The Suburban Times

A community bulletin board for Western Pierce County.

Letter: South Tacoma Way Memories

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By Tim Marsh, Lakes High Class of 1966

Do I have South Tacoma Way memories? Yes, three.

  1. Steve’s Gay 90s. You know this restaurant. It even had can-can dancers, although I never remember seeing them while my folks, sister and I ate smorgasbord there. During my student days at Park Lodge School we had a substitute teacher. We learned she taught and also danced the can-can at Steve’s. That brought the class — at least those who knew can-can dancing — to a buzz. Then student Doug — I know his last name, but protect him by not including it here — started singing “Glory, glory hallelujah, teacher hit me with a ruler. I hit her on the bean with a rotten tangerine and the kids go marching on…” Our teacher/dancer had trouble controlling the class from that point.
  2. My student driver’s training during Clover Park School District Summer School. On each of our routes, we drove from and to Clover Park High. One had us driving on South Tacoma Way in an Oldsmobile Cutlass 4-4-2 with stick shift on the floor. I was not comfortable shifting through the gears. But, I soon realized by maintaining the posted speed while driving I had all green lights on the South Tacoma Way traffic signals. Presto! Didn’t have to shift much.
  3. Autohaus VW. A friend and I visited its used car lot. Neither of us had an intention of buying a used VW bug/beetle with the old lower bumpers. I told my friend, “watch this.” A salesman asked if he could be of assistance. Yes, I want to see the engine of that VW, pointing to it. Lower VW bumpers had often been bent by a fender bender or backing into something. Thus, the engine lid would not open or partially open because the bent bumper did not give enough clearance. The salesman tried to open the lid, but it would not open. So, he stood on the bumper and jumped up and down. That created a gap and the lid opened. He assured me this would be fixed if I bought the car.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Honorable Mention #1 –Tacoma Roller Bowl. I skated here with Little Church on the Prairie youth groups. A highlight was wearing roller skates and dancing the Hokey Pokey to loud recorded music. Being presented a cardboard Coca Cola card to turn into the roller rink snack bar and get a free Coke was a reward for good Hokey Pokeying.

Honorable Mention #2 — B&I Circus store. So much has been written about this one-of-a-kind store that I’ll let you remember what interested you about it. If you didn’t visit the store in its glory years, Internet searching will fill you in.

Honorable Mention #3 — Russ Dunmire Olds. Oh that catchy advertising jingle.

Who can forget it? When we moved to Lakewood, it was in a 1950 four-door black Chevrolet sedan with no radio, no turn signal, but with fender skirts. Then, we started stepping up to Oldsmobiles. Dad especially appreciated the work of one of the Dunmire mechanics. So, he always had this mechanic work on our car.

Honorable Mention #4 — Star-Lite drive-in movie theater. It opened in 1948 and bit the dust as a flea market in 2019. As with other entities on South Tacoma Way, for many years it was in Tacoma, before Lakewood city limits included it. In grade school I went with friends – a couple and their young son – to the Star Lite. We didn’t get many minutes into the first feature when son threw up in the back of their station wagon. That was cleaned up by his folks and we left for home while the movie flickered on.

Honorable Mention #5 — Putt Putt miniature golf. A friend and I played here on weekends. This was during some of Putt Putt’s glory years when the Putt-Putt Golf Courses Championship series was on TV, most likely seen on Tacoma’s KTVW, Channel 13.

Honorable Mention #6 — In 1955 Lakewood was without a public library for a while.

To keep in the books, our family went to a Tacoma public library branch in a house just off South Tacoma Way. While the library/house was not on South Tacoma Way, I make the rules and it gets mentioned.

Comments

  1. Thank you so much, Tim, for a wonderful and memorable piece. In about the year 1970 I brought in, and installed my large Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ into the large dining room at Steve’s Gay 90’s, which had the stage, and from which the Can Can performances (and other entertainments) were given. It was an organ that I bought in 1967 from a fellow by the name of Don French, a noted roller skating rink organist. Here is a link to some more memories of Steve’s and my organ. www.pstos.org/instruments/wa/tacoma/gay90s.htm

    In 1978 (after Steve’s had been sold to another party), the business went into bankruptcy and I removed the organ (I had not sold the organ to Steve, but rather leased it to him). I got a call from a bank lady one day who told me of the dissolution of the business and that I was to get in and recover the organ immediately. I did that.

    I was a very dedicated skater in those years (and after), being involved in competition skating – Dance & Figures. I remember the Tacoma Roller Bowl very well. After installing the organ at Steve’s, I was hired by the Oaks Amusment Park in Portland, OR as the technician for the large Wurlitzer organ in the Oaks Park Skating Rink. I was there for several years. That is still a marvelous place, and the organ is still played.

    These days, I am playing on a wonderful 1890 9′ concert grand piano at the Olive Branch Cafe & Tea Room – at the west end of the old Freight House Square building. It’s a daytime gig (11:00 am to 4:00 pm). With our current pan-dilemma, things are kinda sideways most of the time for now. But I’m sure we will survive, and I’d love to have you come in and let me shake your hand.

    Once again, thanks for the memories, and stay safe.

    Brian Ingoldsby – Class of ’65 – Friday Harbor High School

  4. Definitely share some of those same memories. I’m a year younger .I fondly remember the trolley from Steve’s Gay 90s ( driven by Steve himself,picking up my Campfire group from Sheridan school and taking us to his restaurant. Maybe late 50s..And seeing The Cisco Kid at B&I. Roller Skating at Adams in high school. And now having someone else validate that there really was a putt putt on STWay. Thanks for resparking those memories.

  5. I well remember the B&I as it was a weekly event for my family. Walker Chevrolet, the Sport Car Center, used car lots aplenty, Steves Gay 90s smorgasboard and bus, speed timed traffic lights, the Starlight Drive In …….been there and done all that! Fond memories but dont miss any of it.

  7. Tim, thanks for the great memories. I like the other responses too..

    I graduated from Mt Tahoma in 1965 and So Tacoma was the place to drive to after school. I remember all the places and been to all of them since I grew up on Tyler street, right up from 56th and So Tac Wy. My folks also took me to Steve’s for the smorgasbord, the Starlite for movies, bought furniture at Harkness, and visited the Sears Farm Store at the corner of Steilacoom Blvd and So Tac Wy. by that pancake place, I forgot the name of that one but that place was always packed.

    There was a place called The Red Carpet where I was a regular, danced the night away to Meriilee Rush, Buffalo Springfield, Sonics, The Kingsman, The Galaxies, The Statesmen, along with a bunch of others. What great memories!! Thanks again Tim for sharing.

    • That place was actually called The Pancake House( no connection to the Pancake House restaurant of today) and held the first KFC franchise in Tacoma…was the only place you could get real KFC in the 50s.I remember going to the Red Carpet,also.

      • Thanks Mona. Yep, your right. The Pancake House. That place was always packed and I know why. Great food and atmosphere.

        The Red Carpet was my place to go every Friday and Saturday night.

  8. Hey Tim, great memories here. I was Lakes class of 66 also, and alrhough I only went there for a year and a half, I remember you.
    I remember putt- putt golf over by Ponder’s Corner. And Pizza Casa near Gravely Lake Drive. Also, shooting pool with Joe Finley, and my Clover Park HS buddy Ray Frederick, at Bowlero Lanes.
    Also, my younger days of fishing off the Steilacoom Lake bridge later gave way to drag racing on So. Tacoma Way. AND, on 6th Avenue, 12th Street, 19th Street, and wherever there was a straight road and a stop light.

    The B&I?? I remember skipping school with Joe, to go see Robin of the original Batman TV program, who was at the store. Standing in line to wait your turn to ask him a riddle question. We did our best to embarrass him with an off-color question.

    Good times back then. And then, they were over too soon, and it was off to the military for me.

    Pete Clement ’66

  9. Roller skating ,both of my parents then me adams roller bowl .grandfather pick up kid and talked owner. 1960 to1980s mom dance and dad placed hockey

  10. I enjoyed the mentions of locations and places that were located on or near South Tacoma Way. There is a Chinese Restaurant across and a few hundred feet north of Steve’s Gay Nineties where my father took the family out for dinner on a few occasions. Also, we ate at Steve’s Gay Nineties a few times and I knew the son of the very excellent piano/organist who played while we ate dinner. Now, the son, Dick left town
    many years ago after both his mother and father died and I know of no living relative locally of that family. Dick and I spent some time together when he got a used chev. as we had classes together at Wilson H.S.