Roller Skating Labels: Be a Big Wheel

Back in the halcyon days of roller skating, roller rinks would produce a label with an rink or roller skate theme and the name and address of the rink so you could put in it on your roller skate box. The more labels you had, the more places you have been skating. I have moreContinue reading “Roller Skating Labels: Be a Big Wheel”

Main Street, U.S.A.

Today’s post features 12 different postcards showing the town or city’s Main street. Click on the image to learn further details. Anaconda, Montana 2. Little Rock, Arkansas 3. Juneau, Alaska 4. Vernal, Utah 5. Salt Lake City, Utah 6. Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania 7. Montrose, Colorado 8. Dubuque, Iowa 9. Mesa, Arizona 10. Salmon, Idaho 11. Boise,Continue reading “Main Street, U.S.A.”

Bowers 99’r – Boise, Idaho

Bowers 99’r all you can eat smorgasbord restaurant, was started by Leo and Margie Bowers in the Fall of 1959. at 4043 State St. in Boise. The low cost and quality service led to instant success and a second restaurant was opened the next year at 5020 Franklin Rd. The second location was a bigContinue reading “Bowers 99’r – Boise, Idaho”

I Miss You Something Awful

Mailed from Boise, Idaho to Mrs. Frank Vermilya of Mount Holly, New Jersey on August 24, 1953: Dearest Darling Thelma, We arrived here at 8 to-night and have a small lay-over. I just finished shaving and changing socks. I am always thinks of you sweetheart. I miss you something awful. I’ll always love you Fran

Idaho Skunks Are Not To Be Sniffed At: The Roadside Signs of Fearless Farris’ Stinker Stations

“Fearless” Farris Lind had an eye for adventure. Born in 1915 outside of Twin Falls, Idaho, he graduated from Twin Falls High School in 1934. Shortly thereafter he worked as an attendant at a local gas station and then became manage of a small theater. Not too long after, Lind received a “Spanish Prisoner Letter”Continue reading “Idaho Skunks Are Not To Be Sniffed At: The Roadside Signs of Fearless Farris’ Stinker Stations”

Mechanafe – Boise, Idaho

WHERE THE WORLD MEETS TO EAT 100% Waiterless Restaurant It’s Electrical It’s Fascinating It’s Sanitary It’s Beautiful It’s Mechanical It’s Novelty It’s Progress It’s The Show Place of Idaho These words appeared on the back of a 1941 postcard advertising Boise, Idaho’s only mechanical cafe cleverly dubbed the Mechanafe. For more than a decade, theContinue reading “Mechanafe – Boise, Idaho”

Cactus Pete’s and the Creation of a New Town

Peter “Cactus Pete” Piersanti was born in 1917 in Superior, Wyoming. The youngest of six kids to Italian parents. The family moved to Ogden, Utah. Growing up poor during the depression, Peter had always dreamed of being rich. In 1941, Peter purchased a local bar and grill with a card room in the back. ShortlyContinue reading “Cactus Pete’s and the Creation of a New Town”

Brunswick Cafe – Coeur d’Alene, Idaho

The Brunswick Cafe and Tepee Room with its now very much non-PC mascot named “skookum-um-chuck” was located at 411 Sherman St. in downtown Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Advertisements encouraged people to look for the “SIGN OF THE INDIAN.” According to the back of the postcard above: THE BRUNSWICK CAFE & TEPEE ROOM, located right downtown in Idaho’sContinue reading “Brunswick Cafe – Coeur d’Alene, Idaho”

Deals of the Day: October 6, 1966

These ads ran in the Idaho State Journal (Pocatello, Idaho) on October 6, 1966.  I had fun putting this together. I was taken aback by how many small supermarkets existed in a town of about 40,000. If you like Boston Butt, large colored chickens, electric chord organs or toothpaste twins then this is the weekContinue reading “Deals of the Day: October 6, 1966”

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