P.S. with the the childhood nostalgia and comments; NOBODY mentions the Ma & Pa Toy store across the street from the Ridgewood in detail !? LOL. This would be very important to any kid! As multiplexes killed local movie houses, Toy r' Us killed the ma & Pa Toy Stores !
I stayed up till 5:24 Am reading this entire thread! I do not remember the Ridgewood at all (I’m from Bensonhurst) , but love reading “the memories or others” nonetheless. There is an site called “My Brooklyn” which is pretty much all about memories of the “old days” and serves as the “message in a bottle” social-retro-networking (in example: “Hi. my name is and I lived at from 1966 to 1975, does anyone remember ______?”…….Maybe there is a site like this for Queens as well?).
I still have yet to see a photo of the 1969 Ridgewood snow fallen marquee sign—did I miss it on here?
I seriously smell a screenplay within all the stories on here especially with the inclusion of the infamous murder in the Ridgewood (did anyone post a news article on it? Did I miss that as well?)—and what did you imply when you said “inside job” ? ? Finally; although John’s Bargain Store is mentioned here without detail; I’ll add a few things: was John’s the first “chain” discount store? What I mean by that is that it was more of a “$1.00 store” like we have today— but back then a dollar had more value so the prices were like 19 cents to 99 cents….Here is a question for PKoch because his memory is Smithsonian worthy-**When did John’s Bargain Store come and then go out of business???? I’m guessing; gone by 1972/1973? Am I wrong?? There was one in Bensonhurst and aside from dish towels, clothes pins and flip flops-the toy section carried the accessory sets for the Gilbert line of James Bond/Honey West/Man from UNCLE dolls (not yet called “action figures”, you guys!). So yeah, no dolls-just the little accessory cards that featured Honey West’s lipstick, guns, grenades, etc. probably for 49 cents each! Discuss………….
UPDATE ! I found filmed footage evidence of this drive in! The 1968 exploitation movie “Teenage Mother” was filmed here on Long Island by Jerry Gross (he’s the man that brought us movies like “I Drink Your Blood/ I Eat Your Skin”!). Anyway, Teenage Mother has a shot of the marquee (I think “…..apequa” can only be seen) as well as a short action scene takes place at the drive in at night. You can see off in the distance some twinkling lights that would possible be the scape of Sunrise Highway. Something Weird Video sells this for about $10.00 OR look for it on YouTube. Another scene has the star teenaged mother going home to her parent’s house—and the outside looks like a typical south shore Long Island home too!
Anyone interested in seeing evidence of the MASSAPEQUA DRIVE IN THEATER: This is a low budget exploitation movie called “Teenage Mother” (1968) This movie was filmed on Long Island. One scene is FILMED at the Massapequa Drive In! You see a shot of the marquee and an action scene is filmed at night in the drive it! I think Something Weird Video has it for $10.00 OR look for it on YouTube.
Thank you! I suspected that it opened in the early 50s. The old marquee almost looked like it was from the 1940s- so there we go! I wish someone would post pictures of the inside lobby!
last year I found a picture of the theater from 1976. I will post it here when I can. It’s a grainy black & white photo from the east Northport Jr. High yearbook.
FormerFlixGuy, now whenever you go to eat at the over-priced Cheesecake Factory (where you have to wait like, an hour for a table) , you can remember the Whitman! Will someone PLEASE snatch up pieces of that pylon/sign that is still standing as of last week (Nov. 30, 2007)!
KFC was better in the 1970’s. I remember their stores were also few and far between…I remememer Northport (my friend’s sister was a manager), Massapequa (one of my friends worked there) and Deer Park? Today, KFC’s main problem is that, underneath the crispy coating, there is a slimey/watery under-coating that makes the entire skin slide off with the first bite. Truly disgusting. KFC also has the worst/ most careless employees, and sometimes the customers can look like a casting call for a John Waters movie…….
Cameron Mitchell only appears in bad (bad/boring, not bad/hilarious) movies. However, there is one exception; the twisted “Night Train to Terror” (which I saw at the Smithtown Indoor/Outdoor , in 1985). “Night Train…..” is like a modern day Ed Wood mish-mosh, weaving 3 separate stories together with stop-animation, gore, bad acting, and editing that was probably done in the basement of a crack-house (during a police raid). LOOK for “Night Train…” on DVD (it appears in those “20 Horror Movies for $ 12.99” sets! (WARNING: do not confuse with Jamie Lee Curtis' “Terror Train” !)
I love stories like that, hkbf232. Was that in 1964/65?! Also, do you remember the second feature? I’m trying to put together a list of Route 110 showings……..
Very 1970’s Addendum: One night after “Rocky Horror”, my then girlfriend’s car broke down, a nice hippie couple gave us a ride home in their van…as payment, I gave them a “Rocky Horror” 8-Track tape.
There was a Chicken Delight (YUM) in that shopping center, as well as a supermarket and a hair cutting school/clinic! I was a “Rocky Horror” regular, at Haupauge (1978-1980). The crowd was “borderline”,however . Mixed in with the die-hard “Rocky” fans with the costumes and make-up, were drunk / drugged-out local dirt-bags with LOTS of yelling “F**K YOU” at the guy with “no neck”. LOL.
I remember seeing “Rocky Horror” one midnight and a brand new movie called “The Warriors” was showing during their regular hours. I also saw a bizarre movie called “Silent Scream” there. The Haupauge Theater itself, was pretty generic—like a slightly bigger version of the Larkfield Theater in East Nortport. I presume it closed inbetween 1982-86, like every other theater…..
QUESTION: I remember this mall did not open up until 1975 or so. Am I wrong? Some of the posts go back further than that date! Best flick I had seen there: the 1978 “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”! UA always showed Pink Panther cartoons before their features…this was a lost art by the late 1970’s with other chains, but UA kept doing it. Does anyone recall “Featurettes”…short films shown before the features. The RKO Twin in Commack often had these……
The Ridgewood Theater Murder Case: says online “ someone was apprehended and then acquitted” …that’s all I could find.
P.S. with the the childhood nostalgia and comments; NOBODY mentions the Ma & Pa Toy store across the street from the Ridgewood in detail !? LOL. This would be very important to any kid! As multiplexes killed local movie houses, Toy r' Us killed the ma & Pa Toy Stores !
I stayed up till 5:24 Am reading this entire thread! I do not remember the Ridgewood at all (I’m from Bensonhurst) , but love reading “the memories or others” nonetheless. There is an site called “My Brooklyn” which is pretty much all about memories of the “old days” and serves as the “message in a bottle” social-retro-networking (in example: “Hi. my name is and I lived at from 1966 to 1975, does anyone remember ______?”…….Maybe there is a site like this for Queens as well?).
I still have yet to see a photo of the 1969 Ridgewood snow fallen marquee sign—did I miss it on here?
I seriously smell a screenplay within all the stories on here especially with the inclusion of the infamous murder in the Ridgewood (did anyone post a news article on it? Did I miss that as well?)—and what did you imply when you said “inside job” ? ? Finally; although John’s Bargain Store is mentioned here without detail; I’ll add a few things: was John’s the first “chain” discount store? What I mean by that is that it was more of a “$1.00 store” like we have today— but back then a dollar had more value so the prices were like 19 cents to 99 cents….Here is a question for PKoch because his memory is Smithsonian worthy-**When did John’s Bargain Store come and then go out of business???? I’m guessing; gone by 1972/1973? Am I wrong?? There was one in Bensonhurst and aside from dish towels, clothes pins and flip flops-the toy section carried the accessory sets for the Gilbert line of James Bond/Honey West/Man from UNCLE dolls (not yet called “action figures”, you guys!). So yeah, no dolls-just the little accessory cards that featured Honey West’s lipstick, guns, grenades, etc. probably for 49 cents each! Discuss………….
I honestly don’t think it looked that much different; it’s pretty generic ? (dsslave- are you friends with me on Facebook , and how are you doing?)
UPDATE ! I found filmed footage evidence of this drive in! The 1968 exploitation movie “Teenage Mother” was filmed here on Long Island by Jerry Gross (he’s the man that brought us movies like “I Drink Your Blood/ I Eat Your Skin”!). Anyway, Teenage Mother has a shot of the marquee (I think “…..apequa” can only be seen) as well as a short action scene takes place at the drive in at night. You can see off in the distance some twinkling lights that would possible be the scape of Sunrise Highway. Something Weird Video sells this for about $10.00 OR look for it on YouTube. Another scene has the star teenaged mother going home to her parent’s house—and the outside looks like a typical south shore Long Island home too!
Anyone interested in seeing evidence of the MASSAPEQUA DRIVE IN THEATER: This is a low budget exploitation movie called “Teenage Mother” (1968) This movie was filmed on Long Island. One scene is FILMED at the Massapequa Drive In! You see a shot of the marquee and an action scene is filmed at night in the drive it! I think Something Weird Video has it for $10.00 OR look for it on YouTube.
also saw the lousy “Jaws 3 – D” here
Saw “The Towering Inferno” here. That was the last time I sat through a movie that had an INTERMISSION !
Where is this pic ?
Thank you! I suspected that it opened in the early 50s. The old marquee almost looked like it was from the 1940s- so there we go! I wish someone would post pictures of the inside lobby!
Tova; if you have any pictures of the inside of the theater we would love to see them!
Tova; if you have any pictures of the inside of the theater we would love to see them!
last year I found a picture of the theater from 1976. I will post it here when I can. It’s a grainy black & white photo from the east Northport Jr. High yearbook.
FormerFlixGuy, now whenever you go to eat at the over-priced Cheesecake Factory (where you have to wait like, an hour for a table) , you can remember the Whitman! Will someone PLEASE snatch up pieces of that pylon/sign that is still standing as of last week (Nov. 30, 2007)!
The bowling alley became a supermarket in the early 1980’s (not the late 1970’s as some posted above). I believe it was 1982 or so?
Is it gone now?! Lemme check tomorrow……Now would'nt it suck if it’s gone and nobody plucked the plastic letters off for a “keep-sake” ??
KFC was better in the 1970’s. I remember their stores were also few and far between…I remememer Northport (my friend’s sister was a manager), Massapequa (one of my friends worked there) and Deer Park? Today, KFC’s main problem is that, underneath the crispy coating, there is a slimey/watery under-coating that makes the entire skin slide off with the first bite. Truly disgusting. KFC also has the worst/ most careless employees, and sometimes the customers can look like a casting call for a John Waters movie…….
I wish the sign for Cooky’s Steak Pub was still there!
a picture of an old Chicken Delight bag:
http://theimaginaryworld.com/chickd.jpg
RE: Chicken Delight. Does anyone else wonder why Chicken Delight vanished and the (horrible, greasy & expensive!) KFC still exists?
Cameron Mitchell only appears in bad (bad/boring, not bad/hilarious) movies. However, there is one exception; the twisted “Night Train to Terror” (which I saw at the Smithtown Indoor/Outdoor , in 1985). “Night Train…..” is like a modern day Ed Wood mish-mosh, weaving 3 separate stories together with stop-animation, gore, bad acting, and editing that was probably done in the basement of a crack-house (during a police raid). LOOK for “Night Train…” on DVD (it appears in those “20 Horror Movies for $ 12.99” sets! (WARNING: do not confuse with Jamie Lee Curtis' “Terror Train” !)
I love stories like that, hkbf232. Was that in 1964/65?! Also, do you remember the second feature? I’m trying to put together a list of Route 110 showings……..
Very 1970’s Addendum: One night after “Rocky Horror”, my then girlfriend’s car broke down, a nice hippie couple gave us a ride home in their van…as payment, I gave them a “Rocky Horror” 8-Track tape.
There was a Chicken Delight (YUM) in that shopping center, as well as a supermarket and a hair cutting school/clinic! I was a “Rocky Horror” regular, at Haupauge (1978-1980). The crowd was “borderline”,however . Mixed in with the die-hard “Rocky” fans with the costumes and make-up, were drunk / drugged-out local dirt-bags with LOTS of yelling “F**K YOU” at the guy with “no neck”. LOL.
I remember seeing “Rocky Horror” one midnight and a brand new movie called “The Warriors” was showing during their regular hours. I also saw a bizarre movie called “Silent Scream” there. The Haupauge Theater itself, was pretty generic—like a slightly bigger version of the Larkfield Theater in East Nortport. I presume it closed inbetween 1982-86, like every other theater…..
QUESTION: I remember this mall did not open up until 1975 or so. Am I wrong? Some of the posts go back further than that date! Best flick I had seen there: the 1978 “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”! UA always showed Pink Panther cartoons before their features…this was a lost art by the late 1970’s with other chains, but UA kept doing it. Does anyone recall “Featurettes”…short films shown before the features. The RKO Twin in Commack often had these……