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It’s a busy afternoon at mental_floss—we’re preparing to unveil our new homepage later today. Here are three questions for you to ponder while you anxiously await.
1. We’ve lined up a special guest blogger for next week. Grammar legend Patricia O’Conner, author of Woe Is I: The Grammarphobe’s Guide to Better English in Plain English, will be sitting in. And next Friday, she’ll be answering a handful of reader questions.
I don’t want to spoil any of the topics she’ll be covering, so I’ll ask this: what other special guests would you like to see writing for mental_floss?
2. For as long as I can remember, this corner in my hometown has housed a coffee/dessert shop. For the last ten years or so, it’s been a Starbucks, which seemed to thrive. But my parents just told me that Starbucks is no more, and a new coffee shop has replaced it.
The pre-Starbucks years featured the grand openings and quick demises of Sonoma Cafe, Cafe Luna (I think) and Johnny Jupiter’s. The latter opened in the early 1990s and was described to me as “the place you’ll come to love like ‘The Max,’ from Saved by the Bell.” Sadly, that didn’t work out for us, and our childhood marched on Max-free. So the question is this: what building in your town has been a revolving door for the same kind of business?
3. Over the past year, I’ve been parting with a lot of clothes I’d kept for sentimental reasons, mainly because the sentimental reasons were mostly ridiculous. (I did not participate in the 1999 Duke Reunions Fun Run, but held onto the shirt for nearly a decade.) But before my frequent trips to Goodwill, I’ve been photographing my nostalgic donations. I don’t yet miss my official Rainbow Soccer uniform. But if I do, I’ll be ready. What’s the oldest commemorative t-shirt taking up space in your drawer?
Have a great weekend!
[See transcripts of previous Friday Happy Hours]
Comments (36)
Comment
2 - There’s a small diner/theatre in our neighborhood that has changed hands several times in my memory. It’s just a specifically shaped venue that it doesn’t allow for much else. It’ll open again with some new theme or other - kids movies, adult themed, general release (it’s most successful run) then close again and stay empty for a little while before it opens again. Now, they’ve finally changed it and it’s “cabaret” and stage venue that seems to be working out.
Not quite the same but: I’m from Cincinnati and we’ve got Riverfront Coliseum (yes, home of the tramplings at a Who concert in ‘76); ‘cept now it’s US Bank Arena (lame!) and was, in a very short span, also called Firstar Center and The Crown. I still just call it the Coliseum.
3 - I’ve got a couple of Odyssey of the Mind tournament shirts around, from when I was 13 (1998) at the latest.
posted by s michael c on 5-2-2008 at 1:23 pm
3 - I’ve got my high school gym t-shirt, nearly threadbare, from 1985-ish. Also a Guns ‘n’ Roses “Appetite for Destruction” concert t-shirt from the late 80’s that I’ve never worn, but can’t get rid of.
posted by bre on 5-2-2008 at 1:28 pm
Regarding question 3 - a good option for all of those t-shirts that you can’t seem to get rid of for sentimental reasons is to make them into a quilt. (There are also seamstresses / websites that will do it for you.) I have a bunch of shirts from community theater shows that I’ve been in, and making them into a quilt is on my list of “Things To Do When I Have Unlimited Leisure Time”. So, I should have that done in about 50 years or so.
posted by caitlen315 on 5-2-2008 at 1:28 pm
1) John Hodgman
2) there’s a corner downtown spot that seems to always be a food-related place (Vietnamese restaurant and cheesecake place are the two latest)
3) I’ve got U2 Rattle and Hum shirt from high school (late 80s) that, actually I just wore last week.
posted by IAinND on 5-2-2008 at 1:36 pm
There’s a building in my hometown that’s had cursed restaurauts in it for as long as I can remember. In the 80s and early 90s, it housed a Sizzler, and was the epicenter of a local e.coli outbreak. A woman got sick from Sizzler’s food and nearly died. They folded about a year later, and a revolving door of restaurants have come and gone. None have lasted more than a year or so. Currently it’s a used car lot, but I’m sure in another few months, another soon-to-fail restaurant will appear.
posted by Jenny on 5-2-2008 at 1:39 pm
1) An authority on flutes- how to play, trivia, famous flutists, etc…all the stuff your middle school music teacher would have told you only now you’re LONGGGGG past middle school so she’s not there to do it!
2) 2 eateries- 1 very ‘hole-in-the-wall-ish’, the other a sort of local Dairy Queen joint. The first is nearly always some sort of cafe/mom-and-pop restaurant; the 2nd is nearly always some sort of ice cream place. They’re, located at the north and south ends of the small town I call home. They seem to change hands every 2 to 5 years.
3) My Purdue University shirt- I’ve worn it the last 15 years or so and it’s still going strong! It’s a heavy cotton, long-sleeved, Champion brand.
posted by ann on 5-2-2008 at 1:49 pm
2. There’s a building on the corner of Cedar and Riverside Aves in Minneapolis that’s been at least 5 things in the past 10 years, and that’s also sat vacant for a long while. It was The New Riverside Cafe for a long time, then a coffee shop, a Felafel King, and a nameless Somali place for sure. Now it’s the Acadia. Isn’t that exciting?
3. I have two shirts that were my dad’s that are older than I am–Sweeney’s a bar near Notre Dame from 1969, and a University of Minnesota shirt that’s from the mid 70s.
Caitlen315 beat me to the quilt idea–my mom made me one a couple years ago with a bunch of my tee shirts from high school that I’d clearly never wear again, but that I didn’t want to throw. I did preserve (and occasionally wear) my 1995-1996 Tech Crew shirt that has a hot pink screw on the back and says “techies do it in the dark” on the front. Super cool.
posted by Julia on 5-2-2008 at 2:03 pm
2)It doesn’t change hands, but there’s a small drive-through only restaurant where we used to live that has changed styles several times. It was an ice cream place for a while, a pizza place, then a quickie burger and fries place, then for a while it was fried chicken and wet burritos and stuffed mushrooms and basically a whole melting pot of weird food choices that people couldn’t get anywhere else in town. That lasted quite a while, then they switched over to chinese food about 5 years ago. They’re about due for another change. Each time they repaint the place some neon color and put up a new sign with a new name.
3. I had an old sweatshirt from the Salem, MA Witch Musem (18 yrs ago) that I couldn’t bring myself to throw out; I gave them to my daughter instead. She in turn has turned a lot of her beloved outgrown t-shirts into pillows.
posted by faburobin on 5-2-2008 at 2:10 pm
1. Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner of Freaknomics fame seem like a perfect fit for this blog.
3. My oldest T-shirt is probably from the 1991 version of An Tostal (a spring student festival at Notre Dame). Several other shirts from the era were recently turned into tax writeoffs or polishing rags.
posted by Paul on 5-2-2008 at 2:21 pm
2. The local dive here that can’t seem to ever make anything stick started out as a Texas Tom’s. It was then Downings Restaurant and Bar…next came JayWalkers Bar and Grill…I’ve just heard rumblings that it’s about to change hands once again.
3. Oldest T-shrit is from a Cheerleading camp I attended in the 8th Grade. I am now 34 years old. It’s so comfortable and broken in - I just can bring myself to get rid of it. Sad, I know….
posted by Christian on 5-2-2008 at 2:31 pm
Anyone else notice how most of the “revolving door” businesses seem to be restaurants? I struggled to think of a used bookstore or boutique shop in the area that had done this, but what instantly popped to mind was the building that has been no less than 5 different Mexican restaurants (all with different owners) in the past 7 years.
Everything else has become something radically different - like the mom and pop grocery store that became a posh gym or the grocery store 3 blocks away from it that because a used-car lot and is now going to house the new branch of the library.
posted by Laurie on 5-2-2008 at 2:44 pm
(2) There is a building that I pass every day that has been every kind imaginable restaurant. It is currently a “Hooters” and from the number of trucks and red-neck cars parked there I think it has found it’s calling.
(3) A t-shirt from my husband’s fraternity days (mid 1970’s) that is threadbare but still a comfy sleeping t-shirt.
posted by Carol on 5-2-2008 at 3:00 pm
3-A bootleg Eagles tour t-shirt from the 1977 “Hotel California” tour
posted by Zane on 5-2-2008 at 3:03 pm
1. Ira Glass
posted by Ira on 5-2-2008 at 3:23 pm
2. There’s a grocery up the street that was a Food Gallery, Scozio’s, Foodland, and Sparkle Market. (There’s a downward progression of names). I worked there when it was Scozio’s, and learned that the owners changed but the management never did, so it was the same lousy business practices that undermined every new franchise.
3. Track shirt from 7th grade, 1997. Its more air than shirt now. Love it.
posted by Ben on 5-2-2008 at 3:34 pm
1.I second the Freakonomics authors suggestion, I think they would be great to have as bloggers.
2. There’s a “cursed” restaurant on a trendy street in my hometown that’s been like twenty different things in my lifetime. It was several Mexican restaurants that were trying to be upscale for a while. About three years ago it turned into a 24-hour cafe and hookah lounge and has been going strong ever since. There’s also a shop in a strip mall in my city that’s been vacant for at least twelve years now, except for like a month where there was a wallpaper store.
3. I still wear my sister’s D.A.R.E. shirt that’s at least a decade old at this point. And not a T-shirt, but I still wear this old, threadbare Auburn sweatshirt my mother wore when she was pregnant with me (who knows how old it was then), so it’s at least a couple decades old.
posted by Megan on 5-2-2008 at 3:34 pm
1. In my hometown (pop. 3500), there is a storefront on Main Street that no business seems to last long in. The building was built in the 1880’s, and was in disrepair for many years until a local businessman bought the building and refurbished it about 15 years ago. The storefront has over the years been: a karate studio, three different cafes, and a daycare. It is currently vacant, after the last owners of the most recent cafe closed it last summer.
2. I have a long-sleeve t-shirt from Woodstock 99. I don’t usually buy “nostalgia” shirts because I never wear them. The only reason I bought this shirt (at the festival, natch) was I was so severely sunburned I needed to look like a Bedouin to prevent more severe injusry to my skin.
posted by Amy on 5-2-2008 at 3:37 pm
3) My oldest t-shirt is probably from a high school gymnastics meet in the late 90s. When I moved in with my fiance he saw me packing it and asked why I wasn’t throwing it away. It’s no longer totally white, horribly designed and kinda ugly. But my name is in a list of people who qualified for states on each event on the back! I don’t care if it’s so small I can hardly read it. And he has no room to talk, his oldest t-shirt is a National Geographic Geography Bee t-shirt from 8th grade! He actually does wear it frequently still though.
posted by Robyn on 5-2-2008 at 4:10 pm
2 - There’s a place that was a Wendy’s fast food joint, then it was nothing for a very long time, then a Wendy’s again, then a diner, and now it’s nothing again.
3 - Middle school gym shirt from 6 years ago is the oldest. It’s fugly and I’m not sure why I’ve still got it. The only other commemorative T-shirt I own is my high school Theater Crew shirt that I got this past fall. It’s a very bright blue that draws attention to itself, so I have no idea if I’ll wear it any time other than Theater crew meetings next year until we get new shirts (which we’re thinking will be bright green, followed by kill-a-deer-orange the following year).
posted by S on 5-2-2008 at 4:15 pm
1. I loved Sara’s mental_floss interview with Peter Sagal of NPR fame. He seems like a good candidate for a guest blog.
2. In my tiny hometown in rural Minnesota there was a drive-in restaurant that changed ownership and names each decade. It was an A&W in the ’70s, Jeraco’s Drive-In in the ’80s, closed and shuttered in the early ’90s, Emily’s Restaurant in the late ’90s and Jan’s Drive-In in the ’00s before being leveled so the nearby convenience store could expand. Who knew it would be so tough for an outdoor dining establishment to turn a profit in a subzero climate with 30-40 nice, summery days per year?
3. The oldest shirt I own is commemorative in a way…I guess it commemorates the most futile Presidential campaign of a major party in American history. My dad wore it circa 1984. It reads “Mondale/Ferraro” on the front, and on the reverse, “Get Reagan Off Your Back.”
posted by Ed on 5-2-2008 at 4:35 pm
1. an astronomer! I visit NASA’s “picture of the day” site every day and there’s just a lot of cool stuff out there
2. here’s a twofer — there’s a 5-story building that began life as apartments, then for a while was housing for what used to be (and might still be) called “service widows”, and now is offices. Part of the ground floor is restaurant space that’s changed ownership, theme, and name roughly every two years for as long as I’ve lived there: American, Chinese, fish, grill, I think right now it’s tapas or something.
3. an “annual kickoff” tshirt from a group within my company that no longer exists. 1989? maybe 1990. It’s currently my painting-and-other-messy-jobs shirt. I got rid of the kickoff shirt from 1988 which had shrunken and gotten threadbare to the point that it was no longer wearable, by me or anyone.
posted by Liza Jane on 5-2-2008 at 4:36 pm
3. I’ve got a camp t-shirt that is at least 16 years old. It must’ve been made better than t-shirts are now because it’s still in one piece. A few years ago when I was a counselor they had an Oldest Camp Shirt contest, and I was glad I’d kept mine for so long. One other person had the same shirt; we were very proud of our old tees that day. There are a lot of shirts that I wish I’d kept (or kept in better shape) but that would require more storage space than I have.
posted by Mel on 5-2-2008 at 4:42 pm
3. I actually have a closet where I keep all of that stuff — I think the oldest commemorative stuff is a bunch of New Kids on the Block T-shirts (though I also have a corduroy blazer in there that I wore when I was 6).
posted by MH on 5-2-2008 at 5:39 pm
3. I have a 1975 Led Zeppelin tour shirt.
posted by Miss Cellania on 5-2-2008 at 6:30 pm
1. Bill Bryson… amazing, funny, factual (perfect humor for MF)
2. There is a place in my hometown that was a TGIF when we moved there (18 years ago), it was then empty for awhile. A year or so later it became a Chili’s or something like that. It was then deserted, but later bought and restored to be a Southwestern themed place with stucco (spelling?) walls and large beams in the rafters. That later became a Japanese place… you could tell it was Japanese because they hung lanterns from the beams. I think it’s either now empty or is a mortgage bank.
3. My family took us to Disney when I was in 4th grade during their 25th anniversary. That was when the castle was turned into a cake. The tshirt has a pic of the Cake on the front and the old castle on the back.
posted by Amy on 5-2-2008 at 8:34 pm
How about Nancy Pearl(the Book Lust lady)
posted by Jo-Ann Burton on 5-2-2008 at 8:35 pm
I have a shirt that is threadbare from a Bank of American Run in Mariposa, the small town I grew up in California. This is a very small town and if there had ever been a run or marathon of any kind in it I would have known, but I don’t recall one. And yet I have the shirt.
posted by Shan on 5-2-2008 at 9:02 pm
2) Jason - I don’t mean to out you, but is that Denville, NJ?
In San Diego, during college, it was a round of taco shops. Started as a Del Taco, went to Roberto’s to Alberto’s to Roberto’s. I am not sure what it is now, but it probably ends in Berto’s.
3) If concert T-Shirts count, I have a shirt from my first “rock” concert. Berlin - Love Life tour. That puts it about 1984. It certainly doesn’t fit any more.
posted by Tom on 5-2-2008 at 9:08 pm
1. well i can think of several people i would love to see guest stuff on but two that stand out above and beyond on my mind are Michio Kaku (he makes superstrings funny) or a perrennial favorite of mine, matthew bellamy, who is not only interesting musically, but is completely kooky yet somehow enderingly entertaining elsewise.
2.i live on park avenue (rachacha) so basically the entire street is constantly morphing from one shop to another as shit gets trendy and then not so much. lol lots of “artists” live there.
3. well, my own clothing i don’t usually keep around for sentimental purposes, stuff gets recycled out pretty regular like (i did a huge donation to goodwill last fall because i have limited space and all these clothes i wasn’t wearing so i just got rid of most of them). but my boyfriend, on the other hand, just refuses to buy new clothes unless people give them to him (it’s more “punk” or somethign i assume), so (and would not dare make this up) he has clothing that is actually older than i am. he’s been wearing some of the same shorts and tee shirts for more than 25 years. it’s a little disturbing, but they still fit so why not? i’m all for recycling. lol
i was quite clear the chachi shirts HAD to go though. lol he looked like a freaking oragutan.
posted by Sue on 5-2-2008 at 10:18 pm
2. There is a lone standing building down the block from where I grew up that went thru at least three different submarine sandwich companies that I remember. It was odd that it was always subs. Now it’s a gyro/falafel place.
3. I still have a t-shirt from the 1987 World Series. I got it for my tenth birthday, and as I liked my shirts realy large, it still fits. But I only where it now when our team is doing really well; so I think that’s once in the past ten or so years.
posted by Jenbe on 5-2-2008 at 11:40 pm
Tom — That is Denville, indeed. Do you know that corner?
posted by Jason on 5-3-2008 at 10:03 am
3. All the shirts I screenprinted myself while working for the Denver Museum of Art. They’d order prints of stuff they were highlighting each quarter. I have The Scream (which I wore to Magic Mountain to ride The Scream), Degas, Van Gogh, Monet and many others. I just love the concept of wearing the classics. And the work that went into them was all mine.
posted by Johnny Cat on 5-3-2008 at 7:47 pm
Can Patricia O’Connor PLEASE answer this question - I have an ongoing debate with a supervisor about it. I write “studies show that women are more likely….” My supervisos thinks it should be “studies show women are more likely…” is there a “that” or not? I haven’t been able to find an official answer to this anywhere. not very exciting question perhaps, but I’d find it very helpful to know….thanks!
posted by shazza on 5-4-2008 at 9:07 am
1. George W. Bush–just to see if he can.
2. An old Shoney’s that seems to be the curse of death for other restaurants that move in.
3. A jersey from an academic summer program I was in in 1980. My subject was Social Studies, so SOC is on the right boob, STUD on the left.
posted by Soc Stud on 5-5-2008 at 10:08 am
I’ll answer these backwards:
3. I think the oldest commemorative t-shirt i still have is from a cheerleading competition I took part in during my junior year of high school. (It’s from the fall of 1999, so I’ve had it almost 10 years already–yikes!)
2. Back when I lived outside of Watertown, NY, there was this club/bar that was constantly rotating management, names, and themes. It was right outside one of the gates of Fort Drum. I was at Drum for 7 years, and I saw it morph into at least 5 or 6 different types of bar/club/drinking establishments. I think it may have been a diner at one point, too. Bottom line is, no matter what opens, it doesn’t stay long in that spot, it seems.
1. I think it’d be great to pick the brain of Scott Adams (the creator of “Dilbert”.)
posted by Krie on 5-5-2008 at 11:23 am
Jason - Indeed, I do know that corner. One of the worst intersections I have seen, where there is no reason for it.
And my wife still contends that Banzai is the best Hibachi anywhere. And I happen to agree with her.
I see now (in looking deeper) that Denville is your hometown and I should have done the research before asking.
Did you ever see the movie Station Agent with Bobby Carnavale and Peter Dinklage? I lived up Green Pond Rd for about 4 years and enjoyed the sites in that movie. We have moved away now, and I need to be sure I pick up the DVD at some point.
The Northern NJ geography may be focused on The Sopranos, but I likes me some Rural NJ geography as well.
posted by Tom on 5-7-2008 at 12:52 pm