Monday, May 21, 2018

Matchbook Monday

It's time for Matchbook Monday.  Some real gems of Jackson's past are posted below.  Feel free to add your stories or any information about them in the comments section as you enjoy these blasts from the past. Readers can email copies of any old matchbooks to kingfish1935@gmail.com.


First up is a restaurant no one probably remembers although the name is known.



This ad appeared in a 1961 edition of the Clarion-Ledger.  Needless to say, it was a sign of the times.


Time to go downtown.  Does anyone remember this place?




Many a night of drinking ended at Joker's Tavern.... after closing time at 1:00 AM.  It was the Pops of Northeast Jackson.





Finally, here is one from Archestratus Grill in Clinton.



25 comments:

Anonymous said...

I heard that Joker's was a reliable source of drugs back in the day.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Advertising for "White" and "Colored" employees. Hard to believe there was a time where this was normal.

Anonymous said...

Al's Half Shell had a great menu 50 years ago. And back then I wondered how they made a profit in that small dining room.

Louis LeFleur said...

Never knew about the "other" Crechale's". Jokers was one of those infamous places I never went. Guess I wasn't really sure if it was still around or not, even though I don't live far from it. Archestratus was a place I used to hear ads for on Super Talk (only when I needed entertainment!). Went once near its end, but have no recollection of that Sunday noon visit other than finding out the son of some friends, whom we'd known since birth, worked there though we hadn't seen him in years. Not sure we even ate vs. just visiting with him, then changed our minds. Many fond memories of Al's, but not at that location. Wasn't it on Roach St. (ironic!) around the corner from the Mayflower in the 1970s, then down on Terry Road for a while. Seems like Al's closed/reopened in more places than Roosters!

Anonymous said...

I remember Al's Half Shell on Lamar Street - seems like it was right around the corner from Hale & Jones, a sporting goods store. Al's had great red beans and rice, served with plenty of onions and big link of spicy sausage. Great po-boys, too. I had many a lunch there in the 1970s.

They later moved out to Terry Road, to a location that later became Angelo's.

Anonymous said...

Upstairs from Al's Half Shell in that block of Lamar was WRBC Radio.....Rebel Radio. Through the 60s I listened to WRBC and WWUN.......

Anonymous said...

Al's Half Shell, on Lamar St., between Pearl and Pascagoula Streets, enlarged their dining room into and adjacent building and lost a whole lot of business. He returned to the original size and is quoted as having said "I don't care if the rats run over their shoes, just so they come and eat." Actually, it was a good and clean place, but when he tried to spiff it up, his regular customers didn't like it.

Anonymous said...

As far as Crechale's on Old Canton Road, the building was recently torn down. It became the King's Inn after Crechale's. Morrison's Cafeteria was just
north in the Woodland Hills Building. I tend to remember the current Crechale's owner's mother, Carolyn (?), running it. Perhaps my memory is not correct?

Anonymous said...

Crechales, Morrison cafeteria and dr kitchens office were right there. Later came the X-ray room which was straight then gay and Xanadu.
Gibbs and shakeys ( post office now) all were real close by through the ages.


Anonymous said...

And there was LeFluers.

Anonymous said...

Old man Paul Crechale was a friend of my Daddy's. When Crechale was the maitre'd at the Rotisserie at 5 Points(?), he would serve my Daddy beer in a teapot on Sundays when it was illegal to serve alcohol on Sunday. I remember as a kid (I am 70 now) going with my parents to eat at Crechale's on Hiway 80. When Daddy was dying of cancer in 1965 Paul Crechale would send him one of his house salads to Daddy at the VA Hospital. The Crechales are good people.

Daddy also loved to go to Al's Half Shell on Lamar Street. I was in high school then and remember the good gumbo he served.

Anonymous said...

The good old days were never that good, believe me. The good new days are today, and better days are coming tomorrow. Our greatest songs are still unsung.

Anonymous said...

Yea: 526 I remember Rebel Radio (Soooo non-pc) today, it was up a creepy & tall wood stairway, right above Al's. Someway I new "jocky jim"then&h was real big at the time, along with Colonel Radio too, 1450 as I recall. All of em gone now (no fm's when I was in HS @ Provine)

Anonymous said...


I wish we had some good history sources on old Jackson radio stations. Speaking of WRBC AM, I think the final studios were in a building that fronted North State St. just above Briarwood. It had to be tough to bang out a living in commercial broadcasting back in those days.

RFBurns said...

Ironically, WRBC-AM became what is now WOAD-AM 1300. The studio and transmitter site was near the corner of State St. and Beasley Rd. A tornado took down the original tower in the mid-late 70's and the operation was moved to the other side of State & Beasley. There is a book written by Bob McRaney called "The History of Radio in Mississippi" that covers the really early days thru the mid 1070's. It's hard to find, but gives an accurate history of early radio in the state. I've heard many of the old time radio guys from WRBC, WWUN, WJQS and WJXN talk about Al's Half Shell.

Anonymous said...

I still miss Jokers. Ate lunch there about three times a week from about 1992 until they closed. I still find myself thinking "I would like a Jokers turkey sandwich and cup of gumbo." KF, thanks for the memories.

Louis LeFleur said...

I must have been incorrect about Al's ever being around the corner from The Mayflower on Roach given no one else remembering that. Must have been the original south Lamar location and I'm just confused from age, the passing of time, and downtown looking completely different back then. When it moved to Terry Road, however, it was not in the " location that later became Angelo's". It was closer to the corner of Hwy 80 in a building that later became a soul food restaurant. Angelo's was already there and had been for a long time. (Unless my memory really is that faulty, which I'm doubting less and less these days).

Oh, and I wonder when WRBC moved out on State near Beasley because I remember riding my bike to that location to watch the DJ behind a big "picture window" as a pre-teen in the mid 1960's.

Anonymous said...

The location at the corner of State and Beasley where the old Sound and Communications building stands was the original location of WJDX, the first radio station in Mississippi. The location of the S&C building and the mini-storage on the corner was a field where two broadcast towers stood with a wire strung between them.

Even more interesting is that the original WJDX building still stands there just to the south of the S&C building. You can see it from State Street. There is an ugly cinder block front that was added to the building some years later, but if you look at the original structure, you can see that it was built to look like the chassis of an old floor-standing console radio. There are three vertical windows on the front that look like the three band tuner windows (old radios would switch between two shortwave bands and the AM band).

That building really is a piece of history and should be preserved before it falls to ruin. I know the guy who owned S&C years ago was planning on restoring it, but I guess that never happened.

Anonymous said...

12:39
was that "Algie Broome" ???

Louis LeFleur said...

Yep, Algie Broome was one of the the founders/owners of Sound & Communications and, if memory serves, the reason he located S&C next to the old WJDX/WRBC building was that he wanted to restore it, either as a museum or incorporated into part of S&C. Don't know if that S&C building is still in use since they advertise a Flowood address now. Don't know if I should say that Algie "was"... he'd be in his mid-80's now and for all I know could still be active in the business.

Anonymous said...

Yes, it was Algie Broome. That's a hard name to forget! I had a conversation with him many years ago about the history of the site (that's where I learned all this) and about his plans to restore the old WJDX building, but I guess he wasn't able to pull that restoration off.

I remember he had a bunch of neat old pictures, documents, recordings, etc. from the early days of Mississippi radio in his office there at the S&C building. I specifically recall a photo of a young Eudora Welty reading into a microphone. He also had a painting of what the original tower setup looked like.

And not to steer this too much into a radio conversation, but I remember that just north of that site, about halfway to County Line Road, were the towers for WSLI 930. They had an electric (neon?) sign at the entrance to the transmitter (I guess the studio was there at one time). I think they tore those old towers down in the 1980s or maybe 1990s.

Burke said...

I remember cruising in the late '50s, listening to "Hernando's Hideaway on WRBC. Never saw Suzanne Somers, but I think Pete Costas had a white T-Bird.

Anonymous said...

I miss Archestratus. The best restaurant Clinton ever had.

Anonymous said...

Archestratus was nice, but way overpriced, hence the reason it didn't last.

Anonymous said...

I used to frequent Jokers Tavern in the mid 1980's. It was the place to go to keep drinking after all of the other Jackson bars closed, if you didn't want to drive out to the Reservoir. I never knew how Jokers kept serving the booze until the wee hours of the morning. Did they just ignore the law and no one caught them?



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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


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Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


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Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

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