Mailman on the road again
Historic downtown Glendale Az. Part 2...the nostalgia tour
If I always remember these things , are they ever really gone?
( From Field of Dreams)
“Ray. People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. "
The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces.
It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again.
Oh...people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”
Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham: You know we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought, well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day.
This morning I went out for breakfast early with my wife, then came home and got ready to go and search out some memories from my childhood.
It’s overcast and cool this morning, it is the backside of all the horrible weather that is sweeping through the mid west. This morning I am riding to the historic center of Glendale Az. I never lived here as a child but my mother worked here as a hair dresser in a beauty salon. When I was a kid, some Saturdays, my mom would take me and a friend to work with her and while she worked, my friend and I would knock around town. It was a different time, it wasn’t dangerous. Quite the contrary, it was an adventure. Most all of the buildings down town have changed , names, appearances, purposes over the years. In fact forty years ago, the down town area had suffered the fate of many small town centers.....it was dead. Boarded up windows and decay.
The city worked hard to re invent it’s downtown. They spent a lot of money fixing it up and giving incentives to businesses for returning. Today it is the poster child for how to do it. Filled with antique shops and restaurants, it’s a place you can park your car and walk.
My challenge will be to try and find some places I used to visit and also some of the bigger landmarks of the day.
This is not a historical building but it was right nearby. In the 70’s this was Southwest Yamaha. I bought a new XS750 here back in ‘78. Parts building on the left and service on the right. Now it’s a dumpy auto repair.
On this same road there used to be a Suzuki / Triumph dealer. And a Kawasaki / Harley dealer. Both fell victim to
Road expansions and parking lots.
I was absolutely shocked to find that the hair salon my mother used to work at over 50 years ago, is not only still there, it’s still a hair salon. Different owner obviously.
Right down the street is the old Glendale Pharmacy built in 1940. Inside there was an old fashioned lunch counter where we would buy grilled cheese sandwiches and Cokes from the fountain. Pharmacy is gone now but you can still see the shape of the pharmacy sign over the building.
Believe it or not, this was the entrance to the old El Ray movie theater. Built in 1920. When I was a kid I would go watch double feature Tarzan or cowboy movies there for 25 cents!
I also used to have a family Doctor and Dentist in the neighborhood a couple streets over. They had offices right in the house they lived in, right in the residential neighborhoods. ( think Marcus Welby ) the whole area is now old houses turned into a Historic shopping district. Back then they weren’t historic, they were just neighborhoods!
Leaving the downtown area, I head a mile down the road to a landmark building. The old sugar beet factory built in 1906. It only operated for five years and has stood there ever since.
Then.....
And now....
One last iconic business to see. Hal’s radiator repair, for over 60 years, “The best place in town to take a leak! “
I could do this all day, but I have to go home some time. It’s been fun ( for me anyways
)
See you on the road,
Bob
Historic downtown Glendale Az. Part 2...the nostalgia tour
If I always remember these things , are they ever really gone?
( From Field of Dreams)
“Ray. People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn up your driveway not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. "
The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces.
It reminds us of all that once was good and that could be again.
Oh...people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.”
Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham: You know we just don't recognize the most significant moments of our lives while they're happening. Back then I thought, well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day.
This morning I went out for breakfast early with my wife, then came home and got ready to go and search out some memories from my childhood.
It’s overcast and cool this morning, it is the backside of all the horrible weather that is sweeping through the mid west. This morning I am riding to the historic center of Glendale Az. I never lived here as a child but my mother worked here as a hair dresser in a beauty salon. When I was a kid, some Saturdays, my mom would take me and a friend to work with her and while she worked, my friend and I would knock around town. It was a different time, it wasn’t dangerous. Quite the contrary, it was an adventure. Most all of the buildings down town have changed , names, appearances, purposes over the years. In fact forty years ago, the down town area had suffered the fate of many small town centers.....it was dead. Boarded up windows and decay.
The city worked hard to re invent it’s downtown. They spent a lot of money fixing it up and giving incentives to businesses for returning. Today it is the poster child for how to do it. Filled with antique shops and restaurants, it’s a place you can park your car and walk.
My challenge will be to try and find some places I used to visit and also some of the bigger landmarks of the day.
This is not a historical building but it was right nearby. In the 70’s this was Southwest Yamaha. I bought a new XS750 here back in ‘78. Parts building on the left and service on the right. Now it’s a dumpy auto repair.
On this same road there used to be a Suzuki / Triumph dealer. And a Kawasaki / Harley dealer. Both fell victim to
Road expansions and parking lots.
I was absolutely shocked to find that the hair salon my mother used to work at over 50 years ago, is not only still there, it’s still a hair salon. Different owner obviously.
Right down the street is the old Glendale Pharmacy built in 1940. Inside there was an old fashioned lunch counter where we would buy grilled cheese sandwiches and Cokes from the fountain. Pharmacy is gone now but you can still see the shape of the pharmacy sign over the building.
Believe it or not, this was the entrance to the old El Ray movie theater. Built in 1920. When I was a kid I would go watch double feature Tarzan or cowboy movies there for 25 cents!
I also used to have a family Doctor and Dentist in the neighborhood a couple streets over. They had offices right in the house they lived in, right in the residential neighborhoods. ( think Marcus Welby ) the whole area is now old houses turned into a Historic shopping district. Back then they weren’t historic, they were just neighborhoods!
Leaving the downtown area, I head a mile down the road to a landmark building. The old sugar beet factory built in 1906. It only operated for five years and has stood there ever since.
Then.....
And now....
One last iconic business to see. Hal’s radiator repair, for over 60 years, “The best place in town to take a leak! “
I could do this all day, but I have to go home some time. It’s been fun ( for me anyways
)See you on the road,
Bob
Last edited:
Congrats.
