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Your Nashville History by the old person on the boards
The fern bars came around when I was a very young adult--18ish. There was a TGIF by 1975 and I remember Ruby Tuesdays came at some point. No doubt the influx of restaurants began once Nashville allowed liquor by the drink in 1967--I was 9--and later on as more women joined the workforce in the early 70's and weren't home to cook. By 1987 when my daughter was born it was much closer to what it is today.
In the 60's, the little places that are now serving ethnic foods on Nolensville Rd were still houses and shops. From Harding Place to Thompson Lane was a Taco Tico, Banjo Barbecue, H Salt Fish & Chips, Steak Pit, and Catfish Shanty (I think) and the hamburger joints. My 4th grade teacher was horrified that my parents took me to Banjo Barbecue because they served beer.
Hotels and department stores would usually have a restaurant and there were the cafeterias like Morrison's. There were some non-American cuisines but they were mostly indies, not chains. Mike Petrone's had Italian. Omni Hut had Asian cuisine, La Fiesta had Mexican. I guess there were others, but we never went to ethnic restaurants. My mother can't handle spicy--anything more piquant than a dash of 4 year old McCormick's black pepper and she's not happy.
The fern bars came around when I was a very young adult--18ish. There was a TGIF by 1975 and I remember Ruby Tuesdays came at some point. No doubt the influx of restaurants began once Nashville allowed liquor by the drink in 1967--I was 9--and later on as more women joined the workforce in the early 70's and weren't home to cook. By 1987 when my daughter was born it was much closer to what it is today.
In the 60's, the little places that are now serving ethnic foods on Nolensville Rd were still houses and shops. From Harding Place to Thompson Lane was a Taco Tico, Banjo Barbecue, H Salt Fish & Chips, Steak Pit, and Catfish Shanty (I think) and the hamburger joints. My 4th grade teacher was horrified that my parents took me to Banjo Barbecue because they served beer.
Hotels and department stores would usually have a restaurant and there were the cafeterias like Morrison's. There were some non-American cuisines but they were mostly indies, not chains. Mike Petrone's had Italian. Omni Hut had Asian cuisine, La Fiesta had Mexican. I guess there were others, but we never went to ethnic restaurants. My mother can't handle spicy--anything more piquant than a dash of 4 year old McCormick's black pepper and she's not happy.
Marty Party
Back @ The Bridge
Armourboy
Hey! You suck!
But how did you feel about the cloth section? Most boring place ever. Only thing to look at was buttons and hope for someone to drop a spool of thread or something for entertainment.
But I did like the luncheonette--they had good hot dogs. I watched how they fried them open on the griddle and cook them that way now.
I do not even remember a toy section so it must have been really bad. I do remember getting a Romper Room "Willie the Weather Boy" colorforms set at the Woolworth's nearby with my birthday money. They were out of Wendy the Weather Girl so I made do.
Great history lesson !
I only got here in 92, so I didn’t see the real old history, but things were still much the same as earlier I think.
Downtown around Broadway, first, and second was just a few bars and stores, and 75% industrial / run down. Everything was old, virtually nothing new. The whole residential ring around the city was old. I guess BrentwoodFranklin always had money, but even they were sleepy little enclaves.
One funny thing I remember is there were absolutely no apartment buildings. Maybe one or two right downtown, but outside the city, you rented a house, no other option.
I only got here in 92, so I didn’t see the real old history, but things were still much the same as earlier I think.
Downtown around Broadway, first, and second was just a few bars and stores, and 75% industrial / run down. Everything was old, virtually nothing new. The whole residential ring around the city was old. I guess BrentwoodFranklin always had money, but even they were sleepy little enclaves.
One funny thing I remember is there were absolutely no apartment buildings. Maybe one or two right downtown, but outside the city, you rented a house, no other option.
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Regarding restaurants, I had the strange experience of working for Shoney’s for about a year. Thought I wanted to be a restaurant manager, and did their mgr training program.
Caught them right at the start of their decline. They were letting the places get run down and worn out, and were way over leveraged in other stuff like Red Roof Inn, 5th Quarter, and a couple other brands. They had owned Captain D’s for a long time, and that was supposedly their cash cow.
But they were terribly understaffed, always had the GM and AM serving, doing dishes, running the cash register, cleaning. Worst young servers ever, always pitching a fit and quitting right in the middle of their shift. Most of them mysteriously already had kids too. But the older ladies were actually life savers.
They were also forcing the GM’s to invest heavily in their own store, although there were still HQ people running around buying up as much as they could.
There was one old gal who owned a majority of several stores; she just drove around to all them daily, acting like the queen of England, terrorizing the peasants.
Needless to say, this all added up to the great implosion of Shoney’s in the 90’s. I’m not sure they have it right yet. Still see them closing all over the place, where people had loved them for 60-70 years.
On the interesting side, I did actually work with the wild man who killed all the people at the fast food places, and kidnapped the airport Shoney’s manager.
Caught them right at the start of their decline. They were letting the places get run down and worn out, and were way over leveraged in other stuff like Red Roof Inn, 5th Quarter, and a couple other brands. They had owned Captain D’s for a long time, and that was supposedly their cash cow.
But they were terribly understaffed, always had the GM and AM serving, doing dishes, running the cash register, cleaning. Worst young servers ever, always pitching a fit and quitting right in the middle of their shift. Most of them mysteriously already had kids too. But the older ladies were actually life savers.
They were also forcing the GM’s to invest heavily in their own store, although there were still HQ people running around buying up as much as they could.
There was one old gal who owned a majority of several stores; she just drove around to all them daily, acting like the queen of England, terrorizing the peasants.
Needless to say, this all added up to the great implosion of Shoney’s in the 90’s. I’m not sure they have it right yet. Still see them closing all over the place, where people had loved them for 60-70 years.
On the interesting side, I did actually work with the wild man who killed all the people at the fast food places, and kidnapped the airport Shoney’s manager.
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@desmondtootoo you worked with Paul Reid? I worked out at the same fitness center at Hermitage fitness for a brief period, creepy stuff.
Adz, the only Casters I really remember was Harding Mall and Hickory Hollow, both were okay, back in those days though, I shopped more at Chess King and Merry Go Round. Had to get those IOU sweatshirts, Guess overalls and Cavaricci pants and Sebago shoes. God, 80's clothes were ugly..... The only Harvey's I remember were downtown and 100 Oaks. I just remember the horses, though, not the actual store.
Adz, the only Casters I really remember was Harding Mall and Hickory Hollow, both were okay, back in those days though, I shopped more at Chess King and Merry Go Round. Had to get those IOU sweatshirts, Guess overalls and Cavaricci pants and Sebago shoes. God, 80's clothes were ugly..... The only Harvey's I remember were downtown and 100 Oaks. I just remember the horses, though, not the actual store.
Yeah, in my last month or so I met him in the old Shoneys across from Hermitage lanes. Strange guy, but couldn’t have guessed at what lay ahead.
NoNecksCurse
#164303
- Oct 19, 2011
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80s clothes are sharp. i like when people rock that style even in today’s times
even those massive sunglasses that looked like Ski goggles are back in style.
My son bought a pair of Pit Vipers, and I was like, what's up Macho Man.. He was like "who?"
NoNecksCurse
#164303
- Oct 19, 2011
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the right hair combo with some of those shades. you’re in business for real with that look
He's rocking a mullet right now..... That old school baseball cap hair flipping mullet..
Armourboy
Hey! You suck!
Apparently a lot of the early 90's stuff is slowly making a comeback too. Had a friend post about her daughter who was convinced this was a fresh new style, at which point she busted out old pictures from Highschool and horrified her daughter.
She took a picture and posted it, she was literally wearing an outfit one of my ex girlfriends used to wear all the time.
Apartments were around but admittedly they were rare, and people automatically assumed you were poor if you lived in one. My family lived in McMurray Manor from 1967 to 71--and my dad was an executive so there goes that theory. I remember a friend came over and was shocked, SHOCKED that we had air conditioning and 2 bathrooms. There were only 4 buildings then, one of those under construction. We were the first to live in C-2. Now there are probably 25-30--and Apartment C-2 is very very rundown!
@triggrman Donelson Plaza was probably built about 1960 so it predates Harding Mall a little (HM was fairly new when we moved back to Nashville from Virginia in 1967) but they both had cloth sections. If your mother didn't sew, you probably weren't exposed to the hell that is a cloth section. They were shut down later on, a happy day for your scribe, even though I wasn't 4 anymore. Remember the Scottish store? If it isn't Scottish, it's crap!
NoNecksCurse
#164303
- Oct 19, 2011
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damn that’s freaking sweet. especially on the baseball field
Armourboy
Hey! You suck!
The store I hated was the Service Merchandise down by the Fairgrounds. That was a heck of a drive for us in those days from Shelbyville.
Service Merchandise was Amazon before Amazon.
My parents were a hoot with that complex. It was quite amusing to my friends. We lived in C til 71, then again in 79 in K and then W at various times when I was still living with my parents (coming home to them over summer break). They also lived in the L building. Despite his having taught for 10 years or so, Metro made my father get his education degree. There's a teacher college in the town where my mom's homeplace is so they went back and forth between Athens and Nashville for years. Finally he got his degree so they were in N'ville a few years. By then he had enough years to retire so they stayed put in Alabama til my mother moved back here in 2019.
The restaurant I hated to see go, outside of the family owned ones (Cousers, Dairy King), was the Cooker. Oh and Steak and Ale, oh and the Peddler. Wow, I just had a "Navin" moment.
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I think I remember you mentioning that before.
I was both a mom of kids at and an interim teacher at Tulip Grove in Hermitage when that happened. The girl that sick so and so murdered at Capt. D's in Donelson was another teacher on staff's daughter's best friend. He was not the same after that--shook him to the core.
Shoney's in Donelson actually has a bar now--and it's pretty nice. Not sure if it's open at the moment due to Covid. I always liked certain things on their menu so getting to see Preds (or other hockey) games on TV and having the option of getting a mixed drink to go with my burger and fries was definitely a step up in my book.
Yeah I’ve been there a few times recently. They do have a full bar over on the bathroom side. They also put butcher paper on the tables between customers, like some steakhouses do. Kinda strange changes.
Buffet is there, but you have to be given your food, and it’s just a shadow of its former self anyway.
Dessert is now fossilized bits of melon or pineapple. So you have to buy any real dessert. They used to at least have the chocolate pudding that came in the 55-gallon drum. I actually like that stuff ...
Buffet is there, but you have to be given your food, and it’s just a shadow of its former self anyway.
Dessert is now fossilized bits of melon or pineapple. So you have to buy any real dessert. They used to at least have the chocolate pudding that came in the 55-gallon drum. I actually like that stuff ...
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