Hardee's Ghostbusters II Poster

Although this post is titled "Hardee's Ghostbusters II Poster," I'm technically not going to show the actual poster.

Say what? That's crazy talk.

Seriously, the poster is nothing special. It's simply the Ghosterbusters II logo. What might be more interesting, or quasi-interesting, is the other stuff printed on the poster.

In 1989 Hardee's was the "Official Ghostbusters Headquarters" as you can see from the "cover" of their collector poster below...


Probably the most memorable part of Hardee's Ghostbusters II promotion was the recall of the "Ghostblasters" electronic noisemaker due to the fact some children were swallowing the batteries. I have a couple of those noisemakers tucked away somewhere, and after all these years have somehow managed to keep from swallowing the delicious batteries myself.

Anyways, when you open the collector poster you a vague - make that a very, very vague description of Ghostbusters II with a list of the returning stars...



... the "back" has virtually nothing on it.

This poster was given away for free, and had three different food coupons at the bottom.

Only 39¢ for a cone? That's a deal! Today, these old coupons might be the most interesting thing about this poster.

UNCANNY COINCIDENCE UPDATE: Just as I published this post, "Quint" over at Ain't It Cool News conveniently posted a behind the scenes photo from Ghostbusters II. Click here to check it out. This happily makes this lame-ish post a little less lame.

Star Wars Funmeal

Here are two Burger Chef Star Wars Funmeal packages from 1978 for your viewing pleasure. The Funmeals didn't come with a toy, but the packages are printed with punch-out vehicles that you could put together.

First is Luke's Landspeeder...

... and don't forget the parts on the bottom of the package.


Next is next the X-Wing Fighter...

... and the bottom.

Burger Chef's mascots were the Burger Chef and his young protege Jeff. On the vintage tray liner below Burger Chef explains to Jeff how the salad was invented...

Gee, who knew primitive cave people were dumber than rabbits. How did the human race ever survive?

To close this post here's a Burger Chef commercial featuring Burger Chef and Jeff and their new "Works" and salad bar.

So what the heck happened to the Boatyard Shopping Village?

Back in 1983 I was on a family vacation in Florida, and my parents were visiting some friends who lived in Clearwater, FL. One sunny afternoon our Clearwater friends took us to the Boatyard Shopping Village. Here's a postcard I just found while looking through some old junk.

Click to enlarge, or don't

Look, here's another Boatyard Shopping Village postcard I found online.



The Boatyard Shopping Village was a full of specialty shops and a few restaurants themed to look like an old timey fishing village. It sorta reminded me of Sweethaven from that live action Popeye movie. Well that is a less detailed Sweethaven, and one made out of rusting sheet metal.

Hey those Popeye sets are still standing! Imagine that!



Anywho, here's the back of the post card where you can read the official description for the Boatyard Shopping Village.



So now here's the mystery - what the heck happened to the Boatyard Shopping Village? As you can see from the Google satellite image below, it appears that all traces of the Boatyard Shopping Village have been thoroughly removed.


View Larger Map

Also except for the postcards I've found, I can't find any other evidence that this place ever existed. I thought the place was reasonably cool when I visited as a kid. Didn't anyone else? I thought for sure I'd find someone reminiscing about the Boatyard Shopping Village on some obscure message board.

This place is more mysterious than Brigadoon.

UPDATE:  Be sure to read the comments if you'd like more info on what happened to the Boatyard Shopping Village.  A big thank you to all the people who have left great comments so far!

Dutch Pantry

Here's a boring post for you all. A brochure for the now defunct Dutch Pantry restaurant chain.

I don't think I ever ate at one, but for some reason I happen to have the brochure so for the edification of future generations here you go...



Oh wait, I even have a restaurant directory too. It's "Where Food Makes Friends" don't cha know...


From what I've read online the Dutch Pantry was similar to a Cracker Barrel restaurant. The interior pictures on the cover of the brochure sure look a lot like the inside of a Cracker Barrel.

Maybe it's just me and my juvenile sense of humor, but didn't people make fun of the restaurant name? Would jokesters ask the waitress about the dutch oven in the Dutch Pantry? If there were Dutch Pantry restaurants near where I live I know I would probably call them the Dutch Panty among friends.

Since I didn't have any sort of firsthand experience with a Dutch Pantry I looked to see what the internet had to say, and found this entertaining conversation on a message board. Thank you "pacman" and "Michael H." for the lively exchange...


pacman
Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 3:10 PM ( #1 )

Does anyone out there a) remember this place b) know if any still exist. The chain originally began as a single restaurant in Selinsgrove, Pa. They eventually branched out and ( I guess ) franchised and got quite widespread. Last I heard they were part of some other holding corporation and were run out of offices in Chicago. There was one operating up to about a year or so ago in Danville, Pa next to I-80, but, the property was sold and the new owner changed the name, but, kept the decor and menu pretty much as it always was.

Any info appreciated,
Dan

Michael H.
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 3:16 PM ( #2 )

Oh, boy, I sure do remember the Dutch Pantry. It was a great place to go if you wanted to get something you didn't order, enjoyed not being able to get a second cup of coffee, hated being given a check so you could leave, and loved not finding anyone manning the cash register. Oh, and I almost forgot, if overflowing commodes and urinals were fun the various Dutch Pantry places I've been in, including the one in Danville, Pa., the one in Cambridge, Ohio, and the one near Mansfield, Ohio, were the places to visit.

pacman
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 3:26 PM ( #3 )

Good Grief,
How could one person have so many BAD experiances at the same place. More to the point, if you found this to be such an AWFUL place, why did you keep going there?

As far as commodes and urinals, I have seen plumbing back up in some very nice places. As far as the service you recieved, maybe, your actions/attitude to the servers showed the same sarcastic tone you used in this reply.

Michael H.
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 3:54 PM ( #4 )

I didn't keep going there. In Danville, the only other places that were open were a Best Western motel restaurant that was almost nice enough to be called vile and the always less than pleasing Day's Inn restaurant. In Cambridge, there was the Dutch Pantry and a Western Pancake House. The Mansfield stop was just a mistake. As to the service I received being related to my actions and/or attitude -- nope. Oh, and I was not being sarcastic. I was merely telling the truth. Apparently, you do not care for the truth. You asked for information. You asked whether anyone remembered the place. When yoou got what you asked for you didn't like it. Too bad!

pacman
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 4:15 PM ( #5 )

I guess we seem to have a misunderstanding. It is not that I object to hearing a bad opinion of a place. We can't all like the exact same things in life. However, I am rather amazed that you were in 3 Dutch Pantry's and they were all shi**y. I live in Northumberland, PA which is about 10 miles from the Danville location. Over the years I have eaten there several times and never had any of the experiances you mention. There was also one in Sunbury, PA and Selinsgrove, PA these were closest to me and I ate in them all. They were all fine, but, not by any means perfect (matter of fact, no place is perfect). There were also locations in Williamsport, Lock Haven and State College, PA that were close to me when I was growing up. Having eaten in them all, I found them to be generaly clean, friendly places to eat. I am sorry if you had poor experiances and wish you could have eaten there when they were still in their "hay-day".

Anyway, if you know of any that are still open, I am curious to know about them or any other info people have on the place.

Michael H.
RE: Anybody remember the Dutch Pantry - Thu, 12/9/04 4:19 PM ( #6 )

I don't know of any that are still open. And I just remembered that the Country Kitchen in Danville was crowded with a long line of folks waiting for seats, and that's why we ended up at the Dutch Pantry there. I always liked that Country Kitchen. I suppose one of the reasons I liked it was because they didn't spell it Kountry Kitchen.

And finally, here's a well done and amazingly encyclopedic page that will tell you everything you ever wanted to know about the Dutch Pantry but were afraid to ask.

Kapok Tree Inn Brochure

I thought for the month of November I'd try to focus on food related posts - you know, it's sorta a Thanksgiving thing.

I visited the Kapok Tree Inn restaurant in Clearwater, FL when I was about six years old. My parents were visiting friends in Clearwater, and this is were they took us to eat dinner. I don't remember the food, and to be honest, I probably didn't eat much anyway. I was a notoriously finicky eater as a kid.

But the Kapok Tree was more than a fancy restaurant, there was also a fancy garden to explore which had fancy fountains - and this is what I do remember.



Sadly the Kapok Tree Inn is no longer in business. Although the buildings and gardens still exist and are rented out for special events.

If you'd like to see more of the Kapok Tree and learn about its history, there is a very well done fan site called Ben's Tribute To Clearwater's Fabled Kapok Tree Restaurant which I highly recommend.

Burger Chef Star Wars Poster In-Store Decoration

Last week I posted about an unauthorized set of Star Wars business cards which I assumed would be a Quasi-Interesting Paraphernalia Inc. exclusive. But nope, after I published that post I discovered that someone had beaten me to it by a good number of years (although I have the superior scans).

Well this time it's different. I'm bringing you a Star Wars World Wide Web exclusive! Ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present a Burger Chef Star Wars Poster In-Store Decoration...



This cardboard mobile hung from the ceiling of the Burger Chef restaurants (a now defunct fast food chain in case anyone was wondering) during a 1978 Star Wars posters promotion. Check out this cool television commercial...



Well there you have it. You won't find this particular bit of Stars Wars memorabilia anywhere on the interwebs.

Now is there anyone reading this who would care to make me an offer on this rare bit of Star Wars memorabilia?

Old South Bar-B-Q Ranch Brochure

Howdy Partners! Take a gander at this ol' crazy brochure for the now defunct Old South Bar-B-Q Ranch restaurant...

Front & Back

Inside

Map

Do the Roo!

French Fry bag circa 1985-ish

Beef-A-Roo.

It sounds made up, but it's the name of an actual restaurant chain. It's a very, very small chain, but a chain nevertheless.

While on a family trip to Michigan's upper peninsula in the 80's we ate at the Beef-A-Roo in Marquette, Michigan. I even saved the above fry bag because I thought the name was so funny.

MySpace picture

I'm happy to report the Marquette Beef-A-Roo appears to be still in business, and even has an unauthorized MySpace page.


It's nice to see it has retained its retro style graphics. It's not only nice, but downright amazing if you check out what the official web site looks like. (Well it's kinda sorta the "official" web site. The web site is only for the Illinois Beef-A-Roo stores.)

Web Site

Look at that logo! Awful souless early 90's crap! It painfully lacks the charm of the original font and the fun cartoon cowboy graphic.

If anyone reading this can shed any light on the Beef-A-Roo story (like the relationship between the Marquette restaurant, and the ones in Illinois), or know of other locations please leave a comment.