PLACES REMEMBERED Dee's Dee's Drive-In was a fast food hamburger drive-in restaurant chain based in Utah. The chain was founded by Dee Frederick Anderson, who got his start selling hamburgers operating the Ute Hamburger Shop near the University of Utah in the 19s. Anderson opened the first Dee's Restaurant in 1932. Dee's would evolve into two separate but related restaurant chains: Dee's Family Restaurant and Dee's Drive-In. Noted for its family-friendly advertising and the colorful "Dee's Clowns" that adorned its restaurants, the franchise became a Utah cultural landmark in the 1960s. At its height, the family operated 53 restaurants with an annual revenue of $ million per year. In the late 1970s, an altered business strategy led the Anderson family to sell all of its Dee's Drive-Ins to Hardee's; a dozen Dee's Family Restaurants remained in business. Half of them continue to operate across the Wasatch Front region of Utah. Dee Frederick Anderson, a fast-food entrepreneur from Ephraim, Utah, opened his first Dee's Restaurant in 1932. He was inspired to create Dee's Drive-Ins after seeing drive-in restaurants during a 1953 visit to Long Beach, California. Established a year later, his first Dee's Drive-In was a $125,000 building at 753 E. 2100 South Street in Salt Lake City. On average, the shop served 2,500 customers daily, selling burgers, hot dogs and apple turnovers for 19 cents and French fries and soft drinks for ten cents. Within two years, Anderson had opened his two more drive-ins and Dee's Drive-In had 100 employees. One of Anderson's friends opened a franchise in Johannesburg in 1972, which was the first American fast food outlet in South Africa. Dee's Drive-In went on to have 53 restaurants earning over $ million annually. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dee%27s_Drive-In Grand Central Grand Central was a chain of discount department stores founded by Maurice Warshaw in Salt Lake City, Utah. Grand Central had stores in Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, Arizona, Nevada. In 1984, Fred Meyer acquired Grand Central, a year later Fred Meyer closed the one Wyoming Grand Central location, and sold the Arizona and New Mexico stores to Wal-Mart. It was in Salt Lake City that Maurice [Warshaw] left his mark. Conditions for the Warshaw's were difficult but Maurice and his father made a living peddling merchandise and foodstuffs. After several years in Salt Lake City, his step-mother died and his father moved to Cleveland. Maurice continued to work at various jobs until the Depression years, when he opened his own business at Ninth South and Main in Salt Lake City. He named his first store Grand Central Market hoping one day it would become "as busy as a big station." Because of his marketing innovations and firm belief in being volume-oriented along with giving the customer a good deal, his Grand Central spread throughout Utah into Idaho and Wyoming. Founder Maurice Warshaw died on January 5, 1979. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Central_%28store%29 http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/w/WARSHAW,MAURICE.html Snelgrove's Snelgrove Ice Cream began as a family-owned company in Salt Lake City founded in 1929 by Charles Rich Snelgrove (1887-1976), and later managed by his eldest son C. Laird Snelgrove. The operation remained family owned until about 1990. The name brand is now owned by the Dreyer's company, which owns the former Snelgrove ice cream factory. Snelgrove ice cream parlors were located in various locations in the Salt Lake area and in other Utah communities. The largest of these was the flagship store located at 850 East 2100 South, in the Sugarhouse neighborhood of Salt Lake City. The decor and architecture of the store was art deco. The store's look was enhanced with a 40-foot-wide sign (12 m) from the early 1960s, with the name Snelgrove in large looping cursive neon letters, and a spinning giant double cone. The factory producing Snelgrove Ice Cream is located directly behind this store. The next oldest location was the Snelgrove store on East South Temple street in downtown Salt Lake City. Because Snelgrove ice cream was a sentimental favorite in Utah, Dreyer's continued to make and distribute Snelgrove brand ice cream, using some of the original Snelgrove flavors like Canadian Vanilla and Burnt Almond Fudge. Snelgrove Ice Cream was sold in Utah, New Mexico, Idaho, Montana, and Colorado. On February 19, 08, Dreyer ice cream announced it would no longer make the Snelgrove brand. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snelgrove%27s_Ice_Cream The Villa The Villa Theatre opened on 23 December 1949, showing Prince of Foxes on a screen 26 feet wide by feet high, "one of the largest in the West."1 Evening ticket prices were 75 cents for adults and cents for children, and key advertising features were air conditioning and free parking for 500 cars. The theater was built by Joseph L. Lawrence and David K. Edwards, who drew on "years of experience in the theater business to put features into their house which will assure the utmost comfort to patrons. Colors have been selected to assure pleasant surroundings. The theater has been constructed along curved lines, rather than straight, which research has proved is most agreeable to the eye."1 The stage was covered with a beautiful waterfall curtain with 3000 square yards of velvet drapes in pastel shades. Vast murals, in light pale colors against a dark red background, brightened the walls of the auditorium with scenes of women at work in agricultural pursuits and men fishing. Originally the lobby had a a planting box of native flagstone instead of a concession stand. The east wall of the lobby also held a "montage" of Utah scenery, constructed of copper-colored metals, artificial cedar leaves, wood, fabrics and plastics. The central figure in the montage was a "sophisticated-looking woman," which the artist said was his impression of the "Utah girl."2 The theater had 1300 seats "in a 'stadium' arrangement, a new theater layout plan successfully utilized in two new model theaters recently built at Los Angeles, Cal. . . . the front half of the theater is level and the rear half of the auditorium built on a rather steep incline. The entranceway is beneath the 'riser,' as is common in football stadiums."3 In the 1950s and 1960s, the Villa was the first and sometimes the only Salt Lake theater to show new widescreen formats such as CinemaScope, TODD-AO, Technirama-70, Cinemiracle, and Cinerama. In 1958, the Villa drew nationwide attention for its 10-month and 4-day run of South Pacific. Moviegoers came to the theater from all parts of Utah, as well as southern Idaho and eastern Nevada. There were 280,000 paid admissions for the 435 performances, about 50,000 more than the estimated population of Salt Lake City at the time. The biggest alteration to the Villa came when Cinemiracle was installed in August 1960. A large "100-foot curved screen"4 was built at the front of the auditorium, reducing seating capacity by about 300 seats and hiding the stage and its beautiful draperies. Probably at the same time the white ceiling of the auditorium was painted blue and the original red background of the murals was painted over with a more neutral color. In July 1961, Cinerama came to the Villa Theatre, starting with a benefit premiere of This Is Cinerama complete with a red carpet and a live performance by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The Villa showed three-projector Cinerama until February 1964, when it was converted to the new Cinerama process which used a 70mm print on a single projector. The theater continued to show Cinerama through 1969. http://villatheatre.com/ The Utah Theater The Utah Theater opened on 1 December 19 at an estimated cost of $2,250,000. The Pantages Theater, with Ed S. Diamond as manager, moved to the theater from its previous location at 44 East Broadway. The auditorium of the theater was built in the center of the block. Access to the theater from Main Street was provided by a long hallway through an existing building, which was leased by Alexander Pantages for 50 years. The original building was built in 1872 or earlier, and has been used by the Masons, Auerbach Brother's Department Store, Shipler Photo, Cox Brothers Billiards, and Shapers Travel Goods. It originally had a third story, but it was removed in about 1937. In 1929, Pantages Theater Co. assigned its lease to Radio-Keith Orpheum and the theater was renamed RKO Orpheum Theater. In 1937 the theater received its current name, the Utah theater. In 1968, Intermountain Theatres converted the Utah into a twin theater. Much of the elaborate ornamentation in the theater was lost during the remodel. A floor was added between the balcony and the stage, splitting the auditorium vertically into two theaters. A concession stand was added on the mezzanine level and an escalator provided access from there to the balcony theater. http://utahtheaters.info/TheaterMain.asp?ID3D118 The Southeast Theater was located in downtown Sugarhouse at 2121 South 1100 East, next to the Sprague Branch library. The theater was behind stores on the street and was reached by a long hall. The auditorium itself was positioned at an angle, apparently following the odd property line of the adjacent library. The theater was built sometime before 1939 and was run by Fox Intermountain theaters. It closed after 1976 and was converted into retail. It was demolished in the late 1990s to make way for a new retail development on the block. http://utahtheaters.info/TheaterMain.asp?ID3D118 Lagoon's Patio Gardens Lagoon's Patio Gardens: As odd as it might seem, in the 1960's, the capitol of rock & roll in Utah was a small town by the name of Farmington. That a sleepy little town of under 2500 people would be host to the biggest names in rock & roll owes it to two factors. First, the Salt Lake area was just one hard day's drive from the west coast, so bands could get in and out for a quick show, and it was also right on highway 80, about half way, if the band was headed to Chicago. Secondly, Farmington had Lagoon, the states only real amusement park, and a perfect venue for a rock show. And, take my word for it, there was nothing more fun than going out to Lagoon for a concert. It had it all, you could see the biggest rock acts in the world, eat, take a spin on the rollercoaster, and if you were lucky, make out with your date in the spook house. If you ever attended a rock show at the Patio Gardens, you were forever spoiled for stadium rock & roll. There were no nosebleeds at the Garden. You could measure the distance to the stage in feet, not yards, and the worst seat rivaled the best at any arena or stadium. There was no crush of humanity, but the crowds were large enough to create an electric atmosphere, while still retaining an intimacy with the band. Tables & chairs afforded a more comfortable seating arrangement than stadium benches or seats, and you could buy a quart of soda /mixer to compliment that brown bag you had. It gave substance to the term "cool". And they all came; Blue Cheer, The Beau Brummels, Donovan, Gary Lewis & the Playboys, Herman's Hermits, Jan and Dean, Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Jimi Hendrix, Pete Seeger, Peter and Gordon, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Animals, The Association, The Beach Boys, The Dave Clark Five, The Doors, The Electric Prunes, The Mamas & The Papas, The Mothers of Invention , The Rolling Stones and dozens of other top Rock & Roll and psychedelic acts played the Patio Gardens during the 60's and early 70's. It was musical nirvana. The first band I ever saw at the Patio Gardens was the Beach Boys. In all, they played at Lagoon 7 times from 1963-70. As for their song regaling Lagoon, the grooviest kids, and the cutest girls in the Western states, "Salt Lake City", appeared on their Summer Days, and Summer Nights album. And although it never saw general release as a 45 rpm single, it had limited release in 1965 as a promo item for distribution in Salt Lake City Stores. It's rare to find a nice copy these days. http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/patio-gardens-at-lagoon-utah-musical-nirvana-4229606.html The Romantic Moter Vu Erick C. Peterson opened the Motor Vu Theater at 3500 East 3300 South on 6 June 1947. During the Motor Vu's opening season, Peterson and his family spent so much time at the drive-in that they built a home inside the screen tower. The house had two bedrooms, utility room, kitchen, breakfast nook, living room, and a sound studio. On 17 April 1949, the Motor-Vu Drive-In opened the Mother Goose Playland. The new $13,000 playground featured swings, a slide, teeter-totters, picnic grounds, and a $4000, 16-passenger miniature train. The playground and picnic facilities were available for the use of Motor-Vu Drive-In patrons daily, starting at 7 p.m. and closing when the first movie started at 9 p.m. In 1954, the Motor Vu Drive-In became the first outdoor theater to be licensed for CinemaScope. The Motor Vu's new curved screen, measuring 48 feet high by 102 feet wide, was the largest in the world at the time. Stereo soound was provided using two speakers per car. The Motor Vu re-opened with the new screen on 19 March 1854, showing the first CinemaScope movie, "The Robe." The Motor Vu Drive-In also had its own radio station, featuring Disc Jockey Carl. In 1961, Intermountain Theaters, Inc. installed a new snack bar at the Motor-Vu Drive-In. http://utahtheaters.info/TheaterMain.asp?ID=101 Downtown Shopping First to Auerbachs and then on to Keith O'Briens and The Paris. Cross Broadway to Kresses, ending up on Main. Then up main to Woolworths, J. C. Penneys and continue on to Z.C.M.I.