T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten

[jmarkross]

There was another TG&Y on Campus Corner...between Peyton-Marcus and the Boomer Theater on the east side of Asp just north of Boyd. Rather like the older one on Main Street. It did have ceiling fans above the entrances though, I think.

[USG'60]

Your M.O. sounds like mine in the 1950's...and 20-cents was the standard at the University Theater in Norman on Main. Once--I stepped outside of the box--and blew 39-cents on a whole pound box of Brach's chocolate covered cherries and ate the whole box with a big coke during two double feature monster movies...I always sat in the front row with the rest of the hard-core horror kids. Was marvelous...until I got home and after dinner, got sick as a dog and puked my guts up for a while. The next day...I still thought it was worth it all--the cherries lasted for a couple of hours, the upchucking was only maybe 30 minutes. To a kid--seemed like a fair trade.

Mark, a similar thing happened to me. My dad owned Buck's Drug Store where Coach's is on Main Street in '47 and '48 and it was real easy for me to "swipe" candy. Still to this day when I even think of chocklate covered cherries I start to feel it all coming back up. Same thing happened with Cherry Mashes. Barf.

[jmarkross]

Mark, a similar thing happened to me. My dad owned Buck's Drug Store where Coach's is on Main Street in '47 and '48 and it was real easy for me to "swipe" candy. Still to this day when I even think of chocklate covered cherries I start to feel it all coming back up. Same thing happened with Cherry Mashes. Barf.

I have foundered on Cherry Mashes as well...the outer coating is nice...the red sugar fondant inside is enough to kill a diabetic (which I am now!) and send any kid to the porcelain bowl to call "Ralph"! But--in the olden days--kids did not get candy and cokes all the time--so it was a bit more of a treat than in today's world. Remember, as a kid, you ALWAYS knew which pop machines around town had the bottles that would freeze up just after opening--and what a treat that was on a 100-degree summer day...the predecessor of the Slurpee...

Buck's must have been right next door to Denco's...

[Soonerman]

Wasn't there also a TG&Y in tri cities center. I believe it was converted into a Wal-Mart.

[jmarkross]

An interesting note on TG&Y...in 1973, I moved to Torrance CA and lived on Anza Ave. near Torrance Blvd. in the South Bay...and right down the street was a...TG&Y! I was shocked! Later...I found an Across the Street Restaurant that was identical to the one in Norman--owned by the same guy--whose daughter I went to high school with (I forget their last name)...used to get a Charburger with Sooner Sauce in the San Fernando Valley!

[Generals64]

Wasn't there also a TG&Y in tri cities center. I believe it was converted into a Wal-Mart.

yes to the tri-center store....was not a real good family center. Logistics is everything for a store like that...

[RealJimbo]

For those who might remember her, Ada Mae Forbes was buried last week. She first worked at the #37 store on N Western then worked for many years as Hue Weirsig's administrative assistant. Ada Mae was a great person. I knew her all my life and never once heard her say a cross word to anyone or about anyone, all the while being efficient and effective. She also had a great sense of humor. She would show up at Church Halloween parties (yes we used to have fun, even at Church, before someone decided Halloween was a day dedicated to the devil) with a costume that covered her completely, never saying a word. Everyone "knew" who it was, but she would make us wonder right up until the end of the party when she would take off her mask. A great lady who will be missed very much.

[RealJimbo]

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but Bill Seaton, one of the good guys at TG&Y - a store manager - passed away 2-11-2011. He was a good friend. His daughter, Debbie, worked for me in the corporate mailroom and my daughter, April, worked for him at Hobby Lobby in Edmond. He was working in the Hobby Lobby corporate office when he passed away. We will miss him.

[Bimmerdude]

Wow, lots of memories posted. My only memory of TG&Y was the store located at SE 44th and Bryant Ave (SE OKC). I remember mom and dad would hit that place up (as well as Otasco, which was located in the same strip mall). Sadly, the surrounding area was going downhill. One morning, I remember mom taking us to the daycare early and a cop flew past us and ended up in front of that TG&Y store. I assume, due to sluggish sales and crime, that store closed way before the rest of the other stores (even before they changed their name).

Fast forward 27-28 years later, I had a professor at Rose State who used to be the CFO? (I think he was way up there on the food chain) for TG&Y. He shared a lot of stories with us too. Forgot his first name, but his lat name was Kauer??? Really nice guy.

Dan

[sherrick13]

I spent many years with TG&Y and also, David Green (owner of Hobby Lobby) was an old TG&Y Guy.

Did you know a Bill McCray?

He was the buyer for Stationary (early 70s), then Hosiery (till about 79) and then Toys until they closed.

[soonerborn1958]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Denco Darlin!!!!! Miss that place and the outhouse

I have foundered on Cherry Mashes as well...the outer coating is nice...the red sugar fondant inside is enough to kill a diabetic (which I am now!) and send any kid to the porcelain bowl to call "Ralph"! But--in the olden days--kids did not get candy and cokes all the time--so it was a bit more of a treat than in today's world. Remember, as a kid, you ALWAYS knew which pop machines around town had the bottles that would freeze up just after opening--and what a treat that was on a 100-degree summer day...the predecessor of the Slurpee...

Buck's must have been right next door to Denco's...

[jmarkross]

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm Denco Darlin!!!!! Miss that place and the outhouse

The Enchilada Darling...served with an 8-pound 50-ounce, giant plastic tumbler of sweet tea...after a night of indiscriminate drinking...within 8 hours--every bodily system you had was taken to it's extreme...but--it did taste mighty good on the way down. And the waitresses were pros there...

[RealJimbo]

Wow, lots of memories posted. My only memory of TG&Y was the store located at SE 44th and Bryant Ave (SE OKC). I remember mom and dad would hit that place up (as well as Otasco, which was located in the same strip mall). Sadly, the surrounding area was going downhill. One morning, I remember mom taking us to the daycare early and a cop flew past us and ended up in front of that TG&Y store. I assume, due to sluggish sales and crime, that store closed way before the rest of the other stores (even before they changed their name).

Fast forward 27-28 years later, I had a professor at Rose State who used to be the CFO? (I think he was way up there on the food chain) for TG&Y. He shared a lot of stories with us too. Forgot his first name, but his lat name was Kauer??? Really nice guy.

Dan

Yes, Les Kauer! I just saw him last month at a TG&Y reunion. Les was the Training and Development Director at TG&Y and a really great guy. He still teaches classes at Rose State and Southern Nazarene University.

[capitalhillkid]

I wish I had a dollar for every time my husband or I have said, "If only we could go to a TG&Y, we could find it there!"

[Pete]

Found this 1969 ad for the massive TG&Y on the southeast corner of SW 74th & Penn:

[Pete]

And here are a couple of photos I found on the web of a toy department in Shreveport from the early 1960's (research reveals that the Chatty Cathy doll was marketed between 1960-65):

[boscorama]

Ha! Had forgotten about their auto centers even though I was known to buy tires there. Never knew one like those featured here; my biggest one was at May & Britton (I think). Anyway, TG&Y was the place I spent the most money in those days! Specifically, my earliest Christmas shopping experiences. Ah, the things kids buy for others ...

[epipsyche]

Found this on Google:

John F. Kroutil (President of the Yukon Electric Company, Yukon
National Bank, and the Yukon Mill and Grain Co.) founded the Progress
Beer Company (not to be confused with the beer of the same name
produced by the Indianapolis Brewery in Indiana) in Oklahoma City in
1934 with his business partner G.F. Streich in 1934. It is said that
in those days Progress Brewing Co., Inc., a microbrewery operating
under Oklahoma State Cereal Beer U-Permit # OK-U-923 (a U-Permit was a
brewery license permit issued from 1933-1939) was one of only two
breweries in Oklahoma, the other supposedly being Old King Brewery ?
but I found no evidence of this, so it may very well have been the
only one.

Not much significant is known about the brewery in the ensuing years
but according to this rather ridiculous lawsuit Progress Brewing
Company was owned by J. S. Bryan & Son by 1950.

PROGRESS BREWING CO. v. THOMPSON
OSCN Found Document:PROGRESS BREWING CO. v. THOMPSON

For many years it seems the Progress Brewing Company operated at 501
North Douglas Avenue, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. After some brewery laws
began to make things difficult for Progress, Lone Star Brewing Company
of Texas eventually bought out the company. In time Lone Star is said
to have created problems of its own, allegedly getting into trouble
with the Oklahoma City government over its waste polices resulting it
is getting virtually run out of the state.

Interesting story about why Lone Star quit business in OKC. I know Progress shut down because Mr. Elmer Streich, who ran the brewery was feeling ill and couldn't keep up with it anymore. This is according to his daughter M.D. Streich. G.F. Streich and J.F. Kroutil founded the brewery and J.F. was President. Elmer Streich was sort of the plant manager though and a Mark Dykema was secretary/treasurer. I had a story about the Kroutils, including Progress Beer, in the Yukon Review a few weeks ago when YNB celebrated 100 years. If anyone ever runs on any more info on Progress or Lone Star in OKC, please let me know.

[Praedura]

A T.G.&Y. thread... heh, what a memory.

Well, I was an Edmond kid. So here's what an average (I guess) boring, fun, whatever summer day was like:

Go down to the corner Tastee Freez (near 15th & Blvd) and get a chili dog. Then cross the street (Boulevard), which was a dicey proposition even then (early 70's). Cross the parking lot and up the steps next to the Edmond Theater (whatever it was called). Then to the left -- well, there were several business there -- I even remember going into the old Edmond public library there (really small) before the current one was built (around 1972, I think). Then C.R. Anthony's at the end (where you could get all the bell-bottom jeans you desired). Then up the walkway a bit, past the barber shop (which I think is still there!) and then over into the T.G.&Y.

Ah, the hours wasted there, just looking around at everything, and nothing in particular. Although I mainly remember looking thru the album covers. So many albums on display, all with wonderful, weird, interesting covers. To this day, seeing certain album covers from that era can really trigger a memory.

On the way back, pick up a hershey's chocolate bar with almonds for about 5 cents (as I recall) from the corner 7-Eleven -- which is still there. Or maybe a big pickle instead, from one of those in the big glass jars. Then crunch on the pickle as I made my way back home.

[jmpokc1957]

Ah yes, A seemingly endless summer day as a kid.

I grew up in the area just off of NW 63rd between MacArthur and Meridian. We had to either walk or ride our
bikes to get to any store as they weren't particularly close. In the early 70's I can remember riding to the TG&Y store on 63rd, just east of Meridian. A fair-sized store. It was there we bought our Wrist Rocket slingshots( which I have to this day, albeit with new surgical tubing bands ). It was then back on the bikes to go up to Lake Hefner, either to the lake shore on the south side or up to the boat docks; anyplace we could find "ammo"( ie rocks ) for our sling shots.

If we had any money we might have a hamburger at the bait shop there just off of NW Expressway as you entered the lake/golf course area. Or, if we only had 25 cents or so, we could go get a pop at the ranger station there at the lake.

Later on, as we got more sophisticated weaponry, we would take our Benjamin( I still have mine! The "squirrel killer" ) or Sheridan pellet guns up to the lake. Good times and no one called out the national guard if they saw a kid on a bike with a pellet gun!

[grantgeneral78]

Found this 1969 ad for the massive TG&Y on the southeast corner of SW 74th & Penn:

I dont remember that TG&Y being that big!....I worked at the Jims IGA as a stocker back in the day when I was in high school and it was in the same shopping center.

[Tom]

I dont remember that TG&Y being that big!....I worked at the Jims IGA as a stocker back in the day when I was in high school and it was in the same shopping center.

'
Do you remember a guy named Jerry? He was my dad and worked at Jim's IGA in the produce department for many years. He was the one that made the signs with those big magic markers as well. I have lots of pictures he took and saved of that place and of his work he did.
Also, that TG&Y was big. Took up the whole stretch of the building to the east of Jim's IGA.

I worked at TG&Y Automotive in the seperate building in the parking lot there as well some time after Jim's went away.

[Pete]

I dont remember that TG&Y being that big!....I worked at the Jims IGA as a stocker back in the day when I was in high school and it was in the same shopping center.

I believe that store at I-240 and S. Penn was the biggest of them all.

[SoonerDave]

I believe that store at I-240 and S. Penn was the biggest of them all.

Absolutely true. That TG&Y sold pharmaceuticals, records, TV's, household supplies, toys, small furniture, RV's (for a time), garden supplies, automotive supplies, fabrics, cameras, film, school supplies (THAT was a rite of passage each school year, for sure). It was Wal Mart waaaay before Walmart was, well, Walmart. TG&Y was also why KMart and WalMart didn't come into OK until TG&Y screwed itself into the ground with its suicidal "upscale" plans that, quite literally, ran itself out of business. For some insane reason, some newer leadership at TG&Y decided they needed to compete with John A. Brown's (which, for the younger folks among us, was a very nice, locally owned, upscale department store). I remember *reading* that story in the paper, and even then thinking "they're nuts," right down to the time they opened their first "AIM for the Best" store that crashed and burned months, if not weeks, after it opened. I'm sure the folks that tried it had their reasons, but from the outside looking in it was one of the more notorious "you can see that coming down the street" business blunders in Oklahoma...

Really sad. TG&Y, in its heyday, rocked.

[JenX67]

I worked at T G & Y family center in Bartlesville as a teenager. They changed the name to "AIM" at some point. The brand colors were Brown and Orange. I worked in the Men's Department and spent hours folding blue jeans, Ocean Pacific t-shirts and sniffing Polo and Canoe aftershave. I always thought they put me in the men's department b/c I wasn't cute enough for the women's department. Now, 25 years later, I realize it was just the opposite. haha! Oh, if we only knew *then* what we know *now*

Also, I think there was a T G & Y at Shepherd Mall, and maybe one in Bethany across from SNU. They sold bras in bins. Strange the things that make an impression on you as a kid. Great thread!