WOW: Wonder World brings back memories of Fairfield’s past
When the Fairfield Super Walmart had its grand opening last November, I braved the crowds, bought a bandwagon fan Giants World Series T-shirt and got surprised by Fairfield Visual Arts board member Cynthia Garcia — who took a horrible picture of me that she later posted on Facebook.
However splashy, Walmart’s debut had nothing on the grand opening of what many locals call the original Fairfield superstore: The Wonder World Shopping Center.
Located on North Texas Street where Food Maxx now sits, Wonder World, with “45 great departments and an ultra modern supermarket,” launched on July 29, 1964, with serious fanfare.
Free balloons for the kids. Free orchids for the women. Thousands of dollars in prizes. The grand prize was a drawing for a 21-inch, color Motorola television in a walnut cabinet.
Items for sale included:
- Remco Beatles dolls for $1.11 each — they’re worth a tad more in 2011.
- LP records for 48 cents in many genres including jazz, Hawaiian, show tunes and classical. The death metal and gangsta rap selections were sold out.
- A Eureka floor polisher/scrubber for $15.81 — with a free 10-day home trial. This was before the dreaded 15 percent restocking fee.
- A Magnus home entertainment center for $44. In ’64 home entertainment centers weren’t video game consoles — they were organs. Laugh if you’d like, but local legend has it that Ray Manzarek of the Doors actually bought one at Wonder World’s launch and used it on “Light My Fire” and other Doors hits. OK, I just started that local legend now.
A couple of days later in the Daily Republic, Wonder World thanked the more than 50,000 people who came to the grand opening.
Fifty thousand? Questionable. Still, I’m impressed by either the sheer numbers who came or the sheer chutzpah of the Wonder World PR staff that inflated them.
Wonder World had a bakery, farmers market, retail store and cafe all-in-one and you could walk in the main entrance and enter other stores inside like a mini-mall.
“You could buy anything there; clothes, food, electronics and more,” Fairfielder-turned-Vacavillian Kathleen McIntyre said. “The racks were packed and the tables stacked. Bottom line, it was cheap and convenient.”
Nearly everyone remembers Wonder World’s iconic sign with a globe stuck between two “W”s, which made the appropriate word, WOW. When I first went to Wonder World as a kid in the 1970s, I thought it was an amusement park and was disappointed. Then, wonder of wonders, one day they indeed had a carnival in the massive parking lot which, I later discovered, returned periodically. I lost serious comic book money that fell out of my pockets on the Zipper.
Locals recall the tempting smell of fresh doughnuts in the bakery upon entrance. The bakery also featured naughty cakes. I’d describe them, but would have to check every reader’s IDs first.
Helen Billings remembers a British woman who worked at the in-store café that sold cookies from her homeland. Melissa Walker, however, remembers the “greasy spoon” for another reason.
“It was where my husband Chuck first said he ‘loved’ me,” Walker said. “Chuck, his best friend Alvin Ugay and I, along with others, stopped there to eat. I had a corn dog and Alvin threw popcorn in my mustard, which I thought tasted good, which then led to a conversation about how weird I was. Chuck said, ‘I love strange things. I guess that’s why I love you.’ ”
All together everyone: “awwww.”
If you were around back then you might have witnessed:
- New driver Larriane Glashoff filling up her car at the WOW gas station for 59 cents a gallon.
- Lisa Duke giving away free kittens.
- Rosemary Southward getting popped by the cops for drinking a beer in the parking lot on cruise night.
- Michelle Roy-Davila tossing her cookies after riding the Scramble at the carnival with her dad.
Many locals shared fond memories of frequenting Wonder World’s extended shopping center, such as hardware stores Handy Fair and Ole’s and restaurants Straw Hat Pizza and Big John’s subs. Their pizza sub . . . fuggedaboutit!
Like many businesses, Wonder World eventually faded from Fairfield, but for some time after it did, the sign still stood as a memorial to what once was. WOW.
Reach Fairfield freelance writer Tony Wade at getthelowdown@sbcglobal.net. Ideas for future columns about the past are most welcome. Check out the “I Grew Up in Fairfield Too” Facebook group for more nostalgia.
Short URL: http://www.dailyrepublic.com/?p=62403
Posted by Tony Wade
on Jul 7 2011.
Filed under Featured Stories, Local lifestyle columnists. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
I think I see the old family car in the parking lot. LOL
i miss the donut shop in there , nothing has ever compared
i miss those days
Thanks for the memories. My dad would take us to Wonder World to buy my mom’s birthday and mothers day presents. Love the Carnivals(now I don’t know how people can take their kids (kinda scary)). Straw Hat – Friday Nights after the football games (Armijo Class of 76). Worked at Big John’s Sub shop for a while…..All those memories ~ Fun times.
LOL…I was thinking the same thing, the one on the other side of the Bug looks like my dads old Dodge Coronet.
Straw Hat Pizza, was it Straw Hat first then Shakey’s, either way I remember they had the best salid bar and the pizza was good too. Still have an old table & benches I bought when they went out of business. Came complete with free gum stuck to the bottom.
Fairfield High Class of 76, Go Falcons!
Dude, where ya been!
The Terrible Herbst gas station was the best. $3.00 of gas and you could cruise all night!
I used to love going to the carnival there with my brothers when I was a kid. It was quite a treat for a kid! I also remember the vacuum tube tester inside Wonder World — I was always wondering what that was for. Good doughnuts there too.
It sure was great to be reminded of the days when Fairfield was a great place to raise a family in – before it became the ghetto it is today.
I still miss Happy Steak, Beamers, and Skippers. The good ol’ days!
I’ve reviewed fond memories of Wonder World after all these years. I used to sweep the floor at John’s Barbershop next door while in the 6th and 7th grades. When I got off work, straight to Wonder World. For a kid, it was knd of like Las Vegas is for an adult. Lights, colors, sounds, action. I even slept on the roof a couple nights when my parents and I didn’t see eye to eye.
Marshall Matthews, Wichita, Kansas
Ya, we thought we were big time when we got Wonder World. Sure beat Woolworth’s downtown.
Hey Mr P….Back in my early days I drove a 68 Firebird Formula 400 and all the stations were switching to unleaded. I had to drive all the way to the Union 76 station on Davis St. in Vacaville to get 102 Octane leaded gas to run the beast. Burned two gallons of gas just to fill it up. Favorite place to park on the cruise was the WOW parking lot. But by then Wonder World was Ole’s Hardware & Liquor Barn.
Tony, great memories at Wonder World. My father was the assistant manager at the Farmers Market. We would have field trips from Cleo Gordon to visit the bank where the Blockbuster is now and local grocery store and get some fruit. Wonder World was the place to shop.
They did have a fantastic bakery and I loved the choice of
clothes for women.
Man, I remember SAMBO’S! Anyone remember SAMBO’S? SAMBO’S was a great place to eat back in the day!
Mr. Steak, Smorgie Bobs(especially Fridays nights), and Tuesday buck night at the drive-in(or was it Monday night).
Tedrow, I was young but remember Sambo’s as being pretty much like Denny’s. So yeah, if you think Dennys is great…
I do have to give credit to Danny for Mr. Steak. The Teriyaki Steak was a guilty pleasure for me!
Also, Happy Steak was the poor mans Mr Steak.
Of topic, since this is a lite thread: Who holds the record for most clicks for finding two words that are legible to copy in the anti-spam guard below?
My personal record is 13.
Danny, you got me beat! I don’t think I’ve had to refresh a few times.
Happy Steak? It was just a little how do I say, “Old Folksy”. My dad liked that place. Of course now I would blend. You could get away with taking a date to Sizzler & I liked there salad bar. But Happy Steak?
Does anyone remember “Dave’s Fish & Chips”? On the Armijo bend. That place was the bomb. Guy (Bloke) from England sure could dish up sum authentic English Fish & Chips…
I too remember Wonder World, loved that place!
I think the thing I remember the most is the way the air smelled. Most of the year it smelled like fresh sea air and then in the summer it smelled like toasted oats. I really miss Fiarfield! I now live in East Central Kansas and have been here for the last 30 years but I still miss HOME!