This week’s Flashback Friday postcard features Raleigh’s iconic art deco Durham Life Insurance Company office building, or as I always used to refer to it — “the Superman Building.”

Sept. 27 ’56
Hi
Having Plenty of rain so far. Expect to make Florida tomorrow.
See you in a couple weeks.
Love, Nettie & Carl

And yet another postcard sent to folks back home by northern travelers headed down the east coast ‘Route 66′ at the half-way point on their way to Florida.

Designed in the late art deco style by the renowned Winston-Salem architectural firm of Northrup and O’Brien, the Insurance Building was completed in 1942.

The Insurance Building consists of fifteen stories above Fayetteville Street sidewalk plus two additional stories for elevators and equipment and two and one-half stories below Favetteville Street sidewalk. The framework is constructed of concrete and steel, outside walls of granite and limestone, backed up with brick.

The Fayetteville St. landmark was Raleigh’s tallest skyscraper until 1964, when the International style BB&T Building, aka the ‘Little Seagram Building,’ (now Capital Bank Plaza) was erected across the street.

The postcard also shows the 1924 Hotel Sir Walter, now a city of Raleigh senior housing facility, and a tiny corner of the 1915 Wake County courthouse grounds showing the old newsstand and the county’s World War I memorial — both now long gone. I love the angle parking on Fayetteville St. and the huge neon sign and radio tower atop the Sir Walter!

Our postcard this week is an example of the ‘linen’ type, a popular format during the 1930s through the 1950s. It was published by the Raleigh News Agency, and printed by the E.C. Kropp Co. of Milwaulkee.

E. C. Kropp Co.   1907-1956
Milwaukee, WI

A publisher and printer that began producing chromolithographic souvenir cards and private mailing cards in 1898 under the name Kropp. These cards were of much higher quality than those that would printed under the E.C. Kropp name.

They became the E.C. Kropp Company in 1907 and produced large numbers of national view-cards and other subjects. Their later linen cards had a noticeably fine grain. Sold to L.L. Cook in 1956, they are now part of the GAF Corp. U.S.

“Flashback Friday” is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week-end treat!

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Zail Smith, a freshman at NC State, created the above timelapse video of Raleigh for his final design project.

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This week on Flashback Friday we feature a dual-view ‘linen’ postcard depicting Johnny’s Drive-In Grill and the adjacent Johnny’s Supper Club. Raleigh’s first and finest.

Ate Lunch here 9/22/51

This postcard was never mailed, so I’m guessing the penciled notation was probably written by a traveling businessman as a reminder of the various stops he visited along the east coast north-south highway artery, US Route 1.

Raleigh businessman John (Johnny) W. Griffin erected the art moderne styled grill and restaurant just outside the Raleigh city limits in 1948. Within 10 years he had added a motel to the complex — Johnny’s Motor Lodge.

Johnny’s Supper Club, Drive-In Grill & Motor Lodge (John W. Griffin), Western Steaks, Charcoal Steaks, Chicken in Rough, Seafood. We cater to parties from 5 to 150, Air Conditioned Rooms, TV, Room Service. 1625 Louisburg Rd, Tel TEmple 3-1901.

– Raleigh City Directory, 1959

Johnny’s offered all the amenities the automobile-traveling public could wish for. (I have no idea what ‘chicken in rough’ could be!)

Griffin sold the Supper Club about 1960 and the new owner renamed it the Black Steer Steakhouse. In July 1965 the iconic Raleigh landmark burned to the ground.

Reported at 3:55 a.m. by telephone by a passing motorist. Firefighters battled the blaze in a heavy rainstorm. The fire was started by a faulty thermostat on the deep-fat fryer. The restaurant was built in 1948 and operated for 10 years as Johnny’s Supper Club. Loss $136,416.

– N&O July 29, 1965 (Cited by Mike Legeros)

Griffin expanded the motel and grill in the early 1960s and updated the restaurant with one of Raleigh’s first modernist ‘googie’ style canopies.

Johnny’s Grill still offered curb service when I was in high school in the late ’60s and was a favorite hangout for my friends and me. I’ll never forget sitting in the car and wolfing down shakes and burgers under that googie canopy. Flash forward to 2012 — the original grill building still stands, but has undergone extensive remodelings in the past 45 years and is barely recognizable to the image seen in the postcard. And the googie canopy is long gone.

This week’s postcard is an example of the ‘linen’ type, popular from the 1930s until the ‘photochrome’ type replaced it in the 1950s. This card was published by Henry H. Ahrens of Charlotte, N.C.

‘Linen’ is a reference to a postcard that has a linen-like fabric texture embossed into its front surface. The Curt Teich Company of Chicago was the first to use this texture for large scale production starting in 1931. To increase their brilliance Linens were often spot printed with a fifth color, often light blue, which was added to the normal CYMK pallet.  There are publishers who produced postcards with a linen texture on them many years earlier as novelties, but only cards manufactured after 1931 when they dominated production are referred to as Linens. Though printed alongside photochromes for many years, the use of linens ended by 1959 as chromes became more popular with the public.

“Flashback Friday” is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week-end treat!

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This week’s Flashback Friday postcard was mailed in 1911 and features the brand new ‘Engineering Building’ on the NC State campus. I’m sure our regular Goodnight Raleigh readers who are NC State fans will recognize this campus landmark.

My dear little Baby –
I am afraid that your Mother has forgotten me — I think about you every day & just long to see you. I wonder if you are in short dresses. I hope not, for you must not get too big — We will soon be home now — then you will be all mine for a little while — don’t forget your loving
Aunt Helen.

Reading this sentimental message, I would guess ‘Aunt Helen’ doted on her little niece ‘Mary’ — and was most likely childless. Looks like her sister didn’t write her very often, either. The part about the ‘short dresses’ stumps me, though.

The ‘Engineering Building’ was erected in 1910 and was later named in honor of George Tayloe Winston, second president (1899-1908) of the College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts. Winston Hall now serves as a classroom and office building for NC State University’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHASS).

Courtesy NCSU Libraries Special Collections Research Center

 This photo of Winston Hall probably dates from 1915 or so.

Our postcard this week appears to be based on an architect’s rendering, as the loggia across the front was never built, and I have no idea where that wide expanse of lawn came from! It was published ca 1910 by F.M. Kirby, of Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Fred Morgan Kirby   1887-1997
Wilkes-Barre, PA

A publisher and large retailer of postcard views of the American South and mid-Atlantic region. These cards were sold from their Five & Dimes stores which numbered 96 in 1912.

“Flashback Friday” is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week-end treat!

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There was a time when a large percentage of Downtown Raleigh businesses announced their presence with neon or an otherwise illuminated sign. This began to change in the late 1960s, as businesses fled downtown for the suburbs. Later, overzealous sign ordinances restricted the size and outlawed illumination, and the signs began to fade away.

Although Downtown has experienced a surge of growth and life in the past few years, it’s only within the past couple of months that the neon sign appeared poised for a comeback.

The Neon Stalwarts

Before we look at some of the neon newcomers, let’s look at the few that managed to survive.

Mecca’s sign is without a doubt the most memorable of the remaining downtown neon. Until recently, the only times one could see the sign lit was during the winter, when it was dark before closing time (7PM). Now Mecca remains open late night and is visible year-round.

Double-exposure shot of the Krispy Kreme sign

After some detective work by Goodnight Raleigh readers, the Krispy Kreme sign on Person Street was dated to 1970.

The Firestone service station on South Dawson Street.

The Arby’s cowboy hat on Hillsborough Street.

[EDIT 04/12]

The neon sign of Joe’s Place, now Brewmaster’s Bar and Grill, has also been around for a long time.

The Neon’s Gone, but the Sign Remains

1940s view of NC Equipment Building on Hillsborough Street

According to Raleigh sign ordinances, existing signs (that otherwise aren’t up to code) can remain in place provided it was still owned by the original business. In 2007, it looked as though the bulldozer sign atop the NC Equipment Company building on Hillsborough Street would need to be taken down as it had a new owner.

Luckily, city leaders recognized the sign’s historic importance and it was allowed to stay. The broken neon was removed and the sign was renovated not long after Lulu moved into the building.

Side note: The Wilmont Drug store barely visible in the foreground (most recently the home of Capitol Comics) will probably be razed in the coming months. A ‘Development Plan’ sign recently appeared in front of it, which almost universally means it is set for destruction.

Bringing it Back

The first new neon to appear in the center city was at Fox Liquor Bar on Wilmington Street late last year. Featuring only the word “LIQUOR,” the sign was designed by Josh Gajownik and created by Design Dimension.

About a month ago, Busy Bee Cafe installed a new hanging neon sign, designed by Artcraft. It was initially difficult to obtain permission from the city to install it. After some detective work by Ladye Jane Vickers (former Curator of the Raleigh City Museum), the management of Busy Bee were able to prove that the older business once at the location (also called Busy Bee) once had neon signage.

After that, it was easy to move forward and enlist the design work of Artcraft to make it.

Although the indoor neon sign above is likely new, Artcraft as a company has been a fixture of Raleigh for over 75 years. They are currently located on Hillsborough Street near the Capitol.

Gone But Not Forgotten

Downtown was once full of neon, and below are but a small few of the ones that once were displayed in Raleigh.

Image courtesy NC Dept. of Archives and History

Boon-Iseley Drug Store on Fayetteville Street

Image courtesy NC Dept. of Archives and History

The Hotel Sir Walter had not only this sign attached to the building, but one on top as well.

Image courtesy NC Dept. of Archives and History

Hanging sign for Blackwelder’s Barbeque, in the building now occupied by Slim’s Downtown Distillery.

Neon signs on Hillsborough Street for the College Grill and Studio 1

The College Grill was a small bar that operated until the 1970s, and has been closed ever since. It’s owned by Mitch (of Mitch’s Tavern) and he just lets it sit empty.

Studio 1 (previously home to the Varsity Theatre) was an X-rated theater at the time of the photo above. The theater later became a McDonald’s, then a college book store, and now sits vacant next to Mitch’s Tavern.

Image courtesy NC Dept. of Archives and History

The giant neon sign of the Hotel Carolina, which was razed in the late 70s.

Image courtesy of Sandy Shultz

Above is Reddy Kilowatt, the neon mascot of electric utilities for about 60 years. This particular neon sign was on the west end of Hillsborough Street on the power substation near Arby’s.

Reddy Kilowatt is a corporate mascot and, well, “spokesthing,” created in 1926 by Ashton B. Collins, Sr., of the Alabama Power Company. Reddy has a lightbulb for a nose, wall outlets for ears and a torso and limbs made of lightning bolts. The character was licensed to power companies across the United States to represent electricity as a safe and useful utility. Employed by more than 200 different companies at one time, he is rarely seen outside of antique malls and garage sales these days.

– reddykilowatt.org

—

Although Downtown has only seen two external new signs recently, I hope this is a trend that continues. I also hope the City of Raleigh acts less like Cary with regard to sign ordinances and returns to its roots in allowing them. They serve as excellent way finding points and give character to an area–as well as serve as an artistic marketing device for small businesses.

Related Articles

• The Busy Bee Cafe is Buzzing
• Posts tagged with ‘Mecca’
• The Bright Lights of the Krispy Kreme Sign
• The Tractor on the NC Equipment Building: Outlook Bright 
• The Forgotten Bar Of Hillsborough Street
• Hotel Carolina — Raleigh, N.C.

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This week for Flashback Friday we feature a rare interior postcard view of a long-time (and sadly, long-lost) Raleigh establishment, the California Restaurant. Gotta love those palm trees!

CALIFORNIA RESTAURANT
Famous for Old Fashioned Southern Cooking
Established 1900

A “Natural-Finish” Card Made by Graycraft Card Co., Danville, Va.

Leo and Gus Vurnakes (Vurnakes & Co.) opened a ‘confectionery’ store on Fayetteville St. in 1900. They sold ice cream, candy, and fruits. By 1910 they had relocated the store to 111 Fayetteville St. In the 1920s a new owner, James Stathacos expanded the business and renamed it the California Fruit Store. His business partner, Peter Stathacos, added a lunch counter in the 1930s, and thus the ‘fruit store’ became the California Restaurant. Around 1940 the building’s facade was remodeled in the then fashionable art moderne style.

The California Restaurant closed in the mid-1950s, and Adler’s, a ladies’ clothing store, moved into the space. Adler’s and its next door neighbor, the Ambassador Theater were remodeled in a simple modernist style a decade later.

But, don’t go looking for the California Restaurant or the Ambassador Theater or Adler’s today. The entire east side of the 100 block of Fayetteville St. between the NC Supreme Court building and Empire Properties building was demolished to make room for a parking deck when the Wachovia Building (now Wells Fargo) was built across the street in 1991.

 Below is the California restaurant as it appeared in 1940. A corner of the Art Deco Ambassador Theater (1938) can be seen on the right.

Photo courtesy North Carolina State Archives

The 1938 photo below shows the confectionery with its marble soda fountain. The restaurant dining room was located at the rear of the store.

Photo courtesy North Carolina State Archives

I took the photo below of the 100 block of Fayetteville St. with my trusty Kodak Instamatic camera in 1966. If you look closely, you can see the ‘ghosts’ of the three second-floor windows of the  former California Restaurant. Next door is the Ambassador Theater with its 1960s modernist ‘googie’ canopy. “The Sound of Music” with Julie Andrews was playing at the tme.

This week’s postcard was published by the Graycraft Card Co. of Danville, Va.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Robert H. Sanford, Jr. owned and operated a company that produced black-and-white images all over the South. … His Graycraft Card Co. produced so many scenes from Southern communities that his cards today provide the core of many view card collections.

“Flashback Friday” is a weekly feature of Goodnight, Raleigh! in which we showcase vintage postcards depicting our historic capital city. We hope you enjoy this week-end treat!

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