Boomin' Back To The 60's Burger Stand

It is funny how the mind works. Sometimes, from out of the blue, a memory will come roaring back from another lifetime. Music and songs, of course, are known to provide an expressway for bringing back memories. You might hear a song and immediately think of a time many years before -- a classmate, an event, a hot date, a bad date. Music is like that.

Do not ask me why, but I was thinking about the Stories Behind the Music blogs I have written and, poof, there is was -- a scattered thought from many years ago that was just barely related. Honestly, this memory faded in, no warning, and it originated in the 1960's.

One neat thing about Bellingham is that many structures in the town, houses, buildings, parks that were around when I was a kid are STILL here. Sure there have been changes galore, but I could easily give a walking tour and point out landmark after landmark that has been nearly unchanged in the past 50 years.

Now, back to my story. I remember going to the library with two friends. It was 1965. After the library jaunt, my friend's mom decided to take us kids to the local burger stand. That burger stand was called "The Shack" and a bit later "Russ's Shack." This joint specialized, during my childhood and high school years, in the 19 cent beefy. Yep, you got a burger for 19 cents. And, as I recall, you saved even more if you bought three beefys.  Up until that day, I had never been to this Shack before, but I sure thought it was swell. I had a gourmet palate even back then.

The Shack, as a burger stand, is long gone. I have no clue if there are any photos of it anywhere. But I remember the main sign pretty well and just today I made up a sign from my childhood memories. It looked much like this.  

This is one burger joint that had to make it. Heck, it was right across the street from Bellingham High School. At the time, BHS was the only high school in town.

BHS is still there on Cornwall Avenue, right where it was back then. At one point the school district wanted to tear it down and go new but so many former students protested that they re-built it about ten years ago. The outside looks newer but much as it did in the 1960's.

Not only is Bellingham High School still there but -- a little secret -- The Shack is still there too. Russ, who owned it and ran it, died in the early 1970's. He was a young man at the time but he had a massive coronary. That was the first time I ever wondered about fried food and the effect on the heart. When I say The Shack is still there, I mean the facade, the building, is there. It is now a sandwich shop but the "shack" look or image, hence that name, lives on except for the new vibrant color. The Shack was muddy brown. I took the liberty of re-creating the building to look as it did in the 1960's. I left the color as it is today. Please forgive me for that, but to do otherwise would have taken too much paint. I did change the signs back as they were 50 years ago -- boy will the owner's be surprised when they showup for work tomorrow.

I remember those beefys and their legend oh so well. There was the time Vernon, a BHS student in a speech class, gave a demo of how to eat three of them in less than one minute. It involved wadding and was sort of like what kids do with angel food cake. It was, obviously, a worthwhile speech. On the other hand, how much articulate talking could have been done by Vernon when he had three 19 cent beefys stuck in his craw?

Speaking of memories, it seems to me that I remember mentioning music and memories. We have established that I remember my introduction to The Shack. I remember my friends, their mom and my beefy and fries. Here is another memory. While we were there, the mom popped some coins in the jukebox and the kids picked a couple tunes. Do you remember those elegant old-fashion jukeboxes?.

If you do remember them, then you will also remember that those old jukeboxes had a mechanism that would grab a 45 RPM record, flip it onto the turntable and usually give it a very tinny-sounding spin. The fancy ones, at lots of the diners, had remote controls so patrons could feed their coins and selections into the jukebox right from their table.

Back to that day in 1965, along with my first beefy experience, I also distinctly remember the two songs that my friends played on the jukebox. Honestly, I was not yet into music. I was into sports, mainly baseball. But isn't it funny -- even though it made no nevermind to me, I still remember the two songs the kids picked that day. I have no clue what books I checked out at the library, but I remember my beefy and those two songs. In some way, that day inside the walls of The Shack became an indelible memory and that included providing me with a soundtrack.

The songs were, honestly, kind of incongruous with one another. One was a "real kid" song and the other was not. The second song I still like today. If you are curious enough to wonder about the musical tastes of two 12-year olds in 1965, then click on the jukeboxes below. By the way, on the second jukebox, just ignore the 10 cent sign -- no dime is required. This spin is on me.

Mystery oldie number one is yours by clicking above.

Mystery oldie number two is yours by clicking above.

 

For many "Stories Behind the Music" click on the guitar

Steven L. Smith

Bellingham WA Home Inspections