Gyrafoam...Back down memory lane:

[michaelman2]

Oh Steve, I was going back down memory lane and came across these photos from Atlanta past and I thought you may enjoy a quick trip down the same lane? (listen to Minnie Riperton while you peruse the photos).

1) Ad for Colony Square. Was just giving a "young'un" some history schoolin and this person could not comprehend how ahead of its time Colony Square actually was. The ice rink and the various shops that were once there.

2)Cha-Gio Vietnamese restaurant and in the distance is the House of Eng

3)Looking Northbound on Peachtree neat 10th.

4)Davison's department store (remember the mezzanine during Christmas?

5)Piedmont at 6th across from Piedmont Park (they still look the same).

6)Club Centuar with Diamond Lil.

7)Midtown Emporium

8)The Hardware and Supply (this place had everything and new old stock from the 1930s and 1940s when I would visit in the 70s)

9)Mystery photo for me. I am thinking this is on 10th St and Blakes is now there? Maybe someone knows where this is located?

 

[gyrafoam]

#3 looking north, on the right where the tall trees are, was the Roxy Delicatessen and theater.
To the right of the distant Firestone Tire station, and under the left side of the C&S sign was a popular bar and party place in the early eighties. Don't recall the name. I just recall that curve could be deadly.
I remember when Eng's was Atlanta's only Chinese restaurant! Directly behind it was Peggy Mitchell's apartment building where (as legend has it) she wrote "Gone with the Wind". About a block south was the curve where she was hit and killed by a cab.

#4 Just past the Woolworth's, on the right was Regenstein's. It was a treat to ditch my mother there and run to Woolworth's for a chocolate milkshake. They had a great luncheon counter. Davison-Paxons was a treasure. It had a great parking deck around back with a bridge that brought you right to the Charl-Mont dining room. I shopped there until it was bought-out by that "other" firm, who promptly ruined it.
Those ladies on the left are in front of the remnants of the Henry Grady Hotel. The part closest to the corner was an early version of an assisted living service.
It was a harrowing experience to park a hearse on that busy curve while having to make a removal---without any privacy-----because you had to use the front door.

#5 A 'ho house back in the day! Went to some wild gatherings there! Is likely million-dollar condos now, but I remember back in the late sixties or so the "hippies" had made that area a low-rent slum! Photo#1 Colony Square began the gentrification for that neighborhood. A lot of old brownstones bit the dust.

#6 Forgot all about that place! Back when shows were campy instead of serious! Oh, and the Drag Queens didn't constantly verbally abuse the audience.

#8 The "strip". Across the street from Eng's. This whole area was the weekend happening place for the late sixties and early seventies. I don't recall going into the hardware store, but I do recall the outcry when they tore it down to build yet another hotel.

Wonderful trip down memory lane. Thanks! Oop's late to work!

 

[pulltostart]

Mike,

Some of these B&W images look familiar, although my time in the early 1970's was spent north of most of these.  I worked from 1973-1975 in Buckhead for an architectural firm located on Buckhead Avenue.  It was pretty fun for someone who grew up in Cobb County to drive into Buckhead to work and get out at lunch and walk the neighborhood.

 

There was a block of businesses at Peachtree and Roswell, where a park is now located.  I think there was a greasy spoon called 'The White House' there, but can't be certain, and there was a good Italian restaurant there that had good, cheap spaghetti.  Sam Flax had a store just south of East Paces Ferry and there were some "groovy" vintage clothing stores around.  Morrison's had a location on the other side of Peachtree, round dining room, a favorite spot for lunch.  The Sears store was on West Paces Ferry, but I never got to see it lit due to the energy crisis.  Hi-Fi Buys opened their first store on Peachtree during that time.  We could get to Lenox Square by way of East Paces Ferry - could even go during lunch - that was before MARTA built their tracks and severed EPF.

 

It was fun working there at that time.  Thanks for the reminders!

 

lawrence

 

[michaelman2]

Yep Gyrafoam, I don't recall the name of the curve near photo #3. I do know the stories associated with the area. Eng's had a "Mott Street" feel to it and the only thing close to that feeling is the Little Bangkok on Cheshire Bridge Road, at this time.

#4 ...Yep, I can remember being bored and about to go crazy with my mother at Regenstein's....you know Reg Regenstein writes for the Atl Jewish Times, and once in a while he recaptures the vibe of the era.

#5 I never knew this about those apts/condos being hooker havens...?

#6, yep...I remember passing by the place with my parents and inherently or instinctively "knowing" this place was connected to me in some fashion.

Lawrence! Hi....yes, Atlanta has indeed changed and I bet you remember "Gregory's" on West Peachtree or The Gallus on Juniper...both postured themselves as gay gathering places with a genteel approach. I miss those days. I hope you are doing well?

 

[frigilux]

Steve, Mike and Lawrence- Thanks for sharing the photos, memories and anecdotes about Atlanta. I always enjoy members of the AW family trading stories and historical information.

 

[pulltostart]

Mike,

All is well down here on the coast.  Thanks for asking.

 

Oh Lordy, back in those days I would have never ventured into a gay bar!  I only heard rumors of "those places"; was much too closeted to find out for myself.  My time in Buckhead was limited to weekdays from 8 til 5 - then back north to stuffy old Cobb County.

 

lawrence

 

[michaelman2]

Hey Lawrence,

Glad to know you are good. I bet you remember when you worked on Buckhead Avenue a small boutique, The Rogue? It was there for years and was the main reason many felt Buckhead Ave was akin to Los Angeles, Rodeo Drive. When people would move here from LA they would say this to me, and I never saw the similarities. Now, you would not recognize the street. It now does have some of the same shopping as the famous Rodeo Drive. Do you remember The Pharr Library on Pharr Road (very near where you worked). That was a classic case of a straight club becoming a gay club, almost over the course of a year or so. Most still miss the old "reading room on Pharr".

Lawrence, I had forgotten you lived in Cobb in those days. I can only imagine how conservative it was then...it is still somewhat even now.

Anyway, glad to know you are good.

Hey Frig. I guess with any city, things change and Atlanta is no exception. I have lived all over the country and still dislike the miserable Summer months here, however I seem to gravitate back to Atlanta. I am going to post some more obscure photos ...thanks for the "like".....

Photos:
Brief History regarding Backstreet- Backstreet Atlanta Discotheque opened as Atlanta's first gay bar in 1975. Located at 845 Peachtree Street, at the corner of Peachtree and 6th Street in Atlanta, Georgia, the club became a constant hub in the Midtown neighborhood.

Brother and sister owners, Henry and Vicky Vara, opened the establishment as one of Atlanta's few businesses that never closed, staying open for business seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day.

The club also served as a sanctuary for closeted gays from the 1970s through 2004, when it closed. The club gained regional and national following and a reputation for being, "always open and pouring." Celebrities such as Liza Minnelli, Peter Allen, Farah Fawcett, Cher, and Gladys Knight visited the club to watch the cabaret performances.

In 1981, Gregory Harrison filmed the television movie, For Ladies Only, at the club. Married couples also patronized the club, bringing out of town guests to see the cabaret. The club closed in 2004 after being forced to comply with new city legislation that required all clubs to close at 3 a.m. or stop serving alcohol.

Photos:
1) Was the Peachtree Street area where Backstreet was located and this was right before Backstreet opened

2)Small sign that was on Peachtree and you entered at the rear of the bldg.

3) Inside the club during the mid to late 1970s

The Limelight - The Limelight in Atlanta was a high-profile Euro-style night club that hosted many notables and celebrities over the years.

A single photo taken in June 1981 skyrocketed the focus on the club, when celebrity photographer Guy D'Alema captured an image of Anita Bryant dancing the night away with evangelist Russ McGraw (known in gay communities as an activist).

Several hundred newspapers and magazines ran the photo with the headline “Anita Upset Over Disco Photo”. Peter Gatien relished the publicity. The club hosted many Interview Magazine events which brought names like Andy Warhol, Grace Jones, Debbie Harry, Ali MacGraw, and Village People's Randy Jones, among others to the club.

Celebrity sightings included Tom Cruise, Pia Zadora, Shannon Tweed, Gene Simmons, Rick Springfield and Mamie Van Doren,[1] to name but a few. The club also served as a location for Hal Ashby's film The Slugger's Wife (1985), which starred Rebecca De Mornay.

My first partner was the silent partner in this club. I have some great stories about the club, the things that went on and other wild tales...some "G" rated, others not so "G" rated.

4) Professional photo and really shows the intricate light show. Impressive for today's standards....back then, complete magic!

5)Another pro shot of the interior, used for publicity. All of the light towers and the depicted lights moved up and down on to the dance floor. Would never pass code these days.

6)NYE 1979...Much like Studio 54, the Limelight space was formerly a dinner theater and of course Studio 54 was a converted theater.

 

[gyrafoam]

Michael

Does anyone remember the Club III on the corner of 13th and W. Peachtree? That would be back to 1973 or so.
Mrs. P's?

I'm a bit disoriented by photo #1. If looking North, the Krystal should be on that corner where the sign is and that area was fairly level. I'm thinking that photo is further North in the block just past 10th street.

#3 Looks like late 70's. As I scan the photo for looking at the faces, I realize I might be in that photo as well. Unfortunately, most of those people likely did not survive.
I recall Grace Jones driving her motorcycle onto that itty-bitty stage and doing a performance for us. Also the Village People. Lots and Lots of memories. In my mind there will never be another place quite like it. It was mobbed-up as hell. Boston Mob. So with paid-off policemen, we passed a doobie (or anything else) on the dance floor with careless abandon. That dark little restroom adjacent to the dance floor looked like Scarface had been there on a busy night. Also, from the back parking lot was access to three other famous haunts. during the week the mid-town Happy Hour Mecca's were the Gallus (just a few blocks West) the Armory and the restaurant (was it Prince George?). At the Armory I used to marvel at how many men, with wedding rings on, were in there hitting on us young boyz. Uh-huh.

#4 Limelight. I remember I liked to go on Sunday Night. I once took my (very religious) Aunt Mary there to dance and watch Devine and Edith perform. Here she was in her modest full-sleeve, full length dress laughing and dancing like at a wedding, with half-naked boyz grinding on the dance floor. When my Uncle found out there was HELL to pay! Especially when she recounted how many nice Jewish boys from our shul she encountered. Wonderful memories. Oh, and the clear Lucite dance floor was pretty cool. It really was a show-place.

I think I have seen a few old photo's of the kudzu covered 'ho house, The Cove. We used to drive-by on our way home from Backstreet in the wee hours and heckle the boyz doing the walk-of-shame into that place to meet a trick and wait for sun-up.

My all time favorite Party Palace from the era has to be (James Brown's) the Sweet Gum Head on Cheshire Bridge in the building across the street from the Dunk&Dine.

That whole era was a wonderful time! Too bad it all came crashing down with a plague.

[this post was last edited: 2/3/2019-08:14]

 

[cuffs054]

It would be interesting if we could find out if any of us met the others at the clubs back in the day. I lived at Post Landing apts in the 70's and found out that there are 6 people here in the tiny ass town in mid GA. that were there at the same time, small world.