How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Scottsdale: slum, embassy)

[1937Gal]

Originally Posted by roosevelt

Three Palms had three palm trees, a date palm in front and 2 fan palms in back. Amazing how many people wondered why it was called that when it is obvious. They had a tall vertical sign on the top of the building and they forgot the 'E' on Drive In. They specialized in all kinds of sandwiches and carried Gold Ribbon ice cream.

The Palms Theater had the same question; in that case there must have been a dozen palm trees lining each side of the theater!.

The Zombie was $1 (one quart of ice cream, bananas, 5 diff. fruits plus nuts) and the Sissy Zombie was 50¢ at the Polar Bar.

Here photo of Three Palms Drive-in in the 50s yearsbook from WPHS.

[Elna Rae]

Just found this wonderful site! Thanks to all who have brought back wonderful memories.

As a Phoenix native who grew up in Tempe I would love to find photos of Mill Av in the 60's/70's.

Anyone else remember the slot car track next to the Vespa/lawnmower shop up the street from the Valley Art? (How about the Rocky Horror Picture Show there?)
Or the Citroen dealer at the base of Tempe Flour Mill? They sold those ridiculous plastic bodied Mehari's.
Remember all of the head shops?
Berger Chef?
Rundle's Speed Shop?
Joe Selleh Sporting Goods where we got all of our scouting junk?
Henry's Hobbies?

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by Elna Rae

Just found this wonderful site! Thanks to all who have brought back wonderful memories.

As a Phoenix native who grew up in Tempe I would love to find photos of Mill Av in the 60's/70's.

Anyone else remember the slot car track next to the Vespa/lawnmower shop up the street from the Valley Art? (How about the Rocky Horror Picture Show there?)
Or the Citroen dealer at the base of Tempe Flour Mill? They sold those ridiculous plastic bodied Mehari's.
Remember all of the head shops?
Berger Chef?
Rundle's Speed Shop?
Joe Selleh Sporting Goods where we got all of our scouting junk?
Henry's Hobbies?

Crossing the Mill Avenue Bridge in the 1960s


Mill Avenue in the 1970s.


Mill Avenue in the 1930s:


Mill Avenue in 1963, 7th Street and Mill facing north


Mill Avenue and 5th Steet, 1910. The building is still in use


Mill Avenue and 5th Street, 1940s


Pete's Fish and Chips, 820 S. Mill, 1972. Home of the Monsterburger. I always associated that sign with Tempe.


Mill Avenue and 5th Street, 1905


Changing Hands on Mill Avenue, Christmas, 1980s


The old Tempe Center on Mill Avenue and University. The bandmembers of the Gin Blossoms worked in the record store there.


Aah, Tempe in the 1970s. Looking just east of Mill on 5th Street. Tempe Mission Palms Hotel occupies the site today:


Tempe Bicycle Shop, 602 S. Mill, 1977:


Monti's La Casa Vieja on Mill, 1960s:




Mill Avenue and 5th, 1930s. You can just see the theater that would later become the Valley Art:


Hayden Flour Mill, 1930s (from whence the street got its name)

[Arizona Mike]

The Burger Chef in Tempe:


The one on 7th Street and Orchid, in the 'Slope.




3450 E. Thomas:

[chaparrito]

I lived on the corner of 13th street and Ash in old town Tempe during the 60s-70s. Waited tables and tended bar at the old North Bank steakhouse on the SE corner of Uni and Mill and at Ninth and Ash, at 9th St. and Ash. It still exists as some sort of BS Irish pub or something. I took my son there recently to show him where I'd tended bar so long, but the small old intimate bar was long gone. Not big enough for 25 dollar a head St. Patrick's Day drunken brawls I guess.
That could be my Pontiac parked outside Inner Sanctum. Not that I ever frequented that establishment. Or anything....

[Elna Rae]

Thanks AZ Mike. Awesome.

Pete's was definitely a landmark and one of many destination fine dining spots for our family. A special night would include a stop at Dairy Queen and then off to Grady Gammage to walk around eating our cones.
El Rancho market in Tempe Center was our main sustenance source. Revco Drugs and the S&H Green Stamps redemption store was in there as well.

Most of the scratch I made delivering the Phx Gazett/AZ Republic got deposited into the account of Tempe Bicycle.

Great story: Our route manager would throw all of us into the bed of his burgundy '69 shortbed F100 XLT and drop us off around Tempe to get "starts" (New subscriptions. Can you IMAGINE dropping eight 11-14 year old boys off in strange neighborhoods today?!)
One night he dumps us at the ASU dorms because he knows college kids will sign up for anything (they just won't pay for it.) A buddy and I are working our way through the dorm and get to the second floor where 3 or 4 college boys are at the other end of the hall with a beer can tennis ball cannon. They fire at us and miss (why would they do that? Oh yeah, they're college boys). Little did they know that I was an aspiring demo expert and seldom left the house without a pocket full of M80's and matches. I light one and throw it down the hall, the not-so-tough boys scatter and the resulting explosion blows a hole in the carpet. I get hauled down to the dorm mom's office where I am released to the custody of my ultra cool route manager.

My parents never heard a word about the incident. ahhhh... those were the days.

Remember the Tempe Little League team coached by Ladmo? They won the championship every year because he got all of the ringers!

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by chaparrito

I lived on the corner of 13th street and Ash in old town Tempe during the 60s-70s. Waited tables and tended bar at the old North Bank steakhouse on the SE corner of Uni and Mill and at Ninth and Ash, at 9th St. and Ash. It still exists as some sort of BS Irish pub or something. I took my son there recently to show him where I'd tended bar so long, but the small old intimate bar was long gone. Not big enough for 25 dollar a head St. Patrick's Day drunken brawls I guess.
That could be my Pontiac parked outside Inner Sanctum. Not that I ever frequented that establishment. Or anything....

Back in the mid-1980s when I was going to ASU my then-girlfriend (and now wife) and I hung out with our friends at Ninth and Ash as our regular watering hole. I may have run into you there, Chaparrito. (If so, Hey! Good to see you again!).

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by Elna Rae

.

Remember the Tempe Little League team coached by Ladmo? They won the championship every year because he got all of the ringers!

Ladmo was a good ball player, and turned down the pros I think to work for KPHO. Here he is (lower right) on the Arizona State College (now ASU) team in the 1950s:





My dad went to college with him.

[jukebox47]

Arizona Mike,

Outstanding pictures!! Sure enjoyed each one. Thank You!!

[enigmadsm]

What a great step back in time! Awesome pictures.
I'm an Arizona native, however my childhood was a little more recent than some of the reminising in here.
Although, I do remember going to my grandmothers off of 7th st. And carefree highway as a kid. The drive seemed endless, like going out of town haha. The 101 didn't exist, and it seemed nothing was built from deer valley north. Look at it now.

I remember being a child living at 19th and Beardsley and many neighbors being forced out to make way for the loop 101.

I also currently work at a hospital in phoenix...one of our buildings used to be a small grocery store back in the day. The old walk in fridge we now use for supplies was actually part of the meat department.
I had a coworker who just retired, he says remembers shopping there 30+ years ago!