Sir Paul is coming back to Boston this August. The very first concert I ever went to was “Wings Over America” on May 22, 1976. Paul McCartney had formed a band in 1971 called Wings and, on that day, they were playing at the Boston Garden. I was a senior in high school, graduating in a few weeks and was not sure what I was going to do after that. A few days after the concert, I saw an ad in the back of Rolling Stone magazine for Wings tour t-shirts, and I sent away for one. It was a great shirt and I thought to myself, “How hard could it be to screen print shirts and sell them from Rolling Stone?” I ran the idea by my best friend Kyle, who was in the Navy, and he loved it. Long story short, we started printing shirts when he got out and, I have to say, we did pretty well selling band shirts from the Rolling Stone classifieds…and beyond.

Thanks, Paul for coming to Boston in 1976 and I’ll be seeing you in August.

Here is an interesting menu that was published in an April 1959 edition of “Diner Drive-In Magazine”. Back then Burger King had about 30 stores in 6 states in the South. They already had the Whopper, but did you know back then they had a larger burger called the “Jaw-Breaker”? The menu claimed, “DON’T ORDER THIS ONE! YOU PROBABLY CAN’T FINISH IT ALL ANYWAY!” With advertising like that, no wonder they discontinued it. Other interesting items on the menu are the BAR-B-Q Beef sandwich for .40 cents. The WHISTLE PIG, a bacon-wrapped hot dog stuffed with cheese then char-broiled for .30 cents. Also a CHILI DOG, “the best hot dog ever” for .25 cents. And a Char-Broiled STEAK SANDWICH for .60 cents.

I would not mind if they brought a few of those items back along with the Yumbo from the 80’s. Anyone remember the Yumbo? Today Burger King has around 11,550 locations worldwide in 71 countries. Not bad growth for a little hamburger joint from Miami that started in 1954.

Here is photo of a small collection of brass submarines I have here at Retroplanet.com. You can find these statues in a variety of shapes and styles but the WWII era subs seem to be the most desirable. I was always under the impression that these would have been handmade by shipyard workers in their spare time. I think that may be the case for some of these, but others were probably manufactured as commemoratives for specific subs.

Pieces like this are sometimes referred to as “trench art”. This term that has come to describe decorative items made from battlefield objects by people involved directly and indirectly in armed conflict. It also includes commercially produced art made from surplus materials after the war.

The first sub I ever bought was in an antiques store in Maine, not too far from the Portsmouth Navy Shipyard, which would make sense. Since then, I have found the majority of my collection on eBay.

I have had “write blog about The Cedar Crest” on my to-do list for about a year now. Little did I know then, that when I finally got around to it, I would be writing its obituary. I was shocked the other day when I heard on the news that it would be closing at the end of August. I do not remember the first time I went to “The Crest” but I would guess it was when we rented space for our first t-shirt shop on Osgood St. in Methuen, MA back in 1979 or so. It was right up Route 28 from there, the food was great and so were the prices. I have been going ever since, still making the trip down to Lawrence every so often, but more like two or three times a month lately. I joke with my kids that they have been eating at The Crest since before they were born as me and my wife would stop there on the way to Lamaze classes at the Lawrence General Hospital.

“Larry’s”, as the old-timers still call it, is just one of those great old-time restaurants that serve basic comfort food—everything from club sandwiches to veal parmesan (I still think it is pork, but it is great just the same), open face roast beef sandwiches, franks and beans, fried haddock, pot roast—you name it. There is also a grill, so you can get breakfast anytime or burgers and grilled cheese. The restaurant is divided into two sections. There’s the diner or cart side that has the grill and a counter. There’s also table service for seating and the fancier restaurant side. I have been to the place hundreds of times and I think I may have gone to the restaurant side once.

But what always made The Crest even more interesting, especially years ago, were the people who worked there and the regular customers. There was Blanch who worked the cash register. When paying your bill she would always say “thank-you have a nice day” in, let’s just say, a less then sincere monotone manner. There was old Phil, the short order cook. He would shuffle back and forth between the grill and the refrigerator cooking up a storm and talking with the people sitting at the counter. Every once in a while Larry himself would come over from the restaurant side to check on things and stir the grape-nut custard. Way back when there was Maurice, the pastry chef. He would bring out all the days fresh baked goods in the morning looking dashing with his scarf, which I found out later was just a cloth napkin from the restaurant side. And he made the best custard pie! Larry also had a son, who would have taken over the business but sadly died prematurely. He would hang out at the end of the counter smoking a butt and talking to Eddie the waiter. Ah, Eddie the waiter. He has the world’s best comb over and is still there to this day. I saw him the other night swearing about a group of customers under his breath while getting them coffee. “One thing at a f@#king time for Christ’s sake”. Some things never change. At one point there was a girl named Linda who worked behind the counter. She and Eddie hated each other and their verbal battles were legendary. If my friends and I went in for lunch, we always sat at her counter to get a good seat for the dinner theater that was sure to unfold, especially if we egged it on just a touch.

I think the most memorable customer was Senator Wall. He was an old-time Massachusetts politician who ate at The Crest every night. Even though he was retired, I understand he would make the nightly rounds to the wakes paying his condolences to his constituent’s families. When the Senator would walk in the restaurant he would shake hands up and down the place irritating Eddie because he was in the way.

I am hoping that someone will come along and buy the place and keep it going. There are a lot of nice people who still work there and I feel bad for them. It is also just sad that places like The Cedar Crest are going by the wayside.

Blog-in and share your Cedar Crest memories.

I was online a couple of months back looking for a guitar case on the Gretsch Guitar website. While I was there I noticed a link to Brian Setzer’s site. I clicked over to check it out and, as luck would have it, I landed there about 10 minutes before tickets were going on sale for his 50th Birthday party concert with The Stray Cats. This was going to be their only US appearance in 2009 and even though it was in Minneapolis, Minnesota—I was going. I have been a fan of The Stray Cats since I first heard “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut” back in 1982 but have never seen them live. Back then I was already listening to Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, so to me, the Stray Cats were just a punked-out, wilder version of already great rock-a-billy music.

Last Friday night they had the place rocking. I have to tell you that they tore the Fine Line Music Cafe apart. It was just amazing to me, the intensity level and sound all from an upright base, a tiny drum kit and that Gretsch guitar. I thought I traveled far, being from New Hampshire, but there were fans from Sweden, Japan, Australia and from all over the country. Very loyal, friendly and colorful fans for sure.

There’ll be no more shows in the US this year but lets hope they hit the road in 2010, and if you get a chance, check them out.