How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (alligator, reduce)

[roosevelt]

Originally Posted by jukebox47

Does anyone remember the Donut King? There was a huge sign with a big donut with a crown at the top. It was probably at about 4001 W. Indian School. It was close to Thrift City, Big Sky Drive In etc. if anyone remembers those. We used to go in there while they made donuts. They had a neat machine. It would plop out the donuts into troughs filled with cooking oil and the donuts would float along. Then there was some gizmo that flipped them over and the other side would cook. It was neat to watch and at the end they would give us a few donuts. They were really good to eat when still warm but I bet they were not too good for you.

Sounds like a Levitt Doughnut Machine. It was upright and the top portion was enclosed in glass. A device on top would extrude the dough into a circular moat and float halfway then a spatula would flip it over; at the end of the cycle the doughnut would slide down a chute. Bayless had these machines in the 40's. I would stare at the donuts being made while mom shopped. Ebay had one for sale once, I should have downloaded the photos.

[SluggoF16]

I'm not sure if it was Woolco at Curry Road and Rural in Tempe that had a doughnut maker like that as well in the early 60s, but for some reason I distinctly remember seeing it there; the machine was just as Jukebox47 described. And the aroma of greasy goodness of fying doughnuts... wow!

[jukebox47]

That's amazing that anyone even knew the name of the first dounut machine. I sure did not!I didn't find a picture but it seemed like a huge machine. I was really young so it may not have been the monster machine I imagined it was.

Since we are on strange machines did anyone ever visit the "Jug Laundry". My 1959 Phx Phone book lists it as 4224 W. Indian School. My dad was janitor and maintenance at the Big Sky Drive In so the Jug Laundry was almost across the street. Theyhad a machine of some sort and a conveyor, it washed and scrubbed the jugs. Really Neat!

I made trips there frequently because the soda pop came in 1 gallon syrup jars. When they were empty the bottles were placed back in the cardboard shipping box. We stored them until we had a bunch then off we went to the Jug Laundry. They paid something like 5 cents for each bottle. Antique stores seem to get $15-$20 for a nice, empty coke syrup jug today. Really busy nights I bet the snack bar used 15-20 gallons of syrup, maybe it was even more. The theater owner allowed us to keep the "jug" money as a fringe benefit. It added up in those days! Since the theater was open 7 days/week there were no days off for janitor/maintenance, the extra money was nice.

[Commander Max]

Here is some more stuff from my grandfather's company(Cox Homes).
The insert is from the Arizona Republic dated Sunday, May 29, 1960.





Continued...

[Commander Max]

Here is the rest.





Imagine putting $375 down on a house, much less model homes being open till 9PM.
As we all know things have sure changed.

I still have some more things to post.

[bonniebraids]

It's funny, I got on Google to see if I could find the Food Bazaar. I couldn't help but wonder if it still existed. That is how I found this forum My Dad was assigned to Luke AFB from 1969-1971. My parents took my siblings and I to the Food Bazaar do that everyone could pick out what each one wanted to eat. We always looked forward to going there. Back in those days people didn't eat out like they do today. I hope I'm not remembering this wrong but I'm sure there was a big Phoenix in front of it. I had so many great memories of that area. We (my husband and I) drove through that area going back home from a relatives wedding in California and I was shocked at much Phoenix has grown. My Dad passed away 13 years ago, I wish I could go back and relive the fun time we had there. I did enjoy reading the other posts, they brought up things that I had forgotten.

[jack swilling]

Originally Posted by bonniebraids

It's funny, I got on Google to see if I could find the Food Bazaar....I hope I'm not remembering this wrong but I'm sure there was a big Phoenix in front of it. I had so many great memories of that area. My Dad passed away 13 years ago, I wish I could go back and relive the fun time we had there....

Yes, my dear, there is a Phoenix Bird, and one of its grand and glorious incarnations was at Town and Country. I understand that some cretins, who know the price of everything and the value of nothing, have painted the entire masterpiece white.

Here is the sacred thing before the subhumans had their way with it. Click it three times, and it will get bigger, and, if you have imagination, it will fly away. Be careful what you feed it. It's name is Roosevelt.

[trillcatz]

Originally Posted by Commander Max

Here is the rest.





Imagine putting $375 down on a house, much less model homes being open till 9PM.
As we all know things have sure changed.

I still have some more things to post.

What year was this? I can't quite read the date at the bottom. I'm guessing maybe the early '60's. I'm wondering how much those homes sold for?

[observer53]

Originally Posted by trillcatz

What year was this? I can't quite read the date at the bottom. I'm guessing maybe the early '60's. I'm wondering how much those homes sold for?

Commander Max says it is 5/29/60. It looks more like 1959, but either way, the article at the top talks about how many they plan to build in 1960.

[SluggoF16]

I enjoyed seeing the 2nd set of pics from Cox homes, with the ABS blacktop from TECO, where my dad worked when these homes were being built. Their main plant was at the Salt River bottom off of McClintock. Arizona Sand and Rock (ASR) was one of their big competitors at the time, and the first set of ads show them as the prime for the concrete pours.