I remember enjoying a cable TV special called “Rich Hall’s Vanishing America” in the 1980s. Hall is probably best known for his bits and books about “Sniglets” – words he said were not in the dictionary but should be.
For the comedian’s TV special, he traveled around the country looking for things that once were common sights in everyday life but could no longer be found.
I bring this up because on a recent date with my wife, we went out to eat and then decided to walk around a mall. We enjoyed our date, particularly our dinner, but wandering around the mall was disappointing.
We knew that stores at malls have been disappearing at an alarming rate, but on this Saturday night it almost felt like a ghost town. I’d guess that at least a third of the huge structure had open spaces where retailers used to operate, and, not coincidentally, only a few of customers were roaming around the place.
I was happily surprised to find a stack of Spirits of St. Louis retro ballcaps in a sports-themed clothing store, and I bought one in memory of the old American Basketball Association team we had for a couple of years in the ‘70s.
I went to quite a few Spirits games because Grandpa Carbery, a beer truck driver for Falstaff, often got free tickets. Falstaff beer was a major sponsor of the team’s broadcasts.
In reading those last few paragraphs, I realize that the Spirits, Falstaff and Grandpa Carbery all are long gone, which brings to mind other aspects of life in the St. Louis region that no longer exist. Here are some more.
■ Numerous restaurants. When we were kids, my sister and I loved when our parents took us to Shakey’s Pizza. A quick internet search says there are Shakey’s still operating, but not in St. Louis. During my high school and college years, Cusanelli’s in south St. Louis County was a popular restaurant to take a date. It’s gone. I also miss the floating McDonald’s on the St. Louis riverfront, a place we’d board by boat for lunch when I was in the Coast Guard Reserve in the ‘80s.
I’ll bring up one more old eatery, the Heritage House restaurant in Sunset Hills. While I went there with my folks on occasion, I most vividly remember going there with the Mehlville High School wrestling team for our end-of-season banquet at the all-you-can-eat smorgasbord. The wrestlers, many of whom starved their way through the season, gorged themselves to sickness.
■ Giant slides. Our folks would take us to the giant slide near River des Peres when my sister and I were kids. It was usually part of a fun night where we’d go down the slide a bunch of times and then head to Ted Drewes for a treat. Thankfully, Ted Drewes remains in business.
■ Fotomats. Little Fotomat huts, where you dropped off film to be processed and later picked up your pictures, used to be situated in the middle of parking lots all over the place. Hardly anyone uses film anymore, so these tiny outposts are no more.
■ Drive-in theaters. Yes, there are a few drive-ins still open, but not like in the past. When I was growing up in Mehlville, we had the South Twin and the Ronnie’s drive-ins a few miles apart from each other and the 66 Park-In was not too far away in Crestwood. My friends and I generally hit one of those drive-ins each weekend if the weather allowed. They are all long gone.
■ Stores. Along with the disappearing mall shops, we no longer have Venture, Grandpa Pidgeon’s and Famous-Barr. That’s not to mention all the mom-and-pop neighborhood stores gone from the scene.
A bit more recently, my family was sad to learn Steve & Barry’s closed, at least the one in Cape Girardeau. When our son, Brandon, was a kid, he outgrew his clothing about every six months and we would drive to the Steve & Barry’s in Cape to get him larger clothes. The rest of us would all pick out a few items, too. The prices were so reasonable it was worth the drive. It’s been 15 or more years since we’ve been to Steve & Barry’s, but the Mizzou sweatshirts I got from the chain remain intact.
Getting back to Grandpa Pidgeon’s, I patronized the one in Arnold for years because it sold wind-up pocket watches, the last brick-and-mortar store that I knew sold them. I hated to hear it closed.
■ Golf courses. I played a great deal of golf while I was in junior high and high school and continued to hit the links now and then through my college years. But, then again, I had three reasonably priced golf courses where I could play in south St. Louis County. All three are gone, replaced with housing developments.
There obviously are still several golf courses in the area, including some in Jefferson County, like Oak Valley Golf Course and Resort in Pevely, Joachim Golf Club in Herculaneum, Raintree Country Club in the Hillsboro area, Crystal Highlands Golf Course south of Festus and Sugar Creek Golf Course and Banquet Center in High Ridge, but the ones of my youth were plowed under long ago.
■ Kids playing pickup games: In my youth I took my baseball glove with me just about everywhere I went on the off chance I could find a pickup game of baseball, softball, fuzzball (another thing of the past, apparently) or any other game in which you hit a thrown pitch with a stick or bat. Often, I’d find a group of kids who would invite me to join a side.
I’d do the same thing if I saw a bunch of kids playing football, basketball or some other game.
How often do you see kids playing sports outside of organized leagues these days? My kids didn’t do it, not that we wanted them straying too far away from home.
I even brought a baseball glove with me when I reported to Coast Guard basic training in New Jersey. The powers that be made me mail it home, though. I didn’t know any better about bringing the glove. I brought it in case we were allowed some free time. I learned there was no free time, at least with fun involved.
Oh, well. Life goes on. As to all the fun things of the past, thanks for the memories.