World's Fair site in the early 90's, didn't remember who put that on. It was fun, really the only fest in town at the time other than Dogwood.

Does anyone remember the old WhiteWay Variety Store that used to be next to the White Store on Broadway in Fountian City? I remember my mom taking me there in the early 70's and buying me records. I think Coffin Shoe Store was next door to it.

I remember my dad taking me to Casa Gallardo on Bearden Hill where Calhoun's sits today. I also loved to eat at McGuffy's down on Kingston Pike in the shopping center where the dollar movie theatre is.( Except now it is not a dollar anymore. It is something like $4.00 now days.

Funny you should mention Casa Gallardo. I recently found this among my old slides. It was shot the first time I ate there.

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Thanks for the nice compliment. We never tire of boring our visitors with pictures here at The Home.

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I remember getting my first prom dress at Nancy Lynn's. Does anyone remember the old Diana Shop in the Broadway Shopping Center in North Knoxville? And yes, the back to school shopping trips to Miller's on Henley Street with lunch at the counter followed by those rich brownies from the bakery on the main floor. As a young child, I also remember getting clothes at the Brother and Sister Store ( or something like that) in North Knoxvillle. Does anyone remember watching the ladies at the cosmetic counter create custom blended face powder?

Yummm, Tic Toc onion rings, Smoky Mountain Market hot dogs, Brother Jacks BBQ Ribs and moonshine (if you knew the password), Sam and Andy's deli sandwiches, the Southern Grill on Broadway, biscuits and gravy at Ruby's Coffee Shop in East Knoxville, lunch at the S&W Cafeteria on Gay Street, the Woolworth's lunch counter, Sonner's Drugs on Asheville Hwy. had the best cherry smashes and the Varsity Inn on the strip for burgers. Loved going to JC Penney downtown and watching the elevator operators. Loved to play pinball at Yosemite Sam's on the strip when I was in college. My favorite store in Gatlinburg was the Rebel Corner and you always had to eat at the Dog n Suds and Howard's and play miniature golf at the Jolly Golf and throw some pennies into the old wishing well.

Those were the days, my friends. May they live in our hearts forever.

I remember Lerners near Gay & Wall and Baker shoes was next door.

My favorite downtown store was Mayos on Wall, I'd buy plants for my dorm room and schlep them "home" over the Clinch ave bridge.

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There MUST be a pony in here somewhere!

I believer the record store you are referring to in Fountain City was called RECORDS N THINGS & sat in the strip mall directly across from what used to be Target department store on N. Broadway. They actually took out an ad in my 1991 Halls High School year book. Cute cashiers. I also remember buying records there back when i used to collect them. I too remember the Blue Circle on Broadway. Anyone recall DAN'S BIG BURGERS in Fountain City?

I do remember the Bahou, it was my favorite place for Dates. Later on when we got cars we'd go to the Bahou Container in Bearden.

Ah yes I remember the Head Stores. I was at UT from 72 to 74 so that was their heyday. The Oddysey was the mainstay, then a couple others. Mary Jane's had a short lived existence on a side street going towards Lake Ave.

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There MUST be a pony in here somewhere!

Also Skoolkids Records. There was a hi-fi shop nearby for a time, Hi Fi Heaven, I think. They had the weird early Phase Linear speaker designed by Bob Carver. The manager or owner was a nice guy. Treated me to an awesome demo of the Infinity QLS when they merged with England Sound, after the first building suffered a fire. This was around '75.

Can't forget Miles Music and the great hardware store next door (Green's?) down where Gay St. and Magnolia come together. Miles had been around since the early 20th century and maybe before. There was a picture in the window from the early 20's of the "Miles Music Mandolin Orchestra" which was also shown in an early Gibson Guitar and Mandolin catalog--"Every one a Gibsonite." They carried everything. I needed a banjo bridge one day, and the only ones they had were circa 1890s S.S. Stewart bridges, still marked .10 each in pencil from the era, and still sold at the same price. I needed a neck for a C Melody saxophone once. They had one in the attic. It was also a great place to buy electric sitars and the like...There was also Hewgley's on Henley St, but it could never compare to Miles.

Green's (if I got that name right) still had the floor to ceiling cabinets full of drawers which contained most of their stock. Like Miles, much of their stock was left over from an earlier era. I found new old stock Yankee push drill bits there one day, still at the original price. I think about them whenever I'm in a Home Depot or Lowe's today.

These businesses fell victim to the Worlds Fair, and I often wonder where their remaining stock ended up. It was a sad end to a long long era...

I need help desperately. I'm from Knoxville and I miss home desparately. My mom and dad have always told us about how and where they met and this is a cut down version: In 1964 they said the thing to do was to get in the car and meet your friends at either the Tic Toc or the Blue Circle and at some point you go to the other and see who was out and doing what, etc... kinda like "Happy Days".

Mom and Dad both were born in Knoxville and grew up there (they were lucky); anyway, they said Magnolia Avenue had magnolia trees growing down the center of the street and it was beautiful.

I'm looking for pictures of the Blue Circle and Tic Toc at the height of the time, around 1964 and Magnolia Avneue with the trees, so if anyone has any pictures showing these places I would gladly pay for reprints of them.

Please contact me ASAP this is for their 50th anniversary party.

TnJennifer
jahkandy@aol.com

When I was a kid, way before the interstate highways, we used to visit my grandparents in Newport every seventh weekend and Magnolia Avenue / Asheville Highway was our normal route. We always stopped on 5th Avenue behind the Swan's Bakery to pick up Mom's sister who didn't drive and always went with us. When I started driving in 1962, high school friends and I used to eat at the Pizza Palace pretty often.

I don't remember ever seeing Magnolias in the center of Magnolia Avenue. The time I'm thinking of is early 1950s until late 1964.

Maybe back in the early days when Chilhowee Park was described as 'an outing resort three miles from Knoxville' and was called Lake Ottosee (spelled 'Ottossaee' in this 1896 article).

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Here's remembering three supermarkets from the A&P chain. Also, Babe Maloy's Drive-In Restaurant.

A&P Supermarkets
The abbreviation "A&P" stands for the Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company. Wikipedia has an informative article on the rise and fall of the A&P chain. A&P's network shrank drastically over the years, but it still exists, mostly in and around New Jersey.

A&P
3617 Chapman Highway

Our family shopped at this A&P in the 1950's, and it may have been the first A&P in South Knoxville.

Located on the west side of Chapman Highway in the stretch between Martin Mill Pike and Moody Avenue, directly across from Berry Funeral Home. Now vacant, the location is white with a green awning and sits at the south end of a group of storefronts. At that end, it is just north of the big, white Parkway Restaurant, across a driveway between the two buildings. The street number 3617 is on the door.

A&P
4217-4219 Chapman Highway

That store likely was built in the 1970's. The building's roof still sports A&P's trademark decoration – a white colonial-style cupola with weather vane.

Located on the west side of Chapman Highway in the stretch between Moody Avenue and Young High Pike, directly across from Advance Auto Parts. Now occupied by a Dollar General Store and a Goodwill Store.

A&P
4416 Asheville Highway

Current U.S. Representative John "Jimmy" Duncan bagged groceries at this A&P as a stock clerk in the mid-1960's. Many Holston High graduates were eye witnesses.

Likely built in the 1960's and now demolished, it occupied the south portion of the lot and faced north toward Asheville Highway. The parcel of land is now occupied by a Kroger store assigned the street number 4414. The Kroger sits on the west portion of the lot and faces east towards Burns Road.

Babe Maloy's Drive-In Restaurant
3810 Chapman Highway

Operating around 1955-1970, Babe Maloy's Drive-In was famous for its chipped ham sandwiches. Even after our family moved across town, we still drove there occasionally to chow down on those great sandwiches.

Located on the east Side of Chapman Highway in the stretch between Martin Mill Pike and Moody Avenue, across from M&M House of Brakes and Mufflers. Now demolished, the restaurant was first replaced by a Burger King, then a new white building at 3810. That new building first housed a CVS Pharmacy, then Kick Shots Sports Bar. It is currently vacant, and the street number is on the door.

Babe Maloy's and the sandwiches have been celebrated by News Sentinel columnist Barbara Asbury in columns dated 7/9/08, 7/16/08, 7/23/08, 7/30/08, 9/10/08, 2/25/09, 3/25/09. Barbara's columns for 7/23/08 and 7/30/08 recall the personalities and "teen cruising scene" at the drive-in. The other columns describe nostalgia buffs' recent efforts at duplicating the sandwich recipe and serving them at parties.

As of this date, the columns are still retrievable on the News Sentinel's search engine, using the key word "Maloy." To catch all the articles, be sure to click on "Next page" at the bottom of the search results list.

For nostalgia buffs with a taste for detective work, old phone books in the McClung Collection are a gold mine for listings of businesses "gone but not forgotten." As Barbara Asbury's 7/23/08 column on the Babe Maloy site demonstrates, the old City Directories are, too.

It was converted from a Kodachrome slide using a Nikon slide holder attachment mounted onto the lens of my first digital camera, a Nikon E950. I recently loaned it along with my old E990 to a friend (who works for Nikon) so he could convert roughly a thousand slides. He was going to see if they offered a similar unit for their newer cameras.

It has the capability of holding either slides or strips of 35 mm negatives and sold for less than $100 back in 2000. I can't find anything like it in their catalog now. They would probably prefer to sell you a $700 slide scanner.

I think the original was shot with an Olympus OM-1 or possibly my OM-2.

Visit us at:

The Home

A couple of other retailers that I haven't seen mentioned - Nancy Lynn Fashions and Paul Parrott Shoes. They were in the White Stores Shopping Center on Asheville Highway. Also, there was a Tucker's Record Shop on Market Square Mall.

Two restaurants that came along later, that are now gone, are Darryls and Fiesta Cantina. I think I went to Darryls for every first date that I went on.

No. A few doors down.

I grew up in Knoxville. One of my pleasant childhood memories is trips to downtown with my mother. We almost always ate lunch at either the Blue Circle or at Kress's lunch counter. I especially liked their cornbread sticks and cole slaw. I also recall the BBQ chicken from Cas Walker's as being different and very good.

Does anyone have the original recipes for any of these? If so, would you share?

Thank you in advance.

P.S. Unfortunately, my prior post was unclear. I was referring to the cornbread sticks and cole slaw at Kress's lunch counter.

I'm looking for any pictures or older discription of Sharps Drugs at the corner of Edgewood and N.Broadway in Knoxville. I do know that it is a music store now. My brother wants to make a drawing of it to put in a book.
Thanks

dance clubs/bars: Desperados, Tony's VIP, The Beach, Ivy's, The Last Lap.

Does anyone remember the Little Tunnel Inn...?
I think it was NE of Knoxville near Tazewell. I wish I knew more about it, as it seemed special to them.
My Mom and Pop used to take me there and to Swan's, and I remember those huge old millstones in the grass around the resturant.
My Pop was a Manager for White Stores in Morristown for over 40 years, and the McDonald family in Knoxville owned the company with some stock held by employees. Old man McDonald would not even sell cigarettes, but his son Dwight took over and started, but he always declined to sell alcohol... they were ahead of their time 'eh.
Thank Y'all for reading... I LOVE this thread...

Pero's in the Bearden area.

A variety of businesses in Bearden Center beside White Store and Whiteway...Henderson's Drug Store, Crenshaw's Children's Shop, Wade's Bakery, the S&H Green stamp store.

Western Plaza's businesses...Hall Brown at the corner, Gateway Books, Cole's Rexall Drugs, Woolworth's, A&P, Kroger, the Western Plaza Bowling Alley.

Forest Avenue and Kingston Pike...L. B. Richardson's Esso, Parker Brothers, Knoxville Drive-In, Vester Florist.

Weigel's drive-up Jug-O-Milk stores.

Park Bank at the corner of Northshore and Kingston Pike, across from the Howard Johnson's restaurant.

Ivanhoe's House of Beef on Kingston Pike were the Copper Cellar is now.

Anyone remember Steven's Drugstore on Broadway in Fountain City and Seaver's Doughnuts just down the street? We had to sell those doughnuts for fundraisers when I was in elementary school.

No one's mentioned the Toddle House on Broadway in North Knoxville(Where a Krystal is now.) You could sit at the counter and watch them cook your breakfast and tell them when they had the bacon cooked just right. Had great waffles too. And across the street was Edith's Variety store.

Enjoying reading these postings. Brings back a lot of memories!

Most are gone but one still remains in the Knoxville area and that is Kay's Ice Cream on Chapman Hwy. The Big Kay is the best drug store hamburger around. I stop there every so often and get me one with some fries.

And for all you West Lonsdale people, Swann's grocery store on Carnation Drive next to West Lonsdale Baptist Church. Mrs. Swann was always so sweet but Mr. Swann was a crusty old codger. He had no patience with us kids when we went in there and took ten minutes trying pick out as many different kinds of candy that we could with a quarter from that old antique display case! At two and three cents each you could get quite a bit of candy.

Also Bradley's Drug Store in the West Haven Shopping Center was one place I remember eating at their old fashioned drug store restaurant in the back.

I miss Petty's Roadside Market and Blue Circle on Western Ave. Going there are some of my oldest memories.

Anybody remember what the name of that donut place was at the corner of Pleasant Ridge Rd and Wester Ave?

A few more...

The old Lawson-McGhee Library on Market Street
The Bookmobile
Brookside Mills became Zayre's
Zayre's used to have Sqaure Dances in the Parking Lot on Saturday night
Shakey's Pizza Parlor - remember the sing-a-longs?
The Family Drive-In on Broadway
The Western Auto on N. Central
Hull-Dobbs Ford on N. Central
Beaty Chevrolet on Broadway
The Fifth Ave. Motel
Graning Paint Store Broadway and Depot
The Athletic House on State Street
The Pink Pony
Pat & Libs on Asheville Hwy.
The Village Barn on Asheville Hwy.

Cormac McCarth would not like it if we omit...
The Indian Rock on Rutledge Pike
The Huddle on Cumberland Ave.
Comers Pool Hall on Gay Street

And who could ever forget...
The Market House

Surprised nobody mentioned this one:

(link...)

(Not technically a retailer, I guess, but still...)

Remember Graystone Presbyterian Church at the corner of Chapman Highway and Blount Avenue, across the street from Baptist Hospital? I think there was a Park Bank next to it. And during the holidays, they would put a Santa face on the RC Cola sign on Blount that was mentioned previously.

I'm surprised that there has been no mention of Gryphon's Bar & Laundromat. A wonderful music venue (Torture Kitty) and restaurant (Bowl of Food - $1.50).

I still have my Gryphon's Ghetto Guild shirt which I bought to support the softball team.

It was a first class club in my opinion, although I once heard about someone smoking a joint out back.

Wow. I don't think I ever knew that Praise Allah was made here in town! It was the universal secret ingredient at Ruby Tuesday in the mid-70s, at least on steaks and burgers. And the not-so-secret ingredient in PA was MSG.

Wow! Just discovered this great thread. I came to Knoxville in 1980 as a UT student and lived in the area through 1988 (both bachelor's and master's degrees, with a year off between them).

I used to take a lot of first dates to The Roman Room, including my future wife in 1988. Sam and Andy's, Vic and Bill's...Hawkeye's Corner...

Yankee Peddler opened a store on Cumberland in the early to mid-80's with lots of board games and role playing stuff. It closed but they kept the Farragut shop open well into the 90's, as I recall.

Also of interest would be live music clubs that used to exist on Cumberland back in the 80's, like The Place, The Buttonwood Cafe, Hobo's, Ivy's, and Vic and Bill's (after the move to Cumberland, in the back room behind the deli). Alternative Rock bands like R.E.M. could be seen at Hobo's back in 1982, well before their first album and later stardom...

Kind of sad to drive down Cumberland these days...mostly taken over by large chains...

Many jobs were lost when the plant was shut down. As well as the plant in Johnson City.

My mother retired from the Cherry Street Levi Strauss plant just a few years before they closed. She had been a Rosie the Riveter type, operating an overhead crane in the North Plant at Alcoa when she met my dad during the war. She quit her job when they married in '44 and stayed out of the workforce until Dad died in 1975.

To make ends meet she went back to work after all those years becoming a belt loop maker for Levi's. The interior of her automobile was blue with denim lint and I always wondered what it did for her lungs.

Is green's the hardware store that was across from Regas?

Ollies Trolley on the Strip had the best burgers and cold beer.

I remember those floor to ceiling hardware bins. Considering how tall the ceilings were, they were a sight to behold.

Speaking of Kern's Bakery - Does any one remember the series of commercials featuring a truck driver and truck stop waitress fem fatale Mavis? ...yeah, Kern's is good buns.

also,

Night club "Confetti'

Ali Baba's Time Out Deli (Can't remember how many times snuck off the Bearden HS grounds for a killer kabab).

Rooster's with smoked cheddar at Smokey Mountain Market

Arnold's Deli on the Strip

and the golden age of concerts... Journey, Van Halen (soooo cool to hear DLR is coming back), Boston, Doobie Bros, Dire Straits, Heart , John Cougar (back before Melencamp), so many others...

And forgive me - I haven't been back to K-town since I joined the Army back in 1985... is Brother Jack's still there?

...and what was the head shop on the Strip called?

Wow, all such a long time ago?

I can remember before the days of Western Plaza - Sonner's Drug Store and Ray's Fruit Market.

In the 50's, farther down Kingston Pike, there was the Pike Theater. Also Henslee's where we LOVED the hamburgers and milk shakes. In high school days we cruised Dixieland Drive-In.

I distinctly remember a Park Bank located across Blount Avenue from Baptist Hospital. I banked there and got my first auto loan -- for a 1969 VW Beetle. Its color was Peru Green. That car sure was a reliable little puddle-jumper.

I know this is not really a retailer but does anyone remember the Wintergarden Food Co at the corner of Broadway and Washington Pike, the Post Office sits there now. I can just vaguely remember the building. I used to live about five houses up the street on Washington Pike, we moved away from there when I was 3 yrs old. I can find nothing online about this place.

A friend and I were looking through my 1962 Karns High yearbook and found this photo of 'The Pot' on Western Avenue right across the street from where Shoney's is today.

This was the place to be seen on Friday and Saturday nights, baby.

Click the photo for larger sizes.

Just found this photo of the 'Good Gulf' station on Magnolia Avenue next to the White Store. My friend Gina's late mom and dad (pictured) met when he worked there.

Oh, to own that '55 Chevy now.