What Charleston Was Like Way Back When . . . (Part 1)
Or at the very least, the way that I remember It?
Note: The first version of this article was originally posted March 4, 2015. However in the following few years, it was updated and improved several times. The size of the article increased significantly with the addition of several vintage advertisements; those changes exceeded limits for the Blogger host site. Therefore it was split into two parts.
Part 2 can be found at:
http://ko-op.blogspot.com/2018/02/what-charleston-was-like-way-back-when.html
It has been fifty years since I began working at the Ko-Op in the fall (November 1964) near the end of my first quarter of EIU classes. I lived about a block away in a basement on 9th street, and the day I applied to work at the Ko-Op was the first time I had been inside the campus hangout. I had walked by a few times, but had cooking privileges at the house I lived in and seldom ate out.
I graduated four years later (August 1968) and taught one year at Edwardsville High School (Joe Lucco of Illinois coaching fame was my principal; one of the finest administrators that I ever worked with in my career)*. I moved back to Charleston in the summer of 1969, took a teaching position with Urbana School District 216 and commuted to and from Urbana and later Champaign (Parkland College) for two decades.
Since moving away from Charleston in the fall of 1988, I’ve been back to visit several times. All three of my children grew up there and graduated from Charleston High. The two oldest completed their undergraduate degrees at Eastern; the youngest son chose Illinois State University in Bloomington. I was around town for several years and saw a lot of the changes that occurred over those five decades.
In my early college years, Charleston did not have many fast food chains. Dairy Queen was open in the warmer months (Located toward the northside of town at Division and State next to a miniature golf course); later another DQ opened near campus on Lincoln - at one time the Herb Brooks family operated both DQ businesses **.
After more than four decades of doing business in Charleston, Dog and Suds located on the east end of Lincoln Avenue (Now the site of an O'Brien Auto Parts) closed in December 2009 - it was out past the then site of the IGA Grocery.
Eventually in the Seventies, several fast food restaurants came to 'Chucktown' including Hardees, Kentucky Fried Chicken, McDonalds, Subway and others.
In the Fifties and Sixties, the three eating places close to campus were (1) Walt's, (2) Ike's Little Campus and (3) the Ko-Op (Followed by the opening of the Short-Stop in the mid-Sixties). A few months before I graduated in 1968, news came out that Ike Kennard had gotten a liquor license, and he and his sons were changing Ike's to a bar - sounded like a sound business decision and also great timing with the next few years bringing Illinois a drop of the drinking age to 18 years old (Vietnam War era - old enough to fight and die but not old enough to drink).
Pagliai’s Pizza (Pronounced Poly-eyes) had already opened by the Fall of 1964, and was located in the strip mall next to the Ford dealership, adjacent to the bowling alley (East end of Lincoln). Last time I checked, all were in the same location except the auto dealership had changed names and maybe models. Pagliai’s expanded into a Midwest chain.
Was the locally-owned (Not part of the national franchise chain) Burger King open on Lincoln Avenue by the mid-Sixties? I believe so . . . it was operated by Dale Hoots of Mattoon. Dale's brother Gene and sister-in-law, Betty, ran the Burger King in Mattoon.
Back in the day, another popular eating place for college students was the Little Venice restaurant (On one-way Sixth Street down near the town branch), where one could order an inexpensive pasta dinner and a bottle of cheap Chianti wine.
The 'Little V' closed in the Seventies, and the owner moved on to building and running a gas station on west Lincoln Avenue (Near the site of the 17 Club Bar). Also during the early Seventies, another Mattoon restaurant opened a second business location (After Burger King) in Charleston: Little Mexico on the east side of the Square.
But jumping back to the fall of 1964, Schmidt’s Drive-In was still in operation - on the southeast side of town on Hway 130 as one headed out toward the Charleston Drive-In Theater. Schmidt’s had ‘car hops’ and they were still hanging trays on car door windows. After closing for the winter one year, Schmidt’s never reopened. The drive-in theater also closed a few decades ago . . . but not before some legendary Ko-Op car-load outings there (Have memories of double-features c1967 and have never been a huge fan of Mogen David Concord Wine since. But it will get you there!).
The Ko-Op closed at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoons, reopened Sat. morning and then closed at 2 p.m. in the afternoon. Friday was also payday, and some of us dined out those evenings. Green’s Restaurant was located just off the town square (A few buildings SW on Jackson Avenue). Friday’s evening menu featured broasted chicken served with a baked or mashed potatoes and gravy, a salad, choice of vegetable (corn or green beans usually), a bread roll, and followed by Pie à la Mode (Green’s made their own ice cream?). I don’t remember when Green’s closed their doors, but they were still in business when I graduated. I believe that the last time I ate there was the night before I got married.
This is the first portion of this article; it continues at What Charleston Was Like Way Back When . . . Part 2:
http://ko-op.blogspot.com/2018/02/what-charleston-was-like-way-back-when.html
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
* Joe Lucco coached three legendary basketball players who all played for the U of IL in the late Fifties: Govoner Vaughn, Manny Jackson and Don Ohl. After 39 years as teacher, coach and administrator, Joe retired from Edwardsville School District and was elected to serve as an Illinois State Representative (Democrat, Dist. 56).
** Herb Brooks had worked at Walt’s with Larry Mizener, and in 1964 he was the grade school principal in Rardin. In those days, Herb often helped on Sunday mornings by taking orders and payments at the cash register. After church, customers lined up for our deep-fried chicken dinners. I recognized Herb's ‘Brooks look’ the first time, that first weekend that I worked at the Ko-Op.
Two Brooks brothers and their families lived in Findlay; their kids went to Findlay schools - - first cousins, Charlotte and David, graduated in my class. Herb was born in Moweaqua and graduated from Lovington High. He served in the Air Force during the Korean War, then returned to Charleston and EIU. He was a cousin of the Brooks families in Findlay. I later worked with Herb's younger brother, Jim Brooks, who was a music and band instructor in Urbana Schools.
Herb left Charleston Schools and worked for the University as Assistant Director and later Director of the Student Union (1966-1978). He retired from EIU in 1987 as Director of Veterans Services. By then, Herb had purchased the DQs in Charleston. Herb Brooks, age 69, died in April 2001 at his rural Charleston home. His wife, Darlene, died in Feb. 2012.
Note: The first version of this article was originally posted March 4, 2015. However in the following few years, it was updated and improved several times. The size of the article increased significantly with the addition of several vintage advertisements; those changes exceeded limits for the Blogger host site. Therefore it was split into two parts.
Part 2 can be found at:
http://ko-op.blogspot.com/2018/02/what-charleston-was-like-way-back-when.html
 |
| Click on image(s) to enlarge |
I graduated four years later (August 1968) and taught one year at Edwardsville High School (Joe Lucco of Illinois coaching fame was my principal; one of the finest administrators that I ever worked with in my career)*. I moved back to Charleston in the summer of 1969, took a teaching position with Urbana School District 216 and commuted to and from Urbana and later Champaign (Parkland College) for two decades.
Since moving away from Charleston in the fall of 1988, I’ve been back to visit several times. All three of my children grew up there and graduated from Charleston High. The two oldest completed their undergraduate degrees at Eastern; the youngest son chose Illinois State University in Bloomington. I was around town for several years and saw a lot of the changes that occurred over those five decades.
In my early college years, Charleston did not have many fast food chains. Dairy Queen was open in the warmer months (Located toward the northside of town at Division and State next to a miniature golf course); later another DQ opened near campus on Lincoln - at one time the Herb Brooks family operated both DQ businesses **.
After more than four decades of doing business in Charleston, Dog and Suds located on the east end of Lincoln Avenue (Now the site of an O'Brien Auto Parts) closed in December 2009 - it was out past the then site of the IGA Grocery.
In the Fifties and Sixties, the three eating places close to campus were (1) Walt's, (2) Ike's Little Campus and (3) the Ko-Op (Followed by the opening of the Short-Stop in the mid-Sixties). A few months before I graduated in 1968, news came out that Ike Kennard had gotten a liquor license, and he and his sons were changing Ike's to a bar - sounded like a sound business decision and also great timing with the next few years bringing Illinois a drop of the drinking age to 18 years old (Vietnam War era - old enough to fight and die but not old enough to drink).
Pagliai’s Pizza (Pronounced Poly-eyes) had already opened by the Fall of 1964, and was located in the strip mall next to the Ford dealership, adjacent to the bowling alley (East end of Lincoln). Last time I checked, all were in the same location except the auto dealership had changed names and maybe models. Pagliai’s expanded into a Midwest chain.
Was the locally-owned (Not part of the national franchise chain) Burger King open on Lincoln Avenue by the mid-Sixties? I believe so . . . it was operated by Dale Hoots of Mattoon. Dale's brother Gene and sister-in-law, Betty, ran the Burger King in Mattoon.
Back in the day, another popular eating place for college students was the Little Venice restaurant (On one-way Sixth Street down near the town branch), where one could order an inexpensive pasta dinner and a bottle of cheap Chianti wine.
The 'Little V' closed in the Seventies, and the owner moved on to building and running a gas station on west Lincoln Avenue (Near the site of the 17 Club Bar). Also during the early Seventies, another Mattoon restaurant opened a second business location (After Burger King) in Charleston: Little Mexico on the east side of the Square.
But jumping back to the fall of 1964, Schmidt’s Drive-In was still in operation - on the southeast side of town on Hway 130 as one headed out toward the Charleston Drive-In Theater. Schmidt’s had ‘car hops’ and they were still hanging trays on car door windows. After closing for the winter one year, Schmidt’s never reopened. The drive-in theater also closed a few decades ago . . . but not before some legendary Ko-Op car-load outings there (Have memories of double-features c1967 and have never been a huge fan of Mogen David Concord Wine since. But it will get you there!).
The Ko-Op closed at 4 p.m. on Friday afternoons, reopened Sat. morning and then closed at 2 p.m. in the afternoon. Friday was also payday, and some of us dined out those evenings. Green’s Restaurant was located just off the town square (A few buildings SW on Jackson Avenue). Friday’s evening menu featured broasted chicken served with a baked or mashed potatoes and gravy, a salad, choice of vegetable (corn or green beans usually), a bread roll, and followed by Pie à la Mode (Green’s made their own ice cream?). I don’t remember when Green’s closed their doors, but they were still in business when I graduated. I believe that the last time I ate there was the night before I got married.
This is the first portion of this article; it continues at What Charleston Was Like Way Back When . . . Part 2:
http://ko-op.blogspot.com/2018/02/what-charleston-was-like-way-back-when.html
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
* Joe Lucco coached three legendary basketball players who all played for the U of IL in the late Fifties: Govoner Vaughn, Manny Jackson and Don Ohl. After 39 years as teacher, coach and administrator, Joe retired from Edwardsville School District and was elected to serve as an Illinois State Representative (Democrat, Dist. 56).
** Herb Brooks had worked at Walt’s with Larry Mizener, and in 1964 he was the grade school principal in Rardin. In those days, Herb often helped on Sunday mornings by taking orders and payments at the cash register. After church, customers lined up for our deep-fried chicken dinners. I recognized Herb's ‘Brooks look’ the first time, that first weekend that I worked at the Ko-Op.
Two Brooks brothers and their families lived in Findlay; their kids went to Findlay schools - - first cousins, Charlotte and David, graduated in my class. Herb was born in Moweaqua and graduated from Lovington High. He served in the Air Force during the Korean War, then returned to Charleston and EIU. He was a cousin of the Brooks families in Findlay. I later worked with Herb's younger brother, Jim Brooks, who was a music and band instructor in Urbana Schools.
Herb left Charleston Schools and worked for the University as Assistant Director and later Director of the Student Union (1966-1978). He retired from EIU in 1987 as Director of Veterans Services. By then, Herb had purchased the DQs in Charleston. Herb Brooks, age 69, died in April 2001 at his rural Charleston home. His wife, Darlene, died in Feb. 2012.
Labels: bars, businesses, Charleston, dance club, diner, drive-inn, Eighties, Herb Brooks, Illinois, Jim Edgar, Joe Lucco, Ko-op, Ko-Op Cafe, restaurants, Seventies, Sixties, theater
posted by Larry Johnson @ 4:30 PM
11 Comments
11 Comments:
A Chinksburger would last on your breath all the next morning (or that morning if you had it in the A.M. after the bars closed!
Article in the Journal Gazette & Times Courier (Charleston / Mattoon Newspaper) about Ted's Warehouse.
(July 2012). http://jg-tc.com/news/article_b94e01fa-d4e4-11e1-9253-001a4bcf887a.html
The Italian restaurant was the Little Venice not the Little Italy. Greens burned down.
Thanks for the correction. I cannot remember the name of the proprietor at Little Italy?
His last name was Meyers. I'm not sure of the spelling and I don't believe I ever knew his first name. I thought he was a nice man.
That's right, his last name was Meyers and I believe that he had a brother who also lived, worked in Charleston.
CHARLESTON: Journal Gazette & Times-Courier
Jarad Jarmon
16 Jan 2017
The building that housed the former Jerry’s Pizza and Pub was being demolished Monday.
As previously reported, the building has shown its age since its construction in 1978, almost 40 years ago.
Jerry Myerscough, owner of the property at 1508 Fourth St., said the building had shown its age and renovations to the building would have been too costly.
This demolition will be followed by at some point construction of a new, likely larger, building for a new restaurant. Myerscough said it might be a while until construction is started.
Currently, he said much of his focus has gone towards breaking ground on a property in Campaign set sometime in March. Building plans for site of old Jerry's Pizza building is still in the works.
While still in the planning stages of design for the new restaurant, he expects it to be a cross between Jerry’s Pizza food and Stadium Grill food, another property he owns.
Myerscough noted pizza will always be a part of his business at that location but will most likely not be the primary focus.
Also, Myerscough clarified that a bar-style restaurant is not in the cards. He said the restaurant will be geared toward people who are there to eat, but who might also want a drink as well and not the other way around.
Worked at Ike's in the late 70s and early 80s. Ike was a great boss who taught me more about running a business than most of my EIU professors. Mike Kennard, Ike's son, was also good to work for but didn't like college students very much. Steve, another of Ike's sons, was mentally challenged and worked the grill in back preparing burgers, fries, and the ever popular fried pork loin sandwich w pickles from a 5 gallon bucket. After hours drinking was legendary with only one guest per employee allowed to stay after closing. The "No food for fat chicks" sign above the chip rack may have been put up by one of our rugby player bartenders (Mike or Frank). Tips were collected for six months and used for our annual Christmas party. Bartenders were paid in cash from a safe beneath the bar top. Weekly coin counting from the pinball machines ended with Ike and the "Pinball Man" splitting large amounts of rolled up quarters into two piles while drinking a beer. Freshman were identified by ordering "blue tail flies". Sorority girls and guys drank with the letters on, wore jeans and sweatshirts, and cashed $10 checks when beer funds ran low. Many parents were surprised to learn at parents weekend that Ike's wasn't a stationary store where the kids cashed all those checks. Mike Shortal was a great manager who favored coeds from the Alpha Gam house next store (Gail?). See you at Ike's in October! Rudy
Fast food outlet that I missed; Country School!
Larry, do you recall the years that Short Stop and Burger King were open? They were in the same building, correct?
This was way too fun to read. Larry Meisner was our landlord when we lived on 9th street. Rick EIU 1971-1976. I never knew about after hours at Ike's dern it!!!
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