Lost Memphis: Ask Vance Blog, Memphis Flyer

The Elks Club and Elks Hotel

Vance Lauderdale — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 20:26:27 -0600

In the December issue of Memphis magazine, I told the compelling, thrilling, and ultimately heart-rending story of the Elks Club / Hotel, one of the finest such clubs in the entire country, and a downtown landmark that — by then known as the Hotel King Cotton — ultimately fell to the wrecking ball to make way for the Morgan Keegan Tower.

Did you get all that, or should I repeat myself?…

Dowdle Sporting Goods' Great Neon Sign

Vance Lauderdale — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 15:57:06 -0600

I certainly remember Dowdle Sporting Goods. That's where the Lauderdales bought our custom-made bowling shoes, hand-crafted badminton racquets, and designer fencing outfits.…

Visiting Memphis in 1940? Then Use This Guide.

Vance Lauderdale — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 21:10:52 -0600

Tourists visiting Memphis in 1940 probably picked up this brochure at local hotels, or maybe it was mailed to them by the Chamber of Commerce. It's a handy guide to the main attractions in and around our city.…

Oh-Boy! — Flavored Drinks and Popsicles

Vance Lauderdale — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:47:41 -0600

I have pounded on my big head with my little fists, and I STILL don't remember this enticing product, with the snappy name "Oh-Boy!"

But the company that produced it was doing well enough in the late 1940s and early 1950s to run large ads like this one in Hutchison School yearbooks.

It was obviously something like packaged Kool-Aid.…

Mulford Jewelers

Vance Lauderdale — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 14:16:26 -0600

How many of my half-dozen readers remember Mulford Jewelers — a Memphis institution for more than half a century?

Well, I certainly do, because that's where the Lauderdales purchased the gold, silver, and platinum baubles and beads that made the Mansion glitter like a comet flashing through the night. Of course, that sparkle lost most of its luster when the Lauderdale bankruptcy proceedings — which made front-page news in every newspaper in the northern hemisphere except South Dakota — took away just about everything but the tattered clothes on our backs.…

The Bergville Cafe - Remember It?

Vance Lauderdale — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 14:10:34 -0600

One day, I was rooting through the old photo files in the Memphis Room, and came across this image of a quaint little cafe called Bergville.

It was quite a handsome little establishment, and even the signs painted on the windows proclaimed it "A Clean Place to Eat."…

Al's Golfdom on WKNO's "Southern Routes"

Vance Lauderdale — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 16:44:08 -0600

Back in the 1960s and '70s, one of the most popular places in town was an amusement center on South Perkins called Al's Golfdom. Don't let the name fool you.…

Burkle's Bakery

Vance Lauderdale — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 11:21:47 -0600

In 1936, Herman Burkle moved his little bakery from downtown to Madison and Cooper, at the time a busy intersection in "East" Memphis. (Right across the street was an Esso gas station called the "East Memphis Motor Company.") He found space in a narrow building that formerly housed the Idle Hour Billiard Parlor, squeezed into a row of businesses that included Purdy (later Purdy-Jester) Drugs, Piggly Wiggly #35, and La Vogue Beauty Salon.…

Lu Lynch's Orchid Shop

Vance Lauderdale — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 21:23:36 -0600

Quite a few people, it seems, remember Lu Lynch and the nice florist shop that she owned and operated at 640 South Highland. The actual name of the place was Lu Lynch's Orchid Shop, but she sold all sorts of flowers and floral arrangements.…

The Welcome Wagon Building's Spinning Globe

Vance Lauderdale — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 12:56:53 -0600

Years ago, I wrote about the Welcome Wagon company, which had been founded in Memphis by a fellow named Thomas Briggs (below). He built a stunning, four-story building (also below) overlooking Court Square, and several newspaper articles mentioned that Briggs planned to mount a giant neon globe on top of his headquarters.…

Burger Chef in 1968

Vance Lauderdale — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 15:18:06 -0600

Since I'm posting old photos of high-school hangouts (such as Beal's Dixie Kream, below) I thought I'd share an ad for Burger Chef that I found in a 1968 yearbook for Immaculate Conception High School.

The food at these places was pretty good, I recall, but what was more memorable was the bizarre architecture, with that weird segmented arch erected over most, if not all, the Burger Chefs in town.…

Overton Park's Little Log Cabin

Vance Lauderdale — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 14:26:21 -0500

A couple of weeks ago, I enthralled my half-dozen readers (yes, I'm talking about you) with photos and a few words about the odd Japanese Garden that once stood in Overton Park. Surely you remember what I said?…

Wilson Field and Amelia Earhart

Vance Lauderdale — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 13:03:16 -0500

Six years after Amelia Earhart vanished in the Pacific, her airplane crashed and burned at a little-known airport in Memphis.

If that sounds like an episode from The Twilight Zone, let me explain.…

Al's Golfdom & Al's Golfhaven

Vance Lauderdale — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 13:15:41 -0500

For years and years, the place to "hang out" in East Memphis was Al's Golfdom, and in Whitehaven it was Al's Golfhaven, both owned and operated by Al and Susie Fister (shown here).

The Fisters moved to Memphis in 1960, hoping to open a driving range, since (hard to believe) our city didn't have one.…

The "Hollywood" Showboat - 1933

Vance Lauderdale — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 16:06:02 -0500

Back in the early 1930s, Memphians could go downtown to the various theaters, which were gradually being converted from vaudeville and stage shows into "moving picture" theaters, but we also had another entertainment option that's no longer available: showboats.

Poring over a November 1933 issue of The Commercial Appeal, I noticed this ad for a production of "St. Elmo" aboard the Hollywood showboat.…

Another View of the Japanese Gardens - 1920

Vance Lauderdale — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:42:58 -0500

Okay, it took a while, but I finally turned up an old postcard showing the Japanese Gardens in Overton Park. The card is postmarked 1920 or maybe 1928 (the date is hard to read).…

Memories of "Monkey Mountain"

Vance Lauderdale — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 14:30:42 -0500

In the July issue of Memphis magazine, I wrote about the "neighborhood of the future" that was to be constructed in the area of East Memphis bounded by Park, White Station, Estate, and Quince. Perhaps "Country Club Estates" was ahead of its time, but such a concept never left the drawing board.…

The Owl Lunch Service and Tourist Court

Vance Lauderdale — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:29:47 -0500

A weary traveler driving into Memphis along Summer Avenue would find it hard to resist turning into the Owl Lunch Service and Tourist Court for a tasty meal and a good night's sleep.

First of all, it's impossible to miss the big billboard-sized sign, adorned with a giant painted owl.…

Miniature Golf in Memphis — An Update

Vance Lauderdale — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 22:41:36 -0500

Over the past year or so, I've posted a photo or two of miniature golf courses in Memphis, which have generated a lot of comments and discussion from readers. The Putt Putt on Perkins certainly caused some dispute, since nobody could agree, it seems, precisely where it was located.…

The Sno Cream Castle

Vance Lauderdale — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 10:17:43 -0500

You really have to admire someone who opens a humble little building like this, at the corner of Willow and Getwell of all places, and decides to call it a "castle."

And the "queen" of the Sno Cream Castle was a Memphian named Edith Humber, who opened her tiny ice-cream eatery and sno-cone shop back in 1964.…

Miss McKellar Lake

Vance Lauderdale — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 11:24:03 -0500

Does anyone still go to McKellar Lake anymore?

At one time, it was a magnet for Memphians trying to beat the heat. The Lauderdales kept their cabin cruiser, The Lady Lauderdale, berthed there, alongside radio/tv pioneer Hoyt Wooten's magnificent yacht, the Elbaroda ("adorable," spelled backwards).…

Tony's Pizza Man — Mystery Solved?

Vance Lauderdale — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:55:04 -0500

Precisely one year ago, I posted this photograph of an odd-looking fiberglass statue I had discovered at a Midtown estate sale. Who was this vaguely scary-looking creature, I wondered, and where did he (or it) come from?

Several readers thought it was a promotion for a pizza parlor in Memphis, and suggested Pasquale's, Shakey's, Coletta's, and others.…

Help Wanted — MERRYMOBILE DRIVERS!

Vance Lauderdale — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 15:00:26 -0500

In the summer of 1961, anyone looking for a job might have noticed these tiny newspaper ads for two competing ice-cream companies.

You could go to 741 S. Cox and knock on the door of Mr. Johnstone and apply for work driving a truck for Ice Cream Circus — a company I no longer remember.…

Street Cars For Sale — 1961

Vance Lauderdale — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 22:12:14 -0500

So I'm looking through old bound volumes of Memphis newspapers, just like everybody else in town does on their Thursday nights in the Home, and this ad catches my eye. It's from a July 1959 copy of The Commercial Appeal.…

Clarence Saunders' Amazing KEEDOOZLE Stores

Vance Lauderdale — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 23:13:36 -0500

Most people reading this blog probably know quite a bit about Memphis history, and that means they also know quite a bit about Clarence Saunders, founder of Piggly Wiggly, the world's first (well, maybe) supermarket. But for some reason, their knowledge of grocery-store history often doesn't extend much farther than that (I did my dissertation on it at Heidelberg), and what some of you may NOT know is that, after Clarence lost his Piggly Wiggly stores, and his fortune, and his Pink Palace, he started over with something entirely different.…