uberkayness

from north of the big river

2011-10-22T16:35:00.001-05:00

One year since the last time I'm back on the James River. And riding the Jamestown Ferry for the first time in four years. This time on the ferry Pocahontas pulling out of Jamestown and heading south for Scotland Wharf.

back to the James

2010-10-21T21:14:00.001-05:00

During a trip to Virginia to visit family and attend the Richmond Folk Festival, I did some field recording.

Having been by, but never to, Ragged Island WMA, I thought it'd be worth a try to record both the James River Bridge (longtime fixture in family history) and the river itself.

I started near the bridge. Which was fine for that objective. But later took the observation trail to further down river. Both places I used the highly kludged together Big Fluff windscreen made with fake fur on plastic cross stitch grid whatever.

James River at end of observation boardwalk trail, Ragged Island WMA, Carrollton VA, noon 8 October 2010

Roughly a 1/4 mile away, the bridge traffic is still a big part of the sound. Noontime sirens sound across the river in Newport News.

Birdsong at Tredegar Iron Works 9 October 2010

The next day at the Richmond Folk Festival, I barely had time to get out my lo-tek MP3 player to do a quick and dirty recording of this birdsong coming from a small tree near Tredegar Iron Works.

Train passing overhead on trestle near Tredegar Iron Works/James River, Richmond VA, 10 October 2010

That following day I took a break by the riverside and a train came over the trestle.

The last day there I went down to Chippokes Plantation State Park, where I hadn't been in over 3 years. Once there, I found a spot on the James I wanted to record.

Forgetting some essential adapter gizmo for mounting my recorder, the tripod was dead weight (on a very mosquito infested trail) and I had to improvise.

James River near end of James River trail, Chippokes Plantation State Park 13 October 2010

I recorded a couple of other spots on the beach, then switched to some DIY piezo mics for my first outdoor attempt at using them as hydrophones. Below is the sound of them dragging in shallow surf on sand and broken shells.

DIY piezo mics as hydrophones in the James River, Chippokes Plantation State Park 13 October 2010

Time allotted was running out. I went by the Visitor's Center to see if there was any last fast opportunity.

Near a picnic shelter I just fitted the recorder with the Lil' Fluff windscreen my wife had kindly fashioned from the aforementioned fake fur.

And pointed it down to the banks of the James roughly 100 feet below.

James River surf below Shelter 1 near Visitor's Center, Chippokes Plantation State Park 13 October 2010 A

James River surf below Shelter 1 near Visitor's Center, Chippokes Plantation State Park 13 October 2010 B

visitors

2010-07-10T19:45:00.002-05:00

welcome volunteer flowers

2010-04-20T11:07:00.004-05:00

33rd Floor

2010-04-01T21:27:00.005-05:00

the 3 faces of Chuck

2010-03-18T13:54:00.005-05:00

This Saturday may be the first official day of Spring, but the backyard neighbor just showed up this morning. And kindly insists:

It's my spring . . .

and welcome to it.

Elma Seward, 1921-2010

2010-01-22T07:56:00.004-05:00

From EJSeward

Early and often, things posted here were from a trip taken with my mom. Or things she had kept.

This Wednesday the 20th, she passed away.

Much as it's been for my brother who died February last year, this blog is an extended remembrance of the world in which she lived.

From EJSeward

ye olde Tinder Box

2009-12-30T19:19:00.004-05:00

Revisiting a post at That Mall's Sick And That Store's Dead! about the old Newmarket North mall, I recalled still having this stuff from the Tinder Box that was there three decades ago.

Pipe cleaners . . .

Pipe . . .

Everything but the three decade old pipe tobacco. (Huh . . .)

A closeup of the pipe's Tinder Box label:

Another view of the bag:

lit up like a Christmas tree

2009-12-24T14:49:00.003-05:00

Ida & the station

2009-12-20T22:47:00.002-05:00

Tropical Storm Ida
Originally uploaded by VaDOT

Yet another VDOT pic of TS Ida flooding.

My mom always said of this bridge that it should've extended past this low area toward higher ground.

As she's not a VDOT engineer and the businesses here likely wanted to keep the road frontage (and would still face occasional flooding), that was not to be . . .

Ida & the ferry

2009-12-20T22:31:00.002-05:00

Tropical Storm Ida, originally uploaded by VaDOT.

More from the aforementioned VDOT TS Ida set. This one at Scotland Wharf.

Ida on Flickr

2009-12-20T22:21:00.002-05:00

Tropical Storm Ida
Originally uploaded by VaDOT

VDOT also has a set of pics from the flooding in November from Tropical Storm Ida.

a VDOT view of the snow

2009-12-20T21:52:00.003-05:00

Photos posted on Flickr by the Virginia Department of Transportation of the recent snow storm.

Long Gone Away

2009-12-11T11:35:00.002-05:00

This homebrew music video uses some stills from the Night Wanderer post and one of the razed Walnut Mall lot. And an unblogged photo of the Coliseum Mall demolition.

Plus Super-8 footage circa 1998 of the so-called ghost house in my old neck of the woods and other area bits & pieces.

Like Pons Store or the James River seen from Hog Island.

hen evades tom turkey

2009-12-06T19:26:00.002-05:00

day of the Chuck

2009-11-01T19:30:00.003-05:00

Well, the backyard woodchuck is hanging in there as of this 1st day of November.

As these blurry photos can attest.

like old, only new

2009-10-22T19:09:00.002-05:00

Since my post about the old, long gone Thornburg VA Stuckey's, something odd has emerged.

Not a new Stuckey's, but a combination Miller's Mart/Dairy Queen that gives this ol' wayfarer déja vu all over again.

Like it's Stuckey's for a new millenium.

Or for an old era, watched over by a figure from a Captain Morgan's ad.

Old mainstays like bottle rockets, pop-its & other fireworks can still be found.

And questionable figurines of times past have been transmuted into howling wolves, dark castles and questing elves.

Now if I can only find the jokey trucker hats.

And someone to wear them.

friends in vinyl

2009-10-22T14:04:00.003-05:00

As this bit of arcana is more about "getting away" than "looking back", check out this link for the full story . . .

two turkeys roosting

2009-10-04T20:34:00.002-05:00

picking up hay bales

2009-08-10T12:01:00.003-05:00

courtesy Open Source Movies

Though several states north of and decades before my time & place, feel a bit of deja vu watching this film.

Esp. where the bales are hoisted into truck and barn by human hands.

Modern Trends in Swine Production-1961

2009-08-03T14:36:00.003-05:00

courtesy Prelinger Archives

The pastures and bigger lots seen later in the film are closer to what I remember. Some of the sights and all of the sounds match recollection.

Esp. the muted grunts and slamming feeder lids in this section and this one.

And the US Steel logo that appears is very familiar.

Film link and thumbnails at the Internet Archive . . .

roadside goodness returns

2009-08-03T01:36:00.004-05:00

Just FYI, folks: agilitynut is out in the Midwest and posting the pics and such to prove it.

Oh, ye olde Krispy Kreme . . .

And former Arby's . . .

And lend this an ear . . .

And a moment of silence for a good pig remembered . . .

wayback with Stuckey's

2009-07-26T13:48:00.003-05:00

To file under Stuckey's . . .

As things online have a pretty fast turnover, it's thanks to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine that old websites can still be visited.

The Stuck On Stuckey's site being a case in point . . .

There's a whole list of links to different editions, but this one will get you there.

As Petersburg gets mentioned here now and again, here's a postcard image of an old Stuckey's on US 301. From this list of Stuckey's images.

recent and not so recent

2009-07-23T18:53:00.004-05:00

The Smithfield Times kindly shares a few of the sights and sounds from this year's Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival.

Think it's been quite a while since I went.

Meantime, here are some images of cool old newspaper ads someone was good enough to post on Flickr.

Includes old Leggett, Home Quarters Warehouse, Circuit City, Revco and Roses ads. So check it out.

cars going by January last year

2009-07-15T00:54:00.007-05:00

Old recording of an old place. Kinda faint, so crank it to hear it.

The aforementioned passing cars, dogs faraway, wind and the creaking door.

what the moon said a year ago

2009-06-24T23:47:00.003-05:00

or sometime thereabouts . . .

backyard deer

2009-06-17T00:13:00.002-05:00

Yesterday at twilight.

hats off to agribusiness

2009-05-29T19:56:00.005-05:00

Some cool old swag circa 1980 back when United States Steel was into agribusiness.

Another artifact, likely from a decade or so ago, this hat from the Peanut Growers Cooperative Marketing Association:

A cursory Google search shows the PGCMA is still in the news.

Maybe a color image of the once ubiquitous blue Bravo hat is somewhere.

Till then, here's a detail from a black & white photo my oldest brother took. Not intended to show off the hat, the image may jog the memory of anyone who ever saw one of these.

seven on the flip side

2009-05-18T20:05:00.004-05:00

click for a closer view

The above is from circa spring 1978 when my oldest brother kindly send me a clipping of a Richmond Times-Dispatch article on jazz music.

Thirty-one years later, sifting through my old old stuff, I found these movie ads on the back.

Of all of these movies, I've only seen Which Way Is Up?. If working my way through to watch the others, the Pam Grier and Rudy Ray Moore look the most promising. The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 will likely wait.

IIRC, these were all Neighborhood Theatres. The GNH seen in the movie times was short for Good Neighbor Hour and designated the cheaper matinee showings.

Only the Byrd and the Towne (now known as the National) are still standing. The Byrd shows movies and features a cool theater organ. The National is a concert venue.

But even the fallen Colonial, Capitol and State theaters live on at Cinema Treasures. All sorts of links to photos and such can be found, including this old newsreel of the State Theatre's opening in 1933 (no audio):

your handwriting analyzed

2009-05-14T23:30:00.005-05:00

Well, actually, as mentioned long ago, my handwriting (digitally scrubbed away):

Analyzed circa 1971 by a computer set up in Mercury Plaza in Hampton.

While one or two out of the five results were somewhere in the ballpark, the others were pretty off base:

I had just learned cursive lettering (and have since sworn off of it).

Sound '78 @ the Virginia Beach Dome

2009-05-12T00:08:00.004-05:00

Yeah, back in July 1977, my brother took me to the Sound '78 expo at the Virginia Beach Dome and all I got was this frisbee.

Oh, and a program . . .

Rather like the stereo man. It's like some dude really wanted to be John Lennon but instead became a reel-to-reel based component stereo system.

Nope, sorry, no memories of the wondrous Klatu the Quasar robot. [UPDATE: very cool Quasar image here.] Just my cluelessly wandering through display tables of stereo gear . . .

Gotta love the tie-in here to the 1976 Presidential Debate (my highlighting below):

This was before my days as a noisy popster, so I didn't even notice any instruments and music gear there.

But it's funny now to see vintage gear like the Electro-Harmonix Small Stone and Big Muff listed so clinically under their model numbers. Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to 1977 . . .

book of Surrey House matches

2009-05-09T00:10:00.002-05:00

The Surrey House Restaurant has come and gone and come again.

These matches came from whenever it was that the management there also ran the Coppahaunk Restaurant in Waverly.

pen from Loraine's

2009-05-08T00:40:00.004-05:00

You've seen the jacket, now the pen.

A bro'

2009-02-25T13:17:00.004-05:00

My brother, Philip Alexander Seward, passed away last night at age 62.

He started out a young fellow who many thought would be on his way someplace. He'd graduated a year early from high school, attended Virginia Tech for a time, then VCU. Went on to work as an bank auditor and an accountant.

But he had chronic health conditions that made his life an uneasy roller coaster ride in both mood and metabolism. Ultimately, any conventional plans he had were undone.

After doing what he could and living everywhere from New York to Florida, he moved back home to live with his mom.

Restless and seeking sociability, he'd frequent restaurants, cafes, truck stops, diners and convenience store counters in nearby Surry, or in Ivor or Windsor or Waverly or Suffolk or Portsmouth. Out there somewhere he might talk to a trucker or a farmer or a waitress or the owner of where he was or someone else passing through.

In later years at home, he'd watch international business news on satellite TV, always seeking information and looking for a connection to the flow of events that his plans might have made for him out in the world.

As his physical condition became less steady, he chose to go out less frequently and to places closer by.

He moved to a rest home in Richmond early last year. His health continued to decline despite the efforts and attentions of so many, including his mom, eldest brother and sister-in-law. In form and comprehension, he was shrinking and becoming ever frailer. And at some point, the coming of this day became obvious.

So I created a label that tied together the bits of him I'd shared here with everyone & anyone & no one in particular.

He's the second sax player from the left here:

The wild knit shirt there are two sides to is one he wore (no doubt while dancing the Hustle in Va. Beach) in the '70s. The jacket from Loraine's Restaurant in Ivor is his old jacket from his old haunt. He was the one who told me there was a Stuckey's coming. Or the one I met for lunch at a now long gone Smithfield steakhouse.

He was a big part of this vanishing world, where I'd grown up and where I'd go back to visit.

And now like Elvis (or I should say James Brown), he's left the building. And the stage lights are down.

signing off

2009-01-31T22:03:00.005-05:00

Earlier this month.

And some years back, on a once familiar road . . .

Click images for a closer look.

3 1/2 sunsets in June 1998

2009-01-16T00:51:00.006-05:00

lit up like an angel

2008-12-24T01:39:00.004-05:00

sea change

2008-12-05T12:35:00.002-05:00

No bigger a shift than the one 'twixt Nixon '68 and McGovern '72 . . .

key rings long ago

2008-12-02T00:57:00.005-05:00

Hee Haw

Gwaltney Ham, now a brand of Smithfield Foods.

This one actually saw some use.

A souvenir from a visit to the NASA Langley Research Center back in the 1970s.

First Union

the bell beneath

2008-11-30T00:01:00.004-05:00

Lost beside a phone pole is an old Bell System marker for a buried line.

(Click images for closer views.)

vanishing pt

2008-11-29T13:27:00.002-05:00

A few dispatches from Afton Mountain, an old tourist stop near Skyline Drive:

Recent images of the abandoned HoJo's.

Earlier images of the abandoned Skyline Parkway Motel (now demolished) and the HoJo's.

And oh, even more recent images.

a blue kerchief

2008-11-15T23:22:00.003-05:00

tie of many colors

2008-11-14T18:32:00.006-05:00

The NRC forbids me to put this tie anywhere close to this shirt.

(This tie was indeed worn by the same fellow, but never at the same time.)

Please use its power wisely.

ads from '52

2008-11-03T00:04:00.006-05:00

An old print ad for Peebles.

Geo. Delk is no stranger either.

If memory serves, Bett's later became a Southern department store (which later became a Peebles).

One can find a Smithfield Farmers sticker here.

The face of the independent phone company back then.

I recall a very cool old neon sign at the Virginia Kernel. So far this ad's all I've found of the now long gone establishment.

All the above are more hasty photos, these being of ads in a program for Surry County's tricentennial celebrated in October 1952.

there was a band

2008-10-31T08:41:00.005-05:00

Nope, not mine (before my time) . . .

Theirs.

(Click picture for a bigger, better view . . .)

there was a boy

2008-10-17T10:57:00.005-05:00

Well, a boy and a deer . . .

In this detail from the top pic, you can better see the collar and cowbell (deerbell?) on the deer:

Thus, a tame deer and the relatively calm proximity.

4 views of an old house

2008-09-27T11:51:00.005-05:00

You'd think an old house in Dendron VA wouldn't gather so much notice.

But Flickr, with its long reach and aggregate worldwide view, shows otherwise.

Since the first pic I saw posted, a Polaroid taken by Look In The Tunk, I've found 3 other Flickrites who've clicked a pic or two or more of the same house.

One intrepid band indeed appears to have noticed the house on a roadtrip north from Carolina up through the counties of Southhampton & Sussex. Another explorer took a close view, probably wondering how long such a house might stand.

I can only very hazily recall that maybe 40 or so years ago I might've known some folks who lived in that house. Or was it some other house?

a year ago & faraway

2008-09-23T22:24:00.005-05:00

One morning last fall.

On the planet Solaris maybe.

turkeys out back

2008-08-24T18:41:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday morning, a hen and her young (ten or so chicks) stroll through.

(Later, this evening, a different set of wings . . .)

circa '45

2008-08-17T15:35:00.004-05:00

Yet more postcards. The ones above from Chicago, the ones below from California.

persistence of vision: street view

2008-08-09T08:51:00.009-05:00

Type in a town, a street, maybe a full address and you might get more than a map or an aerial view from Google Maps. You might get a street view of the recent past.

Above is Little's Supermarket. Below is Angelo's. (Again, both images courtesy Google . . .)

Both are closed. And both are still standing (or were as of late June). But they may not stand like this forever. Here they are, probably as they were one day last fall.

And near or far on any road that's been documented, you can see a little ways back in time.

With tiled images creating a 360 degree view at any given point, it's like nostalgia's become a video game.

scanning the past

2008-08-02T11:08:00.007-05:00

Some picture postcards from old family correspondence during World War II. (A current photo of the scene above. Or check out Street View on Google.)

A color logo from USO stationary:

A logo from a USO envelope flap:

The blog USO Clubs in World War II has picture postcards from various USO locations during the war.

more of the less-Bennigan's, Steak & Ale

2008-08-02T10:00:00.002-05:00

That Mall's Sick And That Store's Dead! (aka Sickmalls) posts photos of a Bennigan's and a Steak & Ale. Evidently, I'm not alone in wearing a black armband for Butters.

Not being much of a theme restaurant goer, I find my interest is more about how these places become landmarks in current and (later on) remembered space. These two are on the outskirts of what was Coliseum Mall, Hampton VA.

persistence of vision: Walnut Mall, Petersburg VA

2008-07-25T08:52:00.008-05:00

As posted back in the fall of '06, I tried taking my mom by the Walnut Mall where she used to go way back when. It was by then a red clay lot awaiting a new Food Lion to be born. The adjacent Crater Cinema building was still there (repurposed as a church), but the mall was gone.

Thanks to the online sleuthing of That Mall's Sick And That Store's Dead! (aka Sickmalls) one could check the Virginia Film Office location site & find interior & exterior shots of the vanished mall.

Unfortunately, though the location page still exists for Walnut Mall, the pictures are gone. Perhaps deleted--I can't say for sure.

UPDATE 29 Sept 2008--Forget what I wrote above and try this link for the VA Film Office pics of Walnut Mall:
http://va.reel-scout.com/loc_detail.aspx?id=2657&g=

(Thinking out loud: If these images ~~have been~~ ever are deleted, I hope the Virginia Film Office will pass along copies/hard originals to the Library of Virginia or some appropriate historical group or archive. Perhaps make them available online again as images of Virginia's recent past.)

Thankfully, an informative Labelscar post about Walnut Mall still has two cool pics from 1991. While some things had likely changed, I know these pictures revive my own faded memories of the mall (of Thalheimer's and Peoples Drug, in particular) as it was in the early 1970s.

Also the Labelscar post links to aerial images of the area that still (so far) show the old Walnut Mall.

Sometimes it's good when things lag a bit and information is not so up to date.

two sides to every shirt

2008-07-16T10:50:00.004-05:00

Well, this shirt anyway.

Recently decommissioned by an anonymous acquaintance who once upon a time tripped the light fantastic in such as this. Down Va. Beach way, or so I'm told.

Even long gone and reduced to pixels, the shirt puts out quite a vibe. Click either side if you dare to look closer.

add on without permit

2008-07-11T21:03:00.005-05:00

Here's one way of expanding your living space.

Tho' things soon become a blur . . .

And you realize it's all a mirage.

fuzzy photo of a cool concertina

2008-07-07T09:14:00.002-05:00

An er, umm informally photographed concertina animated and joined by this singing gentleman.

At this festival.

Taken by one who was no less than a loyal fan of both . . .

c'mon Revco light my fire

2008-07-04T00:01:00.009-05:00

Another Revco item, this from circa 1980-1981 (back when I had a Zippo lighter and before I quit smoking).

supermarket arcana

2008-07-03T12:26:00.006-05:00

The above image is nowhere near actual size (something like 3/4" high by 1/2" wide). I'm not sure what one could get with enough Sav-A-Stamps saved (before the expiration date--here it's January 1, 1960). But I do recall the Colonial Stores supermarket in Smithfield.

Below are the front & back views of a old Food Fair courtesy card from the early 1970s:

1990 ticket from Smithfield Little Theatre

2008-06-19T20:05:00.004-05:00

As the stub is still attached, I'm not sure if this ticket was used.

The Smithfield Little Theatre is still going. Back when this ticket was sold, its home was the Cotton Gin Theatre. Since then, a new theatre has been built.

chipmunk and chipmunk observer

2008-06-09T01:01:00.002-05:00

last fall's unseen Flickr

2008-06-05T00:01:00.007-05:00

I posted a lot of pictures from Virginia last fall, but I didn't get around to these.

this Bicentennial Minute is brought to you by

2008-06-04T00:01:00.004-05:00

Another ad from the July 4, 1976 Richmond Times-Dispatch:

Though the above image can be clicked for a closer look, I rather liked the logo (and vaguely remember it from phone books gone by):

And here's a clickable & somewhat less blurry look at the Virginia Independent Telephone Association members as of 1976:

Actually, from what I can tell these nearly 32 years later, close to half of these independent phone companies still exist on the membership roll.

But the "IT" in VITA has since switched to "TI" as in the Virginia Telecommunications Industry Association (VTIA). And joining the locals are big dogs like Cox, Comcast, Sprint and Verizon.

Such changes notwithstanding, the existence of these small independents is of interest . . .

Little's Supermarket ad 1994

2008-06-03T00:01:00.004-05:00

Having posted about the closing of Little's Supermarket last year and such, I thought I'd put up this item I found clipped from the March 2, 1994 Smithfield Times:

Click on the image for a closer look.

Spirit of 17.76

2008-06-02T01:30:00.004-05:00

Back when my mom saved sections of the July 4, 1976 Richmond Times-Dispatch, I doubt she foresaw that I'd be paying more attention to the ads. Click the images for a closer look.

An ad for sight n' sound's bicentennial sale (please note the $17.76 pricing on the speakers and portable cassette recorder):

Here's a Murphy's Mart ad:

And an ad for Moore's Building Materials:

the tom turkey strut

2008-05-27T23:24:00.004-05:00

Local turkey hopes to attract any hens in viewing distance. At 3:46 he even flaps his wings.

UPDATE: On audiokayness, the sound of one turkey gobbling. Also the sounds of the same turkey in a thunderstorm . . .

Home Quarters Warehouse

2008-05-20T22:03:00.011-05:00

More old receipts, these from the Home Quarters Warehouse that was in the now long gone Mercury Plaza on Mercury Blvd. in Hampton VA. The receipt above is from 1990 (over 18 years ago). The one below from 1995 is shown in detail only with accompanying details from the delivery slip.

UPDATE August 2008: Found the following HQ tag:

UPDATE July 2009: A Flickr friend posted this cool old HQ newspaper ad from 1995.

And as of August '09: same Flickr friend posted this image of the Hampton HQ store from a newspaper clipping.

robins

2008-05-13T23:31:00.003-05:00

As some deviation from the closeups and scans of old stuff, here is a short clip of some robins nesting out front.

They're also mentioned here.

a Little receipt

2008-05-12T23:27:00.006-05:00

Last fall I posted about the closing of Little's Supermarket in Smithfield VA.

Sifting through some stray papers, I recently found an old receipt from Little's from mid-October 2006 (a few weeks before this blog was started). Above is a detail. Below is all there is of a Little receipt--which can be clicked for a bigger view.

Isle of Wight County

2008-05-09T00:00:00.001-05:00

About 18 years ago, a friend of my mom's made her this needlepoint map of Isle of Wight County. One specially added detail was a mark designating my mom's birthplace.

For a closer look, click the image. The little ship figures northwest of Smithfield are meant to represent the Idle Fleet, I think. The bridge just to the right of the blue fish figures is the James River Bridge.

Chester Valley Chicks

2008-05-08T19:56:00.004-05:00

Above is a detail from an envelope I found last month folded up into a small square and used as a core to wrap thread around.

According to my mom, the envelope was likely from the 1930s. My grandma would buy chicks to raise and for a while there was getting them through the mail.

I never knew that chicks or any other live animals could be mailed, but evidently it's still possible.

Click the envelope pic below for the big overview.

Miller & Rhoads return

2008-05-07T14:03:00.004-05:00

With all these recent photos of old retail stuff, I have to mention BrandlandUSA's latest post, When Will Richmond Bring Back Miller & Rhoads?

hangers and bags

2008-05-06T22:47:00.005-05:00

More hasty photos, this time of coat hangers and suit bags.

Click the photo below for a closer look at a hanger from The Hub ("Tidewater's Most Popular Stores").

JC Penney

2008-05-05T22:24:00.003-05:00

Here's a fairly old item from JC Penney.

Below are pics of a fairly recent JC Penney gift box. (Look In The Tunk has posted some Polaroids of the former Coliseum Mall store.)

Peebles

2008-05-05T21:51:00.007-05:00

Peebles is still around, but it's been some time since it had a store in Wakefield. I can only vaguely picture where that store would've been.

Most of these other items are likely from the Peebles in Smithfield.

says yes

2008-05-05T20:36:00.009-05:00

I was out of the area by the time the Rices Nachmans department store chain had been absorbed by Hess's. There was a store in Warwick Village, but my mom likely got these shopping at the one in Coliseum Mall.

a friend for life

2008-05-05T13:28:00.007-05:00

Most if not all of these old Revco drug store items came from the store in Smithfield.

Happy Home hangups

2008-05-04T23:44:00.005-05:00

in Petersburg it's Rucker Rosenstock

2008-05-04T23:40:00.008-05:00

What I know or recall of Rucker Rosenstock would find spacious accommodation on the point of a needle. But the store is mentioned in a DeadMalls entry on the long gone Walnut Mall. And in this Labelscar entry.

stuck again

2008-05-04T23:36:00.003-05:00

totally stuck

2008-05-04T23:17:00.016-05:00

just a quick flash

2008-05-04T20:46:00.003-05:00

Short bit of lightning on video.

on 460 just outside of Ivor

2008-05-04T18:05:00.005-05:00

Near the new Stuckey's where the Midway Restaurant is now, there used to be Loraine's Restaurant. Lord knows when that was, the late 1980s, the early 90s?

The same place was another restaurant before (the Homestead, maybe, I forget) and a number of restaurants thereafter. The Blue Moose sticks in my mind. Jack's Roadside Grill I forgot about, but it's still listed online. There were other names under other management.

Anyway, the above image off my brother's old jacket is one of the few things left of Loraine's. It was an old haunt of his well after the jacket was obsolete.

that extra yard

2008-05-04T09:42:00.011-05:00

Indeed, four yards plus a meter. The yardstick above is from a long gone local Chevy dealership (def. click the image for a more substantial view).

Below are hasty segment pics of the rest. A meter stick from JC Penney (prob. the first metric item in my parents' household) circa the early 1970s. Plus three yardsticks, the bottom two from area businesses (Ivor Furniture's still around).

Leggett

2008-05-03T21:09:00.008-05:00

Once upon a time, Leggett Department Stores were everywhere in southeastern Virginia.

Here are a few hastily photographed artifacts from that time. Below is label off a suit bag from the Greenbrier Mall store.

My mom likes to tell the story about her and me in the Leggett that was once in downtown Suffolk. I was a preschooler or thereabouts then. I went to the customer service counter, told the lady there I was lost and she'd page my mom over the PA saying her kid was at the customer service desk. I did this twice in one day. And my mom, tho' still somewhat amused the second time, announced she'd leave me there the third time around. Telling the story, she likes to say I didn't have her paged again after that.

'Course the fact is: that Leggett (all two floors of it) was not a place where even a young kid could get lost. And the game was yielding diminishing returns for all concerned.

ancient swag

2008-04-15T00:12:00.009-05:00

Some artifacts from a personal archeological dig of sorts. One ashtray and two rulers (give or take), circa mid-1960s to early 1970s.

As of this entry, Northern Neck still exists, Pioneer is part of DuPont and Dairyland is part of Sentry Insurance.

sick in a good way . . .

2008-04-07T18:23:00.003-05:00

[reposted from unterkayness, epic backstory to be found there]

On her way to work, school and Lane Bryant, Anita Rose has been keeping tabs on dead & dying retail in the Hampton Roads area and thereabouts. The now long gone Coliseum Mall and Mercury Plaza. The pretty much totally repurposed Newmarket North/Newmarket Fair mall. The extant time machine to '89 that is Southpark Mall.

Beyond southeastern Virginia, the Sickmalls blog has links to other retail blogs and sites dedicated to once ubiquitous chains like Caldor and Ames. And Anita also has a hand in Deadmalls.com.

But shunting over to the big grid experience, you'll miss some cool details and such.

So go see for yourself why That Mall's Sick And That Store's Dead! wins with special recommendation the E for Excellent blog award.

waiting for the light

2008-04-01T21:37:00.003-05:00

Shot while waiting for a green light.

Shot while waiting for any light.

Shot while wading into every light.

Shot while the lights moved.

Shot as the lights slowed down.

groundhog!!!

2008-03-26T21:43:00.005-05:00

As Rudy Vallée and Robert Morse would intone on stage & screen.

Or more plainly, the first woodchuck sighting of the year. This past Monday it was.

Long live Chucky . . .

FYI: S&H Green Stamps sign on Flickr

2008-03-15T12:18:00.004-05:00

On unterkayness--photo of a freakin' S&H Green Stamps sign found posted on Flickr.

According the Wikipedia entry, S&H Green Stamps made their money from the fact that people didn't bother licking all those Green Stamps and putting them in the redemption books.

I doubt they made much off my mom, who I vaguely recall cashing in what stamps she had for sundry items.

Black Velvet Moses

2008-03-14T20:54:00.007-05:00

About 10 years ago, I walked into the Salvation Army Thrift Store on Mercury Blvd. in Hampton VA and saw this painting near the kitchenware.

An El Greco-esque black velvet incarnation of Isaac Hayes as Black Moses.

Indeed, a painting of a photo (this one).

So the above are photos of a painting of a photo--recording one of the better moments in thrift store iconography.

inside & out

2008-03-11T20:36:00.004-05:00

out up & over

2008-03-10T00:17:00.005-05:00

taken Winter 1981/82

Elberon VA farm

view of Elliewood Ave., Charlottesville VA

behind The Corner in Charlottesville

taken Feb 2008 near the Berkley-Dighton MA Bridge

folksy festival arcana

2008-02-24T12:00:00.010-05:00

The Pork, Peanut and Pine Festival began in 1976 and, as you can see, is still running.

Below is an closeup of the datestamp on the back of the postcard.

Likewise the Newport News Festival of Folklife is still running annually. (Click images below to view full size.)

At this 5th annual Festival in 1978, my mom was helping my aunt & my cousin with baking angel flake biscuits as one of the exhibits.

Meanwhile, I was mesmerized by a hammered dulcimer on display nearby. And spent a good part of an afternoon watching a blues musician maybe because or in spite of his playing & singing "Kansas City" over and over again.

holding up while falling down

2008-02-16T11:55:00.007-05:00

Taken in the winter of 1984/85.

My mom heard stories that this house was haunted.

Taken in May 1993.

People riding past at night had seen a blue-eyed baby on the rooftop.

But then some men (laborers of some kind--details vary: ditch diggers, gravediggers) dug up something in the cellar. Treasure.

Super 8 footage shot circa 1998.

Since then, there have been no ghosts seen here.

Taken in October 2004.

But I call it the Ghost House.

Taken in October 2006.

As it's lonesome like a ghost.

Taken in September 2007.

And prone to disappearing.

treble clef found on US 460

2008-02-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

I finally found that treble clef in the Melody Inn sign.

Below is the missing clef picture taken during the Walnut Mall [also missing] pilgrimage of Fall 2006.

Thanks again to the Sickmalls blog for the Walnut Mall link at the Virginia Film Office site.

just starting to dawn on me

2008-02-07T13:56:00.000-05:00

We've had twilight and night, so here's dawn.

to Flickr into view

2008-02-06T22:18:00.000-05:00

Pics from a snowy day in January.

Now beside an icy river.

all yawns great & small

2008-02-06T00:36:00.000-05:00

Belatedly I guess, I'm goofing around with uploading some pics to my long-ignored Flickr account.

While I'm not thinking of flooding the Internet with too many more cute cat photos, I figure a few will be okay. Other themes and subjects, like those found here etc., should be forthcoming.

As I do prefer uploading & posting here, we'll see how it goes.

one frosty morning

2008-02-04T14:18:00.000-05:00

No need for prose . . .

just mist that froze.