If you’re from a small town in my neck of the woods, you’re probably familiar with Taco John’s. This comes from the early days, probably early 1970s, when it was just starting to get going.
Cricket wanted to help.
This last Saturday was laundry day at the North Star Auction in Mandan, North Dakota.
Also, back in the day, laundry soap and dish soap were often the same soap.
Check out the sweet package art.
During my back half of high school and first year of college in the late-80s, I worked at a strip-mall store called Budget Tapes and Records in Bismarck and Fargo, North Dakota. It didn’t pay much, but was definitely one of the coolest jobs around. When I started, CDs were still sold in “long boxes” and beta videos and vinyl were on the way out. And yes, we also sold tobacco accessories for use with tobacco and only tobacco. Tobacco.
So imagine my surprise when I was flipping through an old Rolling Stone magazine and found a full page ad for an earlier version of Budget Tapes and Records. Full page. Rolling Stone magazine. Daaaaaaamn. Also, it appears they were way cooler back then.
Note: Even though the Eighties-era Bismarck and Fargo stores weren’t as cool as the 1971 stores, they were still much cooler than the Williston, North Dakota store. Yeesh.
Another note: Hey! My old boss (and his brother) made it into Billboard magazine back in the day!
Whew. Lots of memories coming back from this gig, few of which I’d share here. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Continue readingA grackle came,
And then another.
Maybe friend,
Or maybe brother.
Soon a gang,
So iridescent,
Eating seeds
Until tumescent.
I walked outside,
Which sent them packin’,
And now my yard
Is grackle-lackin’.
“Renfield, vut in the vurld is going on out there, blah?”
Ghost Roses — Unfiltered color photograph. Seen at Roberts Floral in Bismarck, North Dakota.
One girl possesses the mysterious power to control the wheat strawworm, just as the legends foretold.
But what if she doesn’t stop there?
Coming soon to a theater near you from the U.S. Department of Agriculture… Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1323 – The Wheat Strawworm and Its Control
Sometimes the stalks get stalked.