Neighborhoods: Englewood

[stjr]

^ They must've been awful back then (aside from their biscuits according to my pops) because during my trip out west last year I stumbled across one and it was insanely delicious.

After people got sick/died eating their food and other missteps regarding food quality, they had to "reinvent" themselves a few times to survive.  Good for them.  But, their past isn't pretty.  Here is some Wikipedia history below:

....Peterson's holding company was called Foodmaker Company, which by 1966 was known as Foodmaker, Inc. All Jack in the Box locations at this time were company-owned; location sites, food preparation, quality control and the hiring and training of on-site managers and staff in each location was subject to rigorous screening processes and strict performance standards. By 1966 there were over 180 locations, mainly in California and the Southwest.

In 1968, Peterson sold Foodmaker to Ralston Purina Company. In the 1970's Foodmaker led the Jack in the Box chain toward its most prolific growth (television commercials in the early 1970's featured child actor Rodney Allen Rippy), and locations began to be franchised. As the decade progressed, the chain began to increasingly resemble its larger competitors, particularly the industry giant, McDonald's. Jack in the Box began to struggle during the latter part of the decade, and its expansion into East Coast markets was at first cut back from original estimates, then halted altogether. By the end of the decade, Jack in the Box restaurants were being put up for sale in increasing numbers, forcing Foodmaker to respond quickly to turn the chain around.

As a result, around 1980, Foodmaker dramatically altered Jack in the Box's marketing strategy by literally blowing up the chain's symbol, the jack in the box, which dated back to the early San Diego days, in television commercials with the tagline, "The food is better at the Box". [5] Jack in the Box announced that it would no longer compete for McDonald's target customer base of families with young children. Instead, Foodmaker would attempt to attract older, more affluent "yuppie" customers with a higher-quality, more upscale menu. Jack in the Box restaurants were remodeled and redecorated with decorator pastel colors and hanging plants. Television advertising from about 1985 onward featured minimalistic music performed by a small chamber-like ensemble (specifically a distinctive seven-note plucked musical signature). The menu, which was previously focused on hamburgers led by the flagship Jumbo Jack, became much more diverse, including such items as salads, tacos and chicken sandwiches (at least two new menu items were introduced per year), at a time when few fast-food operations offered more than standard hamburgers. Annual sales increased through the 1980's. Ralston Purina tried further to mature the restaurant's image, renaming it "Monterey Jack's" in 1985, a disastrous move that lasted a short time. The Jack in the Box name was restored in 1986.

Ralston Purina was satisfied with Foodmaker, but decided in 1985 that it was a non-core asset and elected to sell it to management after 18 years. By 1987 sales reached $655 million, the chain boasted 897 restaurants, and Foodmaker became a publicly traded company.

E. coli disaster

However, Jack in the Box's success came to a halt in the 1990's because of two main factors: 1) the national recession of 1990-91 (the company suffered an 81 percent decline in net earnings in 1991) and more importantly, the E. coli epidemic of 1993: Four children died and hundreds of others became sick in the Seattle area as well as California, Idaho and Nevada, after eating undercooked and contaminated meat from Jack in the Box. It was the largest and deadliest E. coli outbreak in American history up to that time.

The chain lost millions of dollars in sales and revenue as a result of the disaster, and millions were paid out as settlements in wrongful death lawsuits. Moody's Investors Service downgraded Foodmaker's debt to junk status as it had no confidence that sales would return to normal levels. Bankruptcy was imminent. With the very survival of the company at stake, Foodmaker needed another turnaround strategy to distance themselves from the E. coli scare.

They got it from a new ad campaign developed by an advertising agency from Santa Monica, California, called Secret Weapon Marketing, led by Dick Sittig, as detailed below.[6] [7]

In 1999, the official corporate name of Jack in the Box was renamed simply "Jack in the Box, Inc." to fit its core brand, and the Foodmaker, Inc. name was retired.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_in_the_Box

[David]

Before the University overpass over the railroad, Bowden Road crossed Philips and came into University at the railroad crossing alongside the concrete plant.  Like many RR crossings, trains would stop forever blocking University.  People fought for over 20 years to get that overpass built.

STJR, do you recall what approximate year the railroad overpass was built ? I have the faintest memories of sitting in the back of a mid 1970's era Chevy stationwagon as a pre-schooler (in the early 80's) while waiting on the trains forever at that intersection. I remember it mainly because my older siblings and parents would always curse at those slow moving trains for making them late for school/work.

I'm curious if this memory I have falls during those "childhood amnesia" years.

[stjr]

STJR, do you recall what approximate year the railroad overpass was built ?

I would say, from memory, it was in the mid-80's or a little earlier.  An easy way to find out, usually, is to carefully observe the concrete barrier lining the road from one direction or the other.  Every bridge for the last few decades in Jax I have seen has the date built engraved in the concrete side barrier at the beginning of the bridge from at least one direction.  Unless it was rebuilt, which this bridge has not been, it would be the original date.  Let us know what you find.

[thelakelander]

It was in the early 80s (1983?).  The money used for it was originally set aside for the conversion of Hemming Park into Hemming Plaza.

[YellowBluffRoad]

I believe that RR overpass was built in the late 70s and completed in the early 80s. I've not walked over it in a loooong time, but in 1983-1984 I walked to work over that RR overpass from Wolfson H.S. the Waffle House at Richard Rd & University.

[stjr]

University overpass started in mid-1982 and finished in March, 1983 per the Southside Businessmen's Club web site ( http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:cgCZbgeFt5UJ:www.southsidebusinessmensclub.com/History/Index.aspx+year+built+university+boulevard+railroad+overpass+jacksonville&cd=7&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us ):

In mid 1982, recognizing the years of work to secure an overpass at University and Philips highway, the Department of Transportation invited the Club to the site at the onset of  construction. There, each member present signed his name on the first piling driven into place by Mayor Jake Godbold, who operated the pile driver. At its completion in March of 1983, we met for lunch on top of the overpass for the dedication ceremonies where the Mayor, local and state dignitaries and officers of the Club cut the ribbon opening the overpass to vehicular traffic. Immediately after the ceremony, the decorations and ribbons were hastily pushed aside as the first vehicle to cross the new overpass was an ambulance on an emergency run.

[sandyshoes]

Back to Jack in the Box burgers, yes they were terrible.  The meat had no flavor, whatsoever - kinda like Whataburgers now (Sorry, Mark Brunell, but all you can taste are the condiments).

[David]

Wow! You guys are insanely resourceful. That's why I love this site.

Not to get too off topic but I wanted to test my theory of 1982 being the earliest year I can remember, and it's pretty much true. The University Blvd overpass (or lack of) and the "Eye of the Tiger" LP being blasted while I watched PBS's the electric company at a daycare center off Spring Park rd.

/Nostalgia

And C'mon, Whattaburger's not that bad. Where else can you get a triple bypass at 630 am? hehe.

[David]

And thanks stjr/lakelander/MJ for sharing your memories, photos and writing about the area. My parents got a kick out of reading this article. It spawned a reminiscing session that lasted several hours.

Quick question about the term "squeeze box" in the article. I assume that referes to the section of the neighborhood that's bordered by I-95 University, Emerson and Phillips hwy?

I've never heard that term before, but maybe that's because we were/are cut off from the rest of the neighborhood by 6 lanes of traffic whizzing by at 75 mph.

[cayohueso]

What?? No Wacko's picture...come on, it's an Emerson landmark!! Oh yeah and I still miss Brinkmann's for pool and a beer although it was a dive.
There is another weird place in Englewood, the new Cambodian Buddhist Temple over on the other side of 95 off of Spring Glen.
The englewood area was always great and I still have a few friends and their families there. Close to Kuhn's for Christmas, Beach Road Chicken and the Original Bono's. Still a great neighborhood.

[thelakelander]

I think you missed it.

[billy]

Is the Cuban bakery still around?

[Debbie Thompson]

Wow! With apologies to Bob Hope, thanks for the memories. We lived in Englewood from 1966 to 2000, directly behind Pic 'n Save.  So both I and my kids grew up there.  I remember when the Hess Station was built, and the rest of the shopping center that you don't see behind it. Yes, the S&H store was there. I also remember a Joseppi's Italian Restaurant at one point.  My first high-school waitress job was at the Village Oven diner, but later I worked at Uncle John's for several years. Don't remember any scary portraits or striped shirts...must have been somewhere else. Maybe the Fritch's Big Boy next door? It had a huge statue of a kid with yellow hair holding a burger or something.  Uncle Johns...all you can eat 69 cent pancakes on Wednesdays, including coffee, Englewood High Spirit Breakfasts on Friday mornings before football games and crazy busy after church on Sundays when apparently everyone in Jacksonville wanted pancakes.

[sandyshoes]

billy, there's a Cuban bakery on Dean Road at Beach, that also makes sandwiches - is that the one?

[riverside planner]

Wow! You guys are insanely resourceful. That's why I love this site.

Not to get too off topic but I wanted to test my theory of 1982 being the earliest year I can remember, and it's pretty much true. The University Blvd overpass (or lack of) and the "Eye of the Tiger" LP being blasted while I watched PBS's the electric company at a daycare center off Spring Park rd.

/Nostalgia

And C'mon, Whattaburger's not that bad. Where else can you get a triple bypass at 630 am? hehe.

Did you happen to go to Burrell's day care?