Thread: SW 74th & Penn

Found this ad with great photos from 1969.

I believe the TG&Y Family Center on the SE corner of this intersection was the biggest of them all.

circus time ad from 8/25/1970 oklahoman
Attachment 2619

Originally Posted by mmm

circus time ad from 8/25/1970 oklahoman
Attachment 2619

Awww, the attachment doesn't work, mmm..... I LOVED Circus Time!

arrgh... i'll get it fixed when i get a chance. was circus time located where i have it labeled (#12)? my folks swear that this was a howard johnson's but i can't find any ads in the oklahoman to back that up.

-M

Originally Posted by mmm

arrgh... i'll get it fixed when i get a chance. was circus time located where i have it labeled (#12)? my folks swear that this was a howard johnson's but i can't find any ads in the oklahoman to back that up.

-M

You're both right. It was a Howard Johnson's BEFORE it was Circus Time. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, HoJo fell victim to a fire, and it was rebuilt as Circus Time. Then, after a few years, the same fate befell Circus Time.....broke my heart when they wouldn't rebuild it, and then it turned into some horrendous night club of, shall we say, less than stellar repute....ugh.[

ahh... interesting. which one was it in 1969?

i vaguely remember the nightclub from when i was a really little kid. vixen's, wasn't it? i remember thinking it must have something to do with reindeer. : )

-M

The earliest ads I can find for Circus Time were early in 1970.

This one is from February 1970:

Here's a HoJo's ad from March 1966:

thanks, pete! guess i was searching too late for hojo... i didn't think there'd be anything there in 1966. i'm wondering if the aerial shows circus time being constructed. it looks like there's alot of equipment around the building. -M

There was a library branch in the center section of the building that is unlabeled between marks 4, 5, & 6.

A laundromat in the NW corner of that same building, and a guitar/music store on the SW corner at one time but not sure if it was there in 69.

At one point there was a Jimmy Dean restaurant at that location.

Originally Posted by BlackmoreRulz

There was a library branch in the center section of the building that is unlabeled between marks 4, 5, & 6.

A laundromat in the NW corner of that same building, and a guitar/music store on the SW corner at one time but not sure if it was there in 69.

The Library was there until the Southern Oaks branch opened up over on Walker Avenue. When it moved, a Radio Shack took over that space, run by a curmudgeonly but nice old guy I remember as "Homer." The laundromat was the only place my dad would take his dirty garage/work rags to be washed.

Originally Posted by gen70

At one point there was a Jimmy Dean restaurant at that location.

Yup. That Pioneer Pies location was originally a Jimmy Dean, and had a big breakfast following. I think the entire chain folded (not sure), and Pioneer Pies has had the space since then. We used to frequent Pioneer Pies years ago, but along the way, it just kinda got, well, less appealing, for lack of a less non-descript way to phrase it.

Pioneer Pies does bring to mind one semi funny, semi embarrassing story...used to go there quite a bit when I was single, and there was one waitress there whom I thought was being extra nice, more than the casual level of "flirtiness" in which some waitresses will engage. I was surely no hot commodity, so I took all those flirtations with a significant grain of salt and assumed it was just for working a tip, but on this night, when she brought me a free piece of pie I hadn't even asked for after my supper, I was convinced (suckered?) that she really was interested. So, I found an opportune moment, asked her out, and she all-but laughed at me. Not the least bit interested. C'est la vie, I thought....but the funny/embarrassing part was that I had to go back there that night to pick up something I'd inadvertently left behind, and when she saw me come through the door, she ran to the back and had a friend "run interference" for her, apparently terrified I was some sort of psycho stalker or something. I felt like a moron; going back had nothing to do with her, and that may well have been one of the the last times I went there Alas...

While it was not a 1960's artifact, I did and still miss Harrigans. Really nice place, and the cheddar rolls were absolute evil...

on the northwestern quadrant of s.w. 74th and penn, during the mid 80s,..was there ever a mexican restaurant there...and if so, what was the name of it? It seems I have vague memories of such, and cant place the name of the restaurant.

the spot currently occupied by old chicago and formerly occupied by pearl's was originally built as part of the fast mexican chain called two pesos. -M

I have vague memories of a restaurant called Casa Bonita in the mid 80s. I always thought it was located at 74th and Penn on the N.W. Corner,...but youre saying it was called Two Pesos??....hmm....then where was Casa Bonita located at?

i don't remember one southside... i thought the okc casa bonita was on nw expressway. -M

Casa Bonita was at 39th & Portland, there was a Pancho's on the south side of 74th west of Penn