One of the staples of local South Philadelphia culture is the neighborhood luncheonette. There are still many places to grab a hoagie or cheesesteak or even a burger, but they don't have the character that many of us once knew. If all they have is a walk-up counter to place your order, it's just a sandwich shop. That's not to say the food's bad, but it's not a place where you're going to find yourself hanging around.
Back in the '60s and '70s though, a different type of luncheonette ruled the landscape. All of them had the metal signs above their storefronts from either Coca-Cola or Pepsi. The storefront windows were painted by sign painters with their names, just like grocery stores. They all had at least three booths to complement the stools at the counter, and all of them had jukeboxes with the latest in rock music, some with lots of kids or young adults hanging around.
Uncle Virgie's at 17th & Oregon was one of those luncheonettes. For the entire decade or so that I remember them being there, Uncle Virgie and Aunt Millie (no, they weren't family) ran the shop from opening to closing time. Both were great people who didn't mind kids making noise or hanging around longer than it took to eat their fries and have a Coke. This is the place where many neighborhood kids had our first cheesesteak or our first burger outside of our homes. We didn't know McDonald's or Burger King back then, and this was even before Geno's (20th & Moyamensing, long gone) became popular and then faded away. My brother, sister, and I along with a few friends were the younger of the grade school kids hanging around there, most of the others were in their late high school years or young adults.
Maybe Uncle Vergie was a little too tolerant, this was back in the '60s when drugs were becoming a recreational thing and the older guys were experimenting. Still, he didn't make a fuss and toss them even though it was general knowledge that there were some there who were high or dealing or both. It was never an issue until one night near the end of his run on the corner. After closing, the older guys would hang out on the corner, or in the apartment upstairs that was rented by one of the regulars. And then one of them ran afoul with a local biker gang, marring the peaceful atmosphere that we knew. Arrests were made, some were injured, and parents told the younger kids they couldn't go there. It wasn't the same place anymore.
Maybe we didn't do a whole heck of a lot there other than eating junk food and listen to music such as Steppenwolf, The Guess Who, the Stones, and other now-classic rock bands played on 45 rpm records in the old jukebox (kids, ask your parents to explain how they worked). But it was our place to go. The place and the people either had some character or were characters. It wasn't the mass-produced plastic interiors of today's fast-food joints, it was homey. And the food was better than what we know as fast food today. You don't find that combination too often anymore.
If you lived here, you probably had a place where you enjoyed spending the carefree day of your youth. It may have been a luncheonette or a rec center or somewhere else. Those places will always be a part of our lives and they often come up in conversations with friends. Wherever it was, if you enjoyed being there, it was your place. Most of us had more than one. When it came to the corner luncheonette, you could spend only so much time and cash eating the things we did.
AND YOU MAY REMEMBER...
...Ralph & Josie's - Bancroft & Shunk Streets. Closed in the mid-70s and became Mr. Ed's, the neighborhood nuisance because of the kids and the pinball machines.
...Frank & Tessie's - 18th & Shunk Streets. Tessie wore a house dress and was alleged to have placed more than a few hoagie rolls under her armpit while cooking up a steak, sending the customers elsewhere.
...Does anyone remember the name of the luncheonette at 16th & Oregon where the real estate office now sits? They had a waitress there who my mom nicknamed Pincushion. When I asked why that name, I got the usual parental "never mind" answer. I found out why later. The only things I can remember about that place is the location, the waitress, and a guy who hung around who seemed that he didn't want to say goodbye to the 1950s. He looked like the actor Bo Hopkins and wore a leather biker jacket and had a greasy ducktail haircut. How do I remember these things? I don't know! I wish I had this kind of memory for the important things in life. I;d be much better off. Maybe.
Originally published in 2006 and edited as the memories were brushed off.
2 comments:
Thanks Kevin!
I just couldn't remember the name, only that a luncheonette was there in my younger days and that they had a waitress there who had a bad reputation. My mom would alternately call her "Pinky" or "Pincushion" (moms should stay out of the nicknaming business).
Kevin also reminded me that Mr. Ed's took over Ralph & Josie's when they retired. I had forgotten that.
Mark noted the trouble when Mr. Ed came in and brought in pinball and other game machines. There was a "there goes the neighborhood" atmosphere when they came, and petitions cirulated like mad. All for nothing, Mr. Ed's lasted only a short time, and the property has since become a duplex apartment.
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