Things you remember from the 80s in Gettysburg

[davew]

I was a kid in the '80s in gettysburg. For no good reason, over lunch today was looking up my old guitar teacher, Jace Hyde (who I think is still in Hanover, PA giving lessons). I came across an old archived times issue that was touting Kix and The Back Street Kids (the band Jace was in) making a stop at magic elm, which would've been a pretty big deal for magic elm back then.

But what really brought back the memories of now defunct places was the ad list in some of the "sponsored by" things in the paper, like:
* Neptune seafood - it was out of the ordinary to go there and drop the bucks on something like shrimp or crab, but we went there fairly often for something.
* Dee Gee's imports. I don't remember much about it, I was too young, but recall the name all the time. Import was like a big catchy part of any dealer around there. I remember people thinking the got exotic cars because they had gone to lawrence subaru or hanover honda.
* Riggeal's sub barn
* The video den (didn't find it) but remember that being in that end of town - still remember the first movie we rented from there, somewhere around 1982 or 1983
* Kennies grocery was tiny back then, and you had to check the things you got in those days because you could get something past date if you weren't careful. It was all brown paneling IIRC. We thought festival foods was an enormous monstrosity when it came in.
* Bucher's meats (In fact, I don't ever remember us getting red meat or fish at the grocery store. Fish came from neptune and beef and sausage came from butchers).
* Ames - ames was like the go-to in gettysburg for junk until jamesway came in (which was closer to us)
* Sunny Ray (I think that's what it was called back then), I don't know what it's called now that I moved away.
* There was a DMI industries (furniture factory) with two green international (trucks) back then on 30 all the time - in town. Can you imagine a legitimate furniture factory on 30 right in town these days?).

There was nothing back then around where the perkins is now, except for a dairy queen, and the dairy queen looked like a tin shed back then. Hi way oil was station that we always passed going to and from town.

Apologies for those of you who grew up elsewhere in adams county, as a biglerville kid, my dad always had a chip on his shoulder about everyone in gettysburg thinking that the county centered around gettysburg and everything else was scraps.

Thanks for entertaining my memories from 30 years ago. There's always folks having 50s and 60s chain mail flashback messages, but not a lot on the 80s, esp. local for gettysburg.

[davew]

Something to listen to if it helps anyone remember the early mid 80s. I'm sure this was on the radio at some point in the LTD when we managed to commandeer it away from my mother's WFRE "soft rock less talk" selections.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFsHSHE-iJQ

[nilegrazowski]

I was a New Oxford guy

I remember The international Village out by the Eisenhower. They had a pond you could take a paddle boat on.
I remember the Slippy Dip Water Slide heading out towards Fairfield.
I saw The Back Street Kids play at a frat party at Shippensburg back in 1985 or so
The tower was awesome. Too bad it is gone
The electric map was awesome. Too bad it is gone.

Just off the top of my head!

[Venter]

There is still HALF of a "Neptune Seafood" Sign on the corner of the building (coming into town on Middle Street, past Codori's, building that houses Dollar General and Dubb's Karate - Look up at the corner of building at the alleyway entrance)

Other than that, Gettysburg didn't actually exist as far as I knew... except in books

[lifesaver]

I frequented most of these places on a regular basis.  Kennies is an awesome store now!  Still a bit pricey so I don't shop there routinely but everything there is top notch.  Butcher Block in Biglerville is the main seafood connection for me now, Butcher Shoppe in Chambersburg is another.  Still doesn't quite live up to Neptune.  Bucher's is just about the same as it was back then. Still the best smoked sausage around, in my opinion!

[lifesaver]

Venter and davew, check your messages.

[philliesfan]

How about Martin's Dairy Store on the Fairfield Road & Fairplay Road. Purchased milk in litre plastic bags and placed them in the specially designed plastic holders for easy pouring. Their fres meats and bakery items were pretty awesome as well.

[nilegrazowski]

philliesfan

My parents did the same thing. did not realize where the place was. It was near a covered bridge? Our jug was yellow and the milk was bought in a big bag with 4 little ones in it. Thanks for the memory!

[Dexter]

Nile, are you thinking about Whiteford's dairy, I think they went by Robel Acres?? It was off of Fish and Game Road outside of McSherrystown.

[Venter]

Sounds like "Bag-O-Milk" to me.
Used to have one on every street corner

Was this the 1980s or the 1880s you guys are reminiscing about?

[johnnyd]

I remember being transfered to Gettysburg in 1985. As I am originally from Western PA, I had only been to Gettysburg once on a field trip when I was in 7th Grade. Don't remember much about the field trip (except the Cycle-0-rama), but I do remember my ride into Gettysburg that night in March of 85. It was a very dark night with light fog. I'll never forget driving past all the cannons and picket fences on my way to the "Sheraton Inn" (where I had to stay for 3 weeks until I found a place to live). The drive through that area of Gettysburg felt quite surreal and gave me an overwhelming feeling of deep respect for those before us who gave their lives on that land.

[Fire Marshal Bill]

Unfortunately for me at my age, the decades run together. I can remember a lot pre-1965, then post 1969. Those four years are lost but as I said since then things kind of run together.

I can remember the Twin Kiss on the Emmitsburg Road, as well as Stuckey's and the bar/gift shop at the intersection of the Emmitsburg Road and Confederate Ave, and the gift shop and snack bar at Confederate Ave. and Myerstown Road.

And you can't forget Rodgers Liquor in Emmitsburg. The owner always ask to see an ID, but anything you showed him with some numbers on it was good and you got served.

[moose]

Dec 24, 2013 15:03:59 GMT -5 Fire Marshal Bill said:

Unfortunately for me at my age, the decades run together. I can remember a lot pre-1965, then post 1969. Those four years are lost but as I said since then things kind of run together.

I can remember the Twin Kiss on the Emmitsburg Road, as well as Stuckey's and the bar/gift shop at the intersection of the Emmitsburg Road and Confederate Ave, and the gift shop and snack bar at Confederate Ave. and Myerstown Road.

And you can't forget Rodgers Liquor in Emmitsburg. The owner always ask to see an ID, but anything you showed him with some numbers on it was good and you got served.

I didn't think things outside the 80's was allowed FMB, but since you brought it up....

mmmmmmm, I remember those frosty mugs of root beer at the Twinn Kiss. Too bad everyone stole the mugs...probably sent them out of business. Yep, the Stuckeys is burnt into my memory. My Pop-Pop used to take us to Gettysburg every Saturday and we'd stop at Hartzell's (that name had a positive connotation back then) and get a matchbox car if we were good. While waiting to go home we'd take some extra straws to the car and squat down in the back seat. Back then hardly anyone had A/C so everyone had their windows down. We'd shoot spitballs out the window as people would drive by (LMAO). I liked to shoot big ole wet ones. Splat! I guess times haven't changed that much, I'm still irritating people.

Struggling to remember Johnny's last name at Rodger's Liquors. But he always had a big ole cigar in his mouth. He couldn't see, so it doesn't surprise me he served anyone. Used to pick up beer bottles around town and exchange them for cash for candy, there. Maybe even get a Lotta Cola from the depths of the cold water in the cooler. A friend used to take beer bottles and cash them in...go into the garage area and pick up a case of bottles and come back in the front door with that case and cash them in too.

[nilegrazowski]

Dec 23, 2013 21:53:43 GMT -5 Dexter said:

Nile, are you thinking about Whiteford's dairy, I think they went by Robel Acres?? It was off of Fish and Game Road outside of McSherrystown.

Quite possible. My mom did most of her shopping in that direction and Gettysburg was an oddity. I could be thinking of the wrong place. Robel Acres does ring a bell.

[davew]

I think stuff outside of the 80s is just fine.

It's funny how regionalized (even within gettysburg) all of our experiences are. I lived east of town on 30, so pretty much the corridor into town, not really often past steinwehr avenue or the school - maybe with the exception of where the video den was. Anything else was "the other side of town", and though we went to sunny ray's every once in a while, it wasn't often.

I can still envision going to sunny ray's to see Mr. Bushman (those of you who went to gettysburg) sitting at the bar in there - he was there a lot.

But stuff to the north and west or very far south of town, almost never.

Also recall that if you wanted clothes, you pretty much either went to yard sales, or hanover, and once in a great while to York (which was considered very far away to my mother). There wasn't any place to get clothes in gettysburg back then.

I had my butcher shop wrong, though - it was weikert's near the rec park, which was sort of out of the way. Bucher's was where dad's deer always went to get butchered.