Do You Remember…?
Also known as the “Mighty Mo” at the regular Hot Shoppes and the Mighty Mo restaurant itself, all owned and operated by Marriott. This was Marriott (who, as you can see from this matchbook, also owned Roy Rogerstm and Bob’s Big Boytm at one time) version of the double decker burger similar to the Big Mactm. Helpful hint: go to a McDonald’s and buy just the buns for their Big Mac. We used the same type to make the Royalburgers at Jr. Hot Shoppes. Click here for a photo of one I made myself, sauce just oozing out. Follow the recipe precisely, close your eyes, take a big bite, and you’ll be back in time to the ‘Shoppes again! Highly calorific, no doubt, but almost like the real thing from so long ago
. Back to Hot Shoppes, here’s a photo of the Hot Fudge Cake, and Teen Twist. Next is a picture of members of Crossland Class of ’67 at the Jr Hot Shoppes in front of Iverson Mall (courtesy of Martin T.)
Jr. Hot Shoppes AKA Pappy Parkers Fried Chicken Commerical
* Clackers? I remember Nicky McCawley (daughter of our French teacher at Sandymount) letting loose in the lunchroom at Benjamin Stoddert Jr. High.
Clackers In Action
* The drag races on I-295, by the Naval Research Lab?
* The Bunny Man?
* Big Buddy bubble gum? I once stuffed an entire piece in my mouth! Too bad it’s no longer made.
* The Peppermint Pipers? They were a choral group from Benjamin Stoddert Jr. High in Marlow Heights. Follow that link to a page I have dedicated on this site to this very, very popular singing group from the late 60s.
* The taxi stand in front of Giant in Marlow Heights Shopping Center? Here’s a link to an entry from Boomer Twilight, a very popular blogging site maintained by Bob Phillips, Central Class of ’68. Bob wrote about his experiences driving a cab in Marlow Heights.
* The Monkees? Here’s a scan of an album cover that I had personally autographed by Micky Dolenz.
* The Hillside Drive-In Theater?
* The Teen Club dances held on Friday nights at the junior high schools, during the 60s and 70s? Here’s a page dedicated to the Teen Club at Benjamin Stoddert Jr. High, contributed by Rod Adams (Potomac ’74). Rod’s mother, Lois Adams, worked tirelessly, selflessly, and absolutely enthusiastically as the director of the Teen Club at Stoddert, and may of us not only remember her, but are indebted to her for those fun venues way back when.
* The Ralph Brown Buick-Opel commercial–Nooooooooooobody! became a catchphrase in the DC area back in the early 70’s. – Click to Listen
* The Freeway Phantom?
* The Silver Hill Boys Club? Not to be missed is this picture of club awards from 1974–check out the butterfly collars, plaid pants, ‘fro’s, and the great Dave Bing. Here are also Silver Hill football team photos: This one is ’74 or ’75, the 125 pound champs, coached by Steve Cosh on the left, and Paul Gustin on the right. Next are the 150 pound boys, from 1968. Finally, here’s one of Johnny Meadows, who sadly passed away in ’91. Johnny lived the next street over from me in Deer Park Heights (football photos courtesy Darlene C.)
The “Nobody Bothers Me!”, Jhoon Rhee commercials?
* The Marlow Heights Fairlanes bowling alley? That’s what it looks like now
* The foot bridge at the bottom of Raleigh Road, that you had to walk across to get to Olson Street?
* Mr. Lapko and Mr. Zeman’s mod “do’s” and their flared sideburns? Heck, even the Band teacher, Mr. Retzer, donned those wide ‘burns by my 9th Grade in ’72-’73!
*Steak in a Sack? It’s still open for business with relatives of the original owner.
* Boone’s Farm Wine?
* 7-11’s Slurpee of the Week? I remember one called “Red Eye”.
* Chicken in the Can? This was actually fried chicken pieces in a can. For some reason this was a favorite for sleep overs, that we would buy at the 7-11 across from the Marlow Heights Bowling Alley. When frozen food came along, it signaled the end of canned fried chicken, so it held on until the 70s I suppose.
* The first Maryland Lottery $1,000,000 winners in ’73? I heard most of them were broke after 20 years.
* Hot Pants? Mini Skirts?
* Your first pair of Chucks? Mine were bought at the Marlow Heights Hobby Shop.
* The “Heap Big Beef” next to the Red Barn on St. Barnabas Road? All I remember is that they sold roast beef sandwiches, like Arby’s and Roy Rogers.
* Collecting returnable soda bottles for 2 1/1 cents (then 5 cents)?
* Billy Kilmer, Sonny Jurgensen, Larry Brown, and the rest of the “Over the Hill Gang”, of the early 70s?
* A Frank “Hondo” Howard home run at RFK?
* Chason’s LTD, the restaurant on Allentown Way, just off of Branch Avenue, that, “catered to select clientele”? Yes, very select, sure, uh-huh.
* Nick’s Supermarket?
* The “Marlow Manglers”? Did such a “gang” ever exist? I vaguely recall their name spray painted on the side of a building where the 7-11 and Dallas Kitchen was. Here’s a firsthand account from Jack H., a visitor to the site and former resident of Marlow Heights:
“The incident we had with them was around 1972-73. Myself and 2 friends were walking up to the bowling alley and saw three guys throwing lit firecrackers at each other. One of my friends said something to them about it and they came running at us. They started beating on my friend that said something to them. Me and my other friend pulled everyone off of my friend and they said not to ever come back to their area again. They then asked us if we had ever heard of the Marlow Manglers and that they controlled this part of town. I assume they were telling the truth about it. Their leader was about 18 years old and looked kind of like an American Indian. The other 2 looked like the typical grit and they were about 16 years old. It could be that they were the extent of the Marlow Manglers or that they were part of something bigger. It could be that they saw the name spray painted on the wall and tried to convince us or others that it was them.”
* Dennis Grove Apartments? This was off of St. Barnabas Road and I lived there in the mid 60s. Click on the link to read about how much it’s changed! Here’s a picture from March ’67, during a heavy snow (courtesy Tom O.).
* The Marlow Plaza apartments?
* The Marlow Heights apartments?
* The Marlow Overlook apartments? Today it’s called Princeton Estates, and I believe before that was called Cedar Ridge. Still looks like the old Marlow Overlook apartments to me! Go here to read ratings from an apartment rating site about the place now. Man, back in the 60s and 70s, we used to love to run through the basem*nts of the buildings, where the trash rooms and laundry rooms were. It was also a prime place for trick-or-treating, because of the sheer number of residences, which made it a great bang for the buck on Halloween.
* Going to Camp Letts? I did with my 6th grade class at Sandymount.
* The Oxford Knolls Apartments, in Suitland? Cool ’71 Gremlin, too! (Courtesy Vicki Rader)
* TOPS Drive-In, home of the Sirloiner? (courtesy of Antietam Gallery)
* Shop class at Stoddert with Charlie Watt? One of my classmates, Allen Ashby, submitted this photo of the desk lamp and drinking glasses we made back then. We made the drinking glasses out of Dr. Pepper and 7-Up returnable bottles.
*Marshall Hall Amusem*nt Park? I remember that being the amusem*nt park to go to, back before places like King’s Dominion and Six Flags came along.
*Iverson Mall? That’s a link to the Mall Hall of Fame, and you’ll find Iverson Mall by doing a find/Iverson Mall on that page from your browser.
* Dunkin’ Donuts on St. Barnabas Road?
