Do You Remember?

Welcome to 2026! Here, in Richmond, we’re expecting this weekend what is being termed a “significant weather event” meaning we’re going to get a bunch of snow. The Baby Boomer is not a fan of a bunch of snow. Oh, sure, it’s pretty and the snow turns The Compound into a “winter wonderland”, but then it’s just such a mess hanging around for several days. Hey, January is just a gloomy month with many dark days, the trees that look so barren without their leaves, the grass that’s no longer green, and the days which become dark so early. However, January is a good time to reflect and so I’ve been reflecting on those things from “back in the day” when I was growing up in Arlington in the 1950’s and 60’s. Do you remember?

Before the Lyon Village Shopping Center, sometime in the 1950’s, there was a pony ride ring on what was Lee Highway near Kirkwood Road across from the Hot Shoppes. Jeez, now I’m hungry for a Mighty Mo and an Orange Freez!

There was also a Little Tavern Hamburgers on Lee Highway at Kirkwood Road where you had to pay a dime in order to open the bathroom stall forcing you to crawl underneath the stall to use the bathroom if you happened not to have that dime. You assumed since you paid a dime that the stall would be clean but unfortunately it was always sorta slimy dirty–gross! The scrumptious little hamburgers were only a dime “back in the day” as you would “buy them by the bag”!

Lefty sure did make a great Steak ‘N Cheese while Joe served up the square pizza slices and rang you up at Mario’s on Wilson Boulevard. I’d always ask for a center slice of pizza with sausage which was actually a sausage patty on top of your slice. Um, um good!

Until 1963 in what would become Crystal City on the side of Route 1 close to the Potomac River across from National Airport sat the “Airport Drive-In” auto theater advertising a capacity for more than 1000 cars dedicated to providing a family-oriented experience with a Snack Bar featuring not only popcorn, candy, and soft drinks, but Smithfield Bar-B-Que sandwiches and Pepper Steak from Murry’s Steaks all on 25 acres.

Reflecting on bar-b-que, just over the Monroe Street Bridge on Bashford Lane in Alexandria was the Dixie Pig Bar-B-Q noted for both their minced and sliced pork BBQ’s with slaw–slathering tableside their tangy sauce on your square bun with a wooden spoon–their Navy Bean Soup wasn’t too bad either!

If you were good over the weekend, you might be rewarded by heading to Gifford’s Ice Cream on Lee Highway on Sunday afternoon for a tasty ice cream treat. Gifford’s was packed on the weekends and you usually had to wait for a table, but their Swiss Sundae and Chocolate Milk Shakes were well worth the wait.

Another great spot for an ice cream was the High’s Dairy Store in Clarendon with their many to choose from homemade ice cream by the scoop. My two favorites were their pineapple and black walnut ice cream.

Swiller’s Music in Clarendon was the “go-to-place” for records, musical instruments, phonographs, televisions, radios, and sheet music in the 1950’s. Hey, they even had a recording studio.

Mayer’s Gift Shop also in Clarendon not only had gifts, toys, and hobby items, but also sold model airplanes and cars for us kids to attempt to build back in the 1950’s and 60’s. The Baby Boomer has never been very “crafty” and seemingly when putting his WWII airplane models together used far too much glue which was very sticky and difficult to sand down–I never liked my hands to get sticky! Painting the model airplane was such a chore and I could never get the decals on straight either.

G. C. Murphy’s a Clarendon landmark “five and dime” great for 45 RPM records for only 69 cents each. They also had a large toy department downstairs in their basement, a fish department for goldfish and accessories, and a lunch counter which we often visited.

Giant Music on Broad Street in Falls Church was the place for all records (singles and albums) with a huge selection and great prices. For all the musicians out there, they also sold instruments and amplifiers.

Mary Bayne’s Gift Shop across the parking lot from Kann’s at Virginia Square was a very nice shop featuring a good selection of nice collectibles. Mother’s Day was very important to my mother and a yearly Hummel Mother’s Day Plate from Mary Baynes was always a hit “back in the day”.

McQuinn’s Sporting Goods owned by former NY Yankees first basemen George McQuinn was a staple for local Arlingtonians in Clarendon purchasing sports equipment, baseball glove, cleats, and uniforms in the 1950’s and 60’s.

The McDonald’s on Lee Highway was the first one in Arlington and was a drive-up fast food spot where you walked up to the window and ordered. That’s when I’d sneak over to the side and watch the fries being freshly cut with a shredder before being placed in the fryer. Of course, my dad and I would eat in the car and it was always two cheeseburgers, fries, and a soda for less than a buck!

Kann’s at Virginia Square was where the Baby Boomer had to go to get his shoes as they were the only store to sell shoes featuring the orthopedic Thomas heels to give support to the arches in my feet. I wasn’t able to be in my first pair of tennis shoes until I was twelve years old. I never liked to go shopping, but I didn’t really mind going to Kann’s for shoes as they had monkeys from Brazil frolicking behind glass in the children’s shoe department named Teeny, Weeny, Eeny, and Miney to entertain you!

Bowling was always a fun activity as I began bowling at a very young age at the Colonial Village Bowling Alley which was actually two-stories high having grown up in Colonial Village. It was a duckpin alley and I recall tossing the small ball down the lane from between my legs using both of my hands. Never really got into tenpin bowling, but clearly remember Skor-Mor across from Washington-Lee. Preferring duckpins, as the Baby Boomer got older, he’d head up to Pla-Mor Lanes at Glebe Road and Fairfax Drive where I actually bowled on the Civitan Club Bowling League on Tuesday evenings. Good times!

Another frequented fun activity was Putt-Putt Miniature Golf on Wilson Boulevard and Glebe Road which had two 18-hole courses remembering you could win a free game with a hole-in-one when a certain “light” (?) was turned on at the main “hut” receiving a free game ticket exchanging your ball for an orange-colored one. Another way to win a free game was to get a hole-in-one on the 18th hole. I also believe you got to play for only a buck on Mondays.

In the Parkington Shopping Center where Hecht’s was located “back in the day” was a slot car store which sold slot cars and had a number of racetracks where you would race your slot car against other kids for a fee. It was a short-lived fad as I recall.

The inauguration of John F. Kennedy on January 20th, 1961, took place in frigid wintry conditions following a major snowstorm the night before that dropped nearly eight inches of snow. Temperatures at noon were in the low 20’s with a wind chill of only 7 degrees F. Poet Robert Frost, at 86 years of age, was the first poet to read at a U.S. presidential inauguration. He had written a special poem for the occasion, however, he was unable to read it due to the bright sunlight and, instead, recited his poem “The Gift Outright” from memory.

Tops Drive-In, located at Glebe Road and Arlington Boulevard was a hotspot in the 1950’s and 60’s featuring carhops and min-jukeboxes with their “Sir Loiner” burger and the “best of all the rest” hot flaky onion rings.

The Baby Boomer’s first real drunken experience was thanks to imbibing in a bit more of the really cheap and foul-tasting Boone’s Farm Apple Wine than he should’ve. Rut row!

Walking the streets of downtown Washington, DC during Christmastime was an annual “must” happening as you visited the gloriously decorated windows at Woodies, Hecht’s, and Garfinckel’s department stores helping you to get into the “Christmas spirit”!

“Back in the day” the “Big 4” would load their little backpacks with lunch and head down to Arlington Cemetery for the day sitting for hours on the steps by the Memorial Amphitheater holding our chins in our hands to view, in awe, the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. There’s nothing more moving than to see the ultimate precision which the Honor Guard displays.

Certainly, not in its entirety, but I’d say a fair representation, upon reflection, of things I remember when growing up in Arlington “back in day”. What are some of the things you remember?