Childhood Memories of OKC

[RVeit]

I found this website while searching "Foreman Scotty" on Google. I would like to have a place for people who grew up around OKC to share their memories. I now live in Dallas but come back to the state often. I am 50 yrs old, so I grew up around OKC in the 60's and 70's. Here are a few of my memories from the sixties....

Personalities:
Foreman Scotty, Danny Williams, Bob Jenny (Anyone know if he is still alive?), and Ho-Ho The Clown

TV Shows:
Foreman Scotty, Auction With Ho-Ho, Tarzan (Did you know Cheeta is still alive!), Jungle Jim?, Bomba The Jungle Boy, Superman, Leave It To Beaver

Places To Eat:
O'Mealies Cafeteria (Remember O'Mealies?), Coit's, Del Rancho

Fun Places:
Wedgewood Amusement Park (The Best!), Frontier City,
Springlake.

I was on Foreman Scotty and Auction With Ho-Ho where my brother and I saved up Kitty Clover potato chip coupons and won a couple of the coolest toys on that show...Bean Bag Buccaneer & Submarine Sea Hunt (I have searched and searched for these games with no luck.)

Be Cool and BEAT TEXAS!!!

[Karried]

Cool idea!

I didn't grow up in OK but I vacationed a few times at Lake Eufaula with my grandparents. I was pretty young so I don't remember many details.. They had a pond and lived on acreage near the lake. I checked the trout lines with my Grandfather really early in the morning and fished a lot.

I remember swimming in the pond from morning to night and I helped my Grandma in the garden. We had fried catfish, cucumbers in vinegar and fried okra. I remember nightcrawlers, 7-Up and crickets and I remember vivid storms, being really hot at night and the fireflies..

Pretty fun for a kid!

[Pete]

RVeit, we are about the same age (I'm 46) so I share many of the same memories. Where did you go to high school? I went to Putnam City myself.



If you haven't seen it, I uploaded a bunch of old ads and such to my photo album:

http://www.okctalk.com/gallery/showgallery.php/cat/515


You'll also no doubt remember Molly Murphy's and there is an extensive website devoted to it:

Darren Stone's Molly Murphy's Memories Page

[mranderson]

I found this website while searching "Foreman Scotty" on Google. I would like to have a place for people who grew up around OKC to share their memories. I now live in Dallas but come back to the state often. I am 50 yrs old, so I grew up around OKC in the 60's and 70's. Here are a few of my memories from the sixties....

Personalities:
Foreman Scotty, Danny Williams, Bob Jenny (Anyone know if he is still alive?), and Ho-Ho The Clown

TV Shows:
Foreman Scotty, Auction With Ho-Ho, Tarzan (Did you know Cheeta is still alive!), Jungle Jim?, Bomba The Jungle Boy, Superman, Leave It To Beaver

Places To Eat:
O'Mealies Cafeteria (Remember O'Mealies?), Coit's, Del Rancho

Fun Places:
Wedgewood Amusement Park (The Best!), Frontier City,
Springlake.

I was on Foreman Scotty and Auction With Ho-Ho where my brother and I saved up Kitty Clover potato chip coupons and won a couple of the coolest toys on that show...Bean Bag Buccaneer & Submarine Sea Hunt (I have searched and searched for these games with no luck.)

Be Cool and BEAT TEXAS!!!

Steve "Forman Scotty" Powell, Ed "Ho-Ho" Birchall, and Bob Jenny are all dead. Danny Williams is still alive and is insulting the airwaves on KOMA.

I also remember "Tarzan," "Superman," and "leave it to Beaver." I still watch the ole' Beav. Plus Wedgewood. I do not remember it well enough to rate it, however, Frontier City is nothing but a rundown eyesore now. Many people will disagree with me (and have) however, after seeing the major league theme parks, I know quality, and Frontier City is NOT it. Springlake is like Wedgewood. I do not remember it well enough to rate it.

O' Mealies (I think it is actually O' Mealy's, but can not remember) I remember well. The family came from Ponca City where we lived a couple of houses down. My brother would play with one of the sons, Jimmy. Plus Coits and Del Rancho. Coit's is where my former sister-in-law and I ate a lot. Del Rancho costs WAY to much for the quality (no different than anyplace else with steak sandwiches). And yes... Kitty Clover.

I also rememer "Gospel Singing Jubilee" Sunday mornings on WKY along with "Davy and Goliath," and "The Happy Goodman Family." Those were never miss. Plus "Miss Fran from storyland," and one with Jane Hall. Forgot the name. And the happiest memory of my childhood... TG&Y #411.

[RVeit]

Those pic's are great...thanks for sharing..I definitely remember AMC, it was like the first discount store...and of course TG&Y, Judy N Jody's, and the original Mathis Brothers and don't forget, B.C. Clark's Anniversary Sale jingle around Christmas.

[RVeit]

You are right on O'Mealy's...we lived in Tonkawa before Jones, Ok and my dad said he knew some of the O'Mealy's in Tonkawa (60-62 time period). I know there was still one open in OKC like early 90's, it was so good...I wonder when it closed...and I swear less than 10 years ago I saw a Bob Jenny Snake Farm on old Rt. 66 somewhere east of Edmond...I wish I would have stopped...Yeah, I remember those Sunday morning shows especially David and Goliath...I usually had to go to church so I just watched before we left. Weren't we exposed to the BEST childhood, with those local tv personalities and good wholesome fun...I also remember when Wedgewood closed they said that the roller coaster..Tornado was disassembled and moved to an amusement park in Florida...I wonder if that is true?

[Doug Loudenback]

Hi, Rveit! If you've not searched the archives, you'll find a lot of neat posts right up your alley (and mine, too)! Many of us like to go back to the future, or whatever!

It would be a nice project (Karried?) for a moderator to make a post containing nothing but "memories" links for quick access. Or, maybe a forum. Just thinking out loud.

[writerranger]

LOVE those memories! We are about the same age so that all rang true with me. I have even posted here about getting on the Ho Ho Show with Kitty Clover bags.

One thing that I remember so well is when 39th Street was the "Northwest Expressway" of its day. Many of the popular restaurants were lined along 39th Street.

OKC was a great place to grow up and is still a great place to live.

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[Pete]

Regarding 39th, I was at PC (just one mile north) towards the end of it's hay-day. This was the late 70's and before everything started sprawling out to Edmond and way out NW Expressway.

We'd go there every day for lunch and cruise on Friday nights. The Shakeys near the corner of Ann Arbor was a big hangout after football games, and there was also a Bonapartes drive-in and an Across the Street right there as well.

[RVeit]

I moved to Bristow and then New Mexico before graduating high school but then attended OU in '74 and lived around OKC until '85...now in Dallas...I had friends at OU that went to PC...no matter where I've lived I always enjoy OKC...the first pizza I ever had at a restaurant was at the Shakey's on Peoria in Tulsa....I've been reading some of the stuff that SoonerDave and Mranderson and others wrote back around June 19-July 10 about Ho Ho and Foreman Scottie....I always remember Bob Jenny and those snakes...haven't heard many stories about him....I need someone to shake up my memories.....talking about restaurants over in that area ...there was My Pie Pizza??? not sure about the spelling...I think it was up closer to Lake Hefner.

[Pete]

One of my earliest OKC pizza memories was Shotgun Sams on May just south of 39th.

I remember they gave you a huge playing card instead of an order number: "Four of Diamonds! Pizza for Four of Diamonds!"


Also, remember loving Pizza Planet, particularly their crust.

[RVeit]

I remember Shotgun Sam's too...AND the playing cards! I also remember, in college, going up to the OKC hockey games on "free" beer nights....those games were crazy!

[Pete]

I remember Quarter Beer Nights when the Blazers played at the State Fair Arena, especially seeing guys with *huge* stacks of empty beer cups they'd be waving in the air.

And the organist was in a cage at one of the far ends of the arena that was far removed from any seating.

[Todd]

Does anybody remember Giavanni's Pizza off MacArthur and 39th?

They had an old fashion out-house inside where you could go in and make long-distance calls for free while you ate.

[Pete]

I don't remember that Todd and I thought I knew everything about that area. What was the approximate time frame?


On the NE corner of that intersection there used to be a little shopping area with a courtyard and small movie theater. Later, it became Keller's for school supplies and then sporting goods.

[RVeit]

In 74-75 I remember the beer being free and I do remember those tall stacks of cups, but I was thinking it was at the Myriad...I don't even know when they built the Myriad...I've been going back and reading some of the memories from 04/05 on this site....A permanant Memories forum would be cool

[Todd]

For years there has been a Chinese place where it was located in a little strip mall. It may have set back from 39th and actually might have been on 43 or 44th street I don't remember if there was a little side street back there or not. Time frame would have been around 1984-86.

[Todd]

It seems like there was a music store around the same area. Was it Warehouse music or something like that?

[Pete]

Sound Warehouse was on the SW corner of 39th and McArthur for years. I think it's now a drugstore.

[drumsncode]

Wow, you guys are killing me with great memories.

My Pie Pizza was great, somewhere around 63rd and NW Highway.

Pizza Planet has one of my fondest memories. I had a pizza there the afternoon of high-school graduation. It was a very tough year, trying to keep the grades up, I was there with my best friend, the pizza arrived at the table, and "School's Out" by Alice Cooper started blaring on the jukebox. I felt like a gigantic weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

[writerranger]

Here's an interesting story......Remember Gary Hart? Former Senator from Colorado and presidential candidate? "The Monkey Business?" Yes, that Gary Hart. He went to undergrad at Bethany Nazarene College and met his wife, Lee, while attending school there. Anyway, I was watching Nightline back in 1984 and he was joking around with Ted Koppel about a Pizza Night fundraiser he had attended in New Hampshire. he laughed and said, "It was good, but not quite Ned's Pizza in Oklahoma City while I was in college." Later, a book about the 84 campaign came out and it went into great detail about Hart's college life in Bethany and how his hangout was his favorite pizza joint, "Ned's Pizza" on North May in Oklahoma City. I remember it well - it was on the west side of May at about NW 28th street or so, and the pizza WAS good. Down the street was one of the original-style International House of Pancakes. Both are now long gone.

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[Pete]

Here's a My Pie ad from back in the day... I went to high school with the daughter of the owner:



And a few others:

[writerranger]

Those are great, Malibu!

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[floater]

Godfather's was the chain we went to as family. I loved the Supreme and the commercials -- "an offer you can't refuse!"

We covered this in forums past, but anyway: I remember the smelling freshly baked bread in the Wonder bakery downtown. When I smelled the bread I knew we were downtown.

Some of my favorite times were spent at Crystal's Pizza on SW 74th and Penn after middle school band concerts.

Yeah, watching Patti Saurez. The anchor I probably saw most often was Jerry Adams. One of the first TV images in OK I remember was the Trusthouse Jewelers couple.

A lot of time was spent at Crossroads when it was raging -- huge crowds, lots of stores teens wanted to work at, like J. Riggins, Jeans West, Chess King. I took piano lessons there at one of the organ/piano stores. I can't believe Eastern Treasures is still there, and Spencer Gifts also has managed to stick it out. A cool place was the pet store next to Montgomery Ward.

[RVeit]

You guys are good...the ads and pic's are incredible....think what we could do if all of this was organized into categories...I hadn't thought of the TrustHouse Jewelry people in years...loved those movies....still no one knows anything about Bob Jenny? Was he at the zoo in charge of snakes or what? I thought I remembered him being on Foreman Scotty but maybe I'm wrong.