Gone but not forgotten: Knoxville area restaurants and retailers we miss.

[MAD]

Did anyone have lunch in a hot tub back in 1978?

 

[Vjcvette]

Did anyone have lunch in a hot tub back in 1978?

Hey I used to go to that very hot tub in the late 70's and they had a telephone back there and would call and check on you and bring your drinks back there. I went one time with a co-worker and there was also another guy back there and the hot tub was way too hot. So hot you could feel your cold drink go down lol, but the guy jumped up, hit the ceiling and did a cannonball in the hot tub and went all the way under and came out as red as a boiled Lobster lol.

 

[Vjcvette]

Gotta love that guy's outfit! Where'd you find that pic, Mad?

I remember the S&W! Not only in Knoxville, but also the one in downtown Asheville in the same time frame as the one here.

And now the Gay Street S&W is a beauty supply place and salon.. Just not the same, even if they kept the scale!

I Loved eating at the S & W in the late 70's

 

[Vjcvette]

We hadn't talked about this yet, but I find myself oddly missing Pilot gas stations around town. They were fixtures and familiar sights on the main thoroughfares around Knoxville for decades.

For you out-of-towners, the Haslems sold their convenience stores / gas stations to new owners a couple years ago. Now those stations bear names like Casey's and Good Stop. The truck stops that sell diesel are still Pilot / Flying Js.

Does anyone remember the Smokey dogs from Smokey Mountain markets, I loved them.

 

[Vjcvette]

Love the shoes he is wearing.
I miss traditional cafeterias. Going through the line and pointing out what I wanted. My favorite was the one in West Town.

I liked that one and the one downtown.

 

[Vjcvette]

Great little video on the history of Cumberland Ave. through the years.

Thanks for posting @mad4vols, I Love this video

 

[Vjcvette]

world felt so different 30 years ago.

Thanks for posting all of this nostalgia, it's like going back for a few minutes

 

[MAD]

Hey I used to go to that very hot tub I. The late 70's and they had a telephone back there and would call and check on you and bring g your drinks back there. I went one time with a co-worker and there was also another gut back there and the hot tub was way too hot. So hot you could feel your cold drink go down lol, but the guy jumped up, hit the ceiling and did a cannonball in the hot tub and went all the wY under and came out as red as a boiled Lobster lol.

Lol, great story

 

[Vjcvette]

Lol, great story

It was another one of those "Knoxville" experiences

 

[JCP201]

Little smokey hot dogs, Swensons (??) was that the name? And Glickos..

 

[Ted]

Article about the chain. Your Host Throughout The South

That was worth the visit, just for the info about the Big Chicken in Marietta, Georgia!



Did Knoxville ever have a wacky promotional structure for a business like that?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

That was worth the visit, just for the info about the Big Chicken in Marietta, Georgia!

Did Knoxville ever have a wacky promotional structure for a business like that?

Yes. The Sunsphere.

 

[Ted]

Yes. The Sunsphere.

Yeah, I guess you could say the Sunsphere was a promotional structure for United American Bank!

Anyplace else?

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Yeah, I guess you could say the Sunsphere was a promotional structure for United American Bank!

Anything else?

Shoney’s built the Hungry Fisherman with the fake lighthouse.

Darryl’s was known more as a museum than a maker of quality food.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Kay’s had the kid on the ladder climbing up the giant ice cream cone. But that was a sign rather than a structure. Like the KFC spinning bucket and the plastic Big Boy statues.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Pigeon Forge has several. The Titanic.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

Knoxville has balls.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

The box that the Hyatt came in:

 

[MAD]

That was worth the visit, just for the info about the Big Chicken in Marietta, Georgia!

View attachment 547767

Did Knoxville ever have a wacky promotional structure for a business like that?

The only things I can think of are the place that had the ice cream cone with the kid on a ladder, the big old Arby’s sign on Kingston pike and that seafood place on an island with the the lighthouse.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

The only things I can think of are the place that had the ice cream cone with the kid on a ladder, the big old Arby’s sign on Kingston pike and that seafood place on an island with the the lighthouse.

The Hungry Fisherman was built on the edge of Baum Lake rather than on an island.

 

[MAD]

The Hungry Fisherman was built on the edge of Baum Lake rather than on an island.

View attachment 547884

It felt like an island as a kid.

 

[Thunder Good-Oil]

.

 

[Vjcvette]

Then you have Shoney's

 

[TN-POSSUM]

As far as promotional structures, I always thought the "silo" at Calhoun's (Kingston Pike/ Pellissippi ) stood out.

 

[Vjcvette]

And Cas Walker's scissors sign