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Shopping & Dining Along Poplar Avenue | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Submitted by: Robin Traffas : 13 Sep 2008, 21:54
Where to begin. Loved to go to sears and visit the candy counter. I would
always get those peanuts with the 100% hard sugar coating on them to eat
while my parents shopped. We would go to Brittlings to eat after church on
Sunday and my parents had a combination salad with 1000 Island dressing on
it. If we were good we might get a bite of the mysterious sauce on the
lettuce. My mom would go to Lowensteins, Youngtown and Goldsmiths to shop
for clothes for us. I saw my first (snicker) somewhat dirty movie at the
Plaza Theater, Woody Allens "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About
Sex, but Afraid to Ask" shown at midnight. Loved(I thought) a boy that
worked at the big Gulf Station on the corner. Later worked at Service
Merchandise for 4 years, met my husband there, married and moved to Kansas,
I dint get back to Memphis much. But it great to think about it.
Submitted by: Ron Ross : 18 Oct 2008, 20:03
More 60s.
Remember the slogan at the Tropical Freeze when they closed for winter? "Closed for the Season, Reason Freezin!" How about the "Local Gentry" men's store in Eastgate Shopping Center. The movie theater next door to Shoney's, with the drive-thru, that showed the "Sound of Music" for about 3 years (Literally).
Submitted by: Jimbo Boyd : 11 Nov 2008, 15:25
@Ron-
That was the Paramount theatre in east Gate. Remember the "surprise parties" they had there on sat. afternoons? Also Katz Drugs, then it became Skaggs. Shainbergs...Jean's....Thom McAn's and the chinese restaurant you had to walk down a long entryway to get to.
Submitted by: Susan : 17 Nov 2008, 01:28
Round the Corner restaurant had a manager that went to school at Raleigh
Egypt High School, I beleive. Best burgers around! Thought it was cool
how you would press the button and place your order at your table through a
speaker.
Submitted by: C F Smith : 25 Feb 2009, 23:37
Poplar, near the old J. B. Hunter, was the site also of a Shoney's Big Boy,
a popular hangout for East High students. It later became Sam Stringer's
Nursery.
For a while in the sixties/seventies there was a Roger Williams piano school on Poplar, down from Poplar Plaza. In a few weeks they could teach you to play "Autumn Leaves" using electronic teaching methods. Dillard Square was built across from Poplar Plaza in the early seventies. A "cornerstone" of the place was El Chicos. Further out Poplar, was Laurelwood, and down from that a little ways was the Knickerbocker Restaurant. Further out--Clark Tower. This was built in the late sixties/early seventies by two brothers--Clark and Clark. One of them lived on Brookhaven Circle, right behind the building and had pictures of the building on the walls in their house. Eventually, all of Brookhaven Circle went commercial. Clark Tower and White Station Tower "towered over" the Fred Montesi Food Store. Montesi's owned several stores around Memphis and had a major impact on the Memphis Grocery Market through the 70s and into the 80s. They shut down the stores suddenly right after Christmas one year. Later, one of the younger Montesi boys decided he really wanted to be in the grocery business, and bought an old Hougue and Knott store on Summer Ave and reopened it under the Montesi name. Meanwhile a bank moved its operations into the Poplar Ave Montesi store building. Clark Tower also dwarfed the tiny Poplar-White Station Library, recently closed. At Poplar and I-240 for many years was the "Cockeyed Camel Bup" (the misspelling was deliberate).
Submitted by: DHolmes : 22 Jul 2009, 20:37
I remember the Luau restaurant and went there for my birthday dinner as a
kid.
Wasn't there a Roy Rogers joint before the Panchos (now Starbucks) on Poplar and White Station? I'll have to confirm that in a city directory at the library. Before the Johnny Rockets was the Dutch Pancake House I believe. The Pyranees was on top of the White Station Tower and not the Clark Tower. I remember Eastgate well. Shopping in Woolco which is now a Burlington Coat Factory was fun! The Chinese restaurant was called Joy Young. I remember the alcoves with the hidden booths. I seem to remember a Morrisons cafeteria on the west side of the shopping center. Before the cafeteria it was some other type of restaurant. I only remember that there was a simulated cable car inside where you could sit in and eat. After Skaggs left, the store became an Osco. The Paramont theater and the adjacent free-standing Shoney's restaurant were demolished to make way for a Steinmart. The current Radio Shack was originally in the round building on the corner which is now a travel agency. Anyone remember the stores in the strip center across the street on Park Ave. which is now called the Park Cosmorama? I frequented the Park Manor hobby shop there as a kid. I seem to remember a Service Merchandise type store somewhere along there. Dowdle sporting goods store did business there for awhile. Feel free to correct my errors!
Submitted by: Vicki McCoy : 24 Jul 2009, 13:20
The shopping center across from Eastgate we used to call "spider town"
because the design looked like spider legs. There was a drug store with a
fountain, a 5 & Dime, and barber shop my brothers would get a summer crew
cut at for under a dollar, and I think where Dowdle is used to be a grocery
store...maybe wrong about that.
Across Mt. Moriah on the same side of the street was Marquet (sp?) Park that had a wading pool, ball fields, box hockey, tether ball, and some playground equipment. We spent our summers there with kids from the area. Eastgate at that time was a eroded field where we would play.
Submitted by: Stephen Littlefield : 24 Aug 2009, 10:32
I remember going to Fred Montesi's Grocery store at Pop/Mendenhall every
Saturday night. Also on Sundays we would go to "The Fair". The Fair was a
bunch of restuarants near Summer/White Station next to the skating rink.
there were 10 or so eateries inside the building. Later it became a night
club I think? Also where Buckley's is now on Poplar use to be a Dairy
Queen back in the 70's.
As a child we lived off of Ridgeway Road south of Quince. When we would leave the White Station/Poplar area and drive east past I-240 we would turn right onto a gravel road to get over the railroad tracks to get on Ridgeway. When we turned right off of Poplar there was a "dinner theater/night club" that was between Poplar and the railroad tracks. This was in the early 70's. I saw a pic of this club once in the Memphis Flyer magazine.
Submitted by: Stephen Littlefield : 24 Aug 2009, 10:37
Does anyone remember what would take place near the corner of
Mendenhall/Poplar on a Saturday afternoon? Linda Lovelace's Lingerie shop
(just to the right of Mr. Pride) would have "live" women in the two windows
wearing lingerie every Saturday from around noon to 1pm. Wow!!!! I don't
think that would take place in this time and age............There would be
wrecks on Poplar big time!!
Submitted by: DHolmes : 28 Aug 2009, 14:20
Hey Stephen, didn't you go to Briarcrest? I graduated from there in '85.
Yep, I remember Montesi's grocery which is now a Wild Oats Market. I do
remember the group of restaurants by the skating rink and I think it was
called The Food Fair. I now recall that Buckley's used to be a Dairy
Queen.
Submitted by: A. Matthews : 03 Sep 2009, 09:19
I left Memphis in 1961 as a child of eight years and I have not been back
since. Some of the things and places I'm reading about here are things I
thought existed only in my mind. I have clear and distinct memories of
Memphis from maybe 1955 or 1956 through 1961. As in: I went with my
parents to the grand opening of the first Montesi grocery store. My father
remarked that the new supermarket would have a major impact on Memphis'
grocery stores. I remember the store as being filled with very bright
flourescent lighting and had really wide aisles for those days. (We
shopped at the Kroger store on Union.)
We lived at 171 South Idlewild, right off Union. To the west of our intersection was a remarkable grocery store, Cecil's Delicatessen, where they baked salt rising bread among other treats. Our house was behind the parking lot of a sort of gift shop which faced Union; first named the Bookbinder and then named the Lamplighter. I can remember standing in that parking lot at age four in 1957 and watching Sputnik fly from west to east in the sky.
Submitted by: A. Rose : 16 Sep 2009, 07:02
What very nice memories. I actually grew up in Parkway Village, but spent
alot of time in East Memphis shopping with my mother. So I really loved
reading all of this. As for Montesi's, they used to invite different kinds
of people in to get more customers. I remember begging my parents to take
me there to see the "giant" of 6.5 feet.
We got to look at his shoes and overalls (the only clothing he could wear) and heard him tell stories about how he had to have his seat specially made so he could sit all the way into the car. I also remember getting pennies for coke bottles at Montesi. If you came into the store, and turned left and went all the way as far as you could, there was a counter there with wooden crates full of coke bottles. I remember when COKE started making the litre glass bottles, and then it wasn't long after that when they started making plastic. That alone was a bygone era, and beginning of a very wasteful culture. Was something else before it became Wild Oats, and now Whole Foods. I do remember the Shoneys Big Boy way back when, in the parking lot in front of where Steinmart is now. I recall eating in the Clark Towers, in the room that turned around. I enjoyed many story hours as a child at the Pop-White Library, and it IS still there. Knock on wood! So much has changed, and it helps me so much to remember the past. Change is part of life, and I thank all of you who are recording our memories and the past, because without this collective gathering of information, we may forget those younger days.
Submitted by: A. Matthews : 16 Sep 2009, 08:38
You have such lovely memories, too. Isn't it wonderful to remember!!
Since reading all these posts, so many memories of Memphis have come
flooding back; almost like being a child there again. Thanks for letting
me share. And, here are more:
I remember the theatre at Poplar Plaza so well. In 1959, the mother of one of my first grade classmates (Lewis Solomon) rented the upper part of the theatre for our end of the year class party. We saw "The Mysterians" there and I will never forget the experience. The theatre was so elegant then. Lowenstein's East was so new and lovely to a kid; Britlings Cafeteria had this wonderful grape drink at the beverage station. In the early 1950's, we lived in an apartment complex on Camilla across the street from the Memphis Furniture Company from which soot constantly drifted into the apartment (in the good old days of air pollution). My parents bought an air conditioner for that apartment at Shainbergs in the Eastgate (?? I was too young to know the name) Shopping center in the mid 1950's. I remember Shainbergs had a gum machine with green gum and that Katz Drugs had the most amazing lighted sign...looked like little "bubbles" to a child...lots of tiny white lights. There was a Coca Cola sign very much like it somewhere near the Kennedy VA Hospital. I love remembering the days of the return for deposit glass soda bottles. Picking up those bottles created source of spending money for a six year old. My bottles got returned at Cecil's Deli on Union and the proceeds were spent on candy, no doubt. I wish I HAD seen the giant at Montesi's!!! What a memory that must be! I have just learned through these posts the name of the Luau Restaurant. My parents took me there when very young...maybe three or four; was scared to death of all the "Easter Island" heads and scared to cross some little bridge over a fake stream in order to go to the ladies room. I remember an Italian cafeteria which I think was called Robilio's?? Don't have a clue where it was. I also remember something that my parents called the "Viaduct"...what was it?? This was some type of mundane infrastructure thing, no doubt, but it sounded intriguing to a child. I can remember the Krystal on Summer and chocolate milk in tiny cartons.
Submitted by: A. Matthews : 16 Sep 2009, 11:05
My father was in medical school in Memphis in the early 1950’s and worked
part time at the Pantaze drug store on Beale Street near Main. My mother
worked for GMAC on Union. My weekday babysitter was a wonderful woman
named Lucille Cole who lived on South Barksdale and would walk to our house
on South Idlewild every morning and then walk me to school at Grace-St.
Luke’s.
On Saturdays, my mother would take me shopping with her at Sears Crosstown. I can smell that candy counter and the popcorn machine right now. (I always got the candy corn.) What a fabulous place it was, too. I remember weekend trips to the Overton Park Zoo which I truly loved. I can remember being bitten when maybe four years old while trying to feed a Rhea bird. It created a big stir among the crowd at the ostrich pen. I yelled like bloody murder, but no real harm done to the fingers. There were these coin operated machines which dispensed animal feed; they had acorns engraved on their metal spouts. I remember the peacocks which used to roam the zoo freely…always tried to catch them by chasing their beautiful tails. At night, you could hear them screeching as you drove through the zoo. I remember the grape sno-cones in those pointed Lily paper cups. I remember summer weekend trips to Clearwater Pool and the Fairgrounds. Loved the Pronto Pups at the Fairgrounds. Sundays were spent, first at church at Idlewild Presbyterian, and then maybe a Sunday drive if my father wasn’t working. The Sunday drive usually went to Whitehaven past Elvis’ recently purchased Graceland where the iron gates with musical notes and guitars were fascinating to a five year old. My parents rode to Whitehaven often to look at the new little houses being built there, hoping to have their own home one day. I can remember being amazed at one house they toured as its kitchen had a dish sprayer at the sink, so modern! Dining out in childhood meant the Toddle House down Union from Idlewild (that chocolate ice box pie!!!) or the Gridiron across Union from the Toddle House (the sign had laughing vegetables, etc. on a grill). Also remember Leonard’s Barbeque and the cole slaw on the sandwiches; Loeb’s barbeque and the Pig and Whistle. Dinner at home often included the NEW Chef Boyardee do it yourself pizza kit in a box. There was a lovely little dress shop on the north side of Idlewild called the Helen Shop which sold children’s clothes. There was a shopping area directly across the street which had a ladies shop with the very first sputnik chandelier I can remember seeing and had an Osage orange tree in the parking lot. I used to hide under the racks of clothes there and get thoroughly disciplined for it. Goldsmith’s downtown was amazing. I remember that the valet parked your car and then you went through an underground tunnel to get to the main part of the store; the whole thing smelled of exhaust fumes.. What an elegant department store! Main Street was wonderful. I loved the “Pretty Fountain” (Court Square) especially at night. I remember hanging over the fountain’s iron rails to see where those lights came from once when very young. I remember all the buses downtown and the ELECTRIC buses! Their sparks frightened me. All the buses had advertisements on them for Riceland Rice or Ronco Spaghetti. I can remember how Memphis smelled in the fall when cottonseed (linseed??) was being “cooked”. Of course, Wolf River in the early ‘50’s wasn’t exactly sweet. I can remember the fireworks of Cotton Carnival, watching them from the other side of the river. I can remember crossing the Memphis Arkansas bridge so many times standing (no car seats in those days) on the backseat of our dark green 1953 Chevy nicknamed, “The Green Beetle”, for the joint downtown. So many more memories. I’ll share them as they come. Thanks for the opportunity to reminisce.
Submitted by: Wallis : 27 Oct 2009, 18:09
Where Tropical Freeze used to be, what is now Starbucks, started out not as
a Pancho's, but as a Roy Rogers Roast Beef, then it was bought by Pancho's.
Just wanted to set the record straight. My first Lava Lamp memory was at
that Tropical Freeze. It was SO COOL.
Submitted by: Jan P : 02 Nov 2009, 09:34
"Smith Office Supply was in the white 4646 Poplar-Perkins Building at
Poplar and old Perkins."
I was office manager there from 1980 - 1984, just before all the big box supply stores came to town. Many happy memories working there, and it was an interesting and fun type of business. The "paperless office" that was touted as the future of business never quite happened though... We had quite a few retail customers from the high rise senior apartments next store that would bring the old "ribbon" type typewriters in to have fresh ones installed; they were friends as well as customers. Thanks for this place to share memories!
Submitted by: Paul Beck : 09 Nov 2009, 10:42
In February, 1941 at 1055 Poplar a home for needy boys was established. It
was named Gailor Hall in honor of Bishop Gailor. The home moved to 4093
Summer in 1943. The name was changed to Memphis Boys Town in 1952. I have
established a website in an effort to form an alumni association of former
residents. If anyone is a former resident of know of former residents
please the website at http://gailorhall-memphisboystownalumni.org/
Submitted by: peter w : 03 Feb 2010, 02:19
I worked for Smith Office Supply in the 4646 Poplar building in the late
70s. there was an art gallery in the building on the ground floor as well,
but i don't remember anyone every buying art there. My brother lived in an
appartment in the next tower, it was very luxurious at the time. There was
also a Putt Putt course on Perkins by the railroad tracks and a KFC with
the rotating bucket sign...
Submitted by: Judy : 11 Mar 2010, 11:07
In the '50's, my friends & I used to go to the Normal theater on Highland,
just n. of Southern, on Sat. afternoons, to see the "horror" movies,
"Dracula" & "IT Came from Outer Space", etc. That's where I became a big
fan. Some summer nights would find my dad and I at the Fairgrounds for
Standard Parts (world champs) softball games.
Speaking of Putt Putt on Perkins, remember the trampolines (they were ground level). We spent a lot of time on them, having a ball! Sometimes we would go to the Slotcar races (on Summer??) Did anyone take dressmaking from Mrs. McGee on Cowden. She was very proper, and taught us about being young ladies. She would take us, individually, to Knickerbockers on Poplar out past Perkins for a special dinner, then to spend the night with her. The shower had a black taffeta shower curtain, and the guest bedroom had satin sheets. I just thought it was so elegant! I went to East High. Across Holmes, at Poplar, was Dr. Kasselbergs house, in whose yard could be seen a beautiful collie and a duck, walking around the yard with each other. Sometimes the duck would ride on the collie's back. Across Poplar, were Hesselbeins Tires, a Rexall Store, Warren's beauty salon, and Louie's (Weona) grocery store, where we would stop nearly every afternoon for something - chocolate eclairs & sometimes cigarettes (.27)(ick!). Sometimes we would get the little wax "bottles" that you would bite off the top and drink the fruit flavored liquid inside them. Remember the little Angel Food Ice Cream store at the se corner of Poplar & Humes, just east of the Poplar viaduct (the bridge that goes over the railroad tracks). The Plaza theater was so nice, with the fancy restrooms, and the glassed room upstairs for parties, or for families with babies who might be noisy.
Submitted by: Gene Landeros : 13 Aug 2011, 11:49
Yea, the Paramount Theater at East Gate. Me and a couple freinds saw The
Exorcist there. We was like on the third row and when the little girl sat
up in bed and turned her head around a whole row of African American girls
got up shaking there heads sayin, "Oh no...!" and left!
Submitted by: Gene Landeros : 13 Aug 2011, 11:52
I worked at that Starbucks in the late 60's when it was a Roy Rogers Roast
Beef. My co-workers were super nice but I was scared to death of the beef
slicing machine and quit. I told them a fib, said I was moving to
California. Looking back I know they saw me around town. Sorry
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