That is a great looking Pizza! My Pizza go-to for years before I could drive was Pizza Bucket next to the Kaywood Theater!
That area had gone bad by the time I was out and about. Heard some great stories though. My dad used to help out at the Soap Box Derby they ran every year down the big hill on Eastern Ave. Finnish line was right outside of the Kaywood shopping center.
We hung out there a lot. I was in love with a girl that worked there and to this day the smell of pizza turns me on.
I remember the Soap Box Derby...went every year for several years...usually lots of people lining the sideline down both sides of the street...Kaywood had a donut shop and on Sunday morning Paper Route my brother & I would go there for fresh hot donuts...on Saturdays we used to go to the movies...always a double feature & cartoon...lots of yelling and general mayhem at the matinees! Popcorn boxes sailing around & kids acting very childish...lol
Women & Pizza...always a distraction...lol Went to Ledo's a couple of times...always enjoyed getting more than a slice like the Pizza Bucket...thankfully my Mom loved Pizza too!
Im way to young for a lot of this but I used to eat at the original Ledo. I would fish the creek there and fill up on pizza at lunch time. They have since moved to a new location a block off Rt 1 in College Park
It was a 70's hang out. Great food, open late and right up the road from UM College. Great place to pick up College girls in your old beater....."NOT". We tried real hard though. They are all over the East Coast now but that was the original one.
I grew up in Bowie and worked at a Ledo Franchise in high school. The original had a great atmosphere, looked like it never changed, unlike the surrounding area
The only food related job I had was working at Bob's Big Boy at PG Plaza...worked there for about 6 months...started as a dishwasher, then busboy next was Commissary (cutting & breading onions for the Onion Rings & deveining & breading shrimp for Butterfly Shrimp)...the last 2 months I worked there I was making burgers on the right side cookstove & rarely was allowed to cook dinner on the left side setup...no thoughts ever entered my head about doing anything but paying attention & learning! One free meal a day & discount when dining in...overall a great job.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend...busy here in sunny Phoenix! Was thinking about my Mo years & realized some names & car memories are there & some are not...lol In 1963 I was 16 & working at Bob Banning Dodge as a Tow Truck Driver & shop flunky when word came through the grapevine that a mechanic across the street at the Chevy dealer was selling a '56 Chevy 2 door sedan for $100.00...seems like his daughter wanted a new car & he only needed $100.00 to close the deal. The minute I heard that I went to my boss, got an advance on my pay, went across the street & bought that bad boy! It was white & had a 265 w/ a 4 barrel & 3 speed stick transmission. I removed the front bumper & then was informed there had to be some type of bumper, so I took a piece of chrome pipe & cut it to size & used a rubber mallet to force it into the front frame extensions...had a cool bumper & remained legal. After about a year I got some (used) chrome rims (couldn't afford Cragar Mags), replaced the front bench seat with buckets & swapped the column shifter for a floor shift. Overall was in great condition & the entire time I owned it I only changed oil, plugs, battery & tires. For the last year or so before I sold it the starter died so I parked on hills/inclines & jump started it due to low repair funds. When I was about to join the Air Force I sold it for $300.00.
Always enjoy your stories, Bob. As an old time Banning employee I thought you might get a kick out of seeing my shirt.
How cool is that? I used to hang on the fringe of the Bounty Hunter crew...went to the track sometimes to watch them race & even managed to be allowed in the Pit a couple times...my best friend from grade school all the way up to enlistment time was a guy named Richard Moore...he had a black '57 Chevy 2 door w/ a little yellow duckling painted on the body behind the front tires on both sides titled Lame Duck. He bought one of the 1963 Bounty Hunters after they got it back to street legal status, but it still had collector boxes & (if memory serves) a 383ci w/ 2-4 barrels (may have been a 426-can't remember for sure) & a Direct Drive tranny. Can't remember what else it may have had carried over from the racing days.
Sounds familiar...I'm terrible on names...faces I remember...was walking to the mailroom on Tan Son Nhut AB (Saigon Viet Nam) in late 1968 & passed an Army guy who looked familiar... we both said Hi by name & about 5 steps later stopped & turned around...we were both from Mt Rainier and hadn't seen each other in at least 2-3 years but there we were 10,000 miles from home chatting like we were at People's Drug Store or some other back home place...lol
Debating whether to do my taxes or play on Twitter...can't believe how many changes we've seen in our lifetime! I was searching for some articles about the Bounty Hunters Racing Team & found some photos of cars & guys from 50 plus years ago, and it seemed surreal...lol If memory serves, the cars were in the 600HP range...which was a lot back in the day...but, my son has a friend with a street legal Chevy pushing 800+ HP...he attends various outdoor Car Shows around Phoenix and wins lots of Best in Show...Only saw it once a few months back so don't remember specifics but do remember lots of Chrome under the hood...a Blower & awesome red paint job...my son just checked and told me it's a '66 Chevelle
Don't forget to check out the Aquasco thread on here, Bob. Lots of great pictures and stories from back in the day. I'm sure you will remember many of the names and cars. Did you ever accompany the Bounty Hunters bunch to Aquasco?
Thanks for reminding me of the real name of that track...haven't thought of it for decades & when I did I kept thinking Aquatic but I knew that wasn't correct...lol and Yes I went to Aquasco a number of times with/without the BH Team...even ran my Chevy there on one of the Amateur Nights during the week ( I think it was that track...don't remember the names of any other Tracks in the area). Here is a link to the Official Aquasco Track page...and I will check out the thread on here... http://www.atomicpinup.com/Aquasco_Speedway.html
Man...Aquasco then and now. Eerie sight, overgrown and asphalt all but swallowed up by time... There should be a movie made, in the spirit of '12 O'clock High'. (recall Kurt Jergens returning to the England Army Air Force base some years after the end of WWII...and the memories of the B17s landing, crippled and full of machine gun and flak holes...)
Checked out this history of tracks in Maryland...thought some of you might enjoy: http://dragstriplist.freesite.website/maryland
One more link...some great photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/57343654@N03/sets/72157626131588938/
Great links, Bob, thanks for posting them. Good to see that you posted a photo of (I assume) yourself as your avatar. I would say that you look just like I remember you but, I'd be lyin'.
Glad you liked the pics...brought back a lot of memories for me too...yeah that's me about 5 years ago...I left that area in March, 1966 came back for a week that August & after I headed out to AZ that time my Mom moved to VA...so next time I was back for a couple weeks was in July '68 on my way to Viet Nam...came up to Hyattsville for a day to visit my Dad & that's the last time I was in the area until 1996. Visited my Mom in VA & came up to Hyattsville for a couple of days...haven't been back since. My last name is McCoy & on the Northwestern Yearbook site there is a 10th Grade pic of me in the Directory. The link to that site is on page 15 of this thread...if anybody remembers me-say Hi
I may have forgotten to mention that there is a Maryland Social Group on here as well where you might bump into some folks from your days in Maryland.
There is a search function. If you go to the top of this page and click on the little magnifying glass icon you can do a search for particular threads. I'll try to find the Aquasco thread and bump it back to the top by posting on it, thereby making it a little easier to find. The Md. HAMBers Group may be harder to find ( I don't know how to link it). Hopefully someone with better skills than myself will see this and post a link. We'll get you on there somehow.
The Jalopy Journal
