Old Hobby Shop Photos

[Daddyfink]

And who can forget, or who remembers Woolworth. I shopped at this one as a kid, but, they had stopped carrying models because there was a hobby shop a few stores down. Wish I could find a pic of that place 

[peteski]

On 6/14/2018 at 9:25 AM, Daddyfink said:

And who can forget, or who remembers Woolworth. I shopped at this one as a kid, but, they had stopped carrying models because there was a hobby shop a few stores down. Wish I could find a pic of that place 

 

Yeah, I mentioned Woolworth in my earlier post.  There was a very large (multi-story) one on Washington St. in Boston, MA in the '70s.  Long gone now.  They had a large selection of models and supplies.

[lordairgtar]

On 6/13/2018 at 9:03 PM, Phirewriter said:

Clearly you've never dealt with Dennis from Happy Hobby on 78th and Burleigh. Was told to leave if I was just looking and not buying anything. That was only a few years ago. 

His brother had the store on 82nd and National. Talk about a grouch and a paranoiac. He always went on about how other hobby shop owners were out to get him and ruin his business.

 

[Phirewriter]

Talk to any person in the southeastern Wisconsin area who has any kind of hobby (models, R/C, trains, etc...) And they'll probably have an interesting Happy Hobby story. 

[landman]

The color photo was taken in my hometown. The hobbies were in the back of the stationery store which was on the right hand side of the white building. Long gone. The black & white photo shows one in Ottawa that I frequented for years. Also long gone.

[ChrisBcritter]

My BFF grew up in Metuchen, NJ. While Googling info on his family's Chinese restaurant, I found this shot:

(image from Metuchen-Edison Historical Society)

The owner (second from right) had just won all this stuff in a photo contest, including a shiny new yellow '60 Studebaker Lark.

 

[Daddyfink]

 

[Tom Geiger]

Since the photos have gone to not so old, here's some images from a hobby crawl we took on Long Island NY in  2005.

 

Dave's Hobby is gone.  It was an interesting place and a jumble of everything old and new inside....

Yes, this is an aisle in the store!

We also went to Gary Weickert's  "Get It On Paper" store, which was in a garage building on his home's property.

Bonus points if you can identify the characters in the photo.

 

[cobraman]

I think I could have spent a long time in Daves Hobby.

[SfanGoch]

2 hours ago, Daddyfink said:

 

 

Wow, Jesse! Two of me old favorite joints. And, both in Queens!  

Top photo is (was) 105 Hobbies on Jamaica Avenue in the Richmond Hill section of Queens. Unfortunately, it closed earlier this year. They mostly catered to the RC crowd; but, they had an excellent model section which took up the entire right side and left front of the store. This was the only hobby shop I can recall where guys and kids could hang out and talk hobby. They had Saturday afternoon  RC classes in the backyard . Prior to 1995, it was known as Wilson Hobby Shop and was a neighborhood fixture for decades. Wilson was a major authorized retailer of Tyco trains and slot car stuff.

The bottom photo is Rudy's Hobby & Art Shop on 30th Ave. in the Astoria section of Queens. For years, Rudy ran an ice cream parlor/coffee shop from this spot. He then decided to open a hobby/religious articles shop. Rudy is one helluva nice guy. The entire place is stuffed with plastic and balsa kits and model train goodies in addition to the Virgin Mary statues.  The shop is still going strong, open Wednesday-Saturday.

[cobraman]

Not a very good photo but all I could find . In Chicago on 63 rd street . I worked on 63 rd about two miles from here . Went there often on my lunch time on paydays . Closed many years ago . It was a great place . 

[cobraman]

I used to go here once in a while too . More of a toy store but they did have a good selection of models .. Was in Oakbrook I’ll. 

[Phirewriter]

Wow, as many times as I was in the Chicago area in my youth I don't recall ever seeing that! In addition to all the LHS's we've lost, the Milwaukee area had some great independent toy stores that had all models and diecast a budding auto enthusiast could want. 

As a collector of vintage diecast (Redline Hot Wheels, Lesney era Matchbox, Corgi, etc...) I really miss those places too. We even had a couple of bike stores that carried models, I could get my plastic and Stingray fix in one visit.

Edited June 26, 2018 by Phirewriter

[Daddyfink]

3 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

 

Wow, Jesse! Two of me old favorite joints. And, both in Queens!  

Top photo is (was) 105 Hobbies on Jamaica Avenue in the Richmond Hill section of Queens. Unfortunately, it closed earlier this year. They mostly catered to the RC crowd; but, they had an excellent model section which took up the entire right side and left front of the store. This was the only hobby shop I can recall where guys and kids could hang out and talk hobby. They had Saturday afternoon  RC classes in the backyard . Prior to 1995, it was known as Wilson Hobby Shop and was a neighborhood fixture for decades. Wilson was a major authorized retailer of Tyco trains and slot car stuff.

The bottom photo is Rudy's Hobby & Art Shop on 30th Ave. in the Astoria section of Queens. For years, Rudy ran an ice cream parlor/coffee shop from this spot. He then decided to open a hobby/religious articles shop. Rudy is one helluva nice guy. The entire place is stuffed with plastic and balsa kits and model train goodies in addition to the Virgin Mary statues.  The shop is still going strong, open Wednesday-Saturday.

I just looked for vintage hobby shops and these came up! More amazing is someone knows them firsthand! Very cool!  Thanks for the info! 

Would love to visit Rudy's, it has that proper old hobby shop look! 

[SfanGoch]

Well, if you're ever in the area and do visit Rudy's, you can go to The Beer Garden at Bohemian Hall, located a couple blocks away on 29th St. & 24th Ave.

Don't be fooled by the small frontage. This is the hall

 

This is the beer garden in back

Edited June 26, 2018 by SfanGoch

[High octane]

2 hours ago, cobraman said:

Not a very good photo but all I could find . In Chicago on 63 rd street . I worked on 63 rd about two miles from here . Went there often on my lunch time on paydays . Closed many years ago . It was a great place . 

I've heard of Dispensa's but had never been there and I've been to Trost's only a couple of times as I was a "northsider."

[Phirewriter]

I'm still blessed with having Model Empire in my back yard. Hopefully they won't be going away anytime soon. Speaking of Chicago, I do miss Al's and Venture Hobby!

[ChrisBcritter]

A couple from my childhood favorite - Klipper's in Glenview, IL (formerly a Crosley dealer!):

Edited June 27, 2018 by ChrisBcritter

[vintagercr]

 

On ‎6‎/‎6‎/‎2018 at 9:56 AM, StevenGuthmiller said:

My hobby shop in the day did not have a counter person who looked like that.

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, vintagercr said:

 

My hobby shop in the day did not have a counter person who looked like that.

Mine neither!

2 guys.

One about 6 feet tall with bad hair & weird lips!

The other was about 5 feet tall, bald & probably 275 lbs.

A far cry from this photo.

 

Steve

[ChrisBcritter]

With that lineup of cars, Jayne Mansfield or Batman or Bozo the Clown could have been standing behind that counter and I wouldn't have noticed...

[SfanGoch]

I don't know about not noticing Jayne Mansfield. Ray Charles couldn't not notice her.

[Don Wheeler]

On 6/10/2018 at 1:12 AM, ChrisBcritter said:

 

 

 

 

A few images I've picked up on the net.

I was surprised to see this picture.  I remember that shop from when I was a kid in the 50's.  It was just a little hole in the wall right near the elementary school.  Four or five customers would be a crowd.  I loved that place.  Good memories.  I think the photo is from a Downey High School annual.  Thanks for posting.

Don

 

 

[Daddyfink]

On 6/26/2018 at 1:50 PM, SfanGoch said:

Well, if you're ever in the area and do visit Rudy's, you can go to The Beer Garden at Bohemian Hall, located a couple blocks away on 29th St. & 24th Ave.

Don't be fooled by the small frontage. This is the hall

 

This is the beer garden in back

Looks like a great place to have a Model Show! 

[SfanGoch]

Her's some trivia for you Jesse. What do Yankee great Whitey Ford, actors George Maharis (Buzz Murdock in "Route 66") and Patrick McGoohan* ("Secret Agent Man"/Danger Man/"The Prisoner") have in common? They were all born within a couple blocks of Rudy's in Astoria.

*That's right. Irish actor Patrick McGoohan was as American as baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet.