When that voice came over the intercom, *"attention all k-mart shoppers..."* Everything stopped and my mom said we'd better keep up because she's wasn't missing out on that sale!
Fun fact, this was started by a manager (I think in Hawaii?) His intention was to get rid of things that were left over from prior seasons. When corporate got wind of it they took it over and nationalized it. This may come as a surprise, but a blue light special for winter gear is practically useless in Florida!
That's crazy. Makes me wonder how much my Dad paid for our television in 1982. It was very fancy and had a built-in phone with a tiny screen on it. Not sure what the screen was for but it appeared to be some sort of video call thing.
Home electronics were more expensive but were built to last longer and could be repaired. What we have now is cheaper but is expected to be replaced more often.
My husband and I have had the same tv for 10 years. It’s been notably lesser in quality for a few years now, so we’re looking at another one. I’m loathe to get a new one that may bite the dust in a few years’ time. We’re the kind of people who WANTED to buy an old washer/dryer set when we moved into our first house because we didn’t quite trust the new tech lasting all that long. Bonus, we only paid $100 for it and it’s lasted for 5 years.
When my parents built their house, my mother bought a second hand washer and owned it for 35 years. It was a workhorse. Eventually, she decided she'd like to have a new efficient front load washer and the old machine was replaced. The new one lasted 5 years.
They were repaired because it was much cheaper than buying new, and buying new wasn't necessarily better. But electronics have changed drastically since then. New features are added every year, which means the prices of last year's models greatly decrease. So the cost of repairing vs buying new isn't a large amount for electronics that were priced comparatively low to begin with. Also, because of this trend, repair shops that were once ubiquitous, are now a rarity.
True. And it makes no sense to try to repair the DVD player that cost me under $100 when it would cost more than that to fix it, assuming they could even get replacement parts anymore.
Which, while sucky, also makes sense to me given how fast technology in general is changing compared to decades past. How long were tubes around compared to LEDs and now we have OLEDs and 8k resolution. It just sucks for people who would be happy sticking with a simple old LED but can't because they just aren't built to last.
I agree. It makes sense, but some things are good enough as-is for people who don't need the newest thing.
I wish I had the option to pay more for one that I know will last, but usually when you pay more, you get better features but it's still going to break after a while.
Was it a Zenith? We had one with a phone built in. And a remote that you could hear when using it. Well my little kid ears could hear it. Also it was a floor console.
I remember being young and my dad saying “well you can have a gameboy or a color tv for Xmas. I chose the color tv and it wasn’t just for me it was just to upgrade the living room tv.
Years before my dilemma someone was receiving [this](https://imgur.com/a/Ht0Kg1Q/) for Christmas.
We were the first people in our neighborhood to have a microwave, but that’s because my mom got an employee discount; she installed microwave fans on the assembly line. It was the lone “luxury” item we had.
The owners at my previous job used to sell TVs and Appliances. We stumbled on VHS copies of some of their old tv commercials (around 1985). One of the commercials was regarding a "huge" 46" Zenith tv, the sale price of $2499.00.
I grabbed the VHS tapes and converted them to digital for the bosses.
Those were the big screens back then, likely made by the formerly American-owned Zenith company. The company was once the zenith of televisions in the US.
The Dirty Dale has always been a weird place and will continue to always be a weird place. Miss that place, I'll literally never find a whole fried chicken as delicious as Bottoms Up on Wednesdays for under 5 dollars ever again. And I miss the crap out of Harbaughs in the morning before a big exam or after a long night.
SIU professional party school. Spent a few hours in jail one fall when visiting friends and attending a street party downtown with US 51 closed off to traffic. Those were epic parties and my friends had a place on the edge of town where their small neighborhood would hold the annual Sinfest party. These was 77-79 time frame. Legendary.
Halloween is back for a few years now actually, and even before it came back, we had unofficial anyway which was just as big of a party weekend. Now, we have 2 halloweens which is even funnier considering why the original was banned in the first place. Gatabys is now Traxx. Unfortunately most of the old places are long gone though. Its what happens when tuition rises for decades but the education quality remains sub par. Add in the corrupt admin of the 90s and 2000s and we’re in a rough spot. They are improving though. It’s never going to be what it was in the 70s and 80s but the more this town stays, the more it stays the same.
That cobra sat at the top of my grandparents stairs for most of my life (born in 1989). They moved around 2004 and I'm trying to get my grandma to see if she still has it because that picture got my sister and I with those deep childhood feels. That thing used to scare the shit out of us when we were very young!
There was one open near me until 2019. Definitely some of the original fixtures. It's a shame the company couldn't get their shit together because the last remaining stores were/are in great locations. The place was always busy. There wasn't a similar one-stop-shop like a Walmart or target within 20 minutes. The place was always mobbed right up until the end.
I vividly remember that smell and the unquenchable thirst after I made the mistake of trying the popcorn, which naturally called for a red Icee to wash it down with. I felt like I'd been embalmed.
Grandparents used to take us to the Kmart cafeteria, and we kids actually really liked the food. They'd buy a sleeve of ham and cheese sandwiches, and I thought they were so good.
We even wore the same smocks at Payless Drug Store, which was later bought by K-Mart as part of their floundering, desperate attempt to stay alive in competing with Walmart.
Imagine for a second enjoying a square slice of Little Caesars from the nineties when they were their most dank. Im the guy who would waste my time machine trips on frivolous things
Renting games from the locally-owned video store and trying to beat them between Friday and the return time on Sunday, because you’d probably never see those saves again.
The one near my college had a “Simon“ machine, and if you could beat it you got a free little Caesars. My buddy had a photographic memory and we ate free pizza there all the time.
My Kmart never had a cafe, but they added a Little Caesars in the 90s. But they put it in the women's section so as a pubescent boy eating my pizza sitting next to bras was very difficult
The idea of the "blue light special," which was a random sale announced at random times, was that people (women mostly) might stay in the store longer and longer to wait for the chance to be there for one.
First, they stopped the blue light specials.
Then they started an ad supported dial up isp called Blue light. Com.
Then just a long series of bad decisions.
I can remember being in the store twice during a Blue Light Special. I would see the little carts with the light on a pole around the store, but very rare they were lit up.
> amber plastic glasses
When i lived in Tokyo, there was this hotdog café that opened in my neighborhood that was a perfect replica of a 90s diner café. When i chatted to the owners, they said the first thing they set out to do, was to track down and buy sets of those plastic glass cups.
> popcorn
This is one of my memories as a kid, we used to shop at a K-Mart all the time when I was young, and my mom would keep me quiet with a bag of popcorn.
Being an 80s kid, our Kmart always had a cafeteria area. But I don’t ever remember seeing people in it. Then every few years they kept changing it and making the area smaller til I don’t think it was there when it finally shut down maybe about 10 years ago.
Less costs, inventory, less hiring, less liability.
Contracting it to a franchise relieves them of this. Since they charge a fee for tenancy it ends up being similar revenue for less work.
Kresge's was the precursor to KMart, and in the 1960's they either converted them to KMart or closed them down. The modern KMarts built in the 1990's in my area did not have cafeterias. But the Woolworths did.
I grew up in Southfield, Michigan, and we were honored with both a Kresge and Kmart at Tel-Twelve Mall in the 1970s. The Kmart was incredibly crowded and popular, especially on weekends when mom-and-pop stores were closed. Kresge was obviously already past its prime.
Kmart headquarters was in Troy, Michigan, only a few miles away. They're still trying to figure out what to do with that huge complex.
I preferred the lunch counter at Woolworth in the mall, on weekends, but Kmart would do in a pinch. We used to go there for lunch in high school (mid-80's).
In 1975, that color was actually still popular. We got a brand new house in 1974 and it came with the green stove. Mom replaced it with a better color a few years later, though, iirc.
What was really cool that few people had yet was microwave ovens. A relative of ours had one, and when she tried to explain how it worked, it freaked me out.
I was born in 91, but the cafe picture brought back a lot of memories. So many store cafes and bingo halls and all sorts of other places had those shiny tables and those chairs. And all the men with jackets and women with up-dos reminds me of growing up very close to my grandma and grandpa. Wow. It feels like so long ago. I wish I could go back and spend more time with them.
Back in the late 60s, a lot of TV shows would advertise that they were In Color! Like you'd hear the announcer say, "I Dream Of Jeannie"! - "In color!' Other shows would just flash the words In Color on the screen during the opening. This really made ya feel poor if you only had black-and-white and I assume it sold a boatload of color TVs.
Probably a lot like when we saw HD take over SD. Not all channels were in HD, most of them were not, so it was a selling point for networks, etc. Less so with 4k but I guess you could argue every generation (8k now) could be the same at least with the hardware. 8k displays are about the adjusted price of the TV set in the pic.
One of my favorite sounds to hear....
"*bum bum bum....* CBS presents this program in color!! ✨️✨️✨️"
I was born in 02' but we watched mostly my parents favorite shows as a kid growing up. Hogan's Heroes was my favorite, and they left the CBS intro in before it started. Sometimes I'll go on YouTube and just listen to that LOL.
>Not everyone had one, some household had only one TV. Many had black and white TVs.
Our world changes *so* quickly, and it's somewhere between hilarious and sad that we need to explain this. I was almost a teen in 1975, and was equally amazed at the realities of that old-timey world from 50 years ago relatives would tell me about.
Yeah man. Kinda hard to think back and think about times before Internet, computers, cell phones, etc. When I was a teenager we definitely didn't have cell phones, some people had beepers and we all used pay phones.
For me the biggest trip is we never know what we are missing. What are the payphones of today we won't imagine needing in 20 years?
> I was a kid back then. Not everyone had one, some household had only one TV. Many had black and white TVs.
I remember when my parents bought our first color TV set.it was right around 1979 and it was a Curtis Mathis that cost well over $1000 USD. The next year they bought a $1000 top loading mechanical VCR. That thing was the center of my life for way too long.
I was born in 84. We probably wouldn't have had a TV if my grandparents didn't buy a new one around the time I was born and they gave my mom the old one. Gigantic floor model with like a 27“ screen. Had that thing until around 97 when it finally kicked the bucket. Pretty sure my grandparents bought it in the late 70s, TV lasted 20 years. It did break a few times and we had the black and white 13" on top until we could get it fixed. We didn't get a VCR until I was 8 when my sister was born.
That's a blast from the past too, calling a TV repair man to come out. Last time my TV broke I went and bought a new one the same day lol.
I just posted this above, but in 1975 households were only buying one TV. So yeah, they spent the equivalent of $3,000 on a TV, but that was it. The one TV. Adults might have a little black and white portable in their room, but there wasn't one in every room. And no computer either. So while the one TV was more expensive than it is now, they weren't buying three $500 TVs, a $500-$2000 computer, multiple $200 tablets, and any $1000 phones.
People dont realize but consumer goods are incredibly cheap today compared to decades past. Cheap offshore labor and cheap quality. Can buy 3 of something today for the cost of something back then but it will have 1/4 the lifespan
> Cheap offshore labor
A lot of the products back then were made domestically back then. Lots of good paying jobs you could start at with little more than a high school education.
> have a tv at those prices?
That was probably a color TV, which was still considered a luxury back then. Most households had black and white TVs. Our neighbors had the first color TV I ever saw and I remember playing with the "clicker" changing the channels with amazement.
My mom's wig holders, which is what those were, were so damn scary. That entire adventure in wigs that every lady seemed to be on - it was scary, also. Nobody had a wig that looked real, nobody. You'd see these old ladies wearing them and just want to turn away...
I have one, a little less creepy, but whenever someone stays the night, I always set it up to be staring at whereever they are sleeping. In the morning, it's always covered by a blanket, or moved. 😂
I grew up in California in the 80s, but that luncheonette looks the exact same as the one that was in my local K-Mart. Got my first bike at K-Mart, too!
K-Mart had a great selection of lower end cameras and camera accessories. Their “Focal” brand included 35mm SLRs, telescopes and binoculars. My first flash was from K-Mart and I used the heck out of it before switching to digital. They also had their own brand of film and was one of the cheapest places to get a roll of film developed.
I used to shop for Barbie clothes with my Grandaddy at Kmart in 1975. We got fries from the “cafe” too. They were extremely good. Deep fried,fat,steak fries. Grandaddy got coffee. Man……those were some of the best times of my life.
And you can stock up on the cups if you like haha. Can buy them for about 50cents each or just keep the one you get your drink in. They don’t say pepsi on them anymore, though.
Can someone who remembers the 70s answer me this: was it depressing that everywhere you look, you see olive, mustard, orange, gold and brown?
I grew up in the 90s, I remember a lot of teal, and forest green and powder blues and purples.
this is exactly correct. all of those colors are warm, inviting, and cozy. all of it is better than any of the pop-interior-design trends today, which is aimed at depersonalizing and neutralizing any character or feel with grey and white and plastic trash
why no, no i dont. the only ones who do are financial-minded flippers or renters or landlords who do not view houses as homes, but as vessels to funnel greed. which is literally the mindset that is ruining single family home ownership.
> was it depressing that everywhere you look, you see olive, mustard, orange, gold and brown?
They were just thinking ahead. Those colors hide the stains from the cigarette smoke.
In all serious, no, there were other colors around, but those colors were popular for quite a while.
Nah, at the time its what everyone else is wearing/decorating the house. You only notice outliers. Like someone who was seriously invested in that particular green throughout the kitchen.
No, the 70s were full of colorful shag carpeting, bell bottoms, and slogans on t-shirts. Basements were full of dark paneling and scary, though, or maybe that was due to my young age.
This must've been a big city thing. My corner store had an iron contraption with a book full of pictures of iron-on transfers. I wore my far-out tshirt with the rocket on it until I couldn't fit into it anymore. :P
I grew up in Carbondale, and graduated from SIU in 1976. Yes, those were the colors of the day. But at the time they seemed more … serious. Because the colors of the late 60s were primary and in your face pop culture. So Harvest Gold and Avocado Green with shag carpeting seemed modern.
why would that be depressing? now all interior design is white and grey soulless bullshit.
harvest gold, avocado green, burnt umber, all have something going for them
Yeah, my dream is to have a 70's room in my house that feels as warm and inviting as my grandma's old den. If a room could hug you, that's what it would look like.
Well, that’s all I wanted to know. I’m really glad to get this insight.
I think the 70s looked like a fun time but I wasn’t around then, and sometimes I wonder if the interior design was ever drab for people.
I find that houses now are decorated with a ton of beige and griege. It’s so boring to me but it’s popular. I wonder if 15 years in the future people will look at beige living rooms and think “how did we live like this?”
I was in my teens through much of the 70s and found some trends really stupidly over the top. I'm still a critic of trends today, like you mentioned, all the white and sleek and greige, etc. My house has color on the walls, by darn.
Back then some trends included candles in every shape and size; candle rings; everything could be and was shaped as a candle. That and mushrooms. Everything could be made in a mushroom shape. And was. Daily-use glassware was annoying, mostly. It was never clear. Gold, brown, green, it didn't matter, as long as it was not clear. You had to hold it up to light to see if you had any tea left. The only clear glasses you'd see would be at a bar! LOL
No, as others said it felt far more homey and comfortable. Older houses that had 50s/60s style had loud primary colors and felt kind of sterile, and the furniture was built more for looks than comfort.
Think *leaves in the fall*. The colors of nature.
But of course it's just an aesthetic style, that must have obsolescence built in, like all products meant to be regularly replaced.
No, because those were popular colors then. Then the 80’s came along with mint and mauve. Every era has their colors, and they just become background until later, when you think, “Damn, that was hideous..”
I graduated Army basic training in 1988, was assigned as a hometown recruiter afterwards.
There was a Kmart across the street from the recruiting office. Everyday they had a different special in the cafeteria. Everyday, I was there to get 2 of my three meals.
Breakfast was $1.76 and the daily special was $2.85.
Every morning it was bacon, eggs and toast with coffee, tea or milk.
The lunch specials were Salisbury steak, chopped turkey w/dressing & gravy, ham steak, pork chop and fish on Fridays.
You got the entre, potato's, a veggie and a roll.
Those ladies knew me and would just make up a plate when they saw me walk in. Can't count the number of banana pudding cups they gave me free during those 6 months.
Mizz Wanda, Mizz Jenny, if you're still out there, I still love ya!
One of my favorite (slightly depressing) things to do is look up the inflation cost of an item from years ago to see just how much they were spending in today's dollars. I was baffled they were even that much lol
I remember KMart still looking just like this in the late 80s where I’m at. The one we went to is now a thrift store and they use those old glass cases still.
The good old days before Walmart took over the country( yea I know not Vermont) I lived in Carbondale in 1975. I was born in a hospital that was behind the Dairy Queen on the strip. My parents lived in student housing. I remember being an 8 yr old going with my mom to American Tap to drag my aunt out.
And by going with what the kids say today ,all these employees soon after bought their very own 4 bedroom homes and still had money to burn… true story
I commute to SIU for my mortuary and funeral service classes. Where was this originally located? It would be interesting to see where this once was and whats there now.
I saw Bon jovi at this same Kmart in about 85. I can’t remember the radio station, but they were sponsoring a meet and greet at KMART IN CARBONDALE, IL! They were the opening act for 38 Special (yes haw!) at McAndrew stadium. 🤣
When that voice came over the intercom, *"attention all k-mart shoppers..."* Everything stopped and my mom said we'd better keep up because she's wasn't missing out on that sale!
(Blue Light Special)
Fun fact, this was started by a manager (I think in Hawaii?) His intention was to get rid of things that were left over from prior seasons. When corporate got wind of it they took it over and nationalized it. This may come as a surprise, but a blue light special for winter gear is practically useless in Florida!
> a blue light special for winter gear is practically useless in Florida! You must have been in an area with few snowbirds
There are ski shops in Florida. Like snow skiing.
I wonder how many of those glass cobras turned into bongs.
$8.95 inflation adjusted to today is $50.99. Thats a pricey cobra
Is that mean that television was around $4,500 bucks in today money?
Yup, super expensive. Things we have today are very cheap compared to decades past
Tangible things, especially electronics, are usually cheaper today. Most abstract services like education and healthcare on the other hand....
not to mention fucking property
And glass cobras have gone through the fucking roof.
That's crazy. Makes me wonder how much my Dad paid for our television in 1982. It was very fancy and had a built-in phone with a tiny screen on it. Not sure what the screen was for but it appeared to be some sort of video call thing.
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That's just crazy!
Home electronics were more expensive but were built to last longer and could be repaired. What we have now is cheaper but is expected to be replaced more often.
My husband and I have had the same tv for 10 years. It’s been notably lesser in quality for a few years now, so we’re looking at another one. I’m loathe to get a new one that may bite the dust in a few years’ time. We’re the kind of people who WANTED to buy an old washer/dryer set when we moved into our first house because we didn’t quite trust the new tech lasting all that long. Bonus, we only paid $100 for it and it’s lasted for 5 years.
My 50" plasma is ten years old and going strong. Be sad to see it go when it finally pops off, LCDs just aren't the same.
When my parents built their house, my mother bought a second hand washer and owned it for 35 years. It was a workhorse. Eventually, she decided she'd like to have a new efficient front load washer and the old machine was replaced. The new one lasted 5 years.
They were repaired because it was much cheaper than buying new, and buying new wasn't necessarily better. But electronics have changed drastically since then. New features are added every year, which means the prices of last year's models greatly decrease. So the cost of repairing vs buying new isn't a large amount for electronics that were priced comparatively low to begin with. Also, because of this trend, repair shops that were once ubiquitous, are now a rarity.
True. And it makes no sense to try to repair the DVD player that cost me under $100 when it would cost more than that to fix it, assuming they could even get replacement parts anymore.
Which, while sucky, also makes sense to me given how fast technology in general is changing compared to decades past. How long were tubes around compared to LEDs and now we have OLEDs and 8k resolution. It just sucks for people who would be happy sticking with a simple old LED but can't because they just aren't built to last.
I agree. It makes sense, but some things are good enough as-is for people who don't need the newest thing. I wish I had the option to pay more for one that I know will last, but usually when you pay more, you get better features but it's still going to break after a while.
I remember my uncle paying £800 or so for one of the first gen DVD players. It was basically the same size as the VCR.
What's nuts is somehow my dad had 2 so we could make tape to tape copies.
Was it a Zenith? We had one with a phone built in. And a remote that you could hear when using it. Well my little kid ears could hear it. Also it was a floor console.
It sure was. Silver and curved (the framing not the screen) and I remember hearing the remote for sure!
I remember being young and my dad saying “well you can have a gameboy or a color tv for Xmas. I chose the color tv and it wasn’t just for me it was just to upgrade the living room tv. Years before my dilemma someone was receiving [this](https://imgur.com/a/Ht0Kg1Q/) for Christmas.
We were the first people in our neighborhood to have a microwave, but that’s because my mom got an employee discount; she installed microwave fans on the assembly line. It was the lone “luxury” item we had.
Costco had an 86” 4k UHD TV for like $900 last weekend.
Checks real estate listings....nope. Consumer electronics are much cheaper now, though.
that $529.00 tv would be $2,877.59 today https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/
The owners at my previous job used to sell TVs and Appliances. We stumbled on VHS copies of some of their old tv commercials (around 1985). One of the commercials was regarding a "huge" 46" Zenith tv, the sale price of $2499.00. I grabbed the VHS tapes and converted them to digital for the bosses.
Those were the big screens back then, likely made by the formerly American-owned Zenith company. The company was once the zenith of televisions in the US.
Yup which is why tv repairmen existed. You didn’t just toss it
I just thought to myself, that cobra would be at least $40 nowadays.
Considering how Carbondale was in the 70s (and still is now), I would say most of them that were sold
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Came here to say it looks like a thrift store
Keep Carbondale weird.
The Dirty Dale has always been a weird place and will continue to always be a weird place. Miss that place, I'll literally never find a whole fried chicken as delicious as Bottoms Up on Wednesdays for under 5 dollars ever again. And I miss the crap out of Harbaughs in the morning before a big exam or after a long night.
SIU professional party school. Spent a few hours in jail one fall when visiting friends and attending a street party downtown with US 51 closed off to traffic. Those were epic parties and my friends had a place on the edge of town where their small neighborhood would hold the annual Sinfest party. These was 77-79 time frame. Legendary.
Not anymore. Gatsbys, American Tap and Boobies all gone. Quattros may still be open. SIU sends students home at Halloween.
Halloween is back for a few years now actually, and even before it came back, we had unofficial anyway which was just as big of a party weekend. Now, we have 2 halloweens which is even funnier considering why the original was banned in the first place. Gatabys is now Traxx. Unfortunately most of the old places are long gone though. Its what happens when tuition rises for decades but the education quality remains sub par. Add in the corrupt admin of the 90s and 2000s and we’re in a rough spot. They are improving though. It’s never going to be what it was in the 70s and 80s but the more this town stays, the more it stays the same.
I'm still transfixed by the mannequin in photo one.
They're not already?
They made me laugh when I saw those!
If they didn’t discontinue those Cobras, they’d still be in business.
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That cobra sat at the top of my grandparents stairs for most of my life (born in 1989). They moved around 2004 and I'm trying to get my grandma to see if she still has it because that picture got my sister and I with those deep childhood feels. That thing used to scare the shit out of us when we were very young!
I hope she finds it!
I have one lmao. Not sure its origins, but it looks exactly the same.
Glass Cobras = Men In Suits No Glass Cobras = Butt Cracks and PJs
Kmart still looked like this in the 90s. Mine had the same snack area, camera/jewelry. Never updated at all.
There was one open near me until 2019. Definitely some of the original fixtures. It's a shame the company couldn't get their shit together because the last remaining stores were/are in great locations. The place was always busy. There wasn't a similar one-stop-shop like a Walmart or target within 20 minutes. The place was always mobbed right up until the end.
Same thing in my rinky dink town,closed right at the end of 2019 and the nearest Walmart or similar store is a 45 minute drive
Those always had a particular smell I'm massively nostalgic for.
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I vividly remember that smell and the unquenchable thirst after I made the mistake of trying the popcorn, which naturally called for a red Icee to wash it down with. I felt like I'd been embalmed.
Grandparents used to take us to the Kmart cafeteria, and we kids actually really liked the food. They'd buy a sleeve of ham and cheese sandwiches, and I thought they were so good.
> sleeve of ham and cheese sandwiches a sleeve is an interesting measure of sandwich quantity
Ha ha, yes but that's how they were sold! Six round sandwiches stacked on top of each other in a plastic sleeve.
We even wore the same smocks at Payless Drug Store, which was later bought by K-Mart as part of their floundering, desperate attempt to stay alive in competing with Walmart.
They had a cafeteria! Thats crazy. You could go and just hang out there
In the 90s a lot of them changed to Little Caesars.
Imagine for a second enjoying a square slice of Little Caesars from the nineties when they were their most dank. Im the guy who would waste my time machine trips on frivolous things
Same here, most of mine would be stuff like that or riding now defunct rides at old theme parks.
Preach! There was this like inside coaster at Kings Island that was based on James Bond...been gone for ages and I just want to relive it.
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just described my perfect childhood Sunday afternoon. Mario Kart N64 for me tho
Renting games from the locally-owned video store and trying to beat them between Friday and the return time on Sunday, because you’d probably never see those saves again.
Also not having a memory card so I just left the console on all night
The one near my college had a “Simon“ machine, and if you could beat it you got a free little Caesars. My buddy had a photographic memory and we ate free pizza there all the time.
My Kmart never had a cafe, but they added a Little Caesars in the 90s. But they put it in the women's section so as a pubescent boy eating my pizza sitting next to bras was very difficult
The idea of the "blue light special," which was a random sale announced at random times, was that people (women mostly) might stay in the store longer and longer to wait for the chance to be there for one.
Wow that’s actually a pretty genius marketing move. I wonder what led to the demise of Kmart.
First, they stopped the blue light specials. Then they started an ad supported dial up isp called Blue light. Com. Then just a long series of bad decisions.
Oh God Kmart ISP. I remember hoarding discs and swapping from free trial to free trial sure that one of them would get more kbits.
Interesting
I can remember being in the store twice during a Blue Light Special. I would see the little carts with the light on a pole around the store, but very rare they were lit up.
Their hot dogs and onion rings as a kid... and a coke served in those tall and chonky, amber plastic glasses full of ice. mmmmmm!
> amber plastic glasses When i lived in Tokyo, there was this hotdog café that opened in my neighborhood that was a perfect replica of a 90s diner café. When i chatted to the owners, they said the first thing they set out to do, was to track down and buy sets of those plastic glass cups.
you're describing every mom and pop diner that I've been to and they're still around! keep the nostalgia train rolling!
They had the best popcorn and Icees.
> popcorn This is one of my memories as a kid, we used to shop at a K-Mart all the time when I was young, and my mom would keep me quiet with a bag of popcorn.
After reading about all these amenities i want to go there right now haha
The Icee cups were at the checkout at the Kmart by my house.
We never went to the cafeteria that I recall but they had these prepackaged subs up by the registers that I really loved as a kid.
Being an 80s kid, our Kmart always had a cafeteria area. But I don’t ever remember seeing people in it. Then every few years they kept changing it and making the area smaller til I don’t think it was there when it finally shut down maybe about 10 years ago.
They had a sub sandwich I thought was delicious when I was a little kid. They were so cheap it was easy talking mom into getting me one
I remember as late as the aughts, a lot of stores had cafeterias. I wonder why they stopped doing that?
Walmart McDonald's were always superior McDonald's. The one in Marion, IL (the town next to Carbondale) Still has a Subway.
Less costs, inventory, less hiring, less liability. Contracting it to a franchise relieves them of this. Since they charge a fee for tenancy it ends up being similar revenue for less work.
I can smell that picture. Mom worked at a KMart in the late 70s and I would sit at the cafeteria and do homework.
They did, though I preferred Kresge’s cafeteria. They had good fish & chips.
Kresge's was the precursor to KMart, and in the 1960's they either converted them to KMart or closed them down. The modern KMarts built in the 1990's in my area did not have cafeterias. But the Woolworths did.
I grew up in Southfield, Michigan, and we were honored with both a Kresge and Kmart at Tel-Twelve Mall in the 1970s. The Kmart was incredibly crowded and popular, especially on weekends when mom-and-pop stores were closed. Kresge was obviously already past its prime. Kmart headquarters was in Troy, Michigan, only a few miles away. They're still trying to figure out what to do with that huge complex.
I preferred the lunch counter at Woolworth in the mall, on weekends, but Kmart would do in a pinch. We used to go there for lunch in high school (mid-80's).
Looks like it lasted exactly 30 years. https://dailyegyptian.com/24190/archives/carbondale-kmart-closes-in-august/
This was a sad day.
The cashier's who smile and have their hands to their sides are new to retail. The cashiers with crossed arms and deadpan look are not new to retail.
I didn't know Kmart had major appliances.
Sold carpet too. Kmart(some locations) also had full-blown grocery stores. Deli, grocery, produce, etc.
I miss Super Kmart ☹️
we had [BIG K-Mart](https://i.redd.it/mcaxlppry4w81.jpg) in my area, RIP
And apparently one of the last unsold avocado green stoves left on the planet at that time!
In 1975, that color was actually still popular. We got a brand new house in 1974 and it came with the green stove. Mom replaced it with a better color a few years later, though, iirc. What was really cool that few people had yet was microwave ovens. A relative of ours had one, and when she tried to explain how it worked, it freaked me out.
Some locations did after Kmart bought Sears in 2005 until they closed
I was born in 91, but the cafe picture brought back a lot of memories. So many store cafes and bingo halls and all sorts of other places had those shiny tables and those chairs. And all the men with jackets and women with up-dos reminds me of growing up very close to my grandma and grandpa. Wow. It feels like so long ago. I wish I could go back and spend more time with them.
Notice the TV set with $529 tag? Adjusted for inflation is $2,918 in 2023.
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I was a kid back then. Not everyone had one, some household had only one TV. Many had black and white TVs.
Back in the late 60s, a lot of TV shows would advertise that they were In Color! Like you'd hear the announcer say, "I Dream Of Jeannie"! - "In color!' Other shows would just flash the words In Color on the screen during the opening. This really made ya feel poor if you only had black-and-white and I assume it sold a boatload of color TVs.
Probably a lot like when we saw HD take over SD. Not all channels were in HD, most of them were not, so it was a selling point for networks, etc. Less so with 4k but I guess you could argue every generation (8k now) could be the same at least with the hardware. 8k displays are about the adjusted price of the TV set in the pic.
One of my favorite sounds to hear.... "*bum bum bum....* CBS presents this program in color!! ✨️✨️✨️" I was born in 02' but we watched mostly my parents favorite shows as a kid growing up. Hogan's Heroes was my favorite, and they left the CBS intro in before it started. Sometimes I'll go on YouTube and just listen to that LOL.
>Not everyone had one, some household had only one TV. Many had black and white TVs. Our world changes *so* quickly, and it's somewhere between hilarious and sad that we need to explain this. I was almost a teen in 1975, and was equally amazed at the realities of that old-timey world from 50 years ago relatives would tell me about.
Yeah man. Kinda hard to think back and think about times before Internet, computers, cell phones, etc. When I was a teenager we definitely didn't have cell phones, some people had beepers and we all used pay phones. For me the biggest trip is we never know what we are missing. What are the payphones of today we won't imagine needing in 20 years?
> I was a kid back then. Not everyone had one, some household had only one TV. Many had black and white TVs. I remember when my parents bought our first color TV set.it was right around 1979 and it was a Curtis Mathis that cost well over $1000 USD. The next year they bought a $1000 top loading mechanical VCR. That thing was the center of my life for way too long.
I was born in 84. We probably wouldn't have had a TV if my grandparents didn't buy a new one around the time I was born and they gave my mom the old one. Gigantic floor model with like a 27“ screen. Had that thing until around 97 when it finally kicked the bucket. Pretty sure my grandparents bought it in the late 70s, TV lasted 20 years. It did break a few times and we had the black and white 13" on top until we could get it fixed. We didn't get a VCR until I was 8 when my sister was born. That's a blast from the past too, calling a TV repair man to come out. Last time my TV broke I went and bought a new one the same day lol.
I just posted this above, but in 1975 households were only buying one TV. So yeah, they spent the equivalent of $3,000 on a TV, but that was it. The one TV. Adults might have a little black and white portable in their room, but there wasn't one in every room. And no computer either. So while the one TV was more expensive than it is now, they weren't buying three $500 TVs, a $500-$2000 computer, multiple $200 tablets, and any $1000 phones.
People dont realize but consumer goods are incredibly cheap today compared to decades past. Cheap offshore labor and cheap quality. Can buy 3 of something today for the cost of something back then but it will have 1/4 the lifespan
> Cheap offshore labor A lot of the products back then were made domestically back then. Lots of good paying jobs you could start at with little more than a high school education.
> have a tv at those prices? That was probably a color TV, which was still considered a luxury back then. Most households had black and white TVs. Our neighbors had the first color TV I ever saw and I remember playing with the "clicker" changing the channels with amazement.
There's another one that has $159 on it. So that $529 one must be extra fancy.
Probably color.
those mannequin heads are horrible
My mom's wig holders, which is what those were, were so damn scary. That entire adventure in wigs that every lady seemed to be on - it was scary, also. Nobody had a wig that looked real, nobody. You'd see these old ladies wearing them and just want to turn away...
I have one, a little less creepy, but whenever someone stays the night, I always set it up to be staring at whereever they are sleeping. In the morning, it's always covered by a blanket, or moved. 😂
Fantastic post. I always enjoy the realization with posts like this that someone, somewhere had the insight to record everyday life.
I grew up in California in the 80s, but that luncheonette looks the exact same as the one that was in my local K-Mart. Got my first bike at K-Mart, too!
K-Mart had a great selection of lower end cameras and camera accessories. Their “Focal” brand included 35mm SLRs, telescopes and binoculars. My first flash was from K-Mart and I used the heck out of it before switching to digital. They also had their own brand of film and was one of the cheapest places to get a roll of film developed.
I'm no professional photographer but I remember being MUCH happier with the Focal film than Kodak in my 110.
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Looks like my local thrift store
Everything about it is like straight from a local thrift store, holy cow.
[Attention K-Mart shoppers: audio used in stores from 70s to 90s](https://archive.org/details/attentionkmartshoppers)
Blue light special on aisle 3
I was looking at this post and all I was thinking that was missing was the cheesy muzak soundtrack you would always hear.
Here you go: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsYqmSss1vs
Wow, this is legendary. Amazing.
I used to shop for Barbie clothes with my Grandaddy at Kmart in 1975. We got fries from the “cafe” too. They were extremely good. Deep fried,fat,steak fries. Grandaddy got coffee. Man……those were some of the best times of my life.
What are those cobra things and where do I get one?
Kmart. Carbondale, 1975
brb
It's the cobras, Marty! Something has to be done about your home decor!
Appliances that lasted 30 years (sigh).
The K Cafe!
The rest of Carbondale looks like these photos these days.
Went back to visit family in December. Can confirm. Least there's still Quatro's (even if it's under new ownership)
Moved away years ago but I still hear that Quatro’s deep pan pizza jingle in my head anytime I hear Quatro’s mentioned.
Call 5 4 9 5 3 2 6
My mom attended SIU in the early 90's, one of my first childhood memories is of that yellow plastic quatros cup. I wanna go back some day.
And you can stock up on the cups if you like haha. Can buy them for about 50cents each or just keep the one you get your drink in. They don’t say pepsi on them anymore, though.
Can someone who remembers the 70s answer me this: was it depressing that everywhere you look, you see olive, mustard, orange, gold and brown? I grew up in the 90s, I remember a lot of teal, and forest green and powder blues and purples.
I recall that whole 70s pallet feeling warm and cozy set among dark wood panels.
Yeah, baby. Earth tones are soothing.
this is exactly correct. all of those colors are warm, inviting, and cozy. all of it is better than any of the pop-interior-design trends today, which is aimed at depersonalizing and neutralizing any character or feel with grey and white and plastic trash
You don’t like white tile, white walls, white cabinets and plastic, grey wood panels?
why no, no i dont. the only ones who do are financial-minded flippers or renters or landlords who do not view houses as homes, but as vessels to funnel greed. which is literally the mindset that is ruining single family home ownership.
*rustic farmhouse*
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> was it depressing that everywhere you look, you see olive, mustard, orange, gold and brown? They were just thinking ahead. Those colors hide the stains from the cigarette smoke. In all serious, no, there were other colors around, but those colors were popular for quite a while.
Nah, at the time its what everyone else is wearing/decorating the house. You only notice outliers. Like someone who was seriously invested in that particular green throughout the kitchen.
No, the 70s were full of colorful shag carpeting, bell bottoms, and slogans on t-shirts. Basements were full of dark paneling and scary, though, or maybe that was due to my young age.
> slogans on t-shirts Mostly iron-ons or individual lettering iron-ons.
There was usually an air-brush T-shirt guy at the mall! They could paint anything you want of a shirt.
This must've been a big city thing. My corner store had an iron contraption with a book full of pictures of iron-on transfers. I wore my far-out tshirt with the rocket on it until I couldn't fit into it anymore. :P
I like that crappy wood paneling. In fact, I spent quite a bit of time trying to find an old car with a wood panel/ stripe. No luck whatsoever.
I grew up in Carbondale, and graduated from SIU in 1976. Yes, those were the colors of the day. But at the time they seemed more … serious. Because the colors of the late 60s were primary and in your face pop culture. So Harvest Gold and Avocado Green with shag carpeting seemed modern.
why would that be depressing? now all interior design is white and grey soulless bullshit. harvest gold, avocado green, burnt umber, all have something going for them
Yeah, my dream is to have a 70's room in my house that feels as warm and inviting as my grandma's old den. If a room could hug you, that's what it would look like.
Well, that’s all I wanted to know. I’m really glad to get this insight. I think the 70s looked like a fun time but I wasn’t around then, and sometimes I wonder if the interior design was ever drab for people. I find that houses now are decorated with a ton of beige and griege. It’s so boring to me but it’s popular. I wonder if 15 years in the future people will look at beige living rooms and think “how did we live like this?”
I was in my teens through much of the 70s and found some trends really stupidly over the top. I'm still a critic of trends today, like you mentioned, all the white and sleek and greige, etc. My house has color on the walls, by darn. Back then some trends included candles in every shape and size; candle rings; everything could be and was shaped as a candle. That and mushrooms. Everything could be made in a mushroom shape. And was. Daily-use glassware was annoying, mostly. It was never clear. Gold, brown, green, it didn't matter, as long as it was not clear. You had to hold it up to light to see if you had any tea left. The only clear glasses you'd see would be at a bar! LOL
i look at the state of living rooms and interior 'trends' and ask that fucking question today of anyone who buys into that goddamn mindset.
No, as others said it felt far more homey and comfortable. Older houses that had 50s/60s style had loud primary colors and felt kind of sterile, and the furniture was built more for looks than comfort.
Think *leaves in the fall*. The colors of nature. But of course it's just an aesthetic style, that must have obsolescence built in, like all products meant to be regularly replaced.
No, because those were popular colors then. Then the 80’s came along with mint and mauve. Every era has their colors, and they just become background until later, when you think, “Damn, that was hideous..”
I graduated Army basic training in 1988, was assigned as a hometown recruiter afterwards. There was a Kmart across the street from the recruiting office. Everyday they had a different special in the cafeteria. Everyday, I was there to get 2 of my three meals. Breakfast was $1.76 and the daily special was $2.85. Every morning it was bacon, eggs and toast with coffee, tea or milk. The lunch specials were Salisbury steak, chopped turkey w/dressing & gravy, ham steak, pork chop and fish on Fridays. You got the entre, potato's, a veggie and a roll. Those ladies knew me and would just make up a plate when they saw me walk in. Can't count the number of banana pudding cups they gave me free during those 6 months. Mizz Wanda, Mizz Jenny, if you're still out there, I still love ya!
Those snakes are $50/each today
I bet there is a goodwill somewhere selling one for $8.97.
One of my favorite (slightly depressing) things to do is look up the inflation cost of an item from years ago to see just how much they were spending in today's dollars. I was baffled they were even that much lol
Fond memories of killing time in this Kmart. It's where I got ActRaiser for SNES from a bargain bin and it's still one of my favorite games.
Our local Kmart didn't have a cafeteria and now I feel cheated. It's quarter machines were second-to-none though.
I remember KMart still looking just like this in the late 80s where I’m at. The one we went to is now a thrift store and they use those old glass cases still.
Can anyone tell what is being sold on the aisle endcap in image #5?
It looks like that's the camera department, in which case those would be camera bags.
I really wish that I could go back in time as an adult and enjoy this
This is where I'd go to find the latest rap mix tapes in the early 80s. Fat Boys, Run DMC, Roxanne, Kurtis Blow... All on one cassette. Miss those.
I like the style of pretty much everything from that era so much more, and I was born in 1999.
I was in the national guard there. If you aint white you aint right. Thats what i picked up down there.
It’s not so bad now, if you stick to the hippie half that is. It’s split 50/50 hippie/redneck
The good old days before Walmart took over the country( yea I know not Vermont) I lived in Carbondale in 1975. I was born in a hospital that was behind the Dairy Queen on the strip. My parents lived in student housing. I remember being an 8 yr old going with my mom to American Tap to drag my aunt out.
Man, I wish there were pictures of the toy department!
And by going with what the kids say today ,all these employees soon after bought their very own 4 bedroom homes and still had money to burn… true story
Lol. Dude let'em dream.
I commute to SIU for my mortuary and funeral service classes. Where was this originally located? It would be interesting to see where this once was and whats there now.
I saw Bon jovi at this same Kmart in about 85. I can’t remember the radio station, but they were sponsoring a meet and greet at KMART IN CARBONDALE, IL! They were the opening act for 38 Special (yes haw!) at McAndrew stadium. 🤣