For many in Atlanta, Monday nights in recent memory meant karaoke at The Local on Ponce de Leon Avenue. But the property has been known for delicious food, cold beer, and music since around 1946. Known for its first few months as the Minute Grill, the lot at 760 Ponce (nowadays the address is 758) was home to the Blue Lantern in the years after WWII. Specializing in steak, seafood, and rolls from the in-house bakery, the Blue Lantern served “food by professionals” to customers in the restaurant’s 108 seats. By the 1950s, the Blue Lantern was more known as a beer hall and Celestine Sibley reported that bluesman Blind Willie McTell played in the parking lot for tips. In 1960, famed Ponce businessman Ray Lee purchased the restaurant. Regulars called Ray the “Mayor of Ponce” and he kept the Blue Lantern full with country music and cold beer (his favorite tune on the jukebox was Cal Smith’s “Country Bumpkin”). Ray and his wife Mildred ran the Blue Lantern for over two decades and are remembered for their generosity as much as they are for the tavern’s good times. The current building was constructed after a 1968 fire burned the original Blue Lantern to the ground. Ray Lee passed in 1983 (he’s buried at Crestlawn Cemetery) and Mildred continued to run the Blue Lantern until it closed in 1986. In those final days, an Atlanta Constitution writer blamed the “gentrification” of Ponce for the shuttering of the bar; it’s interesting to see how the neighborhood has changed in the 35 years since. 760 Ponce was used briefly in the 1990s for to-go orders when the Tortillas restaurant occupied the neighboring building that now hosts @vestamovement, but customers got confused and the plan was scratched. Around 1997, the owners revived the Blue Lantern name and opened a Mediterranean joint before eventually rebranding as The Local. Swipe for 1940s pics of the Blue Lantern, a 1979 interior picture of Ray Lee and night manager Birdie Edson, a photo of Mildred Lee in 1986 before her bar closed, and a 1996 ad for the last iteration of the Blue Lantern on Ponce. #atlantahistory #matchbookart #philumeny

WAOK began broadcasting gospel and rnb music in Atlanta in 1954 and moved to a now-demolished studio across from Hurt Park at @georgiastateuniversity in 1959 (see the former location in photo 2). The station was white-owned but aired programs aimed at a Black audience, hiring “The Dream Girl” Zilla Mays as Georgia’s first African American woman radio DJ. Zilla (photo 3) deserves plenty of celebration this #internationalwomansday as do her contemporaries in radio like Vivian Benton from @werdstudioatl. WAOK’s concerts in Atlanta featured legendary acts that played in some of the city’s largest venues, including the Municipal Auditorium (now Dahlberg Hall) which still stands right there at Hurt Park (see show advertisements in photos 4-5). WAOK’s live recording of Ray Charles’ 1959 concert at Herndon Stadium was even released as his top selling “In Person” album. The station also gave airtime to activists and civil rights leaders, including Dr. King in 1960 (photo 6). King can be seen speaking in front of the station in 1963 in photo 7. To celebrate WAOK, check the link in bio for a playlist of gospel, blues, and rnb by artists that appeared on air or in concerts promoted by the station. And for the dedicated listener, the Campaign for Independent Broadcasting has uploaded 8 hours of a 1971 WAOK air check which we’ve included in a second link. Special thanks to our friends @southdowntown for research assistance on this one. #atlantahistory #waok #philumeny #matchbookart #radiohistory #atlantaradiohistory

Constructed in 1910, the eight-story Imperial Hotel is hardly the tallest building in Atlanta yet the early skyscraper still holds its own among the city’s giants. The hotel opened, in part, to serve Atlanta’s booming convention business clientele. In the 1950s, the World Famous Domino Lounge opened on the Imperial’s first floor with music and comedy acts joining burlesque dancers on stage nightly. In 1956, Bunny Ware presented club goers with her “Fountain of Love” routine, using “black light and sheer gowns to good advantage.” When John Portman purchased the Imperial in 1980, the Domino had closed, the Moulin Rouge had opened and dropped (literally) the lounge’s sheer gowns for an all nude review, and the developer was planning to renovate the aging hotel. The renovation plans of the 1980s never materialized and the hotel was abandoned in 1990 when advocates famously occupied the Imperial and demanded that the city find housing solutions for the city’s growing homeless population. In 1996, the Imperial Hotel was reopened as low-income housing. Another renovation in 2014 created the permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless people that the building offers today. Swipe for 1950s pictures and ads from the Domino, a 1980 ad for the Moulin Rouge, and a picture of the 1990 housing advocacy occupation. Check the link in bio to hear “Busy Body Rock” by The Four Mints, a Rock ‘n Roll/Doo-Wop quartet who played regular shows at the Domino in the late 1950s. #atlanta #atlantahistory #burlesquehistory #philumeny #matchbookart

While Herren’s has a history in Atlanta dating back to 1934, June 25, 1963 remains the most significant day in this building’s history. Boxer Charlie Herren sold his restaurant to Italian immigrant Guido Negri in 1939 and Guido’s son Ed took over the business shortly thereafter. By the 1960s, Ed had joined a bi-racial coalition of Atlanta civic leaders to seek peaceful solutions toward integration efforts in the “city to busy to hate.” The coalition convinced a team of restaurant owners to collectively open their doors to African American patrons on a single day, however it was only Ed Negri who went through with the plan on that fateful Tuesday in June of ‘63. Herren’s legacy as the first integrated restaurant in Atlanta continues to be celebrated by the building’s current occupants, @theatricaloutfit, and the space made history again this year when they opened their arms to welcome members of @blactatl at a march against police violence and in support of African American leadership in the cultural arts. Swipe for a 1973 ad showing the interior of Herren’s (that wallpaper!) and check the link in bio for a deep dive from Dean Joyce Royster’s “Building Memories” podcast with @georgiatech. #atlanta #atlantahistory #phillumenist #matchbookart

Designed by famed Chicago architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 55 Park Place was completed in 1981 and joined a boom in downtown development that included the construction of the Georgia-Pacific Tower and the opening of MARTA. New building projects in downtown halted during a mid-1970s recession, but the early 1980s saw an influx of speculative high-rise development (in spite of the presence of vacant office space). Prior to the construction of 55 Park Place, this stretch of Park Place (historically Pryor Street) hosted densely arranged two-to-four story buildings containing restaurants, retail shops, and small hotels. Notably, the 1880s @atlantafirerescue Station 4 stood on the block now occupied by this 19-story office tower. The demolition of the smaller historic buildings that occupied this block was preceded in 1972 by the razing of similar nearby buildings for the creation of Central City Park (now Woodruff Park). Now here’s where we have to reveal our ruse: the “matchbook” seen here is not a matchbook at all! The Atlas Match Company created this “DATAPAK” as a promotional tool for realtors and included a map of Atlanta that highlights 55 Park Place’s proximity to the city’s central business and tourism hubs. Swipe right to see the map folded within the “matchbook”, a circa 1940s photo of the 1880s Fire Station 4 from the @gsu_library Tracy O’Neal Photographic Collection, and a 1973 view of the area from an Atlanta Constitution article (with an arrow highlighting the location of 55 Park Place). #atlanta #55parkplace #atlantahistory #phillumeny #phillumenist #matchbookart #skidmoreowingsmerrill

Few businesses better reflect the successes of Atlanta’s African American community than the Citizens Trust Bank @citizenstrustbank. Founded in 1921 by entrepreneur Heman Perry and a group of partners known as the “Fervent Five”, the company survived the Great Depression and WWII to become the first African American-owned bank in the Federal Reserve System. Perry and his partners saw the bank as an opportunity to provide home and business loans to the city’s Black community. Citizens Trust was instrumental in developing neighborhoods on the city’s west side and aiding new businesses, thereby helping to bolster the city’s African American middle class. The Hunter Street/Westside Branch opened on August 1, 1955. Designed by Krueger, Inc. (an Atlanta firm that specialized in constructing banks), the building is clad in Virginia greenstone and brick. Inside the lobby, a floating staircase leads to the second floor and decorative elements complement the bank’s “modern motif.” Early reports noted one of the building’s more distinctive features: the built-in planters near the entrance. Patrons at the branch’s opening were given rubber dollars meant to remind them to “stretch” their money with a savings account. Swipe for historic photos from the Atlanta Daily World, including a picture of the bank’s president in 1955, Lorimer D. Milton who also owned the famous Yates & Milton Drugstore on Auburn Avenue. Link in bio to a fascinating video with more history produced by Citizens Trust. #phillumeny #matchbookart #atlanta #atlantahistory #matchbook #citizenstrustbank

Matchbook history isn’t exactly “essential” right now, but we wanted to offer everyone a brief distraction with a post while we’re quarantined! Plus these little 1950s “half gallon” cartons full of matchbooks from @atlantadairies are adorable. The Atlanta Dairies Co-operative formed in 1942, as the city was experiencing a milk crisis. Dairy prices skyrocketed when milk (those soldiers needed calcium!) and other resources were diverted to the war effort. Tight restrictions on rubber tire sales meant that many farmers returned to horse and buggy delivery methods to bring milk to the city’s markets. Homemakers formed “clubs” with the hopes of buying milk at wholesale prices. Fifty-five local dairy farmers joined together to create Atlanta Dairies, allowing them to pasteurize, package, and distribute their products at lowered costs. The Streamline Moderne plant at 777 Memorial Drive was completed in the early 1940s and operated as a dairy until around 2008. Recently remodeled by @perkinswill_atl, the Atlanta Dairies building now features restaurants like @coldbrewbar and @wonderkidatl. As always, swipe for more views and an ad from a 1957 edition of the Southern Israelite newspaper. . . . #atlanta #atlantahistory #matchbookart #phillumeny #atlantadairies

The Atlanta Life Insurance Building on Auburn Avenue. Atlanta Life was founded by Atlanta’s first African-American millionaire Alonzo Herndon in 1905. The company provided financial opportunity to the city’s disenfranchised African-American community and moved into the building on the right (designed by Herndon) after its construction in 1920. The annex building on the left was completed in 1936. Along with Atlanta Life Insurance, the building hosted other offices and a small hotel. Today the windows are covered with portraits of Atlanta Life Insurance business leaders thanks to a project from @sweetauburnworks. Swipe right for an interior photo from a 1979 Historic American Building Survey documentation effort. . . . . #atlanta #atlantahistory #sweetauburn #phillumeny #history #architecture #architecturalhistory #matchbookart #blackhistorymonth

Now residential apartments on Pryor Street in @southdowntown , the National Register of Historic Places-listed M.C. Kiser building was constructed in 1923 and first served as the manufacturing headquarters for Shield Brand Shoes. The New York Stock House garment company moved into the building in 1934 and offered the latest fashions to retailers throughout the region. Swipe for a historic photo from a 1934 article in the Atlanta Constitution. . . . . . . . #atlanta #atlantahistory #phillumeny #nationalregisterofhistoricplaces #history #architecture #architecturalhistory #matchbookart