Retro Richmond reader Barry has been busy digging up all sorts of cool goodies lately! He’s definitely earning a gold star this month!

If you recall, last week — through the help of Barry and fellow Retro Richmond reader David — the mystery of the Barrel-roofed structure located on West 20th Street was solved.

Though it lived out its final days as a Community Pride store, this curvaceous storefront had its humble beginnings as Siegel’s SuperMarket.

During a trip to The Valentine Richmond History Center, Barry scored some shots of Siegel’s SuperMarket from 1959 (the year it opened). They are such a sight to behold that I had to share them!

Courtesy of The Valentine Richmond History Center

It looks like at some point and time they added more window panes to the front. Did something happen to the front of the store? Does anyone know?

The view inside:

Courtesy of The Valentine Richmond History Center

Isn’t she beautiful?! What I wouldn’t give to see this placed restored. How amazing would that be? Ah well, a retro gal can dream!

Special thanks to Barry for going the extra mile and sharing these wonderful photos with me!

Retro Richmond reader Barry sent me some scans of a couple of issues of the Petersburg Progress-Index newspaper — two from 1959 and one from 1960 — that I thought I’d share.

The first is an advertisement for Kelly’s Drive-In from Oct. 21, 1960.

Hamburgers for $0.15; milkshakes for $0.20. If you ordered one of everything on the menu, you’d still get out of there for less than $1. A bottle of water cost more than that these days.

If you were looking to catch a movie Oct. 4, 1959, here’s what you’d have to choose from:

I really liked “The Diary of Anne Frank.” Millie Perkins did a fabulous job, and you can’t go wrong with Shelley Winters. “Liane, Jungle Goddess” sounds exciting and a little naughty! That probably would have been my choice!

And to make us all groan and shake our fists at inflation, check out these grocery store prices in Aug. 26, 1959:

Pork chops for $0.33 a pound! A 50-pound bag of potatoes for $1.49! What I wouldn’t do to see prices like that again!

Special thanks to Barry for sending these my way!

All right all you mid-century enthusiasts! The first official Retro Richmond MCMeetup will be at Dot’s Back Inn this Saturday, Aug. 2, at 10 a.m.

It’s not the most mid-century place in town, but it’s cheap, the food is good and it’s close to my house (so if no one shows up, I didn’t drive out of my way for an overpriced brunch).

I wanted to keep the first MCMeetup casual so everyone can get to know each other. We can discuss where the next meetup should be during brunch. (I’m already casting my vote for duckpin bowling!)

If you think you can make it, let me know. That way I’ll know about how many seats we need. We can meet outside at 10. If you’re coming late and we’re already seated, look for the girl with bling’d out vintage cat eye glasses. I’m sure I’ll be the only one!

Dot’s Back Inn is located in Northside at 4030 MacArthur Ave. Here are some directions if you need them:

View Larger Map

I look forward to meeting everyone!!

A couple of cool things popped up on Craigslist these past few days.

These funky green velvet chairs and ottoman have a great shape! I love the high backs and the tapered legs. They have a very Paul McCobb look to them. If you don’t like the fabric, you could always recover them in a cool barkcloth.

Also, someone has listed a couple of Eames tables by the Aluminum Group by Herman Miller. The seller didn’t post any photos but here’s what he or she had to say:

Very nice Eames round table with aluminum base legs and white laminate top. Measures 42″ diameter. Excellent condition. From the Aluminum Group made by Herman Miller.

I also have 3 task tables of various sizes and heights from this same grouping. All together you could outfit a pretty cool office space.

Price for the round table is $225 or best offer. The other 3 tables are priced from $125 - $165. I will make a nice discount if you buy more than one piece, and a super discount if you buy all 4 pieces. Sorry no pics, but if you are looking at this listing you know the design. Guaranteed to be the real Herman Miller pieces. All labels intact.

It sounds like this may be the table he or she is selling. If one of you happens to snatch these up, send me a photo. I’m interested in seeing which table it is.

Set the coffee pot for 7 a.m. and grab your small bills because if you hit these garage and estate sales early this weekend, you might get a good buy!

YARD SALES

Saturday, July 26 at 8 a.m.
On Monument Avenue between Sheppard and Belmont. Retro sofa with matching
end tables, coffee table and lamps. Many other pieces of furniture and
household items. Some nice, some necessary, some goofy. All priced to sell.
Hope to see you there!

Saturday, July 26 from 8 a.m. to noon
West End YARD & ANTIQUE Sale.
COME to Emi’s House!!!! 1106 Foxcroft Rd. Corner of Foxcroft and Hillview.
1 block North of Patterson Ave. between Three Chopt Rd. and Forest Ave.
Items for sale include these and lots more:
Lots of MUSIC CDs
Hardback and Paperback Books
VHS Tapes
2 Black Canvas Lands’ End Briefcases
GENTLY USED Women’s Clothing, SIZE = Plus 1X, Misses 10-12
Round Wrought Iron Patio Umbrella Table
Modern-style Adjustable Patio Lounger
Office Supplies, Thin-line CD cases, #11 envelopes, Binder clips and more
Stationery, Note Cards, Christmas Cards
Yamaha CD Player (5 discs)
ipod accessories
Camera, PHOTO Studio Equipment, including LARGE Soft Box, Background Stands/Cross Bar
17-speed Schwinn Bicycle
Vintage Herman Miller Office Chair
Mid-century MODERN Desk Lamps
Guitar Books, On Stage Guitar Stand, 1 set Electric Guitar Strings
HUGE antique Dance Studio Mirror
Antique Barrel-top Blanket Chest
10 Blank Zip Discs

ESTATE SALES

Saturday, July 26 at 10 a.m. (Preview starts at 9 a.m.)
Dixon’s Auction will be auctioning off items from an estate at 4710 Shoremeade Road. It looks like they’ve got some art glass vases, a mid-century china hutch, a glass bullet-like planter and probably much more. You can check out some of the images here.

So get out there and grab some cool stuff!

Retro Richmond reader and archivist Ray sent me this great old post card of the former Nick’s House of Steaks located at 1808 Staples Mill Road.

Nick’s opened its doors in the 1950s and, aside from a few blue awnings and a new door, looks relatively unchanged on the outside.

These days the former steakhouse operates as El Toro Loco, a Mexican Cantina.

While I can do without the awnings, it’s great to see another beautifully designed mid-century masterpiece survive the test of time relatively unscathed. Hat’s off to the owners of El Toro Loco and to those who owned this building prior for recognizing and preserving such great architecture!

Special thanks to Ray for sending this image my way! For those Richmond history buffs, check out Ray’s blog dedicated to the history of The Devil’s Triangle.

David from Old Richmond Grocery Stores has shone some more light on some of my previously unidentified buildings. Here’s what he had to say:

The address is shown in the telephone book as 3501 Jeff Davis. That address isn’t listed in the 1951 City Directory but is in the 1963 directory as “Burger King”. Whether it was part of the well-known chain I don’t know at this point.

EDIT: David just posted a photo of an old Burger King building that I simply had to share. I can see the similarities.

He also found some more info on JJ’s!

The 1951 City Directory lists this address as the Southland Restaurant.

And he’s also sold me on the Marina-Barrel roof debate!

The reason it’s not a Marina is simple. The building predates the first Safeway Marina, and I don’t think anyone’s ready to start calling them “Safeway Hulls”. Plus, the arches on a Marina don’t go all the way to the ground.

David, you have earned the Retro Richmond gold star of the day! Thank you for all your insight! I do hope you attend the MCMeetup because I would love to pick your brain some more!

The Marina mystery has been solved! Thanks to a tip from Retro Richmond reader Barry and a little help from David, author of Old Richmond Grocery Stores, the history of this wonderful structure has been uncovered!

Here’s what David had to say:

The 20th Street store was built as a Siegel’s. It first appeared in the city directory in 1959. It remained a Siegel’s until 1989 when Siegel’s was acquired by Farm Fresh. Farm Fresh operated it for one year as a Nick’s Market and then sold it to Community Pride.

From what I’ve gathered, Charlie Siegel got into the grocery business in the 1940’s. There was a Siegel’s at 419 N. 6th in the 1941 directory and one at 426 N. 6th from 1950 to 1968. Siegel also operated at 1911 W. Main (last time I looked, it was a brewpub) from 1968 to 1986.

All of my dates are from the city directory and are approximate. Charlie Siegel’s brother “Hip” Siegel was the “S” in S&K Famous Brands.

Everyone wants to make the 20th & Hull store into a Safeway or something else, but it was Siegel’s from the beginning. The barrel roof style was popular for supermarket construction in it’s day, though not as much in Richmond as in other places. One thing it’s not, is a Marina. The best surviving example of a Marina Safeway still in Richmond is the Big Apple Market at Jeff Davis and Terminal.

So there you have it. The building formerly known as Community Pride had its humble beginnings as a Siegel’s SuperMarket in 1959.

The added bonus to this story: the roof style is NOT a Marina, but a Barrel roof (which I’m not 100 percent sold on since I think of Barrel roofs as more rounded, but David is probably correct. To me, it looks like a Barrel-Marina hybrid.)

Thanks to Barry for the Siegel’s tip and to David for the additional info! Now we just need to get this building a historic landmark designation so it can remain standing for all to see.

I won’t have Internet access this weekend, so I’ll leave you with post No. 3 to mull over until Monday.

A couple of people have mentioned the idea of having a Richmond mid-century enthusiasts meet-up of sorts. Retro Richmond reader Barry has suggested maybe getting a group together and hitting up some of the old drive-in theaters around the area. MCM enthusiast and Manchester resident David suggested maybe getting a group together and grabbing a bite to eat somewhere, like the Satellite Lounge.

I love both these ideas. I was thinking maybe one Saturday (or Sunday) a month (we would need to decide which one — first, second, etc — for consistency) Retro Richmond can host a mid-century enthusiasts meet-up. (MCMeetup? I can see the logo now!)

One Saturday we’ll get brunch or dinner at one of the many fabulous MCM diners around town. Maybe another we’ll take in a drive-in movie. If there’s a particular event in town on MCMeetup day, we could go there. If people are interested, we could even meet at a specific MCM building and then discuss it over coffee or a meal somewhere. The ideas are endless.

I guess what I need to know is whether this is something people are interested in? If so, please suggest a day that works for you, ie: first Saturday of the month, fourth Sunday of the month, etc. I want to know what kind of interest, if any, there is before I make this an official monthly event.

While I love a good mid-century diner, eating by myself is pretty depressing! So if you’re interested, post a comment. Let’s make MCMeetup a reality!

Thanks to Barry and David for the great suggestions!

Last month, I posted photos of this cool Marina-roofed building on West 20th Street and asked if anyone knew any additional information about it.

This week, i received a new clue in my Marina mystery from Robb over at Nashville Modern. (Check out the photos of his ultra-hip modern ranch. It is fabulous!)

Here’s what Robb had to say:

To me, it looks a lot like the King Cole Market, Whittier CA, architect A. Quincy Jones, 1951. Although it appears slightly different in your photos, that may be due to alterations done to it over time.

Robb was kind enough to scan some photos from Cory Buckner’s book about the architect titled, “A. Quincy Jones.” What does everyone think? I see a lot of similarities.

View a larger version of it here.

View a larger version of it here.

That’s some good sleuthing, Robb! If it’s not a Jones original, it’s definitely Jones-inspired. The original King Cole market in Whittier, CA (pictured above) was featured in the 1967 movie “Divorce American Style” with Dick Van Dyke but has since been demolished.

Though Jones’ did most of his work in California, his architectural firm did design the Pabco Linoleum Plant in New Jersey. However, that’s the only East Coast reference I can find for this famed modernist architect. I’m turning to my Richmond natives once again, does anyone remember a King Cole market in the area?

The mystery continues!