The McDonald brothers started the McDonald’s franchise in San
Bernardino, California and popular legend is that Ray Croc became
involved and the rest is history, but, not so fast. As another famous
Phoenician, Paul Harvey, would say, “Now, the rest of the story.”
Neil Fox forever changed the fast fo
od
landscape right here in Central Phoenix. His franchise was built near
Central and Indian School (and can be located via the public art photos
at the light rail stop) and was the first to use the new McDonald’s
building design featuring the now iconic golden arches. Used to support a
slanted roof, the golden arches were twice as high as the roofline and
lit, so they could be seen for quite a distance. When the McDonald
brothers saw the completed structure they were amazed – not by the
gorgeous building destined to be a classic, but because Fox had used the
McDonald’s name. They thought they were just selling the speedy food
concept and the building design. They had assumed that the restaurant
itself would be called Fox’s because McDonald’s would mean nothing in
Phoenix. Fox’s response was “Why change it? It’s great as it is.” The
brothers agreed, and thus, the iconic look and branded name of
McDonald’s began here.
Another Valley icon, the 76-year-old Bob’s Big Boy, also started here
and then went on to fill our memories and the country with the famous
fiberglass statues. The business actually began in Glendale, CA in 1936,
but the 50s buzz word was franchise, so the original Bob Wian sent four
staff to the growing city of Phoenix to experiment with the idea of a
Big Boy franchise. It was 1954 and the location they chose was the NE
corner of Thomas and Central, where the statue of the Native Code Talker
is currently located. The restaurant had the first carhops in Phoenix
and featured Kachina artwork on the back wall. Some people thought it
was a little crazy to spend that much on a building and business in such
a small town, but we all know what happened. The Phoenix location was a
huge success and soon Big Boy statues began popping up across the
country, but the franchise started right here. Though Bob’s Big Boy is
long gone from Phoenix, it’s not gone from our memories. You can see
footage of the iconic Phoenix’s
Bob’s Big Boy being built.
Those first McDonald’s and Bob’s Big Boys are gone, some icons of the
past have been rehabilitated and reused, such as My Florist on McDowell.
While the building is undergoing major renovation, the large purple My
Florist sign has been an iconic part of the Valley’s landscape since
Vada Pearl Schwartz opened My Florist as a floral shop in 1947.
She
was a local legend who was known to wear a purple dress with a purple
orchid every day. If, by chance, she was not wearing an orchid, your
flower order was free. The store was purple inside and out, including
all of the delivery vans, and she drove a one-of-a-kind purple car: a
Besasie X-2, custom built by Raymond Besasie of Milwaukee. When Vada
died in late 1966, her daughter, Norma Brooking, took over and ran it
until she died and left it to her employees. The employees ran My
Florist until 1996 when it closed as a floral
shop and later reopened as the Willo Bakery and My Florist Café, whose
doors were closed and locked in October, 2010. The site is currently
under renovation and is slated to reopen with a new restaurant and the
iconic sign, which has been long used by other businesses as a locator.
Found a bit of Arizona history on my doorstep, when I tripped over a box left by the mailman. Not an unusual occurrence since every once an a while my family ships random treasures looking for a new residence. Slicing through the tape I realized, it was a much bigger surprise. When, I saw Nadine Jansen staring back at me. She was famous for playing piano with the left hand and trumpet with right at the same time. This tribute CD shows off her great voice. “The Very Best of Nadine Jansen” (Jantone) is a retrospective of her music selected from her five-decade career and recordings in various settings. While listening, shocked to hear something recorded live from the Flame (where the US Bank tower now stands.) A restaurant that was in Downtown Phoenix famous for it’s jungle decor that included Yum Yum, a live monkey behind plate glass. Who had learned to pleasure himself in full view of families dinning and quickly he disappeared. Thank You! John Dixon for the treasures of Arizona Music.
