Borden's cafeteria/restaurants

[Bumby]

On the old board there was an interior pic of the Borden's @ 1st and Lewis.  I remember it as a new (built in the early/middish 60's) building, buff colored painted cinder block with white decorative cement blocks - it was built right up to the sidewalk on Lewis.  The parking lot was on the south side of the building going east/west.  In fact one could drive across Lewis at 1st into Borden's parking lot with just a slight jog.  I did plenty of dining at Silver Castle and Borden's, one of my Dad's car lots was next to the little building that is still there on the SW corner of 1st and Lewis (then a Household Finance/storefront church now).  

When Swinney's closed...it was located in the old TG&Y.  The offset double door of Swinney's was TG&Y's front door and you could also use the door on the south side that was closed off during Swinney's time.   If you stand at that main front door and look east...you would be looking straight @ Borden's.  There was an Anthony's, a shoe store, the post office to the north between TG&Y and the Circle.  Swinney's plumbing department entrance was the back entrance into the shoe store.

I remember when the area on both east & west sides of Lewis between 3rd and 1st were car lots.  Hundreds upon hundreds of clear incandescent bulb light strings made the whole area look like the Tulsa State Fair's midway.  One really big car lot had corrugated tin along the back borders, all brightly painted with lots of graphics of happy customers driving away down street scenes.  At the age of 2 or 3 I was sure it WAS a carnival and highly disappointed my Dad wouldn't let me go ride the rides.  

[waterboy]

Undoubtedly, we are from the same hood. The string of incandescent bulbs and garish neon along the Circle still occassionally reside in my dreams. It was a cool little shopping area.

Do you remember when the tornado came down Lewis ave. and bent all the light posts of the Warehouse Mkt at odd angles? It barely touched down and scared us all silly.