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1939. Mobile, Alabama. "Collins store -- Royal Street near St. Louis Street." The Panama Cafe looks like our kind of place. Note the Dr Pepper truck in the alley. 8x10 inch acetate negative by Frances Benjamin Johnston. View full size.
What's the significance of the "Collins Store" in the caption? Some explanation seems in order.
THNX.
I believe this is where the new U.S. Customs Services is today, between St Louis and St Anthony. By 1951 the phone number had changed to 2-9874.
Those Barq's folks sure knew how to craft a compelling slogan.
If there are basement stairs on the other side, it was, and still is, common to lower the knob for easier access from stairway. The knob height indicates a steep and dark stairway. Try a cane sugar Dr. Pepper for the old fashioned flavor.
Barq's rootbeer was my drink when I was a kid. It was great stuff for a rootbeer float. It's still bottled today but I don't think it tastes the same as 60 (gasp!) years ago.
What's with the LOW doorknob on the BIG door on the left?
Any ideas/guesses?
Follow your nose. I'm pretty sure that the fresh seafood aroma wafting from this oyster bar enticed passers-by to check it out, as the flies clustered on the holey screen door working their way inside. I can even smell it now emanating from this picture, the hot French fries, bubbling pots of oil and hints of the salty sea while contemplating the layer of slick, greasy coating covering every object in the restaurant. The owner obviously lives upstairs in the far left window apt. with an identical chair as in the diner. Could that be the cook sitting on the bench for a breath of fresh air? No waiting.
Not only will the Panama Cafe prepare your Oysters Any Way, they also sell Coca-Cola, 7-Up, Barq's Root Beer, Dr. Pepper (10 - 2 & 4) and even offer Dentyne Gum, for that after-the-oysters breath freshening.
But if you wanted to call them back in the day, just ring up Belmont-9415, according to the "U.S. Telephone Directory Collection" at Archive.org
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