How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Glendale: nuisance, territory)

[baby sinister]

Originally Posted by Arizona Sharon

I have spent waaaay too much time reading this thread. I lived in Phoenix from 1960 to 1991, and my memories of it are THE best. I have a couple of questions- does anyone know what happened to Pizza D-Armore. It used to be at Metrocenter and Chris-Town. They had really different pizza. Another place my husband and I used to frequent was Ville Del Sol restaurant. I think it was on Van Buren or McDowell. I loved their sopapillias. I mentioned it once to the waitress, and she told the cook. The cook was so flattered she gave me the recipe, which I still have. The other place I used to love was El Maya's, across the Bethany Theater. When I go back to visit my family, I always wonder if those restaurants are out of business, or if the just relocated. If they did, I would love to know where they are, and visit next time I go back. I still like to stop in at My Mother's Place, near the site of the old Phoenix General Hospital, and of course, Monti's, Macayo's, Garcia's and La Parilla Suisa!

There was also a Pizza D-Amore in the Colonade in the late 70's. If I remember correctly...the slices were square.

[David Wendell]

Originally Posted by AZDesertBrat

I went to Phoenix today to see my aunt but because of scheduling conflicts I didn't get to see her. Since it was fairly early in the day I decided to go to South Phoenix and check it out. Oh MY!!! Things have changed so much down there I could hardly find ANY of my old landmarks!

I drove from the 17 to Baseline and took a 'detour' past my grandparents old house that they built in 1954. I recognized very little. My dad's old second hand store, just south of the river, is still there but all boarded up and sad looking. Pete's Fish & Chips was still there at Jones and Central. That surprised me. Their sign says "since 1947" so it was started when I was five! My old school was at the end of Jones St. but I didn't check that out. Broadway and Central is mostly different too. The old Rexall drug store is long gone and on the SE corner used to be a coffee shop that is also long gone and so is the entire block. Actually it's a lot of acres of plain old dirt! The strip mall on the NE corner of Broadway is still there. I didn't drive out to the Broadway pool but I'd bet it's gone too. Further up Central was my grandparents first house and it's been gone a long time. I can't even tell anymore just where it was. And Doyle's second hand store is gone too. Then there was the Corral drive in, now a laundry/dry cleaning place. The old Silver Dollar drive in is also long gone. So many memories down the tubes. Sigh.

I was surprised that my grandparents second house looks as good as it does. Whoever owns it has kept it up nice. Does anyone remember Stapely's Hardware? Stapelys owned the house across the street from my grandparents and, back then, I thought it was a mansion! I suppose, for the times, it was. It's still big and still looks nice. Not long ago I was going through newspaper archives online and found an article in the AZ Republic about my grandparents house. It was quite snazzy for the time too. Houses were small back then so a 2500 sq. ft. house was something of a mini-mansion, albeit a one level Ranch. Stapley's house was at least 3000, maybe bigger. My grandparents house had three BRs, two baths, formal living/dining rooms, a big den with a nice bar, big fireplace, built in TV and square holes in the wall next to that for the movie projector. It also had maids quarters. It had nearly two acres of grapefruit in back and date palms out front. I felt positively 'rich' living there. lol It also had a central AM-FM radio system. Every room in the house, and the patio, had a speaker. My grandmother used to wake me up every morning at 7:00 by turning it on LOUD and it was ALWAYS a singing Firestone Tire ad. I'll never forget that but it DID get me out of bed! lol

Coming back I took Central all the way to Thomas and I have to say that downtown is FAR from a ghost town during the day. So many people it was hard to make any kind of turn off of Central. It was interesting to see the MetroLink(?). Sleek looking for sure! I'm glad I did that today but have to admit I'm glad I don't live there anymore. It's just too big, too much traffic, too many people...just too much. I like my comparably quiet little burg a lot more.

Thanks for the memories! When we were first married we used to go to the Corral Laundry. A really nice lady showed us a neat way to fold sheets. There was a upholstery shop near Central and Jones, Bertha's, I believe. My Mom woked at a Goodwill store on Central and Jones. Denny's transmissions was also there. Grimes Hamburgers was in the area somewhere. How about Turk's?

[AZDesertBrat]

Originally Posted by David Wendell

Thanks for the memories! When we were first married we used to go to the Corral Laundry. A really nice lady showed us a neat way to fold sheets. There was a upholstery shop near Central and Jones, Bertha's, I believe. My Mom woked at a Goodwill store on Central and Jones. Denny's transmissions was also there. Grimes Hamburgers was in the area somewhere. How about Turk's?

Most of my memories are from the early 50s to early 60s because although I was born down there I didn't live there much. I've mostly lived up here in Cottonwood and in Tucson from 1st thru 5th grade. But we were there to see family a lot.

I remember going to the Corral when it was still a restaurant. I think I remember the upholstery shop but barely. I remember the funeral home and Bloom's Flower shop which is still there...sorta. I don't think it's a business anymore but the building is still there. At one time there was a thrift store built where my grandparents first home was and then it was a cabinet building shop. I don't remember Turk's. What was the business?

There was a Dairy Queen across the street from my grandparents house and a restaurant next to that but I don't recall the name.

Driving down Central I was remembering when it was just a two lane street with Tamarak trees and the irrigation ditch on the west side. Boy has that changed!

There used to be a little grocery store just north of Jones St. and I remember my mom sending me there to buy a pound of butter. Well, she DID say butter so that's what I got. She meant margarine and when she found out I paid nearly $1 for it she about had a fit! lol

[Brannen5]

This person named Martha was in her 60's and had short white hair. She wore glasses and was short and stocky. She was the head cook that worked upstairs and I'm sure she retired when Newberrys shut the store downtown. I can not remember her last name. I think she was Jewish. The eating area was on the left side of the store facing Washington St. Does anyone remember?

[jack swilling]

Originally Posted by Brannen5

This person named Martha was in her 60's and had short white hair. She wore glasses and was short and stocky. She was the head cook that worked upstairs and I'm sure she retired when Newberrys shut the store downtown. I can not remember her last name. I think she was Jewish. The eating area was on the left side of the store facing Washington St. Does anyone remember?

Yes. It seemed to a youngster to be a mile long. When I try to visualize it, it seems that the long counter ran perpendicular to Washington.

I remember the eating area in Woolworth's which definitely ran perpendicular to Washington. Immediately north of this within the Woolworth's store was the pet department with tropical fish and goldfish and, I think, birds and canaries. I spent much time there, and there was a rack which contained a series of bird books for children with an article on the species and a line-drawing of the bird which could be colored with crayons.

Occasionally, this was outdone by the chicks, ducklings, and rabbits at the Sears Farm Store.

In connection with my ongoing efforts to locate the mysterious Woolworth's children's bird books, which were my first bird books, and which I try to locate even to this moment, I give my special thanks to the 1937 Gal/Lady for her good efforts to help me locate them.

Some day before the Big Sleep, I shall find them. The ones I kept for over thirty-five years were stolen from storage.

[jack swilling]

And another thing--

Does anyone remember the famous, if not infamous, Fort Grant juvenile detention facility for kids near Fort Grant AZ? I think this is admissible in the Phoenix forum on the grounds that we kids stood in a certain awe of any kid of whom it was said, "He was at Fort Grant for a while." It was like: "See that guy over at the boathouse by the lake, the guy who was dancing with the redhead? They say he looks like he could be John Dillinger."

I had a schoolmate, 'Leaky' LePage, in grade school who had done time in FG. He was the only kid the nuns alowed to wear motorcycle boots. He moved slowly, like George Raft. You did not mess with Leakey, although he was quiet as a mouse.

Also [Roosevelt come through], I wonder whether anyone remembers the small, private mental hospital--in Sunnyslope, in the 1950s, I think--run by the world-famous psychiatrist and hypnotherapy expert, Dr. Milton H. Erickson, who died in Phoenix in 1980? I would love to know where it was, what it looked like, and what stories about it were in publications.

[roosevelt]

Originally Posted by jack swilling

Also [Roosevelt come through], I wonder whether anyone remembers the small, private mental hospital--in Sunnyslope, in the 1950s, I think--run by the world-famous psychiatrist and hypnotherapy expert, Dr. Milton H. Erickson, who died in Phoenix in 1980? I would love to know where it was, what it looked like, and what stories about it were in publications.

Erickson is listed in the yellow pages at 32 West Cypress, just off Central above Palm Lane. Psychotherapy and family counseling. Must have worked out of his house at the time.

[roosevelt]

Anyone know about this buckle?

[jukebox47]

Originally Posted by jack swilling

And another thing--

Does anyone remember the famous, if not infamous, Fort Grant juvenile detention facility for kids near Fort Grant AZ? I think this is admissible in the Phoenix forum on the grounds that we kids stood in a certain awe of any kid of whom it was said, "He was at Fort Grant for a while." It was like: "See that guy over at the boathouse by the lake, the guy who was dancing with the redhead? They say he looks like he could be John Dillinger."

I had a schoolmate, 'Leaky' LePage, in grade school who had done time in FG. He was the only kid the nuns alowed to wear motorcycle boots. He moved slowly, like George Raft. You did not mess with Leakey, although he was quiet as a mouse.

Also [Roosevelt come through], I wonder whether anyone remembers the small, private mental hospital--in Sunnyslope, in the 1950s, I think--run by the world-famous psychiatrist and hypnotherapy expert, Dr. Milton H. Erickson, who died in Phoenix in 1980? I would love to know where it was, what it looked like, and what stories about it were in publications.

I had a good friend who spent time at Ft. Grant, he never returned. Suicide? There were many stories about Ft. Grant and the man in charge. The neighborhood I lived in had a few other guys who had spent time there. It sounded like a good place to avoid, for sure! As you say, "no one messed with a Ft. Grant guy".

[observer53]

Even those of us who never personally knew anyone who was sent to Ft Grant knew OF it, and knew it was no place to be. I can't say for sure, but I don't think Adobe Mountain has ever acquired that mythic quality in younger generations, perhaps because it's in Phoenix, rather than some more remote part of the state that most kids here knew nothing about except that it was where bad kids got sent.