Monday, September 29, 2014

1947 Charlotte

What were Charlotteans talking about in April of 1947?

The opening of the new Manor Theatre for one!

 This ran on Monday, April 7 so the theater opened Friday, April 11, 1947.


Are these Springer Spaniels?






A determined-looking fox.



A Coca-Cola print dress!



1500 W. Morehead is where The Burger Company now stands.



Slash those weeds that are higher than a man's head!


I'm not posting the answers. I think we can handle it...



This is where Capital Grille is now, at 5th Street.






I love the style of '40s ads.



Thursday, September 25, 2014

Queens College moves to Myers Park, 1914

Happy anniversary to Queens University, which celebrates 100 years in Myers Park.

1857 -  Queens College is founded as Charlotte Female Institute at College and 9th streets uptown. Its roots date to pre-Revolutionary days when local Scotch-Irish Presbyterians established their own school under the name of Queens Museum.

1914 - The school moves into five buildings at its present campus in Myers Park.  News story below says opening ceremonies took place on September 24, 1914.


College & 9th Streets, circa 1872

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Extend Car Line---Construction to Begin Monday to Site of Queens College

Charlotte Daily Observer
February 3, 1914

   The extension of the street car line in Myers Park from the present terminus at the point where the Providence road turns off through the pines, to the site of Queens College, will be started Monday of next week under the supervision of the construction forces of the Charlotte Electric Railway Company.
   This track will be extended along what is known as Queens Road, one of the handsomest thoroughfares in this beautiful development. Queens Road has been paved on both sides but a space was left in the center for the double-track car line. The distance from the present terminus to Queens College is about a half mile.
   Queens Road is a spacious driveway and is so situated that it commands a fine view of the city. It is well wooded for the greatest part of its way and offering as it does the beautiful approach to the new college, is destined to be one of the most elegant residential thoroughfares anywhere in this section.

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Undated postcard. Drawing.



Charlotte Daily Observer
June 26, 1914



Undated postcard.



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                                        Charlotte Daily Observer
                                              August 3, 1914


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Charlotte Daily Observer
August 10, 1914


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Charlotte Daily Observer
September 25, 1914

Dr. McGeachy, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, spoke.
So did George Stephens whose real estate company sold a lot of Myers Park real estate. He must've been a very happy man that day...





Wednesday, September 24, 2014

Scenes from the '70s

We had such a good time at the Levine Museum of the New South last night!

   Here are some of the photos we reminisced about at my Retro Charlotte presentation on Tuesday. Hope you enjoy them, too!


The first mixed drink served in Charlotte after Liquor by the Drink was passed. November 21, 1978.
Benedictine's restaurant in Foxcroft.
1978. Staff.


Long-time favorite neighborhood bar & grill. 
1979. Staff.



Tulip Terrace at Ivey's uptown. Closed in 1989 I think.
1976. Staff.


Albemarle Rd @ Farm Pond Lane. 
1978. Staff.



Opening of Star Trek movie, Capri theater.
December, 1979. Staff.



Eastland Mall food court, the first in the state.
1975. Staff.



S&W at Charlottetown Mall.
Undated. Staff.



Cotswold Mall.
Undated. Staff.


SouthPark Mall opened in 1970.
1971 staff photo.


Interior view, SouthPark.
Undated. Staff.


SouthPark. Closed in 1994?
Undated. Staff.


Sears uptown. Moved to Eastland in 1985.
1972. Staff.



Sunday, September 21, 2014

Hurricane Hugo Aftermath

If you were in Charlotte when Hugo blew through on Friday, September 22, 1989 these scenarios will look familiar to you.

 

In the days following Hurricane Hugo did you: 

Grill out to use the meat thawing in your refrigerator due to power outages?

Seek out grocery stores who had ice for the same reason?

Buy/borrow/use a chainsaw to clean your yard/street/neighbor's yard? 

Wait in line for gas or batteries? 

I did!

'David Johnson of Charlotte inspects chainsaws at Charlotte Pawn Shop on Wilkinson Blvd. Saturday. Robert Mahaffey said the store had sold more than a dozen chainsaws by 11 a.m. Saws cost$120 - $200.'
Meredith Hebden/Staff


'Lines of cars jockey for position at the Petro Express on Independence Blvd. on Saturday.'
Bob Leverone/Staff


'Buck and Elizabeth Laurimore queue up at the A&P at Providence and Queens Roads. The management was letting people in one at a time to shop.'
Art Gentile/Staff


A family in Chantilly neighborhood eats dinner without electricity.
Gary O'Brien/Staff


'Harris Teeter employee hangs sign advertising they'd received a shipment of ice. The store on Cherry Rd. in Rock Hill got in 1500 bags of ice Tuesday morning.'
J. Allen/Staff


Want more? Here's a whole slideshow! Hugo slideshow

Friday, September 19, 2014

Festival in the Park Logo

A commenter on this Festival in the Park, 1964 post sparked my curiosity: 


We both remarked how the logo has not changed in 50 years so I dug into the archives for some history.
*This is by no means a complete list of Jack Pentes' works, just a quick hit!*


 1964 ad in the Charlotte News

The Festival in the Park logo - a double-orbed tree with multi-colored leaves, paired with the festival's name scrawled in black - hasn't been altered since Charlotte artist Jack Pentes designed it for the first fest in 1964. Pentes graduated from Central High in the late '40s, started sign painting and went on to greater things, including the Festival in the Park logo.

More Pentes works:

- Nixon Brothers Steak House murals

- Esso building mural 

- 'North Carolina National Bank barricade'

- backdrops in store windows

- one-man shows at the Public Library

- Conceived and built a cookie house displayed at Park Center in 1959. 'The house stood 15 feet high, complete with roof top, door, windows and window boxes, and a marshmallow cookie chimney. All were bedecked with 60 varieties of cookies in almost as many sizes, shapes and textures.' It was part of a 'well-known cookie company's products at a grocers' convention' in Charlotte.

- Conceived The Land of Oz theme park based on “The Wizard of Oz” which opened atop Beech Mountain in 1970.  The park closed in 1980.

Pentes was also a member of Carolina Clowns, and enjoyed taking part in the Carrousel Parades. In 1956 he was asked to appear as Bobo the Clown on WBTV's 'Big Bill's Clubhouse', a role he played for a year. 

He and his wife, Ruth, owned Pentes Artworks Gallery off South Boulevard. They still reside in Charlotte.


Festival in the Park - the first!

Happy 50th Anniversary, Festival in the Park!

Who could have known it would last? Here are glimpses 
of news coverage from the very first one in 1964.








An ad ran on the front page of the News -- unusual!






















Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Want Ads, 1924

Wednesday, September 17, 1924


Ninety years ago, these classified ads included homes for sale, a seach for a runaway boy, and employment at the Southern Power Company.