# In the days before malls



## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

Something that some of us old guys might have forgotten was the fact that when we were kids 4000 years ago there were no malls and the like.We did all of our xmas shopping and made our lists to Santa by way of Sears,Speigel,Montgomery Wards and JC Penny Holiday catalogs.
I'll even go so far as to say that these were probably the first reading material we took into the "reading room"if ya know what I mean.
Man,I remember literally wearing the pages out of these,the cover rarely stayed on the catalogs until Halloween.

At any rate,here is a page that I found that REALLY brought back some old memories:

http://www.wishbookweb.com/HomePage.htm

One more thing,as a kid I really LOVED catalogs.Auto World,forget it,I read those until they were torn to shreds.And anyone remember the old Johnson & Smith catalogs?The ones you sent away for out of the back of comic books or Boys LIfe,and always had an ad along with it like the guy with Xray glasses looking through some chicks dress,or "fool your friends and throw your voice"?

Mike


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## roadrner (Jul 21, 1999)

That was one thing about the onset of late summer and the start of football, the catalogs would be here soon. Nothing like taking out the Sears & Roebuck catalog along with the one from Penney's and Monkey Wards. Don't know how or who ever started calling that place Monkey Wards, but back then it seem like all of the old folks called it that. Then just sit back and look through the books just comparing who had what exclusive track made for them from Aurora and which one was fancier and deciding which one Santa should bring you.  

Nice site! :thumbsup: rr


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

what's interesting is the 14 pages of slots cars sets and cars they had in the Sears 1964 catalog... and the single bolt 12 gauge shotgun for 19.99

VERY COOL trip down memory lane. It was always a huge event when the Wish book came.
My siblings and I would fight over it the first week it was around.. then we'd mark it silly with our "requests"

In the 1969 Sears book, the first race set I ever got is in there. I was 4.. it was the Johnny Lighting 500 set.


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## Hilltop Raceway (Feb 12, 2006)

Bringing back the past!!! Great memories!!! Our local Western Auto store would put out toys for Christmas, a couple of months before that magic day. I can remember going with my dad to see the toys and showing him what I'd like for Santa to bring me. After Christmas, Western Auto would put the toys away. They did however keep single Model Motoring T-Jets for sale in the back room. I remember saving my chore money to buy extras. The hardest part, choosing which car to buy!!! It took a long time to save up 3.00!!! RM


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## mahorsc (Mar 26, 2008)

i was luck my dad ran with the owner of a place called quincy supply the would set up 1 of each track for x-mas and on x-mas eve dad went down at closing a bought all the open tracks by then most of the car were gone but i got all the track and a few cars and dad would always by me new cars
those were the days


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## micyou03 (Apr 8, 2003)

Thank you for postimg this. I saw this about a year ago and I was looking for it recently, like last week, and couldn't remember what it was. Thanks again.


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

We didn't get our first MAll until the spring of 1970/71 in Nanuet ,Rockland County New York. That mall killed off just about everything else around , which was a shame because prior to that we used to go to a large department store called E J Corvettes. They had a great hobby section with tons of , you guessed it , Aurora slot cars. Even by the time AFX was on the seen until Aurora was sold they always had just about everything that Aurora made. Interestingly they never carried another makers slots ! Every weekend we would head there and get hop up kits ,bodies , cars, more track ( was there ever enough) . They closed that store @ the time Aurora was sold . To this day When ever I go to a Hobby shop I think back to there slot department which always seemed to be staffed with knowledgeable slot people. It was a great time


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

mahorsc said:


> i was luck my dad ran with the owner of a place called quincy supply the would set up 1 of each track for x-mas and on x-mas eve dad went down at closing a bought all the open tracks by then most of the car were gone but i got all the track and a few cars and dad would always by me new cars
> those were the days


Yep those were the days....Checked out all the track sets in 1964 the year I was born...sweet!:woohoo:

Bob...anyone built that time traveling machine yet...zilla


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

bobhch said:


> Yep those were the days....Checked out all the track sets in 1964 the year I was born...sweet!:woohoo:
> 
> Bob...anyone built that time traveling machine yet...zilla


Bob with all of the stuff you build , you mean to say you haven't built a time machine yet? What if some of us got stuck in the past ?


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

Hey Scott... where I was raised, there were smaller 2-4 store front strip malls in the next town... but the first "all under one roof" mall wasn't built in my county until 1975.. and that was a 25-30 minute drive away from my house!

We had NO cops in my town. We relied on the township force from the next town.. and they weren't available 24/7. When they weren't "open" , we had to call the State Troopers ... 35-45 mins away.

Let's just say... we owned a few guns.

In the 80's all the farms sold out to rich New Yorkers fleeing the city. 
In 20 yrs, the population in the county I grew up in, increased 16 fold. 
Man, it EXPLODED.. and all the things that made it my home were gone.

Trees, farms, woods, dirt roads, giant hills for sleigh riding, cool streams where crayfish played... my hometowm looked like a Winnie the pooh book. It was beautiful... but it's all gone now. 

They call it "progress" but I'm not so sure it is.

Hey Zilla, Maybe we call Mr Peabody and borrow his WAY BACK MACHINE!


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

videojimmy said:


> Hey Scott... where I was raised, there were smaller 2-4 store front strip malls in the next town... but the first "all under one roof" mall wasn't built in my county until 1975.. and that was a 25-30 minute drive away from my house!
> 
> We had NO cops in my town. We relied on the township force from the next town.. and they weren't available 24/7. When they weren't "open" , we had to call the State Troopers ... 35-45 mins away.
> 
> ...


 I feel your pain VJ cause it seemed like once the Mall went up that wonderfull thing known as progress steam rolled threw the area and changed everything. I remember cruising up and down mail street all nite long in my '70 Ram Air IV ,4 spd GTO with the other pontiac guys in a little town called New City. We would hanbg out at a place called Wally's for Shakes and Burgers. He loved it cause it made him look like he was packed and people would just line up. That was in the early eighties. Now you cant go two blocks without hittin a traffic light. We used to have an old private airport in a town above Nanuet called Spring Valley and we could go there and race on the runways ! Now it is under a new strip MAll with a movie theater. 
Progress. Hey DOC, Doc Brown.....Does that run on gas or plutonium?


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## resinmonger (Mar 5, 2008)

I grew up in a small village. We didn't have a mall. Had to go to next village 25 miles away to shop for slot cars. We feared Woolly Mammoths that would attack our village loking for Candy Red Mustang 2+2s.


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## JordanZ870 (Nov 25, 2004)

resinmonger said:


> I grew up in a small village. We didn't have a mall. Had to go to next village 25 miles away to shop for slot cars. We feared Woolly Mammoths that would attack our village loking for Candy Red Mustang 2+2s.


Ahhhh....those were the good ol'days.


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## PD2 (Feb 27, 2003)

Wow! I DO remember waiting for all of the catalogs to come in so I could take a red pen and circle all the stuff I wanted and yes, that was where I circled my slot car tracks. Back then, Santa brought me a 4x8 layout of Tyco track! What I remember was my best friend got Aurora AFX track, but at that time they were interchangeable and could be connected together. So after Christmas day he brought his track set over, along with all of his dad's even older AFX cars and controllers and we would build these massive layouts! Man, those were the days! We even would experiment with different tires from some of our rubber tired diecast cars and even try adding magnets and what not. At least every year after that I got new cars for the set. I loved looking through those old catalogs, even when it wasn't Christmas time! HA!

Mall wise, I grew up South of Houston close to NASA in Clear Lake. I remember when the main road going to our house and subdivision was a gravel road! That gravel road ran right by the area that the developer told us would be the place our first mall would be built. I don't think that mall was seen until the early 80's or so. The nearest mall to us was about a 20-30 minute ride North and was just on the outskirts of downtown Houston. I don't recall hanging out at the mall until I was high school, but even then our toy car racing had changed from HO scale to 1:1.

Good times!

PD2:thumbsup:


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## coach61 (Sep 6, 2004)

Funny how some topics will rekindle old sights, sounds and smells.. In the small town I grew up in we had wood sidewalks when I was a kid, the local hobby shop was also a barber with sawdust on the floors, I will associate the hair goop smell with Models and slot cars.. thanks guys for the memories and Mr. Slaughter ( ya that was his name) for making small kids happy and clean cut lol.....

Coach!


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

ScottD961 said:


> We didn't get our first MAll until the spring of 1970/71 in Nanuet ,Rockland County New York. That mall killed off just about everything else around , which was a shame because prior to that we used to go to a large department store called E J Corvettes. They had a great hobby section with tons of , you guessed it , Aurora slot cars. Even by the time AFX was on the seen until Aurora was sold they always had just about everything that Aurora made. Interestingly they never carried another makers slots ! Every weekend we would head there and get hop up kits ,bodies , cars, more track ( was there ever enough) . They closed that store @ the time Aurora was sold . To this day When ever I go to a Hobby shop I think back to there slot department which always seemed to be staffed with knowledgeable slot people. It was a great time


Ahhhhh yes.I remember EJ Korvettes VERY well.The hobby department was off the hook,I can still remember how it looked to this day.

We seem to be from the same general area.I spent a lot of time in the '80s in Rockland County as there was quite a club/music scene in that area.Remember old Manhattens????

Do you remember a store back then that had an equal if not better hobby department????
Down on rt46 in NJ,Wayne Totowa area.Two Guys was the name of that one.

Mike

PS Here is some EJ Korvettes trivia for you.....

The name of the store,as local lore has it wnt like this.The store was started by eight guys who served in the Korean war together,who were allegedly Jewish.

Eight Jewish Korean Vets = EJ Korvettes


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

videojimmy said:


> In the 1969 Sears book, the first race set I ever got is in there. I was 4.. it was the Johnny Lighting 500 set.


Man.......that JL 500 set was my equivalent to the Red Ryder BB Gun in the holiday classic film "A Christmas Story".

I LIVED for that set,drew pictures of it on my school books,wore the pictures out on the Sears catalog with my eyes just from looking at it so much!!!!!

Mike


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> Ahhhhh yes.I remember EJ Korvettes VERY well.The hobby department was off the hook,I can still remember how it looked to this day.
> 
> We seem to be from the same general area.I spent a lot of time in the '80s in Rockland County as there was quite a club/music scene in that area.Remember old Manhattens????
> 
> ...


 LOL Hey I was born and raised there! I loved Korvette's it was cool .They had an old video game by the door that dad and I would play on the way home from work and it was basically some cars lined up in a row and you controlled one of them . They were matchbox like cars that rode on a track in front of you. You had to manuever in and around the other cars to the finish line. Located around the corner from the slots! LOL Actually it wasn't a video game I sinse there was just a view screen ,no video. 
Manhattens ??!! We might have been there at the same time ,LOL !
As for Tweo Guys , yep I was there! Is it still there do you know? As for the name of Korvette's is that true? I never knew the reason behind the name. Wow Mike you just set the Flux Capacitor to WAAAAY back didn't you? LOL
Thanks for the memories!


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> Man.......that JL 500 set was my equivalent to the Red Ryder BB Gun in the holiday classic film "A Christmas Story".
> 
> I LIVED for that set,drew pictures of it on my school books,wore the pictures out on the Sears catalog with my eyes just from looking at it so much!!!!!
> 
> Mike



I hear ya...I remember wanting Santa to come through so badly and how I exploded with joy when I saw it set up next to the tree on Xmas morning. My dad and I played with it for hours, every day for the next week or so. 

I can remember setting it up by myself for the first time and the sense of accomplishment I got after wards. The next year, I moved on to a Hot Wheels set with the automatic launchers. I liked the idea of being able to make up my own layouts.

Then came Sizzlers and SSP's, Then Ideal's Class A Crash Coarse, with the 1:43 wind up cars ...then slot cars.

I got some sort of race track or race car every year from 69-77.
I didn't rediscover "toys" until late 2001. 

I think if this were a midlife crisis, it would have passed by now. 

hehehehe

what a cool thread!


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

*Sorry... Not true...*



Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> *snip*
> 
> Mike
> 
> ...


Sorry, that is not quite right...
Take a look...
http://www.snopes.com/business/names/korvette.asp

Besides, in my area Two Guys had the BEST hobby dept in town... lol

Scott


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

Hey Noddaz , thank you for the update on that ! I had heard that for years so I just though that it was right. Sure do miss them though. Still.:thumbsup:


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## micyou03 (Apr 8, 2003)

The link won't work for me anymore.


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## Grandcheapskate (Jan 5, 2006)

ScottD961 said:


> As for Two Guys , yep I was there! Is it still there do you know?


 Two Guys went out of business somewhere in the very early 1980s. In my childhood years, they had the best hobby section of any store I knew. The store my parents took me to was in Totowa. Many glass cases lined with displays of Aurora slot cars and track, with all the stock just sitting on shelves behind those cases. And right next to them, the display cases for trains.
I also liked Great Eastern, which was just down Rt. 46. Another great display of slot cars. Never really noticed the hobby section of EJ Korvettes; my loss.
I'm guessing that those of use who grew up in the 50s, 60s and 70s will be the last generation to have strong childhood memories of "how things were". We grew up with classic TV shows (which, though the wonders of DVD are being brought back to us). We had parents who lived through the depression and could pass on some very valuable lessons. When we were real young, we may still have seen the very last horse drawn wagons on city streets. We could still make the connection between today's technology and when those things didn't exist. We were not as prosperous as we are today, but we always had food on the table, friends to play with and most importantly, open spaces where we could play.

Joe


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## noddaz (Aug 6, 1999)

*Korvettes vs Two Guys*

In my Burg (Glen Burnie, Md) Korvettes was the place you went to buy albums. Fantastic record selection... Two Guys for hobby stuff. Of course both were too far away to reach by bike and I had to rely on Mom to get there. lol
But Toy Barn was within biking distance as Hobby World, the local hobby Shop...
Ahhh, memory lane.....
Scott


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

noddaz said:


> Sorry, that is not quite right...
> Take a look...
> http://www.snopes.com/business/names/korvette.asp
> 
> ...


Son of a gun!!!!!! It was indeed an urban legend.

From what I remember,the Two Guys hobby dept was off the hook.Every kind of HO slot car,Tyco Pro,Bachman,and tons of train stuff as well,which I was into when I was younger.

Mike


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

I remember when this was all fields.


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

Grandcheapskate said:


> Two Guys went out of business somewhere in the very early 1980s. In my childhood years, they had the best hobby section of any store I knew. The store my parents took me to was in Totowa. Many glass cases lined with displays of Aurora slot cars and track, with all the stock just sitting on shelves behind those cases. And right next to them, the display cases for trains.
> I also liked Great Eastern, which was just down Rt. 46. Another great display of slot cars. Never really noticed the hobby section of EJ Korvettes; my loss.
> I'm guessing that those of use who grew up in the 50s, 60s and 70s will be the last generation to have strong childhood memories of "how things were". We grew up with classic TV shows (which, though the wonders of DVD are being brought back to us). We had parents who lived through the depression and could pass on some very valuable lessons. When we were real young, we may still have seen the very last horse drawn wagons on city streets. We could still make the connection between today's technology and when those things didn't exist. We were not as prosperous as we are today, but we always had food on the table, friends to play with and most importantly, open spaces where we could play.
> 
> Joe


Joe I forgot you were down that way.
I remember Great Eastern Mills too.They might have been the first to gne thing,of all things,that sticks in my mind if you can believe this,is that they had a monkey in their pet department.I guess it was the first one I ever saw.Weird.

Enough talk about monkeys tho.

Good philosophical observations there Joe.
We were by no means rich when I grew up.What we got for Xmas had to pretty much last us for the whole year.We had food on the table tho.It was life and thats how it was.

Funny too,thinking about how toys are so much more I guess you would say "disposable"then they were then.Lets face it,those of us who have or had little ones know that most toys kids get for Xmas these days are forgotten by like mid February.

I can remember,just with my slots for instance,setting them up in baking hot August sun in my parents back patio.
And there always seemed to be a never ending "adventure"for my brother and I and the kids that lived next doors GI Joes.

I had the first Adventure Team ones,as well of some of the older rubber headed painted on hair guys.Man what fun we had with those.

Mike


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

videojimmy said:


> I hear ya...I remember wanting Santa to come through so badly and how I exploded with joy when I saw it set up next to the tree on Xmas morning. My dad and I played with it for hours, every day for the next week or so.
> 
> I can remember setting it up by myself for the first time and the sense of accomplishment I got after wards. The next year, I moved on to a Hot Wheels set with the automatic launchers. I liked the idea of being able to make up my own layouts.
> 
> ...


Sizzlers I found to be a big disappointment.I had a bunch,got old watching them go round and round for a minute and then another recharge.

Ahh,SSPs.
Remember how as kids,there would be these weird fads that would come and go????
I remember the Yo Yo fad in school for one.Every kid in the school had a yo yo and we would yo yo our brains out at lunch time.I think someone ended up getting knocked out with one(lol)and a school wide yo yo ban ensued.

There was one of those phases with SSPs.Everyone had to have one,and there was a long strip of fresh macadam next to the school where we would run them at lunch.

I remember I had a pea green Plymouth Superbird.

Then something happened and SSPs were banned.What,I can not remember.

Good stuff.

Mike


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## rudykizuty (Aug 16, 2007)

I also remember Two Guys being the place to be if you were a young budding hobbyist :hat:


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

Oh an, I remember the Yo Yo fad too, where I lived it was around 71 or 72.... along with CLick Clacks.... two glass balls on the end of strings. Remember those? We heard all these urban legends about how kids were hitting themselves in the temples with them and getting killed. Our school banned those too.


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## Marty (Oct 20, 1999)

We were just talking about this the other day! There was a large department store in Toledo called Tiedtkes(sp?). We would take the bus downtown and if we were shopping for school clothes or something else for me, we would do that 1st. Then my Mom would say goodbye and I was on my way to the 4th floor, the toys floor! I would look through all the aisles and always end up at the the slot car table. When my Mom was done, she would come up and get me. She always knew where I was!

Another store in downtown called Woolworth's. It was a smaller "five and dime". Their toys were in the basement. They didn't have many slot cars, but a whole lot of model cars!

We also had a locally owned hobby shop, Browns Hobby. The 1st store was in East Toledo where I grew up. The owner knew my parents and always talked with us like we were at their home. No sales pitch, interested in what we said, and honestly cared if we found what we wanted. He had a great selection of model cars and slot cars. They eventually had three stores around Toledo. All three were within bicycle riding distance for me.

OK, here is my funny HO racing story. We raced our HO cars usually on the floor at someones house. The cars were all pretty equal, stock with stock tires. I discovered AJ's Falcon's and spent my whole hobby money allotment to get a complete card! The next racing session I killed 'em!! They tore apart my car and didn't notice the tires.(the 1st time my car ever got "teched") The next trip to the hobby shop we were all there and the clerk says "Hey Marty, here's more of those tires for you!". When they found out what they were, I got chased all the way home!

Auto World also got a lot of money for both slot cars and model cars.

I used to live in Bowling Green, OH and there was a small hobby shop there. I used to walk to work, weather permitting, and almost always stopped in. He had a great selection of slot cars and models.

Thanks for the great thread!!

Marty


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## bumpercar88 (Feb 6, 2005)

Besides, in my area Two Guys had the BEST hobby dept in town... lol

Scott,
They did have the best after Christmas sales. Slot cars @ 50% off and train track and rolling stock @ 25% of their original cost. I would save all year for that sale!


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## Mexkilbee (Apr 17, 2008)

Anybody have to save thier S&H greenstamps? For Christmas I would get all of them stuffed into my stocking to go to, I think Brand Names. Spend three hours de-tangling and licking until my toung was caliused to get what Santa didn't get me. Usually an AFX set, or later on a Tyco set. I got a TCR set on year, and an Ideal/Matchbox Dukes of Hazard set. Damm good Days!! Dreaming about the toys on those catalog pages, and hopeing they wouldn't be sold out or unavailible after Christmas. I did get a Daisey Red Rider BB gun once from the Sears catalog, before "A Christmas Tale" came out.


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

videojimmy said:


> Oh an, I remember the Yo Yo fad too, where I lived it was around 71 or 72.... along with CLick Clacks.... two glass balls on the end of strings. Remember those? We heard all these urban legends about how kids were hitting themselves in the temples with them and getting killed. Our school banned those too.



Wow,maybe we went to the same school.

There was a pair of those Klick Klacks wound around the telephone wires down the street from my house for as long as I remember after that fad,yep is was around '71 or 2.

They were hanging there easily until I was out of high school.

Mike


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## chuck_thehammer (Oct 24, 2007)

I remember in Cleveland I would go to a hobby store that had a large 1/24 scale slot car track, and I raced every weekend in the winter, riding on my bike (snow and all) one of my cars could do wheelies going down the straights...great stuff. also I was the youngest kid there..for years.
early morning paper route.
H.O. cars with silver brushes and springs and oversized rear tires and special oil.

bikes with baseball cards in the spokes.

later my motorcycle could not take $1.00 worth of gas. maybe 27 cents per gal.
now its $20.00.

Chuck


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

OK how many of you Chicago Suburb guys remember Dispensa's Castle of Toys? I remember the big soldiers on both sides of the entrance and mote was always scummy. I remember those little elves sitting above on the posts with the signs that said what department you were in. I remember the stainless steel railings between the cash registers we always would swing on and get yelled at. I totally remember the Hot Wheels and HO train aisles. I remember buying a lot of Aurora Speedline cars there as well as AFX cars. I could probably draw the whole store layout today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BxpxYu3-Ns&feature=related

Before Dispensa’s I can remember my dad taking me to "Bargain Town" to buy AFX cars. I can remember quite a few Tuff Ones Thunderjets we bought there. You would pick them out in a window and get a ticket to bring to cash registers. Then after check out your purchase would slide down this wood chute by the cash registers. It was a big red plywood boxed structure by the cash registers with a window in it for the manager. The place was dimly lit with overhead fluorescent lights. I remember the commercials when it changed to Toys-R-Us. “Bargain Town, Bargain Town, Bargain Town is now…..Toys-R-Us, Toys-R-Us, Toys-R-Us!”

Check it out:

http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com/2008/06/bargain-town-is-now-toys-r-us.html

Scott V. (I'm old...)


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

And here's a link to that same website about Korvettes and the Two Guys stores some of you from the East Coast are talking about. Take your time and page through this website there are tons of old stores listed in it! 

http://pleasantfamilyshopping.blogspot.com/search/label/Korvettes


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## medic57 (Mar 3, 2008)

I still have 2 S & H Green Stamps, and I can still show you the place on the wall where I used to buy my T-Jet parts at Western Auto even though it is now a lawyers office. Or how about SS Kresge's and Woolworths.


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## bobhch (Apr 22, 2007)

*Time machine is right here....memories...Aaaaaaaaaah!*

This thread is great....yeah Jimmy they call it progress. I don't and wish some empty lots were left for kids of today to ride and jump their BMX bikes.

Posted these pics in a thread similar to this one over a year ago. The guy that cuts our kids hair and his Wife are totally into old stuff and gave me these "Mall Books". Gretna is a small town still and his shop is just incredibly done with Nostalgia. 





































Raced slot cars with my best Friend Chris across the street. He had Tyco track & I had AFX. We also got to race at our local Hobby Store with all the slot heads from the neighborhood in the 70s. :hat: You could de-slot 2 times and the third time you were out... I think it was a 4 lane track and the G-Plus cars were raced by the older kids.....Zoooooooooooooom!!!! Someone had the Blue Elf car with broken front tires and just put the regular 2 tires on instead of 4...those were the days.

Clackers...Yes! Got my Maroon and White ones at the Nebraska State Fair...loved them!

SSPs...Had the Demolition Derby set...doors and hoods went flying as two people on opposite ends would pull the ripcords and they would smash in mid-air as they flew off the plastic ramps the set came with.

Evil Knievel Motorcycle...Yes! Used the ramps from SSPs to jump! Fun, fun, fun.........:woohoo: I have a Johnny Lightning Reproduction sitting in a box for Fletcher when he gets a little older.

I love buying toys for our kids. Fletcher (will be 5 November 4th) realy likes racing slot cars and ask me to race...how cool is that? "Dad can we go downstairs and race slot cars?" I always say yes. 

Again this thread has re-kindled my soul with the Hobby Talk Brother Ship that this place has.

Bob...Had a blast reading all these post before making my post...zilla


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

SSPs, Whoa! That activated a memory strand that hasnt been used in, oh since Star Trek went off. I had the Crash Derby set too. Got it for Christmas at my Grandmas house. Oh, I had to try it out there. I think a door or something went under the fridge on the first crash! "We'll get it next time" 
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6a9b9BLyJU&NR=1
I also got one of those Hot Mods? They had a Pinto and a Volkswagon. I had the VW. You wind it up and let it go. The thing Transformed into a dragster and took off. It was cool as heck, but I didnt know you could overwind it, which I did the first week. Evel Keneivel, we jumped him off the highest stuff we could climb up on. Those bikes were sturdy! The Whirlybird, this thing I loved right along with my slot car set. It was a helicopter on a wire, with a contorller attached. You controlled forward and backward, and the speed of the prop, which was spun by a rod attached to a spring, attached to the prop. I had the rescue set, barracades, and stuff you try to save. One important note: It doesn't like shag carpet. Mine made this beautiful landing in the open field, and twisted the shag up into the helicopter. Dad cut it out, but the spring was bent, it ran with a wobble from then on out. 
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ET1j6qytc0U&feature=related
Then Star Wars came out and took over the toy market. Man, what a trip down the lane of memory. It takes me back to when I used to sit in my granmas gravel driveway, and scoop out roads for my HotWheels.

Rich


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## PD2 (Feb 27, 2003)

WOW!!! Want to talk about a flash back! The Wards 1977 Wish Book catalog brings back a memory! Mom used to keep her copies in a chest of drawers in our spare bedroom - I remember opening they drawer and it was almost always on top! And how about those prices?!? Less $40 for an entire AFX track set with controllers and cars?!?! Amazing huh?

Evil Knievel motorcycle!! YES! I made an even bigger ramp for him - in fact, it was big enough for my bicycle to jump - and I'd line up other cars and trucks for him to jump. Sinch up his rubber helmet and pull the rip cord and watch him go! I worn that thing out! In fact, when the rip cord was done I still played with that thing by just revving it up pushing it across the floor and then when the bike was screaming I'd let him go! Good times!

Rich - Star Wars and GI Joes! YES! Man when Lucas released the first Star Wars movie I was hooked! Got all the figures and even the space ships, the death star, all sorts of things. I think I still have those some place stored away along with my GI Joes - Joes I played with along with my friend who had the AFX slot car track that we would build large layouts together. And of course who cannot forget that if you had one figure that you did not like you just strapped a whole bunch of black cat firecrackers to him, lit them and checked out the damage - kept us busy on New Years day! LOL!

Great stuf guys!
PD2:thumbsup:


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## videojimmy (Jan 12, 2006)

NTX... I think you're talking about Aurora Imposters... I had the Pinto. They were really cool. You'd wind them up with a crank the looked like a stick shift. Press a tab in the back of the car and they'd turn into a dragster and then take off. Hard to fnd them now. and when you do, it's usually the VW. They also made a Wily's too.


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

Yep, Jimmy, that's the one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-n3h107eCs

Rich


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

*OK you wanna talk old toys?*

Just think if you saved all those old toys you could be like Steve Carrel in The 40 Year Old Virgin. 

I have collected old toys for years and have gone to many large toy shows. There is one that comes to Kane County every year that is the third largest in the world. You can't see it all in one day. Anyway, what I find thrilling is to walk down the aisles and trip down memory lane. You see things you completely forgot about and it brings back that whole era in your childhood when you had that toy. 

I used to tell my mom I could remember my first car toy as a 3 year old. She said no way I could remember back that far. Well I have an amazing memory but couldn't remember what it was called until I came across this website. I about jumped out of my chair when I saw the toy! I immediately went to FeeBay and bought 2 of the sets. It was called "Trik Trak". When I received the sets I couldn't believe how small the car was. But the last time I held it in my hands I was 3 years old so I was pretty small. What a trip! I showed it to my mom and she couldn't believe I remember back that far.

Great website with vintage toys for sale: "Time Warp Toys"
http://www.timewarptoys.com/

Another good historical reference: "Tick Tock Toys"
http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/page4.html


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## Slott V (Feb 3, 2005)

Another time warp-

http://www.samstoybox.com/


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## NTxSlotCars (May 27, 2008)

A Tyco timewarp.

www.myspace.com/northtexasslotcars :thumbsup:


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## Omega (Jan 14, 2000)

noddaz said:


> In my Burg (Glen Burnie, Md) Korvettes was the place you went to buy albums. Fantastic record selection... Two Guys for hobby stuff. Of course both were too far away to reach by bike and I had to rely on Mom to get there. lol
> But Toy Barn was within biking distance as Hobby World, the local hobby Shop...
> Ahhh, memory lane.....
> Scott


How I loved going to Two Guys every saturday morning. Back in the late 60's and early 70's. I go there with my Mom and grandparents as soon as we hit the front door off I would go to the slotcars and toys while my Mom and grandparents did thier shopping. 

Dave


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

Wow.Some of the links you guys posted are great.Good thread.

Ive been perusing some of the catalogs that are on the site I originally posted.

I remember wearing the page in the catalog out wanting the set at the bottom of this page:










I didnt get it.40 bucks was a lot of money then I guess.
Funny tho,how much the price of slot cars jumped in a few short years.The G+ cars were almost double the price of the old tjets.

And now,I guess a set that would come close to that these days might be the Super International.
ANd that goes for from 120 to 140.The prices have TRIPLED isince that time.

I did eventually get the 4 laner at the bottom of this page:











Funny thing I will never forget.When I got that set I was like 18,it was the xmas of '79.
By that time I was heavy into music,my toy days seemed to be a distant memory.
I remember opening it and asking my mom why she got it for me,and she said "I knew you always wanted it".

There was a certain sadness in her answer that I never understood until years later when I had a kid.

The transistion of going from a kid to an adult is one thing.But as a parent,seeing your kid turning into an adult seems somewhat unfair as the precious time we have with them as little innocent pure as the driven snow little kids races by far to fast and is gone in a blurr.

It is now as the dad of a 15 year old that I came to fully understand her answer.

Mike


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## Mike(^RacerX^) (Mar 15, 2003)

*one more page*

I remember being a bit older and looking through the holiday catalogs and seeing sets like this:










Where any of these any good?????How did they work?????Doesnt seem like it could work,I cant imagine how the heck they would have.

Mike


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## win43 (Aug 28, 2006)

When I was a kid (one day after the dinosaurs fizzled out) growing up in Elizabeth, NJ, there was a mom and pop toy and baby furniture store in the downtown shopping district called Kolker's. They sold a little bit of everything, but what a slot car section!!! Towards the back of the store almost 1/4 of one wall was all slot cars. And the slots were almost entirely Aurora.
And not only did they sell them but they knew everything about them. They even had a little tiny test track behind the counter. If you bought a car you could use the track to "break it in". Or they would break it in for you. I remember being treated as a "real" customer and not a kid. Even if my purchase turned out to be 25 cents. When Aurora stopped making vibrators they had a bunch of "terminal" tracks in stock which were now useless. I bought them all for 10 cents a piece was even given some freebies. I went home and cut off all the metal connections under the track and "presto change-o" I had a whole slew of useable 9" straight tracks. Best part was I could take a bus 3 blocks from my house and it dropped me off right at their frontdoor or I could walk there in 20-30 minutes. Kolker's was the greatest place. As for MALLS, I guess that Two Guys, which was too far for me to get to on my own, was the closest thing to what we now know as a Mall. Clothing, appliances, toys (slots), sporting goods, etc., etc., and even a full-size grocery dept. Guess they were one of the original "one-stop shopping" stores.
Man they were the "good old days".


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## Tycoarm (Jan 7, 2006)

ScottD961 said:


> We didn't get our first MAll until the spring of 1970/71 in Nanuet ,Rockland County New York. That mall killed off just about everything else around , which was a shame because prior to that we used to go to a large department store called E J Corvettes. They had a great hobby section with tons of , you guessed it , Aurora slot cars. Even by the time AFX was on the seen until Aurora was sold they always had just about everything that Aurora made. Interestingly they never carried another makers slots ! Every weekend we would head there and get hop up kits ,bodies , cars, more track ( was there ever enough) . They closed that store @ the time Aurora was sold . To this day When ever I go to a Hobby shop I think back to there slot department which always seemed to be staffed with knowledgeable slot people. It was a great time



There was one in Matteson Il. I think I remember my dad taking us there. The hobby shop was upstairs, along with all the other toys. 
The slot cars and trains in the glass cases was what I remember the most.


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## ScottD961 (Jan 31, 2008)

Tycoarm said:


> There was one in Matteson Il. I think I remember my dad taking us there. The hobby shop was upstairs, along with all the other toys.
> The slot cars and trains in the glass cases was what I remember the most.


It's funny Tycoarm , but of all the places I wish I could visit from my childhood it isn't one of the hobby shops I want to go to. It's a visit back to the big display cases of EJ Korvettes filled to over flowing with Aurora slots. 
If Doc Browns De Lorean runs out of Plutonium while I am there ,it's ok Leave me behind ! Those were the days. 
They had a huge record department too. We bought a Cassette player there once to record music with and make tapes with. We kept having trouble with it. Dad wanted the guy to exchange it or return his money because it kept messing up . The service guy was kind of being a jerk So Dad left and I don't remember how he did it but he got ahold of one of the top guys in the company and explained the whole thing to him. Know what he did? He told my dad to go back on a particular day and to see some one . So we go back and , NO LIE, he was greeted at the door as MR. Datemasch and was given his choice of ANY tape deck REGARDLESS of the cost ! Can you believe that ? Those were the days .


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## Marty (Oct 20, 1999)

Mexkilbee said:


> Anybody have to save thier S&H greenstamps? .


Our family was big into S&H Green stamps. When I was 16 yrs old I worked pumping gas at a Mobil station. If the customer didn't want their greenstamps, I kept 'em.

Marty


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## chuck_thehammer (Oct 24, 2007)

Marty,

You are so right, I also worked at a gas station, keeping the unwanted stamps go me a complete stereo system for my bedroom, I was 15. good stuff..........

Chuck


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## Rapid Robert (Feb 13, 2008)

Those were the days when a mans word was his bond.Life was simple and beautiful.Slot cars forever


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## Rawafx (Jul 20, 1999)

I lived in Peotone, Illinois and would go(with my parents) to Matt's Toy and Hobby Shop in Kankakee when I was a very young boy. As a teenager I would go to Hobby Town in Bradley, Illinois because they sold Aurora cars and parts and every other Friday night my parents would go to a "bone crusher" down the street. I also went to a hobby shop in the Park Forest shopping center, I think it was called "Saukeld's", or something like that. It's hell when your mind goes....oh, I used to drive up to Dispensa's Castle of Toys in Oak Brook Terrance, Illinois. I still remember those commercials. I remember going there one cold post-Christmas day and seeing the big gold fish frozen in the moat.

Bob Weichbrodt
"Rawafx"
W-S, NC


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## TomH (Jan 17, 2006)

Rawafx said:


> I lived in Peotone, Illinois and would go(with my parents) to Matt's Toy and Hobby Shop in Kankakee when I was a very young boy. As a teenager I would go to Hobby Town in Bradley, Illinois because they sold Aurora cars and parts and every other Friday night my parents would go to a "bone crusher" down the street. I also went to a hobby shop in the Park Forest shopping center, I think it was called "Saukeld's", or something like that. It's hell when your mind goes....oh, I used to drive up to Dispensa's Castle of Toys in Oak Brook Terrance, Illinois. I still remember those commercials. I remember going there one cold post-Christmas day and seeing the big gold fish frozen in the moat.
> 
> Bob Weichbrodt
> "Rawafx"
> W-S, NC


Holy cow, I lived in Kankakee in 64, 65. There was a mall there with a Sears store. I got my aurora set for Christmas and I think it came from there. Went to part of seventh, and eighth grade there. Small world or what


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## Rawafx (Jul 20, 1999)

That was called the Meadowview Shopping Center. There was a Sears, Bell Discount, Woolworth's, and an another place that was a variety store but I can't think of the name right now. I entered a model car contest there in 1963 or 1964 with a '32 Ford Vicky. There was also a 1/24th scale raceway there for a couple of years, but it went the way of the dinosaurs.
Do you remember a resturant called "The Little Corporal"? A guy named Barry Mandilow used to be the piano player there.

Bob Weichbrodt
"Rawafx"
W-S, NC


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## dlw (Aug 17, 1999)

> *one more page*
> I remember being a bit older and looking through the holiday catalogs and seeing sets like this:
> 
> 
> ...


 
Mike, they do work but you couldn't change lanes on the curves. Centrifical force would see to that. The chassis are inline and were dual-crown geared. When the arm spins in a certain direction, it drove one of the crown gears, and on the other end, a little nylon sleeve would spin, turning the steering jig up front to keep the car in the lane up against the retainer wall (to keep the shoes on the rails). Hit the big button on the butt end of the controller would reverse polarity.....the arm spins in the other direction, engaging the other crown gear, turning the front wheels in the other direction, and bam! Lane change.

Bad thing is the Afx and Tyco slotless cars are very similiar, except the Tyco's have a larger side bumper (Tyco's slotless track has a thin guide slot on each side for the jam car), and Afx cars couldn't properly run on Tyco slotless track. But you can jerry-rig an extra side bumper to 'adapt' an Afx car to run on it.


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## TomH (Jan 17, 2006)

Rawafx said:


> That was called the Meadowview Shopping Center. There was a Sears, Bell Discount, Woolworth's, and an another place that was a variety store but I can't think of the name right now. I entered a model car contest there in 1963 or 1964 with a '32 Ford Vicky. There was also a 1/24th scale raceway there for a couple of years, but it went the way of the dinosaurs.
> Do you remember a resturant called "The Little Corporal"? A guy named Barry Mandilow used to be the piano player there.
> 
> Bob Weichbrodt
> ...


Yeah I remember the raceway. we lived out in the country so I didn't get to town much. I got to go there a couple of times. I remember seeing a clear dodge pickup that when under acceleration the body would raise up and wheely like crazy. Wow, I only remember a pizza joint by the high school run by real italians. He kept getting mad at us kids for turning up the juke box. He would storm into the room and yell, Who a turned up a the yuka box!


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## Im Paul (Nov 3, 2008)

Mike(^RacerX^) said:


> Something that some of us old guys might have forgotten was the fact that when we were kids 4000 years ago there were no malls and the like.We did all of our xmas shopping and made our lists to Santa by way of Sears,Speigel,Montgomery Wards and JC Penny Holiday catalogs.
> I'll even go so far as to say that these were probably the first reading material we took into the "reading room"if ya know what I mean.
> Man,I remember literally wearing the pages out of these,the cover rarely stayed on the catalogs until Halloween.
> 
> ...


a couple of years back i won an auction on ebay and it was for a page out of the 1976 pennys book.it was of the curve huggers page number 465.

great add to my collection.


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## Rawafx (Jul 20, 1999)

Was that pizza joint called "Areelio's" or something like that???

Bob Weichbrodt
"Rawafx"
W-S, NC


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