Episode 72 is loaded with flashbacks and wild nights.
It begins with a trip back to the Golden Age of Cape Cod nightlife. Guido Murphy's of Hyannis was one of the most popular, and most infamous, night spots ever on the Cape. How did it start? How did it get its reputation? And what became of it?
This week's Road Trip takes us to the seaside, riverside, town of Groton, Connecticut. Dubbed the Submarine Capital of the World, Groton is also home to historic forts, lighthouses, high-quality cuisine, beaches, and woodlands for hiking. Get a taste of why you should make it a point to pay it a visit.
In the early 1990's all fast food restaurants seemed to be getting in on the bigger is better craze. Super-sized meals, larger buckets of chicken, it was everywhere. This extended to pizza chains as well. For a brief period of time three of the biggest pizza establishments in America went to battle over who had the best 'giant' pizza. Find out all about it as we go way Back In the Day.
We stick with the 1990's for a brand new Top 5. This will deal with the passing fads of the decade. Not all were bad, but all were in your face during the time they were popular. Perhaps you partook in some of these crazes?
There is a new This Week In History and Time Capsule centered around the 40th anniversary of one of the biggest films of all-time, E.T.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 71 here.
Episode 72 is loaded with flashbacks and wild nights.
It begins with a trip back to the Golden Age of Cape Cod nightlife. Guido Murphy's of Hyannis was one of the most popular, and most infamous, night spots ever on the Cape. How did it start? How did it get its reputation? And what became of it?
This week's Road Trip takes us to the seaside, riverside, town of Groton, Connecticut. Dubbed the Submarine Capital of the World, Groton is also home to historic forts, lighthouses, high-quality cuisine, beaches, and woodlands for hiking. Get a taste of why you should make it a point to pay it a visit.
In the early 1990's all fast food restaurants seemed to be getting in on the bigger is better craze. Super-sized meals, larger buckets of chicken, it was everywhere. This extended to pizza chains as well. For a brief period of time three of the biggest pizza establishments in America went to battle over who had the best 'giant' pizza. Find out all about it as we go way Back In the Day.
We stick with the 1990's for a brand new Top 5. This will deal with the passing fads of the decade. Not all were bad, but all were in your face during the time they were popular. Perhaps you partook in some of these crazes?
There is a new This Week In History and Time Capsule centered around the 40th anniversary of one of the biggest films of all-time, E.T.
Helpful Links from this Episode(available through Buzzsprout)
Listen to Episode 71 here.
Intro
Hello World, and welcome to the in my footsteps podcast. I am Christopher Setterlund. Coming to you from the vacation destination known as Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and this is episode 72. This episode is going to start off with a trip back to the golden age of Cape Cod nightlife. As I talked about the history and wild times of the Guido Murphy's nightclub from Hyannis, we're going to take a road trip to the Central Connecticut town of Groton, we're gonna go way, way back in the day and talk about the giant pizza wars of the early 1990s. We'll stay in the 90s for a brand new top five about the top five passing fads of the 1990s for some embarrassment. And of course, there'll be a brand new this week in history and top five. All coming up right now on episode 72 of the in my footsteps podcast. Welcome in everybody, it is almost summertime, the heat is starting to build even here on Cape Cod, I've got a box fan in the window to keep it relatively cool. Hopefully, it's not too hot wherever you are. And if it is, hopefully, you're finding a way to stay cool, hit the beach, hit the pool, sit under a shady tree, whatever you got to do. Thank you all for tuning in to the podcast taking me with you, wherever your summer takes you. I hope that this summer will be fun and full of good times for all of you. I am cautiously optimistic and nervously excited if that's a good combination. I've started working on some structural changes and rewrites for my lady of the dunes book. As I get closer to the submission to publishers and agents. I'm really lucky to have some contacts in high places that have helped me to get in touch with people that probably normally I wouldn't have a chance of talking to. But they have helped me to hone and revise the layout of the lady of the dunes book, it's going to be even better than I thought. But of course, anytime there's something good like this, you've always still got to put the work in even though you can kind of see the big picture of where it's taking you. You still have to actually do it. Just to pick up from where I was last week happy belated birthday to my brother Matt. I wished him one last week. Happy birthday to one of my oldest and dearest friends John, and to my young cousin Sarah, you're still the young one, even though Keith is younger, and anyone else out there who's listening that has a birthday last week this week. Next week, happy birthday to everybody. I always feel like I'm leaving someone out anytime I wish for birthdays or thank people for things. But that's just how I am. This has been one of those times with the recent birthday, the end of last month on my oldest niece Kaleigh and my brother Matt and one of my oldest friends John, where you start to really look back at the “good old days,” and sort of wonder where the time went and Time goes fast. I was editing this full-length VHS tape that was of my niece Kaleigh when she was probably 10 months old, as kind of a gift. So she would have that with all of us in it and different scenes from Cape Cod. And it's weird because I'm filming it. And it seems like yesterday when I can remember all these things as I was filming them. And then you look at the date and it's 22 years ago. And it's like where in the world did the time go? This is my roundabout way of just saying to enjoy every day and enjoy all the people you have while you do because you just never know. That's how I usually end the podcast but it was fresh in my mind. But speaking of enjoying every day that you can that leads us to our top story as we go back in time to the glory days the golden age of Cape Cod nightlife. And one of the most famous slash infamous spots on the cape. I joke that names will be changed to protect the innocent but who am I kidding? All of you that went to Guido Murphy's back then probably were too drunk to remember you were there. But let's share a little bit of the history of Guido Murphy's nightclub in Hyannis. Coming up right now on episode 72 of the in my footsteps podcast.
Guido Murphy’s
Oh boy, this is going to be a fun one to share as we go back to the golden age of Cape Cod nightlife. For those of you not from Cape Cod or have never been to Cape Cod. Guido Murphy's was a popular nightclub in the West End part of Main Street in the town of Hyannis, which is like the center of Cape Cod. So there's the backstory of it, but let's just dive into the story itself. The west end of Main Street in Hyannis has seen its share of legendary nightspots. From the original king, the Panama club in the era of World War II, to current establishments keeping the bright light shining. This area has been continuously jumping for nearly a century. Perhaps no other spot epitomizes the raucous knights of the West End like Guido Murphy's. Long before it was a popular nightspot, the building at 615 Main Street housed the Hyannis Theater. Originally, the three parcels of land were home to the dwelling of Albert bacon, as well as a storefront. The family sold the land and the house was demolished to make way for a new theater. The storefront remained though, the first theater opened in 1919, but did not gain traction until a second theater opened on the spot in 1923. The land on the corner of Main and Sea streets housed not only the theater but also 2 stores at ground level, including the beloved St. Claire's candy shop in the 1920s and apartments on the second floor. The multi-use aspect of the building would be a recurring theme throughout its history. First Run by George Moore, the Hyannis theater built a legacy over half a century in business. But the second life of the former bacon family property may have been equal to the first in the late 1970s. The entire property became known as the West End marketplace, an indoor marketplace with several shops and food outlets. It was during this era that 615 Main Street was joined by the neighboring building at 16 Sea Street. Once this move was made, it was time for the property to take on its most famous or infamous form. In 1979, the former Hyannis theater was christened Guido Murphy's and an icon of Hyannis his main street was born. Upon its entry into the Cape Cod culture, Guido Murphy’s seemed much like any other restaurant and bar. It was dark yet inviting and served an irregular menu of food to entice hungry and thirsty visitors alike. What made the establishment unique during its infancy was its reliance on the fictitious Guido Murphy himself. The menu had items centered on a mix of Irish and Italian cuisine. One could sample unusual tastes, such as corned beef and mozzarella cheese, quiche, a corned beef sandwich, grilled with cheese and bacon known as the cousin Clancy from Chelsea, and Dawn manga tutees, Turkey and mortadella a high-quality sibling to Bologna. There was also a Guido Murphy signature drink that mixed amaretto and Irish whiskey in 1981. The fledgling establishment was bought by brothers Frank and Tony Viola, who would take Guido's to the next level. They created Guido Murphy's back room with the entrance through the Sea Street property, and this spot would gain an identity all its own. The lines to get into the back room were often so long that it became wise to arrive early and get your hand stamped, allowing access for the rest of the night. With an outdoor bar and an upstairs balcony, commonly referred to as the holding tank. The back room at Guido Murphy's became the place to be and to be seen. So popular was Guido's that underage partygoers would scale the neighboring building in order to drop in on the second floor of the back room. By 1984, Tony Viola had purchased the adjacent property for parking to ease congestion in the area. As patrons wandered out into the streets and mass upon leaving, obviously, some of them were pretty inebriated. The nickname the snake pit seemed appropriate for Guido Murphy's back room, according to those who frequented it, as there was often barely enough room inside for one to raise their drink to their lips. The popularity of Guido's eventually led to complaints by neighbors, which then caught the eye of the State Alcohol Beverage Control Commission, and its operation last call during the initial crackdown by police against drunk driving. Guido Murphy's had the second highest number of arrests on record for the cape behind only the compass lounge, complaints of noise, public urination, and overall rowdiness. After hours meant that the popular nightspot had a bullseye on his back from then on. Many nights a police cruiser was parked out in front in anticipation of what was to come. From then on there was a continuous battle between the Viola's and the town of Barnstable, as the town wished to alter the closing time from 1am to 11pm to thwart as much of the late-night trouble as possible. The Viola's kept up efforts to stop the problems internally. They admitted that earlier closing times would severely cut into their bottom line. Finally, in the early 1990s, the town won and Guido Murphy's hours were cut back, as predicted business suffered. In 1996. The establishment underwent a bankruptcy reorganization, which led to the decision to change part of the building into a fine dining restaurant while maintaining the back room. Shortly thereafter, the Italian spot Amici’s was born. No longer seeing it as a troublesome spot. The town then reinstated the original later closing time of 1am. However, an inspection in 1998 revealed that Amici’s looked and felt much like Guido Murphy's when management petitioned the town to change the name back to Guido's. The town agreed, and then immediately slashed the hours back to 11pm. So it was a smooth move to say they were becoming a fine dining restaurant and then once they got their original hours back, they just pressed a button and the walls all turned inside out and it became Guido's again. It's just, it's too funny to not be true. The financial implications, though of the changing of the hours again, caused the Viola's to file for bankruptcy in 1998. They weren't done though they had one last ace up their sleeves. In 1999. The establishment was renamed Guido Murphy's cabaret, complete with “bikini dancers,” and blacked-out windows. toeing the line very close to being a strip club. This included bringing in strippers from a Florida club to dance there Guido's finally was laid to rest by the town when its license to operate was taken away in August 1999. The infamous Guido Murphy's was dead. The legacy of Guido Murphy's is just parties and drinking and rowdiness so beloved by people of my age a little older, and especially my parents' generation, but the legacy of Guido has left a bad taste in the mouths of the town's residents and for several years after, it was just nothing there at the west end of Main Street. The property was eventually sold to Jack Hines who remodeled the building into condos. But it would take more than a decade after that for another nightspot kind of seaside pub on Main, which opened up in that same spot. It was open until COVID basically shut it down. But the lasting legacy of Guido's is one of the most popular nightspots that the cape ever saw. You can ask anybody that frequented it if they were lucid enough to remember. By the time I was legally of age to go to a bar slash nightspot, Guido's was already in bankruptcy. So it was kind of one of those places that I would have seen that it used to be something but it wasn't anymore. But Did any of you out there listening go to Guido Murphy's and do you have any crazy stories? I can always change your name to protect the innocent if I do a follow-up. But that was a look back at one of the true kings of Cape Cod nightlife Guido Murphy's in Hyannis.
Road Trip: Groton, CT
All right, it is time for another road trip. This time we are hopping across the border of Connecticut, the eastern part of Connecticut, to the seaside, the riverside town of Groton. When it comes to these road trip segments. Thus far, I think I've been to almost every place that I've mentioned. I'm sure there will come a time when I get to spots that I haven't visited yet, so it'll give me the inspiration to go there. But when it comes to some of these places, there are stories of my time there that are just too good to not share. And some of them I don't even remember until I started researching the town for the podcast and that's what happened with Groton. So the nuts and bolts of Groton, the population is just over 38,000 people. It's located on the Thames River in between Stonington and New London mystic is in there so the Mystic Seaport is right next to it. It's located 105 miles southwest of Boston, and about 130 miles east of New York City, so it's kind of centrally located as far as Boston and New York goes. For others besides me. Groton is known as the submarine capital of the world. And that's because it's home to General Dynamics electric boat. And this company is a major contractor for submarine work for the United States Navy, and that's as good of a place to start as any. When it comes to Groton, you can visit the Submarine Force Library and Museum at one Crystal Lake Road or at USS nautilus.org. And the reason the website is named that is because the museum grounds are home to the Nautilus which was the world's first nuclear-powered vessel. They've got guided tours, they've got scavenger hunts, they've got something for everyone. If you're interested in submarines, it's right on the Thames river, so it's a perfect place to start. If you've never been to Groton, and you hear it as the submarine capital of the world. You might as well start there. I am a sucker for old forts if you've heard me talk about Fort revere and Hall, Groton is home to Fort Griswold, which is located at Park Avenue and Monument Street. This fort is known for a battle that happened during the American Revolution in 1781. It was a massacre led by the trader Benedict Arnold. It's got a beautiful view overlooking the Thames River. And if you like classic old forts, Revolution era, Civil War era, you'll love this and the history. Check out fort Griswold.org To find out more about the history of the fort, and the current efforts to maintain it and make sure that it stays around for the next generation. An interesting fact and something that I liked was directly almost directly across the Thames River in the neighboring town of New London, Connecticut is Fort Trumbull. And they don't look exactly alike, but they're very similar. So there are two forts that can see each other. And I'm sure eventually on the podcast, I will do a segment on New London, Connecticut. But since I did New London, New Hampshire last week, I was not going to do the same town name in a different state. At the end of shore Avenue is Eastern Point Beach. It overlooks Long Island Sound and you get great views of the ferries going to Block Island. But a big selling point obviously for me if you've heard this podcast is there's a lighthouse out in the sound, New London ledge lighthouse, which from Eastern Point Beach, it's just under a mile out in the water. And it's only slightly closer if you were to go across to New London and take photos from Ocean Beach over there. The lighthouse looks like an old brick building, and it is purported to be haunted. I've yet to go out there and experience it but that's what I've heard from people is that lighthouse is haunted. So if you want to go and get a tour and hear the knocking by Ernie who was one of the early lighthouse keepers, it's supposedly his ghost that haunts it to be my guest to go out there. There's also the beautiful Bluff Point State Park, which takes up most of the area between Long Island Sound and the puck River and Mumford Cove. It's more than 800 acres. It's great for hiking and just sightseeing animal watching photos for sure. The gates are at 55 depot road if you want to park and just walk and enjoy it. But I promised at the top of this segment a story that was pretty legendary as far as travel trips go and I was not going to disappoint. Avery Point Lighthouse is located on the campus of the University of Connecticut at Avery point. It's at 1084 Shennecossett Road, and it's public you can go to it. It's not like you're trespassing on school grounds. I love this lighthouse because it's kind of a pinkish color. And it's shaped like I could only describe it as an old school Barbie castle. And so this was one of the highlights for me going to Groton. And this particular trip I went with my buddy Steve naturally because Lighthouse shooting that's like right up our alley, you can get some pretty simple photos of the lighthouse, but me going there with my camera and wanting to get something that was different. I was looking for different vantage points of it. The lighthouse is right on the water, there are rocks you can go down into the rocks and kind of get different views. And I remember going down into the rocks to get a shot looking up at the lighthouse from below. And I don't remember if my buddy Steve said you know kind of watch out down there. It could be slippery in the rocks, but if he did, I didn't listen. I went down there, and I slipped in the rocks. And rather than brace my fall and risk damaging my camera, I cradled my camera. So I went down on my elbow and my ankle. So my ankle basically slammed into the rocks. And I was down and I was hurt. But from there from laying on my side, I took the photo. So there's a picture of the lighthouse from below and all I can every time I see it, I remember falling in the rock slipping, just taking the picture from down on my side. If you go there, be careful in the rocks, I can only say learn from my mistakes. Check out mystic chamber.org To get more information on things to see and do in Groton, and mystic Stonington. Because like I always say with these, there's only so much I can share in the podcast segment without it going super long. So I pick and choose things I think you'll enjoy. There are plenty of places to stay to make an overnight trip. When I was doing my research, I didn't really find any smaller Mom and Pop type hotels. They're all the big chains, and there's nothing wrong with those. That's where I usually would stay but nothing worth going out of my way to share and describe. And the same goes for restaurants. There are lots of places to go to eat. Check out Paul's pasta shop at 223 times Street. Any sort of you know Italian if you like classic Italian food, pasta, the desserts, you can't go wrong there. They're also at Paul's pasta shop.com Go there, see the menu, see the pictures and have your mouth water so that when you go there, you know what you want. If pasta is not your thing, check out the shack restaurant at 441 Long Hill Road and shack restaurants.com There are three locations in Groton, Waterford and East lime. It's classic American food, a step above a diner, breakfast lunch dinner, go there, check out the menu, see the pictures just like with Paul's pasta shop. So you go there, have some great meals, find a place to stay, then go check out the submarine museum forts, the beaches, and of course lighthouses, you know where I lie on that. Basically centrally located between Boston and New York City, Groton, Connecticut has got so much to see. Riverside seaside right on Long Island Sound. You won't be disappointed. Go there and check it out and let me know what you think. And I'll be back next week as we take another road trip to one of the amazing cities, towns villages that the six New England states and beyond has to offer.
This Week In History
This week in history, we are going back 40 years ago this week, June 11 1982, and the premiere of one of the best movies ever ET in theaters. I think most people have seen this movie if you haven't seen it. You've heard of it. You know what a phenomenon it was directed by Steven Spielberg. But it's hard to explain just how big it was if you weren't there to experience it when it came out. It's for those of you that have no idea what ET is, it was a science fiction movie about an alien that crash lands on earth and he befriends a little boy named Elliot played by Henry Thomas. It also stars a very young Drew Barrymore and Dee Wallace as the mother, and just the adventures of the Alien ET getting used to planet earth, but also his quest to phone home. The score is epic. It was created by John Williams who did the Star Wars movies so you can hear the music and imagine the movie. I was not even five years old when this came out. And yet I can remember seeing it at the drive-in and I don't know if I saw it more than once my mother would be the one to confirm that we may have gone and seen it more than once. I think she said that. It was easier to bring me and my sister Kate, who were the only two of us five that were born yet. It was easier to bring us to the drive in to see ET to help us fall asleep than it was to watch TV at home. I didn't know until researching this segment for the podcast that the character of ET the idea of the movie was based on an imaginary friend that Steven Spielberg came up with upon his parents' divorce. It just adds another layer to it. This movie was an event it was more than just a film. There were preliminary plans for a sequel to ET where Elliot and his friends would get kidnapped by evil aliens and they would try to contact ET to save them. But Spielberg opted against it saying it would just take away from the original film that it should just be a standalone. Although in 2019, they did a like four minute long commercial Xfinity did that was kind of like a sequel with Elliott grown up and ET showing up at the holiday season. And this this week in history segment, and the time capsule is going to kind of be ET centric, we're going to stay with the same day, so June 11 1982, when the film was released, because obviously, the number one movie in America was E T. The film was an immediate blockbuster hit. It surpassed Star Wars as the highest-grossing movie of all time, and it held that rank for 11 years until Jurassic Park beat it. It had a budget of $10.5 million and made about $793 million in the box office. when adjusted for inflation, it ends up being just under $2.4 billion that ET made. And when you factor in inflation, ET is the fourth highest-grossing film of all time. ET was number one for six weeks when it first came out, and then bounced back and forth between second and first place all the way through to December, ending up with 16 Total weeks at number one, which was a record. It's 99% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and was nominated for nine Academy Awards winning four. But there was more going on in the world of pop culture back June 11 1982. The number one TV show was hart to hart. The show stars Stephanie powers and Robert Wagner as a rich globe-trotting married couple that seemed to always find mysteries wherever they went. The show was on the air for five seasons, and 110 Total episodes. Despite the show being canceled in 1984. It was not over as there were eight television movies made about Hart to Hart beginning in 1993. The number one song was ebony and ivory by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. It was off of McCartney's album tug of war, and is a song about racial harmony and coming together with black and white representing the keys on a piano but also races of people. The song spent seven total weeks at number one, the song was a massive hit, despite some people saying it was overly simplistic and sentimental. And this song kind of foreshadowed Paul McCartney eventually working with Michael Jackson for the other hit songs say say say. And if you were around 40 years ago this week, June 11 1982, and he wanted to bring the arcade home, you could get yourself an Atari 2600 video game console system for $125 or about $375 when adjusted for inflation. And then you could use your Atari 2600 later in the year of 1982. To buy one of the worst games ever created, which was the ET video game for Atari. Majorly rushed and majorly overproduced this game was an epic fail on every level. They tried to rush it out for the holiday season in 1982 and was not good. So many cartridges went unsold that the urban legend for decades was that they buried a bunch in the desert in New Mexico. And that was one urban legend that turned out to be real. There were a whole bunch of unsold ET Atari Games in a landfill. But that's going to wrap up another this week in history and another time capsule all surrounding ET the extra terrestrial's 40th anniversary. Now we're going to jump up a decade for a brand new top-five shore to bring embarrassment. Here we go with the top 590 90s passing fads to bring you some laughs and embarrassment if you were around back then.
Top 5: Passing Fads of the 1990s
I was a teenager of the 1990s and that decade holds a very special place in my heart. There is so much about it that I loved and that I love looking back on fashion music, movies, and just growing up in life in general things that are different now that I wish were still the same as they were back then. That being said the 1990s was not a perfect decade and we're gonna show some embarrassment here with the top 5 1990s passing fads. Now I'm not saying all of these things were bad. I'm just saying that they were really really overhyped when they came out and then most disappeared off the face of the earth. And some are bad too. But let's jump into the honorable mentions to kind of give you an idea of where we're going with this. Honorable Mentions for 1990s. Passing fads include torn jeans and flannel, neon-colored clothing, scrunchies, Pogs, and troll dolls. And I love torn jeans and flannel, but it was definitely a passing fad of the 1990s. I can admit that. But there are the honorable mentions. Let's dive right into the top five. Number one is the Macarena. I bet you can hear the music now in your head. Oh my god, this song, this dance. It was everywhere. From cool hip, young people doing it to old definitely not hip people trying to be cool and doing it. Every school dance, wedding gathering anything had this dance. Even at my orientation assembly at college, this was seen as a bonding thing for everyone to get up and do the Macarena, which oh my god, it was so embarrassing. But there's no denying it was a huge hit as much as I didn't like it and thought it was stupid. Millions and millions of people liked it. Number two was hyper colored shirts. Now for those of you that don't remember these or know what these were, basically it was a shirt that would be a certain color. And if you were to touch it with a hot hand or sweaty hand, it would change the color of the shirt. So you'd have like a handprint on it. The company generic was the one that was behind this fad in the early 1990s. And it blew up it became huge. They were a company from Seattle that came out with this product in the beginning of 1991. And it was more than just t shirts. It was shorts, Sweatshirts, and sweatpants. But the idea was it was heat sensitive. You touch it with something warm and it changed colors. Between February and May of 1991 alone, generics sold $50 million worth of hyper-colored clothing. But the issue was that they were not ready for that much success and could not handle the output needed. And they went bankrupt only a year later in 1992 Hyper colored clothing was done. Number three is button-fly jeans, which I don't think I ever owned a pair of button fly jeans. But for a while, these were popular in the early 1990s. So technically button fly jeans did not debut in 1990. When Levi's came out with them, they actually came out in the mid 1950s. But I guess they failed as a fad even back then they come and go and they still they come back again. But the idea was that instead of a zipper on the fly of the jeans, it was buttons, which even me at 12-13 years old, realized that it would probably be a bad idea if I had to pee really bad to undo three or four buttons rather than just pull a zipper down. So I'm 99% sure that I never owned button-fly jeans, but my family would have to confirm that because I'm almost positive that I thought they were a stupid waste of time. Number four was Tae Bo. So Tae Bo is still around. It's a total body fitness aerobic workout. It starred Billy Blanks. He was the trainer. It was rapid-fire punches, kicks movements, full body movements, to get you sweating, get you working it up. It was everywhere on infomercials so even if you didn't buy the video cassettes of the workouts, I know that if you were around in the 90s you saw Tae Bo commercials and Billy Blanks. It got to a point where gyms started offering kickboxing classes that were very similar to Tae Bo. But since Billy Blanks on the trademark on it, they couldn't call it Tae Bo. And that marketing the infomercials worked by the end of the 1990s more than one and a half million copies of the Tae Bo workout videos had been sold. And finally at number five on the top 5 1990s passing fads were the Reebok Pump sneakers. I'm pretty sure I had a pair of they got a lot of exposure at the 1991 NBA All-Star break in the slam dunk contest. When Boston Celtics player Dee Brown was wearing his pumps and the very first time he went for a dunk and he pumped up the little basketballs that were on the tongue of the shoe, I guess they would tighten the shoes around your feet so they'd have a better grip. Basically, he pumped up his shoes the first time and the crowd went crazy. And then he did it after every single dunk. So it was just like, he'd step up, pump up his shoes and dunk. He won the contest, but by the end, it was like, okay, yeah, we see you're pumping your shoes up. After that, though, everybody wanted Reebok pumps if you played basketball, or even if you didn't, because it was cool to tie your shoes and then press the little basketball and have your shoes squeezed around your feet a little more. They were expensive to $170 a pair back then, which today is over $320 for a pair of sneakers. So that's kind of why they faded away. But now they're actually making a comeback. Reebok has released them again. So if you want to go get a pair of Reebok pumps and try to do a no look dunk like Dee Brown, you can do it again. But that wraps up the top five. Did you participate in any of these fads, the Macarena, hypercolor clothing, button fly jeans, Tae Bo, or Reebok Pump sneakers? Let me know shoot me a message tell me which ones you liked if there are any that I missed, because there may be a part two of this coming up at some point, because there was a lot of good in the 90s and a lot of foolish and embarrassing too.
Back In the Day: Giant Pizza Wars of the early 1990s
The early 90s was a great time for going out to eat fast food and chain restaurants whether it was burgers and fries, fried chicken, or pizza. One big thing I noticed in that period of time was that was the time of the supersizing the large meals, especially at the fast food chains. McDonald's had their super-sized fries, triple cheeseburgers. Being a kid back then I can eat all that stuff and not worry about what it would do to me physically. But the burger chains were not the only ones that supersize their food in the early 1990s. pizza places did it as well. And this is the subject of this week. Back in the day segment is the giant pizza wars of the early 1990s. I can't say for sure how this all got started or how long it lasted. But my memory of the giant pizza wars starts in 1993 Little Caesars Pizza chain was the one to start this all off. They created the big Big Cheese pizza was what they called it. What it was was a pair of Detroit-style pan pizzas laid together side by side. In total it was 11 and a quarter inches by 22 and a half inches. You'd end up with 24 Total slices and when you bought this big big cheese, it weighed a total of almost five pounds. I was trying to find out for this segment of the podcast I believe we had a little caesars on Cape Cod in Hyannis. Now it was either a small one inside Kmart I don't know if we had a standalone, but maybe some of you that are my age and older. might remember if we had a little caesars on the Cape, because I never had the big big cheese. I saw the commercials but never had the pizza. Luckily though, the other two that came out I did have because other pizza chains saw the success of Little Caesars big big cheese and they decided they could do it as well. So the other two companies that came up with their own giant pizzas were Pizza Hut and Domino's. There was the big foot and there was the dominator. Back in the early 90s. We had at least two Pizza Huts on Cape Cod. I thought there was one in Falmouth and one in Dennis. And obviously, there are like 50,000 dominoes everywhere. Pizza Hut Big Foot was the same dimensions as the Little Caesars big Big Cheese 12 by 24. And it came out in the spring of 1993. It was great for parties you could get up to three toppings on it. And theirs was 21 slices. In order to try to top Little Caesars and Domino's Pizza Hut did things like offering a free month of HBO if you got the big foot or free rentals at Blockbuster Video, which back then was a big deal. Much like Little Caesars this giant pizza only lasted a couple of years. I think there are only so many people that are willing to pay. I mean, I don't know, it was about $8.99, I believe, to order this, I don't know if that's with or without toppings. So when adjusted for inflation, it's like $17.99. So it's not that bad, but it's just a lot of pizza. So unless you're having a party, it's like, you're gonna end up with a ton leftover. And I had it, it was good. There's a place in Yarmouth port on Cape Cod, Peterson's market, it's a small place. They have a spot in there. It's RC’s pizza is their homemade one. And they make pizzas that are every bit as big as these ones were. And we've had family gatherings where you get one or two of those and it feeds like 15 people. So unless you had that many these giant pizzas weren't going to do you any good. But that leads us to Domino's and their Dominator pizza, which was the third in the pizza wars. I don't know if they were third to the party. But they must have been because their pizza the dominator was 30 inches long, rather than the 24 inches of Little Caesars and Pizza Huts, Giants and Domino's. They were the biggest pizza chain. I think they still are. But at the time, they had more than 5000 locations and they had ads everywhere. I know I had the dominator at least a couple times. For those that have worked in kitchens before the giant normal-size cooking sheet pans. That's basically what a dominator pizza looked like. It was monstrous. And I do enjoy Domino's Pizza. I know there are some that don't like it. But I mean, there's a reason why they've got 1000s and 1000s of locations. So I enjoyed that more than the big foot is incredible. It was all in early 1993. All three of these pizza chains came out with the giant pizza offers. And I believe these original incarnations, the big big cheese, the Big Foot and the dominator, I think they only lasted a couple of years before they were gone. Much like the supersizing of fries and such with McDonald's where they kind of went back on that. It's the same thing. Plus, I think these places make more money if you make people get more pizzas individually rather than one giant one. So it's probably good business sense. If you go on YouTube, you can find the commercials from back then for these giant pizzas. Did any of you ever have any of those little caesars one? I know I never had the other two. Yes. And yes, I also had supersized fast food and triple cheeseburgers and all that I long for those days. It was definitely an exciting novelty at first to have a giant pizza for a meal. Because anytime, especially in my family, we're a giant family. We didn't have tons of money. So going out to eat or getting fast food and such it was a huge deal. It was a luxury. So getting a pizza that was basically the length of your dining room table to share was great. Because you knew you were going to get all your fill. Maybe you out there will remember better than me. But I don't think Little Caesars or Domino's ever made like giant pizzas like that again. Pizza Hut actually did. They did the big Italy pizza and the pan-normous. So I guess they figured that the other companies gave up on giant pizzas, they could just kind of corner the market. It's interesting when looking at what the largest pizza chains are in the United States. Currently it is the same three that I'm talking about here. It goes Domino's Pizza Hut and Little Caesars in that order. But some of the other big chains we don't really have around here. We have a Papa John's, but we don't have Marcos or CiCi’s. At least not close to Cape Cod. I'm not driving an hour and a half for pizza. Although I will be honest, my favorite fast food I guess is Panda Express the Chinese food. And the closest one to me is I believe it's well over an hour away. And I have driven there to get it. Although I do kind of hide the fact that I'm driving there by saying I'm going to do a photoshoot in the area. Is there any fast food that you would drive a couple hours to get because I used to enjoy Quiznos subs. I did like Pizza Hut we don't have either on the cape anymore and I'm not going to drive to go get them. Those giant pizza wars that was something when I was doing research for back-in-the-day segments that was something that popped up the dominator popped in my head. And then I remember there was the big foot and I had forgotten all about the Little Caesars big, big cheese. And it's just wild to think that these three major companies all competed with these super giant pizzas. And I couldn't find any real sales records. But the fact that none of them lasted more than a couple of years means that they were probably money losers. But Did any of you have a big big cheese from Little Caesars? Or a big foot from Pizza Hut? Or a dominator from Domino's? Do you remember it? What did you think of it? And what's your favorite pizza chain? I mean, if you're listening to this, and you're from further away, you're not from New England, you may have a different view, Marcos, CiCi's. Papa John's borrows any of those, let me know and maybe if we've got them near me, I'll go and check them out. Because I'm definitely a big fan of pizza. I just can't eat too much because my metabolism isn't what it used to be. Take that note, kids, when you get in your 40s Watch what you eat. It's terrible.
Closing
And that's going to do it that is going to wrap up episode 72 of the in my footsteps podcast. Thank you, as always, to everybody who tunes in you guys are obviously the ones that keep this going. There are times in my schedule that it gets kind of hectic and crazy. And it seems like I may not have time to record a podcast episode. But I do I feel a duty and responsibility to those of you that have stuck with me through now over 70 episodes of this. So I get them done and I do my very best to find topics that you will enjoy. And I've said it before. If any of you have ideas, things you want to hear about. shoot me a message Christopher setterlund@gmail.com You can message me through all social media, Twitter, Instagram, I'm on YouTube, check out the in my footsteps podcast blog@blogger.com. I have a Facebook fan page for the in my footsteps podcast that everyone can go and follow. If you try to friend me on Facebook on my actual real page I will likely not accept because I only accept people I know in real life. But the fan page, everyone can come and join. Visit my website Christopher setterlund.com That was created is updated and managed by my oldest friend Barry Menard. I always say great graphic designer, but an even better human. And the more I go, the older I get, the more I realize how lucky and blessed I've been to know Him throughout most of my life. So I always want to give him a shout-out. If you want to support the podcast, you can buy me a coffee go to buy me a coffee.com Find the in my footsteps podcast page, any donations go towards advertising for the podcast. But if that's not in the cards for you, the best way to support this podcast is by word of mouth sharing links that I share, and telling people about it. positive reviews on whatever platform you listen to on those mean more than any donations to be honest. I'm hoping within the next few weeks to have a more concrete date for the release of my seventh book, photographers, America, Cape Cod beyond the dunes, that title may change. They have started the editing process. So it shouldn't be long. I'm thinking early fall, this book should be out. And I'll give you all a lot more information once it gets more concrete. I don't know anything about doing book events or things like that. It's a photography book. So it would be easy to do PowerPoint presentations, it would just be photos in here, go look at these places. So there may be a lot of those coming in the fall, winter and spring of next year. Tune in next week for episode 73 of the podcast. I'm going to share the history of the scariest place I ever visited Medfield State Hospital and a little bit about my experiences there and why it's so creepy. We're going to take a road trip up north to the small town of Camden, Maine, one of my favorite places I visited in that state. We're going to go way way back in the day because it's been long enough now to talk about what it was like going on the internet in the 1990s there's going to be a brand new top five that are going to be the top five scariest slash creepiest TV show theme songs. This comes straight from a couple of friends Crystal and Adam. So that's like I said, if you have ideas for topics on the podcast, give me a shout. You never know when I might use them. But I really do appreciate all of you that tune in all of you that connect with me on social media. I mentioned a lot about mental health and taking care of your own mental health, especially with this world that can be really crappy it's like the worst it's been in my lifetime as far as being divisive and violent and ignorant with some people. So creating this little oasis, this little escape as far as this podcast goes and giving some of you a little bit of an escape is something I really take seriously as far as like a responsibility to give you a little bit of an escape for an hour a week. But take time for your own mental health. If it's listening to this podcast, if it's going for walks on the beach, if it's hanging out with old friends or family or something, do what you have to do to make yourself feel better to get through these rough times. And I will keep on pumping out this content because I know that some of you do enjoy listening, so I'll keep it going. But remember, in this life, don't walk in anyone else's footsteps, create your own path, leave the biggest footprint you can in this world while you're here and enjoy those you have because you never know what tomorrow might bring. Thank you for tuning in to Episode 72 I'll be back next week with episode 73 I have been Christopher Setterlund. This has been the in my footstep podcast and I will talk to you all again soon.