How do you remember Phoenix? Stories from long time residents... (Buckeye: flower, recent)

[XS11E]

Thanks for the input, it may have been at 7th St. and Washington, I just can't recall. <sigh>

I seem to recall Clark Smith, don't think it was either Chevrolet or Ford, I think he was the guy with the huge used car lot, would have been on the north side of the street, Van Buren or Washington around 2nd or 3rd avenue?

[roosevelt]

Originally Posted by XS11E

Thanks for the input, it may have been at 7th St. and Washington, I just can't recall. <sigh>

I seem to recall Clark Smith, don't think it was either Chevrolet or Ford, I think he was the guy with the huge used car lot, would have been on the north side of the street, Van Buren or Washington around 2nd or 3rd avenue?

There was a Carl's Used Cars on Van Buren and 15th. He had a 50 Ford I wanted with a Cadillac engine.

Read Mullen was originally on Van Buren and 2nd St.

Madison was opposite the post office on Central.

There was a Smith car company but it was in Glendale.

Thomas Bros. had a huge gas station and store on Van Buren about 9th Street in the 40's. They were gone by the mid 50's.

[Arizona Mike]

Originally Posted by XS11E

Thank you! I was going nuts trying to recall that name. Do you recall their location before moving to 16th and Camelback? I believe it was on Van Buren or could it have been Washington St.?

Do you remember the name of the other Ford dealer? There were two downtown in the 1950s...

The old dealership was indeed on 1st and Van Buren (28 East Van Buren). There was a publicity stunt at the location in 1959 where Lonesome Long John Roller lived in a Mullen Ford on top of a flagpole for 244 days, establishing a world record for flagpole sitting:



Those are his clothes drying on the antennae. I don't want to think about how he relieved himself.

He wrote a song about it:


And you can even hear it on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UzmIzCLbWY

Read Mullen had a body shop on Washington and 7th Street in addition to the dealership:



Here's a 1960s photo of the dealership itself on Camelback, after it had moved:



Hope this helps!

[roosevelt]

Originally Posted by xs11e

thanks for the input, it may have been at 7th st. And washington, i just can't recall. <sigh>

i seem to recall clark smith, don't think it was either chevrolet or ford, i think he was the guy with the huge used car lot, would have been on the north side of the street, van buren or washington around 2nd or 3rd avenue?

[XS11E]

To Roosevelt, thanks!

Madison Ford was the other one, I recall the Central location now and Van Buren and 2nd Street for Read Mullin, 140 W. Van Buren was Clark Smith used cars, I recall he had a really bad reputation.....

Madison eventually became a Chevrolet dealer and moved to McDowell and Scottsdale Road on the NE corner. That place changed hands many times and eventually went out of business. It's open now, I think, as a used car dealer.


Gee, that stuff sure slipped out of my mind but I recall it now......

[Hooker64]

Originally Posted by chaparrito

Just to be accurate, they were Navajo designs. Wikipedia incorrectly calls them Hopi "kachinas".
The mosaics at the Phx Bob's were designed by the famous Millard Sheets, known for a wealth of mosaic logo and building exteriors in the 50s-70s. Lots of existing examples of his work, particularly in California. The design is a Navajo depiction of the sun spirit.

http://i41.tinypic.com/opaclv.jpg

Credit for this photo goes to the S. David Underwood collection. S. David Underwood was the architect for this building and many other early Bob's Big Boy' restaurants in the Glendale CA area

[1937Gal]

Originally Posted by XS11E

To Roosevelt, thanks!

Madison Ford was the other one, I recall the Central location now and Van Buren and 2nd Street for Read Mullin, 140 W. Van Buren was Clark Smith used cars, I recall he had a really bad reputation.....

Madison eventually became a Chevrolet dealer and moved to McDowell and Scottsdale Road on the NE corner. That place changed hands many times and eventually went out of business. It's open now, I think, as a used car dealer.


Gee, that stuff sure slipped out of my mind but I recall it now......

I emailed my friend Jan Smith who was my best friend in school to ask her where her dad's dealership was Apparently there were several. I do not recall that Clark Smith had a "really bad reputation", however. This is what she said:
" Dad had two or three used car lots on Van Buren -his famous*one was on Second Avenue and Van Buren-*during the earkt*50's (with the Friday night auction and a flag pole sitter among other gimmicks) *and a*Service station (flying horse), can't remember*the*name, although I have a photo of it somewhere - that could be late 40's, and then he was the manager of Ed Spear Dodge dealership in the mid-50's."*
*

[Barbarosa]

Originally Posted by Hooker64

Credit for this photo goes to the S. David Underwood collection. S. David Underwood was the architect for this building and many other early Bob's Big Boy' restaurants in the Glendale CA area

A really good shot of Bob's can be found here phoenix az - august 1958 (0848a58) - a set on Flickr , last pic, second row.

[Arizona Mike]

Another view. Phoenix Corporate Center is under construction in the background.

[panhead55]

Yes, you are correct! We actually wrote about this in our magazine last summer with the Christown spread. The original GM of the mall is quite a guy.