Let's Head to the 60's
Click Below for the Jukebox hits of 1967
July 11, 2012 Memphis Memories, Commercial Appeal, The Commercial Appeal files
Community welcomes new store
Among early arrivals at Fred Montesi Super Market No. 3 on July 1, 1952, was Mrs. Louis Bendersky of 182 Windover Cove, accepting a package of cheese from Milton C. Glover, store manager. Mrs. Bendersky's 2-year-old son, Brian, was an interested observer of the transaction. Third in the Montesi chain, the store held its grand opening at 2923 Poplar.
Memphis' Trampoline Pits
Posted by Vance Lauderdale Lost Memphis on Mon, Jun 8, 2009 at 10:05 AM
In the early 1960s, a new form of entertainment opened all across the country, and Memphis wasn't immune to this crazy fad. Called "trampoline pits," these were essentially big rubber trampolines stretched over rectangular holes in the ground. You paid a quarter (I seem to recall) and bounced and bounced for 10 minutes or so.
They were usually low-rent affairs, set up outside abandoned gas stations and drive-ins. At first, the trampolines were mounted on steel frames above the ground, but to avoid disasters the owners eventually placed the mats over shallow holes surrounded by sand. And that's why they were called trampoline PITS.
About a dozen trampoline pits opened in Memphis in the summer of 1960. The first one, called Jump for Joy, was at Poplar and Perkins. Since the photos here were originally published in a 1961 White Station High School yearbook, I believe they show the Jump for Joy establishment, since it would have been just a few blocks south of the school, but I can't say for certain. (I can't tell from anything in the background.)
Trampoline operators responded by posting safety rules at all the pits. Among them was the curious admonition, "No smoking, eating, or drinking on trampoline," which seems painfully obvious. Chomping on a hotdog or slurping a milkshake while bouncing on a trampoline is just asking for trouble, if you ask me. And pretty hard to do, come to think of it.
Click below For All The Top Songs
