Memory Lane: 'This used to be...' Part One

June 2, 2:33 PMDenver Dining ExaminerStan Dyer

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In 1968, the other side of the light was s dirt road.

While discussing my retirement with an old classmate, the conversation naturally turned to the places where we grew up, where we used to hang out and where we used to dine.  A lot has changed all over town since those days, and I thought it might be fun, at least for us older folks, to go back, and take a photographic journey down memory lane. 

I can remember growing up and listening to the old folks talking about the way things used to be, thinking to myself, “Yeah, Yeah, Whatever!”.  Now that I am older, however, I not only understand, I also see their point. 

This was Captain's Corner and about the only place around.

Oh, I am not that old, but I am old enough to remember when McDonald’s was an occasional treat for most families instead of a daily visitation.  I dined at the old, walkup, golden arches buying hamburgers for just eighteen cents.  Yes, they had a better product, better French fries and better burgers, but the secret to their success really was their pickles.  All the old timers know that and none are surprised that McD’s survived when many other chains failed, simply due to that slight, important variation. 
 

This was a bowling alley across from the old High School

I also remember pizza even before delivery was common place.  The saddest aspects of that are how the quality of pizza has diminished, and that there is absolutely no good delivery pizza anymore.  Oh, I have listened to people tell me how good this or that delivery pizza is, but I have yet to try one that is even half as good as any pizza was just ten years ago.  I feel so sorry for this newer generation eating pizza made on preformed crusts and cooked in chain-fed ovens believing they are getting good pizza.  They never tasted a good, old, Shakey’s pizza the way they made them in the 60’s and 70’s cooked in a real pizza oven until the crust bubbled and browned.  There are some places that are on to the difference, like “The Oven” over in Belmar, but, even then, what is with these “individual” size pizzas?  All we had was small, medium or large and pizza was usually bought for sharing, even the small ones.
 

This was Howdy's Lunch and Pool, next to the bakery.

It only goes to show you that then, just as now, the truth is not as important as what people believe is the truth.  Our parents thought their food was better, we think ours is better and the next generation thinks they are on to something new, different and special.  No matter your age or experience, if you think it is a good dining experience wherever you happen to be, that is all that matters.  For me that still means a good product, at a good price in a clean restaurant. 
 

This was Rodeo Supermarket where we got older kids to buy us 3.2

I wish I could say the places we dined in our youth were cleaner, but I am not so certain that they were.  I wish I could say for certain that the product was better, but that, too, may have had been a result of both my inexperience and my underdeveloped taste buds.  We just didn’t dine out that often and certainly not as often as people do today.  It was always a treat, and it is hard to mess anything up that comes with so much anticipation.  Whatever the case, my memories still taste as good to me as yours will to you when you have more “experience”.
 

This series is meant for the older folks who grew up in the Denver area and know what I am talking about, but I invite everyone to come along with me on this nostalgic, photo-journey just the same.  Even if you might not learn anything about dining and you might not change your point of view, it might still be fun just to imagine the different world that once existed where the new one does and what it was like when dining out might only have meant a McDonald’s hamburger once or twice a year.