The Spielgel Christmas catalog didn't arrive until October.Originally Posted by Generals64
Re: T.G.&Y. Stores: Gone but not forgotten
The Spielgel Christmas catalog didn't arrive until October.
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores: Gone but not forgotten
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The Otasco Catalogue was in the Thanksgiving Day Paper....I think it was called The Oklahoma City Times then.....Because my sister and I would go through Each and Every page and drool on what we wanted from Santa Claus. And Yes PapaOU there is a Santa Claus....Just Ask Virginia.....I still would like to re open TG&Y like the old Variety Stores used to be....Cheap candy and every thing....Chocolate peanuts were 39 cents a pound.....I got my wife some Chocolate peanuts at the Airport and didn't pay attention tothe price...until I counted my change....$14.99 pound......What???????
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores: Gone but not forgotten
[QUOTE=Generals64;258945]------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chocolate peanuts were 39 cents a pound.....I got my wife some Chocolate peanuts at the Airport and didn't pay attention tothe price...until I counted my change....$14.99 pound......What???????
Another fond memory from the City of OKC.
Free enterprise???????
Ya' aint' gettin' them anyplace cheaper...........
You're a hostage.......
Where you gonna go???????
Little tough on OKC.......
It's every airport.
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
The Oklahoma City Times was the Daily Oklahoman afternoon paper as I remember.
Re: T.G.&Y. Stores: Gone but not forgotten
The Daily Oklahoman was the morning paper and the Oklahoma Times was the
evening. Remember the Oklahoma Journal? It was also a morning paper.
$14.99 lb for chocolate peanuts? Good grief!
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
When I had a route with the Oklahoman I hated Thanksgiving afternoon and the following Friday morning. Both had all the sales ads and brochures. I remember one Thanksgiving afternoon it began to snow and I was "folding" papers on my drop corner. snowed all afternoon and evening. One of the few snow days ever on Thanksgiving. It had to be 66 or 67.........................
Long after some of you old geezers had graduated.........
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
Snow was in 1966....First Thanksgiving with my wife (as a married couple)...Now that Fall is coming in can't you remember the Smell of Hot Buttered Popcorn when you went into a TG&Y? Now Wal-Mart takes their Popcorn out of a large Plastic Bag with all the perservatives you can imagine so the bag will last at least 6 months. Sam Walton (as did all true Variety Merchants) used the Popcorn machine to get customers into the store and get them to stay as they munched on the popcorn going up and down the aisles...25 Cents for a Medium Bag.....Could usually generate an extra $2.00 per bag sold on Suggestive Selling merchandise......Need a Cold Pop to go with your Popcorn?.....We also had Fresh Roasted Peanuts........and Cashews.....
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
Target has fresh popcorn. They only pop it when I enter the store.
I don't remember TG&Y having popcorn. Of course the age I was popcorn was not a major find.
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
Popcorn was a mainstay in the Variety Stores....Mr. Young would show up from nowhere on a Saturday and you better have popcorn smelling in the air...If not he would pop it for you and then take you to the back and explain Salesmanship. Do you guys remember the whirlybird that had two Rubberbands and Crepe paper and you spun them around and they made this weird sound? Kinda like from Australia......I remember one HOT, Sultry Summer night and everyone would sleep with their windows open and maybe a Swamp Cooler going...We got this idea to get up late and make those weird sounding work around an open window.....It vibrated even more if a fan was going....Well, the entire neighborhood began to get worried about those sounds....Won't go any further but, we stopped using them.....You can't even find those in Cracker Barrell....Frisky, do you have one of those in your toy stash????
How about the 10cent Balsa wood planes? Those were fun especially about the time they were on their last leg and you could tie a firecracker on it and have someone light it while you threw it.....How STUPID could you be to hold a piece of volatile wood while you buddy lit a match to it????think about that???? Major ingredients could be purchased at your local TG&Y....
To this day, there is a TRUE Variety store in Downtown Branson....Dick's Fiv and Dime.....Old TG&Y manager owned the store.....his son runs it now...just like TG&Y.....
Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
Had one! Had that Wham-O bird, too. There were some other really cool
Wham-O things. Can't remember right now.
Those were real toys. Now they're a $1. Still fun. I like the one's with the
rubber band powered prop. Did you ever try to power one with a pop
bottle rocket?
Been there! Had to get a candy bar! They stayed open while we looked
around. A lot of fun.
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
We called it Turtles, Girdles & Yo-yos. NW36 & Western was my #1 comic book store from '61 to '66 when I switched to Mad Magazine.
Rick
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
My father did not like "me" reading Mad Mag...because he thought it was subversive......"Really"....He was a Korean war vet and thought it broke down "good values"...
Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
My parents bought subscriptions for me for years. I don't think they ever
read it. I've still got some of the books, too.
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
Did you ever place those stickers around that came in the mag sometimes. I got ran out of a few department stores on the Hill. Maybe even the Capitol Hill Public Library.
One of the "stories" I always remember was the one on Paul Newman in Hombre!
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
When I was kid... I had one of the TG&Y Family Center Nylint Tractor Trailer Trucks. I lost it during a move when I was 7. I loved that little truck. I wish I still had it to this day.
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
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What part of the world did you live in?....If you are here in OKC, I'll check the magical van and see if there is one in there....let me know....Generals 64
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
Generals64...
When the two stores were opened on 74th and Penn. and 29th and May I was told that TG&Y priced items according to the type of economic base that area had. Like 29th & May had cheaper because of the average income being low. 74th & Penn, higher prices.
Did not remember that until I looked at this thread.
Figure if anyone would know you would.
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
Spy vs Spy!
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
Count me in as one of the many (I bet most) former teenagers that started the world of work at TG&Y. I was at 411. Many fond memories, not only of work, but also since it opened. It was my hangout.
Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
A friend and I would always buy the 25 cent ones. They were lots funner. They came with rubber band powered propeller and wheels. They flew better than the 15 cent Sleek Streeks that came with propeller only. Had to look for and sell many pop bottles at the nearest grocery store to buy new ones to replace the ones that got caught in a tree or whatever would happen to them.
It never occurred with me to be crazy enough to put fireworks on them.
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
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Had a Snafu on my computer.....Both stores were open in 1964. I worked at both of them when each of then first opened. Mr. Price was the Manager at #411 (74th & Penn) and Mr. Kelly #415 (29th & May) was the manager there. As far as pricing that part was not true. Both of these guys were fierce competitors and the object of the game was to make more Bottom Line Money than the other. The 29th st. Store came out of the Gate a little stronger as people realized what TG&Y was attempting to do. Now, you have to remember there were 52 stores in the OKC Metro area. Most of them were Small Variety Stores. Mr. Kelly is still at it with Kelly's Variety and Mr. Price passed away about 15 years ago. They both ran about a 32% profit Margin....The higher ups wouldn't let them go any lower. They did in certain areas but there were ways to cover (bad Retail Word) the lower prices........We (74th st.) battled the Economy Square store every day however......Was fun though......I have you (PapaOU) some of the items we discussed the other day...
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
We shopped at the 74th location and Commerce. I don't really remember going to the 29th and May location. The only other store was on the N.W. Highway west of Portland (I think it was Portland.). Not a good experience. Sales people were awful.
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Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
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63rd and N.W. Highway was the last store I managed for TG&Y before ging to the Corporate Office on N.W. 36th and Santa Fe. The guy that ran it before I got the store was too worried about his image and not involved in running the store. The customer may not always be right but, without them spending their money the stores don't function too well.
Re: T.G.&Y. Stores:Gone but not forgotten
One of the first things I'd look for!
And "Marginal Thinking!" Sergio Aragones was a genius!
Let's not forget "Don Martin".
Re: T.G.&Y. Stores: Gone but not forgotten
I remember the super Remington .22 automatic rifle that store 411 had for a
ridiculously low price. $20? Anyway there were a bunch of guys at the store
when it opened for biz. Dad bought one at the regular price of $59.
I also remember that not every TG&Y had the same things on sale.
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