Tag Archives: Kingsport TN

Parkway Plaza redux (sort of)

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In my previous (August, 2015) posting on Parkway Plaza, I was a little dismissive of it, which was wrong. When this Plaza was built, in 1961, it was poised to take advantage of the fire hose of traffic heading into Kingsport from the Southwest Virginia/Southeast Kentucky region. Well, then I-26 (completed in 2003) went in, bypassing Kingsport and taking the fire hose with it.

In an article written by Frank Creasy for the Kingsport Times-News edition of June 4, 1961, Greene Investments announced that the new Parkway Plaza was scheduled to open that October and would feature anchor stores Kroger, Grants, and W.B. Greene Ladies Fashion Shop. The Plaza actually opened in November and included One Hour Martinizing #4, Reba’s Coiffures, Potter’s Barber Shop, Armour Drug, Top Value Stamp Store and Dutch Oven Bakery.

Kroger and Armour Drug store kept their downtown locations, also. The other Kroger was located approximately where the church-owned building sits across from Mafair UMC at Prospect Drive. Armour Drug had their store a little to the east of that building.

For its time, it was a happening place.

Carta Mundi

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These are from an unopened deck of promotional playing cards produced by Carta Mundi (“Cards for the World”) when the company had a location at 10444 Wallace Alley Street in Kingsport from 1996 to 2007.

According to a business website, Carta Mundi provided wholesale playing cards, game books, lotto games, memory games, game kits, educational games, board games, playing cards, video games, puzzles, dice, and classic games.

The facility moved to Dallas in 2007.

Junior Police

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This badge, shown as made by Stoffel Seals of Nyack NY, is undated. However, Stoffel Seals moved to Tallapoosa GA sometime in the early 2000’s and was acquired by TydenBrooks in 2010. Check the link for all the gory details.

Interestingly (to me), Stoffel Seals made almost all of the domestic airline “kiddie wings” during the heyday of air travel. I ought to know, since I’ve got a ton of them.

Central School Building

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In 1918, as WWI slowly ground to a halt in Europe and the 1918-1919 influenza pandemic began raging out of the foul trenches of that war, Kingsport was building its first combined school building. The building, much remodeled, still stands at the corner of Watauga Street and East Sevier Avenue.
This post card, probably printed in the early 1920s, is another of the series commissioned by T. J. Stephenson.

Puppy Tags

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In the early 1950s, cities around the country provided two metal identification tags to all school children.  Authorities had considered tattooing, but the threat of severe burns cancelled that.  Fingerprinting was out, too, as an invasion of personal privacy.  So, it was metal tags, which the kids were supposed to wear around their necks on a metal bead chain.  These are two that were issued to children in Jackson School.  I’ve covered the information because the people are still alive.

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And, while researching these tags, I found out that the “tooth notch” found on authentic military dog tags of the time (and later: when I got my dog tags in 1963, the notch was there…I have no idea of where those tags are now) was actually there to properly orient the metal tag in the Model 70 Addressograph Hand Identification Machine.

I never got tags when I was in school, but, then, we moved around a lot.

Moose Lodge #972

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At this time, the Kingsport Moose Lodge was located on Reservoir Road, in a location now crossed by I-26.  It’s food and natatorium were much admired.  In 1985, law officers raided the place and confiscated several slot machines.

On the back of this money clip, the logo “HIT”-USA is debossed.  That company, as far as I can tell, is still doing business on line as Hit Promotional Products.