Galesburg IL, 2/21/86
(first posted 4/4/2012) A lot of times I’ll think, “why didn’t someone take pictures of common things twenty or thirty years ago?” I would have loved to see pictures of my town in the 1960s and 1970s, especially the new and used car dealerships! Things can change so gradually that we don’t notice it until we’re confronted with scenes of normal life from years past. Well, if you’ve ever had the same thoughts, you’re in luck.
Kewanee IL, 2/19/86
My first job in high school was microfilming closed files at my dad’s office. Today you can simply put a pile of paper into a scanner and it will be imaged into your computer in seconds, but back in the 1990s you used a microfilm camera. I would put a stack of paper on the tray, push the button, remove the sheet just photographed, then repeat. Over, and over. Yep, it was a repetitive job, but it was still a nice place to work, plus I had a radio!
Manteno IL, 7/13/93
As you might guess, the paper copies of the files were retained for a while, just to be safe. At some point in the early Oughts, I was tasked with getting rid of all the paper copies. As I went through each file, I noticed there was a photo of the bar or restaurant in each file. Once I noticed this, I paid more attention and saw that some were some pretty old photos, and most of them had neat cars in the background. No one minded if I kept some of the pictures, so I saved quite a few from the landfill. And that is why today, you lucky readers can see some great Curbside Classics, when they were just everyday cars on the street.
Naperville IL, 1/27/93
Most of these photos are from the 1985-95 period, and were taken all over Illinois. There’s something for everyone, whether you like ‘Box’ Town Cars (you know who you are) or Liftback Corollas.
Peoria IL, 3/3/86
You can tell that GM had quite a lot more market share than they do these days, and that Japanese cars, while seen, were not in near the concentrations they would be in in another 15-20 years. After all, this is the heartland, and us Midwesterners still liked GM a whole bunch, even in the ’80s.
Rockford IL, 8/17/94
Another interesting thing in these pictures is all the unique eating establishments. They were very diverse, unlike the usual chain restaurants seen today in any fair-to-middling town.
South Beloit IL, 12/18/85
Woudn’t you like to pull into Frank and Mike’s in your Country Squire and have a burger basket and a beer? I would.
Sublette IL, 1/30/86
I can’t help but wonder if any of these establishments are still around. Maybe some of them, but time marches on and everything changes once enough years pass. So what cars do you see?
Wapella IL, 3/3/86
P.S. If there’s enough interest, I can do more installments, as I probably have about 100 pictures like this. Let me know what you think! (Update: Tom made five of these, and we’ll re-run them all)
WOW! Wapella….that’s where I live. I didn’t grow up there, though. I believe that building is still there.
I love looking at pictures like this!!!
I live in Wapella and that building is still there.
that’s the old bar on main street..it was named “THE TAP” when I lived there .I moved in the winter of 1986.I was 16 then…there was another bar on the north side of town called “THE IRISH CIRCLE”
Great photos! We live about 20 minutes from Kewanee, but only since 2001 when we moved here from Georgia, so I never knew any of these places firsthand.
Some Binging turned up 420 S Main St. Kewanee as the address for the old “Jax of Diamonds” coffee shop. Doesn’t appear to be there anymore, at least from the satellite view. One of the sites that popped up said Kewanee used to have over 60 bars and close to 30 grocery stores (a lot fewer today).
Was unable to come up with anything for the Dining Room Lounge in Peoria, and can’t place the rough location from the background, either.
Looks like Vonachen’s closed in 2008. It was on the corner of Knoxville and Prospect. My dad and grandmother and I met my aunt and cousin there about 20 years ago. They lived in Champaign, so we met them halfway in Peoria and had lunch. Neat place, as I recall.
More info here:
http://www.pjstar.com/business/x1945272919/VOPs-nuilding-to-be-razed-rail-cars-museum-bound
Ah, so that’s where that was. Yes, the Pullman cars are now at the Wheels of Time museum off Hwy 40 up towards Mossville. I pass them fairly often.
Also, I goofed on the Dining Room Lounge (first pic), it was actually in Galesburg, on Henderson.
I just came across your site when I was looking for historic pictures of Galesburg. Was the first picture from Henderson and Dayton? Was it the Huddle Restaurant? I’ve been posting pictures on a website called whatwasthere.com. They let you superimpose those old photos on top of google maps to see how the old views compare to current day. You should post this picture there!
Reminds me of a place in Carrboro, NC that uses vintage rail cars for its dining areas. It was called “Southern Rail” but that establishment folded due to tax debts last year; it’s being re-opened under new ownership and a new name, but the rail cars are staying.
That building in the Kewanee shot is the home of the present day Barnhouse Family Restaurant.The building looks a little different today; better, more windows.There food is pretty good, too.
Hmmmmm – I guess 1986 was longer ago than I thought. 🙂
I see an 87-88 Thunderbird in the Naperville photo. Not that I look for Fox T-birds or anything 😉
There’s a 91 or 92 Cougar LS next to it too. Not that I look for MN12 Cougars or anything either lol
How about that ugly ’80-’82 Thunderbird parked right up next to Frank & Mike’s in South Beloit? I always thought those were a terrible attempt at catching up with the Sheer Look.
I remember as a 10 year old when these came out. The GM A-bodies were outselling them by a large margin despite going on there third model year and then the re-skinned 1981’s came out and continued that momentum, especially at Olds and Buick. When grandma and grandpa took me to look at some newly arrived 1982 T-Birds the sales guy stated that he wished he could sell half as many T-Birds as Cutlass coupes. The 1980-82 “Deadly SIN” T-Bird and Cougar were not at all well received by the buying public and it wouldn’t be until 1983 that a far more interesting and futuristic design would debut.
I couldn’t help but notice that ’88 T-Bird in the fourth picture down. I’ve had two ‘birds of that vintage… a Sapphire Blue Turbo Coupe (the ex’s car), and a Black 5.0 LX with ALL THE OPTIONS (my car). I loved that car. I could write up a COAL on that car alone. 236,000 miles on the clock when I traded it in on a ’97 MN-12 version of the ‘bird with the 3.8L… I only put 1/2 the mileage on the latter… 118K. So far that old 5.0 is my personal record holder for longevity. I’m hoping to beat it with my current ride, a similarly colored 2007 Mustang V6 Premium (currently nearing 162K and still going strong). I love old pictures like this and wish there were more of them from my area. Very cool memories indeed.
Wow, tons of obscure cars in those pics
T-type Skylark
LeSabre Sport Coupe
Bonneville 2door
Thunderbird Turbo Coupe
AMC Alliance
The Fleetwood Brougham and Lincoln Versailles in the parking lot of Frank & Mikes lounge leads me to believe there might be wiseguys inside.
Agreed and one of them probably has Hoffa in the Trunk 🙂
Yes, he was probably in the back of that Fairmont Station Wagon! 🙂
Yes that would be the most practical alternative 🙂
I lived in Illinois during this era, mostly in Elgin. I’d love to see what else you’ve got. I swear I recognize that Naperville shot.
I lived in Naperville in 1993. But I don’t recognize the building.
This is precisely why I love taking “random” photos and candid snapshots. Capturing the commonplace can really transport the viewer into what life was actually like in that time period (or place, etc). The shots may be boring, but they’re authentic. And there’s a lot one can glean from them.
Last week’s video of California freeway traffic in the 50s was a fascinating glimpse into a whole world I missed by several decades.
Two of the five cars at Frank & Mike’s have hidden headlights.
I love stuff like this, thanks. Have you thought of putting up a local history site with all your pictures? Like http://vintageportland.wordpress.com/ Your neighbors present and past will like it.
That LeSabre is quite alluring.
I lived in Downers Grove, IL for a few years in late ’80’s coming from the east coast with my ’84 Celica GTS liftback. I was amazed at the scarcity of Japanese cars as compared to the NY area, people I worked with actually bought Cavalier’s, Beretta’s, Sunbird’s and Grand Am’s. Didn’t they get the memo?
We got a different memo. It came in the form of rust mites, and the Japanese cars you see in the photos are almost all gone due to rust from salted roads. Most of the 90s Hondas I’ve seen are so rusted out they’d never pass an inspection if we had them. The American cars had better rust protection, and a surprising number are still out there. It’s fun to see these photos as I’ve lived in Illinois (Will County) for the past 30+ years.
Looks like the twin towns of Sauk City and Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, where I used to go once in a while. Or Mt. Horeb. Or New Glarus. Or any number of places in the Midwest where a town consisted of a Catholic church, a Lutheran church, and a tavern. 🙂
Isn’t that pretty much every “town” with over 500 people in Wisconsin? And technically, that tavern would be a “supper club” 🙂
I was born in Sauk City and grew up in Madison until I was in middle school. Used to go up to Devil’s Lake with my parents all the time, and the Dells (which was massively overrun with tourists from Illinois).
I lived in Madison from 1991-2000 and got to know the towns of south-central Wisconsin pretty well…the best thing about driving around Wisconsin was that you could, on any nice autumn day, find a little-league fundraiser going and have a brat and a beer (or soda, if you were the driver) for maybe $3, and it was the best lunch you ever had.
A bit before my time (I was born in ’81), but here are some awesome black & white photos from Madison and other places in central/southern WI over a 10 year period. 1972-82.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuckp/sets/72157602298190981/with/3853981764/
Of those, I recognize Robert Haack Jewelers, I’ve been to the Armory, I know right where the water-skiing area is on Lake Monona, and I know where Wingra Meat Market is or was, because I used to live in that area. And the State Capitol, of course. Used to go to the Farmer’s Market there every weekend.
That Naperville shot really encapsulates how Japanese cars like the Accord stood out at the time because they looked so MODERN. Compared to the old barges surrounding it — and even the Aero T-bird to its right, the Honda just really stands out.
Granted, the Accord in the picture was probably close to brand-new at the time, but it instantly took me back to the late ’80s/early ’90s when Japanese cars really started picking up steam and it seemed like everyone (here in Socal at least) abandoned their traditional American rigs for these smaller, lighter Japanese cars that seemed like spaceships compared to the American stuff. It was like an overnight change here. I feel like these days Japanese cars have lost that sense of modernness and clean, sensible efficiency.
Exactly, very interesting observation. I traded an old Nova for a new Celica in ’87. It was a total spaceship, no comparison with the boxy Fox Mustang.
Whenever I see pictures of parking lots full of cars from the early 90’s I think about how revolutionary the Lexus SC must have looked like when it came out. Spaceship is a fitting description.
Same with the first Ford Taurus in ’86(?), to a lesser degree.
Ah the days before Minivans, CUVs and SUVs clogging up the lots(excluding the K5 Blazer in the Sublette IL pic), how I miss thee.
Nice photos. I like the blue Celica liftback. That grey Omni shot is great.
Like Seeing The Tik Tok diner on Route 3 near Clifton New Jersey. Those familiar roadside cafes could be so welcoming in a rough storm.
Great observation and so true about the high concentration of American cars in the Midwest. You can still see it today. During lunch today I was doing a Google Streetview tour of the Ford Highland Park plant in Detroit (not exactly sure of the filming date, but most likely within the past few years) and you still see predominantly American cars there. Even 20-year-old ones (which shows how much the rust-resistance of modern cars has improved, and/or how poor the owners might be).
I remember going on a business trip to Atlanta back in the late 1990s. I took an after-dinner walk around the hotel area, walking through several parking lots, and noticed at least half a dozen Crown Victoria LTDs, being used by (gasp) regular people as many of them had carseats in them. In Seattle, NOBODY but the police and taxi drivers (and a few seasoned citizens) used those!
I live a mile south of the Highland Park plant, and the photos can’t be more than four years old, as that’s when the shopping complex across the street was built. Rust resistance and increased reliability have helped to keep those cars alive, coupled with the aforementioned income levels and an explosion of corporate parts store chains.
In my area having a car, even a shitty old one, puts you a notch above those that have to ride the bus. Michigan also has no emissions or safety inspections, so an old car can be nursed along on its last legs for quite some time. The Autozone near my house is packed day and night and does some brisk business.
Great photos! I for one would love to see more.
Me too. One post per week would be fun.
Yep, love this kind of thing. Feel free to post more.
MORE! MORE! MORE!!!! I can’t get enough of these kinds of memories. What an ingenious idea for CC. How does one get the privilege of being the author of such stories as I have a few I’d love to share too?
Send them to me via the Contact form on the top menu bar.
Same here and back on Labor Day 2010, I finally photographed a major thoroughfare in Tacoma, South Tacoma Way, that cuts through the heart of the South End of the city, through the working class neighborhoods and commercial strips along that major road.
it’s always been one of those places that remains much as it was decades ago, yet the businesses DO change along there. It’s had some improvements along its northern end in recent years.
Here is a photo of S. 56th Street and S. Tacoma Way. the building on the right side of the photo on the corner used to be S. Tacoma Chevrolet, which closed or rather, moved down the way about 15 or so years ago, perhaps as long ago as 20 years ago.
I shot these with my digital SLR in color and remade them into black and white.
And here is another from further down S. Tacoma Way. The classic B&I Circus, a conglomeration of little stores, a carousel and other fun rides and at one time, had Ivan the Gorilla there as an attraction, been around since the 40’s if I recall.
The place has expanded and grown but what you see now has been like that for a long time and as you can see, still popular too.
Interesting memories indeed. Don’t see much American iron of that era around these parts, and this is a rust-free zone, too. Walking along my street, though, I see loads of 20+ year old Civics, Accords and Corollas. Perhaps they were more popular sellers in those days around here.
I’m in Charlottesville, Virginia right now. This is a place of moderate rust. There isn’t all that much snow, but even a hint of it is greeted by half an inch of salt. Subarus tend to rust out early enough for people to junk them when the head gaskets go. Most of the older cars on the road are Hondas and Toyotas. The remainder are Mercedes-Benz and BMW models. There are some rusty Chevy trucks running around in meaningful numbers, but the ratio of older surviving cars favors the best Japanese ones well above their sales numbers.
I remember when GM cars were the norm here. Every division was represented and heavily advertised by local dealers. It wasn’t uncommon for an unhappy customer to trade in their Oldsmobile lemon for a Buick lemon, such was the effectiveness of GM marketing on people. My next door neighbor traded in his awful Citation for a new 6000STE, which in turn fell apart within days of the warranty ending. That’s when he finally went German rather than rewarding GM for their awful cars by trying the next step up the ladder. My best friend’s family had an Oldsmobile, a Buick, and a Chevrolet in their driveway. Fortunately for them, my friend found a shady used Mazda GLC painted a Pontiac blue as his first non-hand-me-down car. It was so much better than any of their new GM cars that they tried a new Accord, the first of three plus two CR-Vs.
The biggest dealer here used to have Oldsmobiles and all the Chrysler brands. Olds is dead, but the dealer now looks like it’s relying on Subaru and Honda for volume. Jeeps were once very popular in this town, but it doesn’t seen like their latest sales boom has found new buyers here to replace all the ones that were previously burned. Ram trucks have to sell in some numbers, but the Fiatsler showroom just looks like an afterthought. Right up the street is what used to be a huge Chevrolet dealer. Now its a Hyundai store with some room allotted to new Chevy trucks.
I have the “Automobile Almanac ’71” by David Ash in front of me. It has a rundown of every car available or thought to be available in the US that year. I can tell you the MSRP of everything from an Austin America to a Ruger Sports Tourer of which only two were produced, but I can’t tell you the MSRP of a single car made in Detroit. The largest volume US car with published pricing was the Checker Marathon. There was no published pricing for GM, Ford, Chrysler, International, or AMC cars. The author’s explanation is that the “Detroit companies were involved in difficult labor negotiations with new union leadership, further federal safety code demands had increased costs and the pressure of inflation was a factor.” Somehow, none of these factors influenced Alfa-Romeo, Aston Martin, Audi, Austin, Avanti, Bentley, BMW, Checker, Citroen, Datsun, De Tomaso, Excalibur, Ferrari, Fiat, Jaguar, Jeep, Lancia, Lotus, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz, the Mercury Capri(not made in the US), MG, NSU, Opel, Peugeot, Porsche, Renault, Rolls-Royce, Rover, Ruger, Saab, Simca, Stutz, Subaru, Toyota, Triumph, TVR, Volkswagen and Volvo. Did the prospect of more expensive labor prevent Detroit from pricing its wares, or did Detroit like having an excuse to deny buyers pricing information?
I don’t understand. The Encyclopedia of American Cars has all the basic pricing of every American brand and model from 1930 up. It’s a great resource for some $25. What info are you looking for?
The Automobile Almanac ’71 was published in 1970. It provided consumer information for people shopping for new cars. What cars cost after the fact won’t impact Big-3 profits from when they controlled the market.
Completely the opposite in Upstate, NY. 90’s Hondas’s, Toyota’s, Mazda’s are rarely ever seen anywhere. Loads of 80’s and 90’s Panthers and GM B/A/H body cars still running around plus pickups from all 3 brands. Some older 80’s Mercedes diesels are still floating around along with the odd Bimmer.
“…how Japanese cars like the Accord stood out at the time because they looked so MODERN. Compared to the old barges…”
And how far Honda has fallen recently. A new Accord is now an ‘old looking barge’, same with the hideous Crosstour. Accords are now the old timer’s car, clinging to the past.
Grew up in Peoria! Sadly, Vonachen’s is no longer operating as a restaurant…
Very cool pictures. Great for this site. Keep them coming!
Wow, the first photo shows a late 80’s Chevy Celebrity. Those cars were such a common sight in those days… GM sold a ton of them but try to find one nowadays. I had an ’89 Celebrity Eurosport, 2.8 cranking out a whopping 135 HP, but it kept up with traffic very nicely and still returned about 26 MPG. Loved that car, but for whatever reason, unlike the base V6 model it did not come with the overdrive transmission. Essentially a reworked GM X-Body, a Citation with a trunk – but with nearly none of the mechanical & safety issues the older brother had. Earlier cars with those god-awful carbs were traded off quick when EFI became the norm, as well as the pushrod 4-cyl equipped cars which were very outdated & underwhelming performers compared to engines like Toyota’s 2L 16 valve plants in the Camry. My car had the typical torque converter lockup solenoid failure which most transmission shops would charge over $1000 to fix (a $25 part from GM), but I found a guy to do it for 80 bucks. And still one of my favorite cars to work on… water pumps were known to go in these… a couple of wrenches and about 20 minutes to change it out. Belt tensioners, alternators… easy to change as well. Never needed to raise the car to change the oil, just reach under the front, the filter was right there. Only the rear spark plugs were a pain to get to (at least for me). Never regretted owning that car at all. And a near perfect weight balancing side-to side and front-to-rear made (along with FWD) them an unusually stable vehicle in the snow for a car that barely reached 3000lbs.
If only the corrosion protection were better, perhaps we’d see a few of them still around. Along with the Chevy, the Pontiac 6000’s, Olds Cieras (of which I’ve owned 3), and Buick Century’s were excellent domestic alternatives to the Japanese takeover of the mid-size market in the 80’s (a 6000 and a Ciera are seen in the 5th photo as well), but as was typical of GM, they were cars built to a pricepoint, and thus a bit cheap in their construction. And so ubiquitous that perhaps nobody back then thought about ever preserving them.
Here in Pittsburgh (not car friendly), I still see quite a few FWD “A” bodies around, Mostly Buick and Olds, A bit higher survival rate than one would expect!
Despite the A-bodies obvious lack of attention for so many years and somewhat cheap construction they sure held up over the long haul and we still see loads of these little buggers still driving around in Upstate, NY despite it being the salt belt of hell. People actually come into our used car dealership and ask for these cars and wonder if and when we are getting more in. If we ever find a wagon it’s usually sold the day after it’s put out!
Great photos! If my car sleuthing skills are reliable, I think I spy a 83-84 Skylark T-Type lurking in the top photo.
You sure do!
These somewhat random frozen moment in time photos are pretty cool. But, the 1986 photos from Galesberg and Peoria are a reminder of what peak Malaise was all about. Every new generation of cars was getting smaller and going front drive, V-8s and even sixes were disappearing, powertrains were frequently fragile and unreliable, and cost cutting was frequently apparent. Sure, there were bright spots, but they were at times few and far between.
Between the lack of honest owner enthusiasm for some of these cars, the initial quality issues and the complexity of repairs, many peak Malaise vehicles will likely go down as the most uncollectable cars of all time.
Agreed, Dave.
Maybe it’s my lifelong thing for Tri-Five Chevies or older cars in general, but I went decades not able to muster much excitement about anybody’s new offerings. It’s different today, then again this isn’t the Malaise era anymore.
And you think the jellybean round crap they sell nowadays, is collectible?
Today’s cars are disposable like toilet paper. Don’t think you’ll ever see ANY Kia or Hyundai in Hemmings ever in the future. Lol
Careful, I remember thinking the same things about Pintos, Vegas and Dusters. Look how wrong I was. 🙂
Ive found lots of great pictures like that on flickr. Here are a few:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/5632/8027428873/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwilson1949/4415000956/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/39092860@N06/20171450854/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwilson1949/4354373114/
Tom, your articles are always interesting and really cool and bring back so many good childhood memories. This one is no exception and I really enjoyed it. More please
First pic was taken on the day of my birth! Awesome!
Those are some great shots that bring a lot to mind. I’m wondering if Tom’s dad was in the insurance business, as my own father kept photos of tons of local homes and commercial buildings in his old files. He always had a beat up old Polaroid in the car to snap shots of properties he was insuring, etc. I used to ride around with him on Saturdays to “Make The Rounds”, which usually meant stopping at no less than 2 diners, an auto body shop or two, and maybe a tavern for lunch, or occasionally the Elks lodge. The names and faces rarely changed, but it was exciting stuff for a kid. What strikes me about the photos above is that in those days (70’s-early 80’s) you could ride around town and know who was where by the cars in the parking lots of shops, restaurants, bars, etc. Try that today and you’d be looking at an endless sea of egg-shaped blobs in black, silver or beige.
Growing up my friends and I would hear car coming and someone would cup their ear and guess what it was. Everyone else would agree or offer another suggestion. Often someone guessed right. Probably just as often they didn’t. This was how we passed the time before the Internet came along. Keep the pictures coming. It’s a great idea.
It means I’m getting old when I was surprised to find an A-Body fwd Century driven around with a set of white wall tires plus a historical plate.
Love that LeSabre sport coupe. And the photo of Frank & Mike’s…wow. Everything within close view is a Ford product, and quite a motley assortment at that!
Forget those other extinct relics, give me that 1980-81 white Toyota Corolla 1.8 hatchback.
That 1983 Buick Skylark T-Type would be nice, too.
Though seeing that, and the Renault Alliance, is like seeing photos of the Passenger Pigeon and the Carolina Parakeet… Both were long extinct by the mid 90’s.
The Chevy Celebrity is one 80’s CC that has a very high survival rate, along with the 1977-79 B body Pontiac Bonneville and Buick LeSabre coupes.
The K car 1983-88 Chrysler New Yorkers are getting thin on the ground also.
Outstanding post, Tom – and I’m glad to read Paul will be rerunning others in this series. This combines three things I love – old cars in their natural habitats, old establishments, and a heavy dose of history / nostalgia. It has been years and years since I saw a Dodge Omni that shiny. Or a Renault Alliance that was (presumably) running. Incredible. I wonder I’d that nice, taupe LeSabre in that ’93 photo was built at Buick City.
As I recall, I did about nine of them. They’re all on here someplace.
Extraordinary pieces of history Tom. There’s something ‘just the facts, ma’am’ about the insurance origin of these that makes them such a significant trove; by their very nature they are just ‘normal’. Big thanks for sharing them.
It was fun. I still have 100+ of these in a desk drawer.