Liquor by any other name may sell the same but these closed and abandoned ‘package’ stores couldn’t succeed in what most say is a can’t-miss business.

The OTHER White Castle

What the heck is a “package store”, anyway? Why not call a spade a spade? Blame the lingering effects of the Twenty-first Amendment that repealed the Eighteenth Amendment (aka Prohibition) but left alcohol marketing in the hands of individual states. Local idioms and societal culture led to retail outlets being named Package stores, ABC (Alcohol Beverage Control) stores, and South Carolina’s famous Red Dot stores.

Flickr member Robby Virus captured the shuttered store above, located in Omaha, Nebraska, in July of 2016. Sad to say that even including “package” and “liquor” on the sign couldn’t stanch the flow of red ink.

Don’t Drink OR Drive

Prohibition was literally the Law of the Land for over a decade – and for some states, even longer: Mississippi didn’t relax its state-wide booze ban ’til 1966. Other states such as Connecticut went the Package Store (“packie”, in local parlance) route, as shown in the above shot of an abandoned gas station / package store combo (“two great tastes that taste great together”) snapped by Flickr member Greg (63vwdriver) in the summer of 2016.

Dispeptic

What isn’t rusted is faded (and vice versa) at this VERY long-abandoned market and package store in Belcher Square, Great Barrington, Massachusetts. How long? Well, that particular Pepsi logo was used between 1940 and 1950 so… yeah. Flickr member Lisa DeLange (LisaSez) captured the desolate, post-apocalyptic storefront in December of 2009.

Coors’s, Foiled Again

You won’t find any Coors (or any Coors-competitors) in this ramshackle abandoned package store in Federalsburg, MD. Plenty of free parking, though… just don’t park a hot vehicle over those mangy weeds. Flickr member Adam Myers (adamkmyers) snapped this way overgrown and woefully understaffed wobbly-pop shop in the fall of 2016.

Packaged Deal

This blockhouse-like abandoned package store in Watertown, MA would make a great anti-zombie fortress, even without shelves stocked with “adult beverages”. We can’t say why this structure, seemingly built to withstand an atomic apocalypse, couldn’t withstand the mid-2000s retail apocalypse. Flickr member ChinatownKicks recorded the concrete cube corner colossus for posterity in May of 2008.

Joe’s Deli-cate Condition

It’s a Package Store, it’s a Deli, it’s… the poster child for abandoned shops! It’s not certain which of the two buildings dispensed drinks while the other served eats but both have seen better days, MANY days ago. Likely the same can be said for “Joe”.

Flickr member DjD-567 visited the decrepit and decayed short-bus of strip malls in Brimfield, MA back in October of 2011. “The inside is in much worse shape, from what I saw through the window,” states the photographer. Contrast that with the still sharp-looking sign out front – Joe shoulda got his sign guy to work on the interior.

Flown the Coop

Signs are known for their staying power; sometimes a store’s sign manages to hang (literally) around longer than the store itself. Such was the case at Cooper’s Package Store on New Park Avenue in Hartford. CT. Nothing lasts forever, mind you. “I’m so glad you got a picture of this sign,” stated one commenter at Flickr member Pixel (improbcat)’s post dated September 17 of 2008. “I went there to photograph it a few weeks ago and it’s gone.” One might say, this package has been de-livered, de-listed, and deleted. We’d buy Pixel a drink in tribute to their excellent timing but… oh.

Roller skating may not have been as “cool” as ice skating but it was one hot recreational activity back in the days before inline was superseded by online.

Roller rinks, along with bowling alleys and drive-in movie theaters, form a sad triumvirate of dying “family” recreational venues done in by economics, demographics and the rise of personal electronics. The former Valle Vista Skating Center in Hayward, California epitomizes the decline and fall of old-fashioned outdoor entertainment – sign out front shoulda told ya’.

Speaking of which, the sign was the last vestige of the business to go after its closure, long abandonment, and destructive fire in early 2008. Kudos to Flickr member Michael Van Vleet (signalstation) who snapped these images in October of 2007. To quote the photographer, “Glad I snapped photos. You know, I passed that roller skater sign for seven years thinking ‘I should get a photo of that.’ I’m glad I finally did before it vanished.”

He Shoots, He Snores

Roller hockey was yet another attempt to extend ice hockey’s appeal beyond the winter months. Of course, “hockey” and “appeal” are two words that too often don’t make enough economic sense south of the World’s Longest Undefended Border. This abandoned roller hockey rink captured at sunset by Flickr member Setve Nogar (snogar) in June of 2013 can be found in the Dayton, Ohio neighborhood of Walnut Hills… assuming anyone’s looking.

Pro and Conway

The Conway Roller Rink in Conway, Arkansas opened in 1973 and was a popular hangout for local college kids – Conway was and still is known as “The City of Colleges”. The rink had to compete for customers with a bowling alley right next door but soon garnered a reputation for its theme nights, parties and other such events.

Like many non-chain enterprises, the Conway Roller Rink depended on the vision and energy of its owner. Larry Billings bought the rink in 1981 and his dedication to making the rink “a safe and fun environment for many families in Conway” made him a beloved figure in the community. In October of 2012, Billings was fatally shot at home – a murder whose perpetrator has still not been found. Billings’ wife and son inherited the rink but had no interest in operating it.

NOLA Tengo

La Fleur’s Roller Rink in Sulphur, Louisiana (just west of Lake Charles) has seen better days. Now it’s one of “Five Big Eyesores in Southwest Louisiana That Could Be Great Opportunities.” That was in 2015 – Flickr member DieselDemon snapped the long-abandoned roller rink back in 2007 when its corrugated siding was a tad less rusted.

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Rollout 10 More Abandoned Roller Skating Rinks

Denny’s has been a powerhouse of fast-casual family dining for over 60 years with over 1,600 restaurants but even Denny’s has to close some time.

More than just a slogan, Denny’s famous “we never close” policy was put to the test in 1988 when all but six stores closed for Christmas. Several restaurants were unprepared by the corporate-wide closing: some had lost their keys while others – rumor has it – were built without lockable doors.

Contrast that open-door policy with the fate of closed and/or abandoned Denny’s restaurants and diners like this one in Dayton, Ohio, snapped by Flickr member vistavision in the fall of 2010. Stores like this one will never open again, at least not under the classic Denny’s hexagonal sign.

Shoreline Scar

The above abandoned Denny’s was snapped by Flickr member Curtis Cronn in early February of 2015. Looks like the crew charged with removing visual references to expired businesses, crashed airliners and so on neglected to erase the labelscar lingering on the Shoreline, Washington restaurant’s sun-blasted exterior wall. Guys, you had ONE job.

Laurel Turpitude

Denny’s wasn’t always “Denny’s”… the chain opened in 1953 with a single store in Lakewood, California named Danny’s Donuts. In 1959, the growing company changed its name to avoid any conflict with Coffee Dan’s, a Los Angeles-based chain of coffee shops. Known since 1961 as just plain “Denny’s”, the company expanded exponentially… by 1980 there were over 1,000 restaurants and diners spread across all 50 U.S. states.

The store above, located just off Route 73 in Mount Laurel, New Jersey dates from the 1970s, back when the corporate color scheme was heavily into pinks and oranges… no doubt a hangover from the psychedelic Sixties. Will the succeeding Chinese restaurant carry on that lurid theme? Flickr member John (JSF0864) captured this still-sharp-looking abandoned Denny’s in June of 2011.

Sign In Stranger

Now here’s something unusual: all that’s left of this former Denny’s restaurant in Lorain, Ohio is its main sign – the building was demolished in early 2011. What’s more, the sign (displaying Deny’s “new” logo instituted in 2001) appears to be in excellent condition having escaped the attentions of the de-branding crew. Maybe they forgot to bring a ladder. Kudos to Flickr member Nicholas Eckhart, who captured this rather bleak scene in December of 2014.

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Grand Slammed Closed Abandoned Dennys Restaurants

Before Mad Men there were Muffler Men – 20-foot tall fiberglass statues cast in the thousands to advertise roadside businesses from coast to coast.

Muffler Men are one of the most enduring forms of mid-century American commercial art though the fact that so many were made – and their near-indestructible fiberglass composition – means that a substantial number of these iconic jumbo figurines still stand (literally) today. Muffler Men like “Babe”, snapped by Flickr member Wayne Stadler in 2016, might seem to be a product of post-war optimism and economic enthusiasm but the first one didn’t actually appear until 1962… and he didn’t even carry a muffler.

Our plastic fantastic progenitor was modeled after legendary giant woodsman Paul Bunyan and instead of a car muffler he gripped a big ol’ double-edged ax. The 1960s postcard above (courtesy of Flickr member Allen) stood outside the former Lumberjack Café on Route 66 in Flagstaff, Arizona, where a second statue soon joined the first.

In 1973 the café re-opened as Granny’s Closet, a restaurant in no need of giant lumbermen. In 1992, both figures were moved to the Northern Arizona University (“Home of the Lumberjacks”) campus in Flagstaff where they guard the the J. Lawrence Walkup Skydome.

Hands Across America

The period from roughly 1955 through 1965 was the heyday of Programmatic Architecture, and Muffler Men arrived on the scene when the scene was jumpin’! At least, that’s what Steve Dashew of International Fiberglass must have been thinking when he bought out Prewitt Fiberglass in 1963. Bob Prewitt had designed the Lumberjack Café’s statue and more importantly, the moulds: the heavy lifting had already been done, so to speak. Muffler Men – the term arose from a deal with a nationwide chain of muffler shops – began springing up left, right and center. Flickr member Thomas Crenshaw snapped this snazzily-painted and uber-patriotic example in August of 2012. You wish you looked as good when you’re sixty!

Take This Job & Shovel It

More than a few Muffler men made it across the Canadian border where they were employed similarly to their Yankee brethren. The shovel-wielding roadside giant above hails from Calgary, Alberta where he was snapped by Flickr member Wayne Stadler on a frigid January 2016 day, standing in front of Calgary Tunnelling & Horizontal Augering Ltd. As with most true Muffler Men, paint and minor details such as beards, hats and whatnot may vary between figures but the hands – one upturned, the other downturned – are dead giveaways as to the figures’ origin.

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Advertising Giants Americas Amazing Muffler Men

The Chevrolet Corvette’s long list of silver screen starring roles turned America’s first mass-produced sports car into an automotive pop culture icon.

One of the Corvette‘s first film appearances was in the 1955 film noir classic Kiss Me Deadly. Directed by Robert Aldrich, the movie starred Ralph Meeker as Mickey Spillane’s hard-boiled private investigator Mike Hammer. The latter roamed the mean streets of Los Angeles in his 1954 Corvette, one of only 3,640 manufactured that year and one of only FOUR painted black.

Hammer’s black ‘vette may have looked cool but performance was anything but hot due to the pedestrian Stovebolt Six engine under its fiberglass hood. GM introduced a V8 for 1955 but limited model year production to just 700 in order to move the rest of the slow-selling ’54s. Even so, Hammer’s sleek (for the times) ride definitely added badly-needed panache to a niche model whose future was very much in doubt.

True Lies – 1959 Corvette

True Lies, a 1994 action-adventure-comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Tia Carrere, Bill Paxton, Eliza Dushku, and even Charlton Heston has aged rather well. Ditto for the red 1959 Corvette driven by Paxton (playing sleazy used car salesmen Simon) as he regales AH-nold on his time-tested seduction technique: “Let’s face it, Harry, the ‘Vette gets ’em wet.”

Clambake – 1959 Corvette XP-87 Stingray Racer

“Hey buddy, where’s the gas cap on this thing?” Built in 1959 “to test handling ease and performance,” the Corvette XP-87 racer won an SCCA National Championship in 1960. It was then modified with the addition of a passenger seat and made the rounds of the auto show circuit.

The XP-87 bowed out in grand style, appearing in the 1967 film Clambake as the private car of Elvis Presley’s oil tycoon character. Thank you, XP-87, thank you very much.

Heavy Metal – 1960 Corvette

“You can hedge your bet on a clean Corvette”… Heavy Metal – the 1981 animated sci-fi fantasy film produced by Ivan Reitman and inspired by the eponymous graphic magazine, featured a 1960 Corvette but if you arrived a few minutes late to the movie theater, you probably missed it.

Here’s a link to the ‘vette’s impressive entrance (dude totally sticks the landing!) in which it literally brings evil to the world in the form of the glowing green loc-nar. Mustang owners most definitely approve.

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Like A Rock Star 12 Iconic Movie Corvettes