Slightly OT: It's sad to see landmarks from my time at USC disappear

[Dutch Cock]

I'm a Big Bird alumnus from 1970. It was a great place to eat and to hang out. Sandwiches and plate lunches, something for every taste, plus there was a laundromat in the same block. The only detriment was the Burger Beer on draught. Boy, that stuff had a wang to it.

Was there from 67-71 and ate many a lunch at the Big Bird and Dairy Bar on south Main. I only live about 25 miles from campus and visit that area quite frequently and what's so amazing to me is all the new student housing construction going up, it's all over that area now, I guess the campus is really expanding.

 

[king ward]

Was there from 67-71 and ate many a lunch at the Big Bird and Dairy Bar on south Main. I only live about 25 miles from campus and visit that area quite frequently and what's so amazing to me is all the new student housing construction going up, it's all over that area now, I guess the campus is really expanding.

Oh, it has, it is, and it will. It's for the better, although the future generations will never know what they missed in some respects.

 

[Forever Fowl]

Great memories of the Big Bird. I remember the Greek owner and his gorgeous wife. I loved to go in there on Sunday night and eat her banana pudding. Saw her a few years ago at the Greek Festival and she still looks good!

 

[wallycock]

Great memories of the Big Bird. I remember the Greek owner and his gorgeous wife. I loved to go in there on Sunday night and eat her banana pudding. Saw her a few years ago at the Greek Festival and she still looks good!

He also had 2 daughters that were in HS at the time, I think. They were pretty like mom.

 

[cockgrad90]

BSME 90 for me..Had classes in Sumwalt and attended the VERY FIRST class (EE elective) in Swearingen in fall of 87' at 7:58 am (Prof wanted to be the first). Lived in the towers (Douglas). Always like Stuffy's across the street..remember 10 cent wings and $0.99 pitchers of beer (10 wings and a pitcher for lunch..$2.00). Remember buying a LOT of 12 packs of Busch at 7-11 for $3.49...

 

[martwing]

Practically lived at Varsity Billiards back in the day. Managed by AL, with Ruby and Charlie as cooks. Best Chili Cheese dogs and greasy double cheese burgers, washed down with a 14 oz Old Milwaukee. Don't know how I would have made it through without them.
McGuire's boys Riker, Carver, etc would stop in after practice at the Coliseum.
Understand someone just reopened it recently.

 

[king ward]

Great memories of the Big Bird. I remember the Greek owner and his gorgeous wife. I loved to go in there on Sunday night and eat her banana pudding. Saw her a few years ago at the Greek Festival and she still looks good!

I'm glad you brought that up. She really was classically beautiful. Raven hair, olive skin.

 

[hahnenkampf]

I graduated with a BSEE in 1986. I was in Columbia today looking at a new project and I went to the SC bookstore to get some goodies. The cashier told me that the school recently purchased the block the bookstore sits on, from their corner all the way to Wendy's for new buildings. He then said he's not sure but thinks the store may close. This is my favorite bookstore because it is next to the old engineering building. I left there to go to Sandy's to get lunch and it was closed. This was news to me since I haven't been there in a couple of years. Then I realized how many places are gone that were such a big part of my college years.

1. Pappy's
2. The Big Bird
3. The laundromat
4. The honeycombs
5. Sandy's
6. Block C
7. Rainbows
8. Parthenon
9. KFC on Rosewood

Kinda sad about it.

When I first got married in 1972, my wife and I got a studio apartment in married student housing behind the Russell House for $50 per month. I think it is a parking garage now. Heck, the parking garage may have been torn down by now with something else in it’s place. I also remember when I could park in the little parking lot between the Russell House and the Library.

 

[surfincock]

I'm glad you brought that up. She really was classically beautiful. Raven hair, olive skin.

Don’t forget they had two gorgeous daughters working there in 85

 

[king ward]

Don’t forget they had two gorgeous daughters working there in 85

That was well after my time.

 

[surfincock]

Good point

 

[cockthehammer#]

We made plenty of late night/early morning stops there. What I remember more than the food was the waiter. He was probably in his late 50s and was openly pissed off every time I saw him. I don't think it was anything we did...,

Would eat lunch at the Capitol Cafe on Friday's. Hamburger Steak with gravy & onions (strings). Then went next door to the Captol Newsstand to get the newest Spurs & Feathers

 

[boatingsportscock]

What was the little bar on Gervais St. next to the WIS building? The bartender wore a French beret and the girl there was American Indian I think.

 

[67gamecock]

When I first got married in 1972, my wife and I got a studio apartment in married student housing behind the Russell House for $50 per month. I think it is a parking garage now. Heck, the parking garage may have been torn down by now with something else in it’s place. I also remember when I could park in the little parking lot between the Russell House and the Library.

That little parking lot is now the location of the new Student Medical Center - very nice addition to campus, btw.

 

[sandlapper59]

Who remembers?

The football field replaced by the Russell House?
When the campus stopped short of Main street?
Who has swum in the old pool, boxed in the old field house, exercised in the Parthenon gym, played basketball on the University High court?

Kept thinking that by watching these threads long enough, someone with a Gamecock history as long as mine would show up. So far, hasn't happened and going back to 1945 may be the longest..

 

[NCGamcockFan2167]

Not just our campus, but the girls look like they weigh at least 30 lbs more nowadays on average. So the scenery has changed since the 80's.

everywhere......Went on a cruise a few weeks ago and I swear the boat was listing......People have gotten huge.....

 

[Forever Fowl]

I couldn't stomach the food at the Russell House so I bought meal tickets from several restaurants. One of my favorites was the College Corner. Loved their open faced roast beef sandwich with gravy and fries. The College Corner moved out to Bluff Rd and changed their name. When I was broke which was much of the time I'd get a meat and two at Cornell Arms cafeteria for around a dollar. Monday evening at Morrison's on Sumter was all you can eat shrimp night which didn't last long as they lost money on the throngs from Carolina. When I had a couple of bucks to burn I'd get a ribeye steak sandwich at Cogburns. It wasn't a sandwich but they served it with buttered toast, fries and a salad. Today you'd pay upwards of $20 for one that wouldn't be near as good. Jimmy's on lower Main had good hotdogs and they were cheap. I wish I had a nickel for ever pimento burger and lemonade I consumed at the Dairy Bar. Groucho's deli was located across the street from it's current location. The real Groucho ran it then and he had a mustache and smoked a cigar. His son took it over and he passed away a few years ago. I'm so old I remember when Andy of Andy's Deli worked at Groucho's and copied the menu when he opened his own place. But burned into my memory bank is walking into the Big Bird with the juke box blaring "give me a ticket for an airplane, ain't got time to take a fast train".

 

[king ward]

Great memories of the Big Bird. I remember the Greek owner and his gorgeous wife. I loved to go in there on Sunday night and eat her banana pudding. Saw her a few years ago at the Greek Festival and she still looks good!

I meant to mention earlier, I believe she was significantly younger than her husband. I'm going mostly by the fact he was graying a good bit even then. Plenty of thick hair, though.

 

[NCGamcockFan2167]

Dorms without AC in Columbia SC in September..... Talk about cruel and unusual punishment that we were charged for!!!

 

[coolcock2001]

@Coyote89 you went to Carolina? Aren't you a Dawg fan?

For those worried about Sandy's, I believe it's coming back...they are tearing down the building but putting Sandy's on the first floor of whatever they build back in its place. (Believe that's what I read, someone can correct me if I'm wrong)

 

[BT Gamecock]

Mountain Climber turkey sandwich in upstairs Russell House. Also, Wild Pizza was the delivery place on campus (out of Russell House?) You could use your meal/cash card for these. I remember dreading having to call my parent a month into the semester to add more money due to late night pizzas.

 

[boatingsportscock]

Who remembers?

The football field replaced by the Russell House?
When the campus stopped short of Main street?
Who has swum in the old pool, boxed in the old field house, exercised in the Parthenon gym, played basketball on the University High court?

Kept thinking that by watching these threads long enough, someone with a Gamecock history as long as mine would show up. So far, hasn't happened and going back to 1945 may be the longest..

I remember/have done all of that except the Parthenon gym part ...

 

[hartin]

Also at the Dairy Bar on South Main.

Best pimento burger I have ever had.

 

[boatingsportscock]

Practically lived at Varsity Billiards back in the day. Managed by AL, with Ruby and Charlie as cooks. Best Chili Cheese dogs and greasy double cheese burgers, washed down with a 14 oz Old Milwaukee. Don't know how I would have made it through without them.
McGuire's boys Riker, Carver, etc would stop in after practice at the Coliseum.
Understand someone just reopened it recently.

I was working during the summers in the mid-sixties making $50 a week and pretty much put all of it in the Malibu Beach OK pinball machines at Al's Varsity Billards. We were always very happy to cash in 20 games for $1. One day some older guys from West Columbia, one was a Womack, some how they got the glass on one of the machines to slide out and had me and my friends crowd around it hollering "hump the thirteen" while they were dropping the balls into whatever number they wanted. The machine quit racking up games at 999. They cashed in for $49.95 and Al was not happy

 

[RockThrillCock]

I graduated in 98, didn’t leave until 99 and things changed quickly. I guess Bates house is gone and I know the honeycombs are too. I used to lift in the Blatt PE Center. Now they have a state of the art facility. Across the street of the coliseum there was some big old building that was more or less an antique shop I parked at. McKenzies is gone, there was a record store on Harden, maybe it was Peaches? Group Therapy, Bar None, some pizza place upstairs with a juke box (can’t remember the name) Elbow Room. I even had lunch at that big bird place on Main St. they had Busch beer for a buck. I’m beginning to realize I spent a lot of time drinking

 

[coolcock2001]

I graduated in 98, didn’t leave until 99 and things changed quickly. I guess Bates house is gone and I know the honeycombs are too. I used to lift in the Blatt PE Center. Now they have a state of the art facility. Across the street of the coliseum there was some big old building that was more or less an antique shop I parked at. McKenzies is gone, there was a record store on Harden, maybe it was Peaches? Group Therapy, Bar None, some pizza place upstairs with a juke box (can’t remember the name) Elbow Room. I even had lunch at that big bird place on Main St. they had Busch beer for a buck. I’m beginning to realize I spent a lot of time drinking

• Bates House still there
• Blatt still in use, we just have two gyms now
• No record store on Harden but Papa Jazz is still in Five Points

 

[West305]

I graduated with a BSEE in 1986. I was in Columbia today looking at a new project and I went to the SC bookstore to get some goodies. The cashier told me that the school recently purchased the block the bookstore sits on, from their corner all the way to Wendy's for new buildings. He then said he's not sure but thinks the store may close. This is my favorite bookstore because it is next to the old engineering building. I left there to go to Sandy's to get lunch and it was closed. This was news to me since I haven't been there in a couple of years. Then I realized how many places are gone that were such a big part of my college years.

1. Pappy's
2. The Big Bird
3. The laundromat
4. The honeycombs
5. Sandy's
6. Block C
7. Rainbows
8. Parthenon
9. KFC on Rosewood

Kinda sad about it.

I would eat at the Big Bird about every day. When my son started there I took him to show him the best little restaurant in my opinion, and instead of The Big Bird, there was an Arabic supermarket in its place. I was so disappointed.

 

[houstontexascock]

Dorms without AC in Columbia SC in September..... Talk about cruel and unusual punishment that we were charged for!!!

Preston was hell the first few weeks of the Fall semester. All air conditioned now.

 

[67gamecock]

Remember the Opus! All black walls - and cheap draft beer!

 

[67gamecock]

Remember Don's in 5 Points. The 'Daddy' of all future 5 Points bars!

 

[Golden Cock]

I graduated 52 years ago. Rode around the campus area last month and didn’t recognize squat.

My first year we were in the brand new Dorm L, rm 511. First ones to occupy the place. Had phones in the room.

Next year I went to Preston in rm 129. Had a lot more fun over there.

 

[cockthehammer#]

Who remembers?

The football field replaced by the Russell House?
When the campus stopped short of Main street?
Who has swum in the old pool, boxed in the old field house, exercised in the Parthenon gym, played basketball on the University High court?

Kept thinking that by watching these threads long enough, someone with a Gamecock history as long as mine would show up. So far, hasn't happened and going back to 1945 may be the longest..

Your last point of reference got me. Don't want to go too far off the rails here, but it made me think of something I heard years ago. One of my uncle's high school basketball team (Greenville area- school hasn't existed in many, many years) played University High in the semi-finals of the Class B Division of the state tourney held at the old Carolina Field House in 1941. Univ. High won that game & probably would have anyway (decided height advantage, according to the story I heard), but...that's about as close to a "home court advantage" as you can have & not be on your actual home court!!

 

[cockthehammer#]

My memory of walking into the South Carolina Book Store for the first time (had seen it many times before being in town for ball games, visiting my brother's family, etc., but never went inside until I was a student). I noticed right away that they had other schools' gear...inc. Clemson's !! Talk about awareness of a culture change needing to take place!! I mentioned my astonishment to another student who said, "Oh, this is privately owned. They're just trying to make a dollar. There are people from everywhere here in Cola. & a lot of Clemson fans are here." Then he went on to point out that the school's "official" bookstore was in the Russell House. Every point he made was true, and I already knew these things.. .but, that didn't make me feel any better about it. If nothing else, it reinforced the inherent differences in a town that exists only because of the school...and a city that hosts many things. Have not been in the SC Bookstore in many, many years. May not be that way at all now or even in recent years/decades, but that's how I found it in 1978!!

 

[boatingsportscock]

I graduated 52 years ago. Rode around the campus area last month and didn’t recognize squat.

My first year we were in the brand new Dstiorm L, rm 511. First ones to occupy the place. Had phones in the room. the

Next year I went to Preston in rm 129. Had a lot more fun over there.

In 1966 I was in J on the floor with the scholarship athletes. Bobby Cremins taught me how to slide the stiff paper thing that came with your dry cleaning pants into the quarter slot of the pay phone to make pennies ring like quarters on long distance phone calls.

 

[king ward]

In 1966 I was in J on the floor with the scholarship athletes. Bobby Cremins taught me how to slide the stiff paper thing that came with your dry cleaning pants into the quarter slot of the pay phone to make pennies ring like quarters on long distance phone calls.

What I remember about Cremins - and I've carried the memory with me - is how he always smiled and acknowledged anyone who spoke or even nodded to him in passing on campus. I thought it bespoke a nice, considerate person and it went a long way with me.

 

[Forever Fowl]

While I was at Carolina the honeycombs had lettered names. I stayed in the one at Blossom and Main and I believe it was M. The second floor where my room was located had garnet carpet unlike the rest of the building. There was a pinball machine in the lounge which no doubt caused many students to flunk out. In those days there was a hall phone and above the one on my floor was scribbled a bootlegger's phone number. You could call that number 24/7 and he would meet you on the corner with a pint of your choice. The grounds below the honeycombs always reeked of urine as students were too lazy to use the hall bathroom. Instead they would relieve themselves through the veil blocks. A few years ago when they demolished my dorm I paid a Mexican construction worker $10 to retrieve two of those blocks. Today I proudly display them on my patio.

 

[67gamecock]

What I remember about Cremins - and I've carried the memory with me - is how he always smiled and acknowledged anyone who spoke or even nodded to him in passing on campus. I thought it bespoke a nice, considerate person and it went a long way with me.

Cremins is one of the most positive people I've ever known/met.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

Lizards Thicket was overrated. There, I said it

My last resort, really.

 

[Six Million Dollar Man]

Couple of places I miss. Lum's and The Dairy Bar. Hot dogs and hamburgers respectively. Lum's served beer in the large frosted glass for a buck. 20 oz.

 

[wpetzold]

Remember Don's in 5 Points. The 'Daddy' of all future 5 Points bars!

Does anyone else remember the Library on Rosewood. Ceilings were 7 foot high at best with the pool table in the back and shaging to beach music. Of course you had to watch your back when you came out, many a fight in the parking lot there. But the Busch beer was a buck and the music was good.