I know there are lists of this stuff floating around the Internet, but if you’ve grown up in the Capital District and have lived here for at least a couple of years, you know the answer to these long-ago businesses and the like.
So, take a piece of paper and a pen, and see if you can get the correct answers to all of these Albany-based trivia questions. No cell phones, no phone-a-friends. Make your work your own.
Also, if you want to know the answer, I’ve used “Inviso-text” to hide the answers in this post. If you think you know the answer, drag your cursor behind the end of each question, and the words should show up. That’s assuming that the Times-Union has its “Inviso-text” filter running.
You know you’ve lived in Albany your whole life when…
- You know the location of the four Standard Furniture stores.
Albany, Kingston, Troy and Schenectady. - You know who the #1 Pontiac Dealer from New York City to Montreal was.
Mark Smith Pontiac, and saving you money got him there! - You know where U2 played their first concerts in Albany.
JB Scott’s on Central Avenue. - You can name at least four songs by Blotto.
I Wanna Be a Lifeguard, Metal Head, She’s Got a Big Boyfriend, We Are the Nowtones, I Quit, 1 2 3 Hang Up… - You know the TV show where the sunglass-wearing models walk through the Capital District in slow motion.
The Glenn Slingerland Situation. - You know what theater was showing Star Wars exclusively for about a year.
Cine 1-2-3-4-5-6 in Northway Mall. - You remember that tiny clothing store next to Christopher’s on Central Avenue.
Tinkle Shop. - “Don’t sign your name, it would be a shame, until you see…”
Bumstead Chevrolet - You remember what Siena’s men’s basketball team was called before they were the Saints.
Indians - You know who had a great back room for stereo equipment.
Sounds Great - The brand of bread that had the Peanuts characters on the wrappers.
Milbrook Bread - The call letters for Rock 99.
WGFM, now known as the River. - You remember what was at 711 Central Avenue before it was the OTB Teletheater.
Kings’ Department Store. - You know the previous name of Bishop Maginn High School.
Cardinal McCluskey High School. - You remember the captain of the Good Ship News and his friendly sidekick.
Commander Ralph Vartigan and Mr. Monkey. - You remember the drive-in where the current Kohl’s Department Store exists today.
Mohawk Drive-In - You remember the show all your high school friends got to appear on at 6:45 am on Channel 6.
Student Spectrum - You remember how much the sales tax was in Schenectady.
4% - You remember the name of the famous pitcher for the Schenectady Blue Jays in the 1940’s.
Tommy Lasorda - Bonus points if you know what currently sits on the old Schenectady baseball stadium.
Stadium Golf Course - You remember the first two names of the Times Union Center.
Knickerbocker Arena, Pepsi Arena. - You know what war Henry Johnson fought in.
First World War. - You know the best way to get to the town of Tobebuilt.
Take Exit 3 from the Northway… - You can sing the jingle of the beer that was produced in Albany up until the 1970’s.
“Schaefer … is the … one beer to have when you’re having more than one…” - You know where the Albany Billiard Ball factory was located.
Intersection of Delaware Avenue and Southern Boulevard, it’s now a strip mall. - You remember the local fast food chain that was the home of the Club Burger.
Caroll’s. - You remember the comic book store at 23 Central Avenue.
Fantaco. - You know which supermarket’s logo used the God of Thunder to smash prices.
Albany Public Markets - You remember the name of the bookstore adjacent to the Madison Theater.
Clapp’s. - You remember the guy who used to say hi to all the small fries on TV.
Howard Tupper from TV Tournament Time.
Ready… and here… we… GO!!!
Chuck The Writer 
Albany trivia?! I’m shocked…on a day of mourning like today it should be Albano trivia.
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ill just throw a couple out
3 = JB Scotts
5 The Glen Slingerlands situation – but most of that was done in Saratoga I believe.
9 = Indians
13 Kings department store
16 Mohawk Drive In
20 Stadium Golf Course
24 Schaefer is the one beer to have when youre having more than 1.
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8 Your Bumstead man
14 Cardinal McCloskey
21 Kinckerbocker and Pepsi Arenas
23 Exit 7
29 Clapp’s
30 Howatd Tupper
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Well, Exit 7 will take you to Cohoes… so what exit will take you to Tobebuilt? 🙂
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6 the fox
10 Mom’s
17 Answers Please
22 WWI
25 Delaware Ave south of Whitehall
27 Fantaco
28 Price Chopper
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@JoeAlbany –
6, 10 and 17 aren’t the answers I’m looking for. 22, 25 and 27 are correct. The God of Thunder worked for another grocery store, not Price Chopper.
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27. FantaCo!!
I have the original matteboard cover art for Smilin’ Ed #3 “Famished Monsters of Funland!”
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3 – JB Scotts
4 – I Wanna Be a Lifeguard, Metalhead, She’s Got a Big Boyfriend, My Baby’s the Star of a Driver Ed Movie
15 – Commander Ralph
25 – Jefferson Street, Albany
27 – FantaCo
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@Colleen –
Nice run.. but the Billiard Ball Company was somewhere else.
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@ Chuck — Yeah, my bad on #25, I was thinking of the Bung Factory. Ask Michael Farrell …
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10. Hippos?
28. Grand Union?
I’m a bit too young for most of these. but I did know “I Wanna Be a Lifeguard”, and my dad used to work at JB Scotts!
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@Lan –
10 actually had a radio jingle that was based on the song “My Boyfriend’s Back” by the Angels. 28 was actually a local chain of grocery stores, that unfortunately is no longer here. Not Grand Union. JB Scott’s was a great club. Kinda wish it was still around today.
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1. I think I’ve got three of them: one on lower Central, near Woolworths; one on upper Central by Gateway Diner and (I’m SO dating myself) where the old DMV was; and one on Broadway in Menands.
6. Cine 1-4 at Northway Mall
7. Was that De Ja Vu?
10. I can’t pull up the name, but I know where it was! In that old building still standing on Central Avenue by the Office Max. “The back room’s back and it’s better than ever…” ARGH!
11. I think that was Sunbeam.
15. Commander Ralph and Mr. Monkey (or are you referring to “Mary Caroline with the weather?”
18. It was only 4% state tax, because Schenectady didn’t have sales tax!
26. The Carrol’s Club Burger used to kick the Big Mac’s butt, and you could get a grilled cheese made on inside out hamburger buns. And, I still have my Speedy Gonzales glass.
28. If I’m not mistaken, the grocery story was something Public…
Hey, Chuck! What was JB Scott’s (the original one in the 300 block on Central) before it was JB Scott’s? If I’m not mistaken the answer to 28 is, in a way, directly related!
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@Holly CC:
1. I was only looking for the cities, as in Albany, Kingston, Troy and Schenectady, but I love the effort.
7. Not Deja Vu. I always wondered about those stores, if anyone actually bought “water pipes” from that store or not.
10. Don’t you hate when those jingles get stuck in your head?
11. Not Sunbeam.
15 is correct, I meant Mr. Monkey, wasn’t Mary Caroline Powers the weathergirl du jour before Bob Kovachick came into town?
28. Very close. It was “Public.”
All your other answers are correct. Good job!
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2 Smith Pontiac
12 WGFM
19 Tom Lasorda
28 Albany Public Market
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@RussellG –
Great, you went four for four. No attempts on the other 26 questions?
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28. Albany Public Market
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3. SUNY Albany in 1978
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@kerosena –
#28 is correct, but U2 didn’t play any concerts outside of Ireland in 1978. Also, it was a club in Albany where they made their Capital District debut…
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Anybody get #23 yet? I thought it was Exit 7 because there used to be a sign on the Northway “Exit 7 To Be Built.”
(There also used to be an active railroad crossing. On the Northway.)
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@Margaret –
Yeah, Exit 7 would have taken you to the town of Tobebuilt, but apparently Exit 3 is a more direct route.
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The things that come to you in the middle of the night… is 7 Rosen’s?
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Actually it was the Tinkle Shop, but Rosen’s is a good guess as well.
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Sure ARE lotsa McCluskeys in America, huh?
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27,0000 McCluskey families in America.
100 McCluskey families in Ireland.
10 McCluskey families in England.
2 McCluskey families in Germany.
1 Groesch-McCluskey family in ” ” “.
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14. I thought Maginn was the merger of Cardinal McCluskey and VI.
29. Wasn’t it Lyrical Ballads Bookstore?
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Richard – I was actually referring to the original building where the campus of Bishop Maginn is now, that was the building for Cardinal McCluskey.
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I moved from Albany to NYC 16 years ago but I think I can remember some of these;
6. Hope I’m not being too picky but Holly CC has it as Cine 1-4 but I’m pretty sure it was Cine 1,2,3,4,5,6 by the time Star Wars came out. I seem to remember seeing Jabberwocky in early 1977, several months before Star Wars was released, in one of the smaller “new” theaters either 5 or 6.
10. Sounds Great.
11. Millbrook Bread
17. I don’t know the answer but I remember Sunrise Semester very well.
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It was Cine 1-2-3-4-5-6 when Star Wars debuted there. Sunrise Semester was a cool show – classrooms for insomniacs. Figured if you’re going to be up that early in the morning, it wouldn’t kill you to learn something. 🙂
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Don’t sign your name until you see Bumstead Chevrolet!
Albany Albany Albany, State and Pearl!
WROW….muuuusiiiiicccc!
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And Joe’s Deli, best roastbeef around! Sigh.
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Anyone remember the tunnel at SUNY where you could ride your bike through it and cool down in the summer? I think they filmed a movie scene in there…
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An what about Mike’s Neba? And the Teen Disco? What about the old museum where the dinosaurs once stood?
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The plane crash on Euclid Ave an the smell from the First Prize factory whenever they slaughtered pigs. It just keeps coming back – thanks!
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And what was that Italian restaurant on the corner of Fuller and Central. Wasn’t there a sporting goods store across the street from it – Bob Daubney’s? And how about the Soap Box derby track at Westland Hills baseball on Colvin Ave?
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HOW ABOUT THE BEST SANDWICHES- JOES DELI MADISON AVE! HOW ABOUT THE FIRST FAST FOOD BEFORE MAC DONALDS- CARROLS. THE TINLKE SHOP ON CENTRAL AVE? THE DINER ON CENTRAL AVE WHERE ALL HS STUDENTS WENT FOR FOOD AND SHAKES AFTER SCHOOL?
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Does anyone remember the Mohawk Drive in?
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The best subs where supreme subs By Hank DArcey
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I was happy to see that you included the Tinkle Shop in your questionaire. It was my father’s business for many years. It was located next to Spectors. Thank You.
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I can still remember #10’s song, something like “The back room’s back and you’re gonna save some money, hey yeah, hey yeah, the back room’s back!” followed by the announcer saying “Sounds Great’s great back room – is back” and of course the address, 1818 Central Avenue painted in giant numbers on the building – I still use that address reference point to help locate other nearby addresses and to know what the even numbered side of Central is…..
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#6 was NOT the 1-2-3-4-5-6, it was the Fox Colonie, which was located across from the Dunkin Donuts on Wolf Road (about where Buca de Beppo is now).
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Oh, and I think the “Cine 1-2-3-4-5-6” at the time was only the “Cine 1-2-3-4,” but I’m not sure when they got their “-5-6”.
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Exit 7 was the exit to “Bebuilt”, not to “Tobebuilt”. Ric Mitchell’s “traffic helicopter guy” Fred Peabody on 98WTRY AM used to say, “Just take exit 7.” And Ric would say, “There is no Exit 7,” to which Fred would reply, “Of course there is, I can see the sign, ‘Exit 7 to Bebuilt!'”
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Oh, drat. I take it back, it WAS the 1-2-3… It was Empire/Jedi that I saw at the FOX. I remember it was the first weekend of summer vacation, which would make it Jun 25 (looking back at an old calendar). I was bored. My mom said, “Call your friend Mike, I’ll drive you to the movies. There’s some space movie showing at the one-through-six.” So we went. We were blown away. I must have seen it 25 times before school was back in session. My friend Mike and I joined the official fan club. We were Charter Members… I wish I still had the swag they sent us (some stickers, patches, letterhead, etc.). We were members number 00184 and 00185.
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the albany billiard ball factory was on Delaware at Southern Blvd. i worked there from Dec 1970 – March 1971 (the month I entered the Navy in response to my draft notice). It was a fascinating operation, almost primitive in the simplicity of the manufacturing process of what they referred to then as “cast phenolic resin” balls. Among many things I remember one of the supervisors. He was a big irish guy who was missing all four fingers on one hand (dont recall whether right or left). He had worked the bone-crushing machine at some point where bits of bone were pushed into a machine by hand (or so the story went). Story was, the operator was supposed to keep his thumbs hanging down so they caught the table edge which stopped the hands from going too far into the machine. He didnt follow the instructions and voile, off came his fingers, all four of them at the big knuckles, there werent even any stumps. We used to keep the balls in between operations in 55 gallon cardboard barrels (the ones with the metal bottoms and top metal ring). The most remarkable thing was that his grip with just his thumb and the edge of his index finger’s knuckle was so strong he could pick up a half full drum (had to weigh 80-120 lbs) by the rim. I remember popping the high number sticks out of the lead molds, pouring the goop into the empty lightbulbs to bake, dumping the baked bulbs onto a metal grate to knock off the glass, trimming the sticks and dropping them back into the glass bulbs into which goop was poured to make the rough high balls (no stick required for the low balls). A small loop of metal was placed into the mold prior to baking for the cue balls to be used in coin-operated pool tables for auto-return of the cue ball. Didnt you ever wonder why the cue ball came back after a scratch but the object balls didnt? There is some kind of magnetic detector in the table that senses the metal embedded in the cue ball. That’s enough for now…
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The Mowhawk Drive-in on Central and the Turnpike Drive-in on western
ave. Lums on Wolf Road home of the Ollie Burger along with Platts Place for sandwiches. The Fox movie house was not where Bucca is that
was Platts place was the Fox is where Hooters now is. The plane crash
on euclid was very cool small plane no one hurt but right through the house I still have the polaroids!! Someone mentioned the Teen Disco to
funny to remember that place. Kings was @ 711 central when I was a kid
Other random names I recall…Boom Boom Branigan….The Golden Fox..
Valleys Steak House….Of course Foghat @ JBScotts! The smell of home ggrown @ Spac.. Wine skins…Cine 1,2,3,4 then 5,6 then 7,8. The arcade @ Northway mall..If I try I’m just getting started.. Where was the sign stating how many days without an injury to a worker??
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Does anyone know the name of the record store that was at Latham Shopping Center when it was a strip mall?
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freddy Freihofers show and bakery with uncle jim fisk,, earl pudnie show. wptr ha ha ha boom boom branagin ha ha ha i still remember him when they dropped ping pong balls out of hellicoptor at standard furniture new store next to westgate mall marsh hallman chevrolet the perv ha ha ha …the aerodrome i think is the name of place jimmy hendrix played juice bar if i remember right… colsons book store where under age (me) could buy old playboys off state street a bar call the devils inn and the two houses behind the bus station.. McCowins park ceeement pond.the street with yellow bricks you would go to on holloween hoffmans play ground.. ok no name but little amusement park off of gipp road had a few rides and a great merry go round
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mohawk airlines and 17 people died. i took pictures also. just in one house and right wing just touched other house. plane looked like someone placed it there no wreckage all in tacked. i was in high school then.
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