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what I want to post (childhood memories 6: the dry cleaners) and what I have to post (ceiling fan)
2008.07.14
the front of the dry cleaners
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the front of the dry cleaners
1
actually, the front of the dry cleaners that you see now was remodeled by my dad (the inside, that is - someone else put in those doors) only a few years before the ownership of the strip mall changed hands and they thew out every tenant (only to have the same exact businesses come back in after some repainting and rent raising). They haven't changed it at all...
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actually, the front of the dry cleaners that you see now was remodeled by my dad (the inside, that is - someone else put in those doors) only a few years before the ownership of the strip mall changed hands and they thew out every tenant (only to have the same exact businesses come back in after some repainting and rent raising). They haven't changed it at all...
2
I never found out what that weird boarded up window was for. I remember I used to imagine silly stuff like it used to be a drive-thru window or something : )
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I never found out what that weird boarded up window was for. I remember I used to imagine silly stuff like it used to be a drive-thru window or something : )
3
One of the things that changed after they kicked all the tenants out. No more side door. It was the way I used to come in and out of the dry cleaners. It led to a little back room that had a couple chairs, i think, and a fridge.
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One of the things that changed after they kicked all the tenants out. No more side door. It was the way I used to come in and out of the dry cleaners. It led to a little back room that had a couple chairs, i think, and a fridge.
4
I remember thinking that sign was so tall! I guess when you're only 5 everything seems very, very tall...
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I remember thinking that sign was so tall! I guess when you're only 5 everything seems very, very tall...
5
the sign has barely changed...
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the sign has barely changed...
6
my brother and I used to sneak into this liquor store and get candy and play video games. the owner's nephew had a quarter with a hole drilled into it that he tied a fishing line to. he used it to play video games repeatedly with the same quarter and if he was in a good mood would let us use it too
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my brother and I used to sneak into this liquor store and get candy and play video games. the owner's nephew had a quarter with a hole drilled into it that he tied a fishing line to. he used it to play video games repeatedly with the same quarter and if he was in a good mood would let us use it too
7
No more liquor store. There was also a bar at the end at one time. I was friends with the owner's daughter and we went into the bar one time to use the chalkboard for tic-tac-toe that was just inside the door. my dad saw me come out of the bar and was furious!
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No more liquor store. There was also a bar at the end at one time. I was friends with the owner's daughter and we went into the bar one time to use the chalkboard for tic-tac-toe that was just inside the door. my dad saw me come out of the bar and was furious!
8
this is the picture that i took today. I was just messing around with my camera and this was the best shot that came out.
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this is the picture that i took today. I was just messing around with my camera and this was the best shot that came out.
9
To explain the title, I took some shots a while ago that I really want to post today but can't because I didn't take the photos today. The photos I did take today are pretty bad as I was experimenting and they are not very good.
So what to do? Well, post both. : )
I found some pictures of the dry cleaners that my parents used to own dated probably somewhere around the very late 70s to early 80s, not quite sure since there was nothing written on the backs of them. (Yes, my parents were stereotypical asians, they ran a dry cleaning business.) Anyway, I had some pictures of it that I took recently but they weren't taken today so I couldn't really post them. I decided I would go back and take a couple more just so I could post about it today. Well, after eating dinner and it being hot and me being tired from lack of sleep I ended up not going.
I have a lot of memories of this place. My parents didn't have babysitters. Instead we were taken along and my parents set aside a little corner of the store for me and my brother to play and do schoolwork and such. I spent most of the first 12 years of my life at the dry cleaners.
The school that I went to was just down the street so instead of walking home after school like everyone else, I walked "home" to my parents' dry cleaning business. This place was practically my second home. I remember the huge dry cleaning machine and funny smelling chemicals. I think no one does dry cleaning on premises anymore because of the health risk. There was this funny shaped ironing/steaming machine that had 3 triangular shaped...things that were made specifically for the shoulder areas of shirts. If my parents brought something for lunch that needed to be warmed up or kept warm, they just left it on that shoulder steaming machine because it was always so hot. There was a giant steam press for pants. I remember how cool I thought it was when my parents finally got a motorized clothing rack so they wouldn't have to walk all over the store to find someone's clothes. There were always unclaimed clothes that I got to play dress-up with. I remember we were held up, possibly at gunpoint but I think the guy was just sticking his hand in his pocket, and I was so angry and terrified while my brother was only a few feet away and so absorbed in his book he didn't even realize that we were being robbed. This was also where I knocked over a pot of ramen my parents were cooking on a portable electric stove and now have very large scars on my legs for life. I could also swear that this is where my brother and his friends thought it would be funny to get me to drink my dad's leftover can of beer (I think I was about 5 or 6).
I'm glad I'm writing this stuff down. Even as I'm thinking about it I realize I don't clearly remember a lot of things that happened. I think I'll add more to this as I remember things...I don't want to forget about all the time that I've spent at the dry cleaners...
Write down your memories NOW! They fade even more as you get older, believe me. I wish an ancestor of mine had written down thoughts/memories as you have.
Fantastic series - I love your blog because it is so very personal and goes beyond the superficial things that are just pictures! Thanks very much for sharing your history.
