"Gone but not Forgotten in Atlanta" (Lawrenceville, Decatur: discount, car)

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by Native ATL

Russell Stover Candy Stores Downtown and Buford Highway at N. Druid Hills

Barn Dinner Theaters

The Magic Bar on Peachtree in Buckhead where the Magician could stick a whole pack of lit cigarettes in his mouth at one time and then he would eat the lit cigarettes.

Pizza King and Caruso's Italian Restaurant on Stewart Avenue

Parking at night really close to the Atlanta Airport runway where planes went over really low and loud

Commercials: Gobble Dollar and would you believe 9 cents

Big Coca-Cola sign at 5 points

Sinclair Gas Stations with the dinosaur logo

Sunday Buffet at the Dinkler Plaza Hotel downtown

Ansley Mall late night dollar theater and Bistoink Dooley worked there.

WQXI Skinny Bobby Harper

Telephone Exchanges: Plaza and Jackson, etc.

Jack Eppley Dance School next to the YMCA downtown

Dwarf House Restaurant in Hapeville where you could go in the little door

Remember when you could go to climb Stone Mountain and all that you saw there was a snow cone man.

Ma Hull's Boarding House

My Grandma worked for Southern Bell and her co-worker was Alex Cooley's mom Frances

Great list.
There was also a Caruso's Restaurant on Piedmont, just above the Cheshire Bridge Rd. intersection.
I remember that the exchange for Druid Hills and Decatur was 'Drake'(37)...my mother would give out our number as 'Drake8...'.
The Ansley Mall theater was indeed owned by 'Bestoink' (George Ellis IRL) and his son. More on him below:

Bestoink Dooley - Mike Durrett CONFIDENTIAL

[Librarykid]

For a brief time in the early 60s, there was a free-standing Russell Stover Store across Columbia Drive from the Belvedere Plaza Shopping Center. It was between Green Brothers Nursery (Store Number 1) and the little row of shops with the A&P, Carter's Music, a theater and the Dunk & Dine.

[arjay57]

Great memories, all.

Does anyone remember the Mister Peanut store on Wall Street? It smelled so good when they were roasting nuts that you just had to drop in.

[Librarykid]

I remember going past a peanut store when we walked between Rich's and Davison's. There was a Mr. Peanut character walking around on the sidewalk outside of the store.

I also remember walking into the Sears Ponce de Leon store and inhaling the distinctive smell of the hot oil from the nut frying operation at the candy counter. There was a metal and glass barrier in front of the fryer to protect customers from the hot surfaces, but there was no containing the aroma.

Does anyone remember Guffy's Men's Shop that was on the street level of the office tower next to the Merchandise Mart on Peachtree in the late 60s?

[JRJay]

Yes, I remember that peanut store on Wall. It was the smell that drew me there, too. Fresh roasted, and boiled. The old guys who worked the place were the salt of the earth.

And I remember Mr. Peanut. To a little kid who still believed in wonders, he was for real. Very dignified, the way he walked -- stately, with his top hat and monocle.

By the way, on Mr. Peanut's route the Loew's Grand gets the remembering, but the Paramount next door was actually grander than the Grand. Rococo -- marble staircase, ornate salon with settees and overstuffed chairs and a big white grand piano.

Speaking of pianos -- Cable Piano opposite Davison's, where my mom got me mine, along with Sparky's Magic Piano and high hopes.

And yes, I remember Guffy's. Nice place. Bought a tie there, once.

[JRJay]

Originally Posted by Richard Bowers

...fancy dates to the Merchandise Mart or the Coach and four, I think it was called...The containers did indeed come with wooden paddle spoons. Do you remember Nehi big orange or grape drinks or Orange Crush...

Coach and four and two more.

About the soft drinks, I remember Bireley's. They did heavy advertising in their day. Made a deal about not being carbonated. I'm convinced that's how The Varsity made their F.O.s. It was easy at home -- fill your blender with vanilla ice cream and a bottle of Bireley's...and voilà!

And speaking of ice cream for kids, does anybody remember Cho Cho's? We got them at recess. Wow, were they great!

[JRJay]

Originally Posted by LovinDecatur

The Ansley Mall theater was indeed owned by 'Bestoink' (George Ellis IRL) and his son. More on him below:
Bestoink Dooley - Mike Durrett CONFIDENTIAL

Thanks for the link. Too bad Ellis was "embarrassed" by his Bestoink persona, because he truly was a beloved figure. That name -- Bestoink Dooley -- is one of the classics. Just thinking about it would make us double over. And he fulfilled the promise of the name: totally off-the-wall. I encountered Ellis once, during the midnight runs of Rocky Horror at the Buckhead Art. Though pairing that movie with him was a natural, by then he was no longer playing Bestoink, just selling tickets. And indeed, he seemed like a very sweet guy.

[arjay57]

Bestoink was way ahead of his time. Elvira and MST3000 were wonderful, but Bestoink was the one who introduced me to the great horror films and movie kitsch.

Didn't Mr. Ellis own Garden Hills for a while, too?

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Bestoink was way ahead of his time. Elvira and MST3000 were wonderful, but Bestoink was the one who introduced me to the great horror films and movie kitsch.

Didn't Mr. Ellis own Garden Hills for a while, too?

Yes, he did.
I can remember he and his son personally introducing films a la Robert Osborne on TCM.

[Diehard44]

If you know Atlanta, you know the Fox theater and you remember it was saved from demolition by a group of concerned people that wanted that landmark to continue to exist for the people of the city. One of those dedicated folks was Joe Patten. He was instrumental in saving the Fox, almost single handedly rebuilt the monster organ in the theater, and, because of his expansive knowledge of the building, was able to lead firefighters to a fire in the bowels of the theater before it was able to destroy that piece of Atlanta history. He was also one of the founding members of Atlanta Landmarks Inc., a non-profit organization that was created to manage and run the theater. As a result of all this he was asked to build and live in an apartment within the theater rent free for the rest of his life.
That was over 30 plus years ago. Now Atlanta Landmarks' board of directors is a new group and they have recently decided to discontinue Joe Patten's lease and effectively evict him from the apartment that he himself built at his expense and lived in for those 30 plus years. Joe is in his mid- 80s today.
If you want to learn more of this situation, please visit the Facebook page below. And please join the page with the over 9,500 other members who support Joe, A.K.A. "The Phantom of the Fox" in his efforts to keep his home.
Thank you.

Save Joe The Phantom of The Fox Theatre | Facebook