A collection of stories centered (mostly) around the city of Greensboro. Bob Poole, The First Modern Radio DJ / Greeksboro: History of Restaurants in Downtown Greensboro / Christmas Eve 1947 Massacre / Comic Book Artist Murphy Anderson / The New Andy Griffith Show / Kids, TV & Guns / The Old Rebel Show / Bob Gordon Theater / Pat McCrory vs The Hippies / Jayne Mansfield Paints the Town Pink / Sunny Side of 300 South Elm / Forgotten Fast Food Joints / Aunt Bee's Siler City Cat House / The Amos 'n' Andy Problem / Fire that Nearly Destroyed Downtown / Torture and Savage Slaying of the East Coast Rave King ...& much more
This new book is (mostly) about Greensboro but has a smattering of TVparty style features that are relevant to our region in some way, local kid shows like Old Rebel and Bob Gordon, of course. But also a painstaking look into the history behind the most culturally significant and societally troubling entertainment production of all time, Amos 'n' Andy. There's the story of The New Andy Griffith Show, the iconic North Carolinian's attempt to get back into weekly TV in 1971 by playing the folksy mayor of a city modeled after Greensboro. Jayne Mansfield played the Plantation Supper Club turning the town upside down. There's also lighthearted look at the plethora of toy guns seen on TV in the 50s & 60s.
Most of the book is specific to Greensboro. WBIG's morning man Bob Poole was the first modern radio DJ... wait'll you see his Party Bus in action. The rich Greek heritage behind downtown restaurants 1930-1970s; "I Was a Dancing Cigarette Pack on TV"; Dialing For Dollars and other shows that paid you to watch; Attending college with Pat McCrory; How you bought liquor during Prohibition; Whatever happened to Biff Burger, Burger Chef, Roy Rogers, and what was Mahalia Jackson's "Glori-fried" chicken?
A detailed telling of Jayne Mansfield's wild weeks at the Plantation Supper Club and how it led to her infamous death, the Christmas Eve 1947 massacre that had the city on lockdown, my Outdoor Drama summer in Kenansville in '76, Higgins Bike Shop, Judy Garland's performance in Greensboro was her last stop before the biggest comeback in showbiz history, Snowmaggedon '69, Billy 'Crash' Craddock and much more
Towards the end things turn dark, my six month investigation into the torture and death of the East Coast's leading Rave promoter in 1999, told in excruciating detail.
Lots of pictures and rich in storytelling, Hamburger is not your father's book about the Gate City "