You know how you're driving around town and you see a building that's maybe now a paint store, but you see the roof and the shape and the window on the side that once was a drive-thru, and you think: That was so a Burger King!
Not Fooling Anybody collects photos of those transformed buildings, and it even sorts them by the original structure.
Oh, some of these people aren't even trying. I've never heard of Country Side Donuts (is it a Canadian thing?) but even I know County Side is a stooopid variation.
Although perhaps not as good as this Mister Donut which became a Master Donut.
But some are actually quite smart! This ex-Taco Bell became a cheesesteak place, so they turned the bell into the Liberty Bell.
This is the famed White Castle Rob and I used to drive past often in Mpls. It's a jeweler now, but instead of wrecking a gorgeous classic castle-shaped building with a dumb conversion, he smartly left it the same. Classic.
About Me
- Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
- I'm an entertainment editor at MSNBC.com, and have maintained Pop Culture Junk Mail since August, 1999. The New York Times called the site "one of the best places to explore pop culture online," and Entertainment Weekly included it on their Top 100 Web Sites list. If you like weird food, strange products, and 1970s and 1980s nostalgia, PCJM is your home away from home.
I have a brand new BOOK, written with Brian Bellmont. "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s." Buy it online, and follow our retro reminiscing on our GenXtinct blog, Facebook, and Twitter.
8 comments:
We've got Country Time Donuts up here. Considered the coffee of last resort if you don't see a Tim's on the horizon (very unlikely). Country Time's clientele are mostly hookers on a break, crack heads, etc.
You can so tell when Carvel Ice Cream stores used to be there.
I never went to the White Castle Jewellry store when it was a White Castle but I've bought jewellry in there.
If this interests you, here in Chicago many Burger King franchises are becoming "Burger Delights"
http://www.chicagoist.com/archives/2005/01/19/burger_king_delights.php
Oh, man, I used to frequent that White Castle in Minneapolis!
Weird, here's another one - we used to go to this Little Caesar's when we lived in Ferndale:
http://www.notfoolinganybody.com/23backintheday/
If I run across the Burger Chef restaurant in my hometown that was converted to a Chinese joint I'm going to freak.
Damn - familiar location #3 - this Pizza Hut was near our house at Lake and 31st Ave S in Minneapolis - we tried it once and the service was so bad (and the manager so rude) that we never went again. Little wonder it went out of business.
http://www.notfoolinganybody.com/64pinedatacos/
There is a "Michelle's Donuts" here in L.A. that clearly used to be a Winchell's. It's obvious they re-used some of the sign. My husband and I call it Minchell's!
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