Let’s get back to the summer trip. This day was pretty grey but I did what I could. Let’s start with the Chuck-a-Burger drive-in in St. John. There were eight locations but this one, built in 1957, is the only one left.
The Crown Candy Kitchen in St. Louis opened in 1913. It still makes its own chocolate candy and retains its old-time interior with booths and soda fountain (the oldest in town). I had some peach ice cream to go and it was mighty good.
In front of the business is this giant cake which was one of 250 of them installed around town in 2014 at historic locations to celebrate St. Louis 250th birthday. This is the only one that I know of that’s still around:
This J.C. Penney store in St. Louis was built in 1948:
The store closed in 1976 and it’s been vacant since then:
Children’s Palace was a nationwide chain of toy stores built in the 1970s. The buildings had castle-style turrets and a crenelated roofline:
The stores all closed in the 1990s. This one in St. Louis closed in 1994 and was adapted for The Palace skating rink. That closed in 2007 and the building’s been vacant since then:
One of my favorite buildings in St. Louis: the DeBaliviere Building was built in 1928. It features glazed and unglazed terra cotta. A couple of detail photos here:
The Employment Security Building in St. Louis was built in 1958:
This sad Lindell Bank & Trust motor bank in St. Louis has been abandoned for decades:
Happier stuff — a fish on a bicycle in a fountain in University City:
These stylized dolphins are in a different park in University City. They were built in 1967 and installed in a pool:
Later, that pool was filled in and grass was planted. The dolphins were in bad shape until they were restored last year and placed in this splash pad for kids:
This repainted Big Boy statue is at the Hi-Pointe Drive-in in St. Louis:
This revolving, 20-foot-in-diameter moon was built in 2009 for the Moonrise Hotel in St. Louis:
These two covered wagons are located in Marthasville at the Boone Monument Village event venue. You can rent them out for overnight stays. The first one was produced by the Conestoga Wagon Co. which has been selling these to campgrounds around the country since 2015. I have many of them at my website here:
https://www.roadarch.com/mim/vehicles2.html
This smaller one appears to be a one-off:
The Soda Museum in St. Charles has several neon signs but it has LOTS of other cool, vintage stuff — like drink coolers:
… and coolers/vending machines:
This sign is installed at the Beverly Hills Pharmacy in St. Louis. Ah – for some sun!!
The Droste Furnace & Cooling Service building in St. Louis was built in 1937. It’s been vacant since at least 2007:
This Stag Beer sign in Florissant is installed at B.J.’s Bar:
Sundecker’s bar in St. Louis has been closed since 2014 but these signs remain:
Stay tuned: there’s still about 20 days/posts to come!
Happy trails,
dj & the dogs
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