So, seeing BrooksNYC's profile picture the other day made me wax nostalgic.
I doesn't take much.
I remember hating K&B (a once ubiquitous chain of New Orleanian drugstores, before Rite Aid etc, much like the nutria, invaded and destroyed its natural habitat)...but mainly because of that color.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, that
Of course this guy didn't win. Too arcane? Not gay enough? Too subtle? Too old?
Who knows.
My attitude with time has softened into nostalgia. That's how it often happens.
That purple and white, however, I still can't get behind.
Back in the day, you could, of course, buy anything you wanted there, from pencils which I (mortifyingly) had (clearly low on the school supply totem pole)
to vodka (which I did not have, but which would have been clearly been high on the school supply totem pole)
I remember the K&B at the mall, the big one. It had lunch counters, each table with its own little jukebox. The waitress would walk down an enclosed aisle to serve all the tables abutting the low wall. You could get a hamburger and fries....in a drug store. Can you imagine wanting to eat in a drug store now?
I barely want to get a pack of chips in one now.
9 comments:
We Canadians just love that you can buy liquor ANYWHERE in America!
I used to LOVE when my mom would buy us lunch at K&B, although the best place was of course the Maison Blanche downtown. Or am I thinking of the D.H. Holmes? My memories have grown fuzzy over time. I just remember there being some kind of marshmallow-chocolate-almond candy one of those places sold that we would go nuts for. Also, they had good doughnuts. Although I think maybe that was the Woolworth's come to think of it. This comment has gotten WAY longer than I originally intended. To summarize: Yay lunch counters!
Thanks for this post. My nostalgia for vanished New Orleans ambushes me all the time.
I have a K&B ballpoint pen that still writes in K&B purple ink. Because K&B purple is the worst purple in the history of purple, it remains a vivid point of reference for any New Orleanian born before 1990. "So-and-so's shirt (house, eyeshadow) is K&B purple" you say, and everyone knows exactly what you mean. I love that.
This thigh-slapper dates back to my father's generation:
Q. What has two legs and fucks cats?
A. Mrs. Katz, and sometimes Mr. Besthoff.
(Doesn't really work in print.)
I had great affection for K&B. I have none for despiséd Rite Aid.
Dave, I used to go to D.H. Holmes and Woolworth's too. Another "yay" for old lunch counters!
Oh I remember the K&B drug store. I loved the ice cream that they sold. I also remember an acquaintance that owned the American building downtown in Hattiesburg who’s last name was Katz and claimed to be an heir to the thrown.
HATED the color scheme too!
We had a Newberry's Drugs with a lunch counter up until 1999.
Yay lunch counters.
My attitude with time has softened into nostalgia. That's how it often happens.
welcome to older age!
In Oregon & Washington you can only buy liquor in a State Liquor Store & here in Oregon you can't touch the bottles, they are all behind the counter.
I refuse to involve the ampersand; it is always KAYBEE or The KAYBEE.
I remember some Southern Decadence where two queens had snagged the purple smocks the check out ladies wore and had name tags so you would know one was Kay and one was Bee.
And I too have a KAYBEE purple ballpoint pen!
Lastly, I still long for DH Holmes' cafeteria on Iberville. Talk about bread pudding.
Charming memories. We used to have 'Wags' restaurants/grills in select Walgreens drug stores 25-years ago. Here's the thing: best. strawberry. pie. ever!
Hell, remember when one could buy liquor at Walgreens? That wasn't all that long ago actually...
DH Holmes was my favorite. I had lunch there the last day it was open, stole a menu, still have it somewhere. I loved hanging out on Saturdays on Canal Street.
Post a Comment