Friday, July 29, 2016

Memories of Li'l General




In the Summer of 1973, the summer after my junior year of high school, my mother (temporarily) dragged me away from my first girlfriend (in Massachusetts) in order to visit the condominium Mom had bought the year before in Florida. (My mother had agreed to reside in Massachusetts, you see, long enough for me to graduate high school in May of 1974. So she actually purchased her new home when I was in tenth grade!)

Never mind.

Anyway, a week or two in Florida meant that I'd be doing without one, and hopefully only one, of my teenage addictions. I've already told you that I'd be doing without my girlfriend. I was hoping that I wouldn't be deprived  of my new comic book supply as well.

My worries were short-lived, as you've no doubt assumed. Unlike now, where comics are almost exclusively found in comic book specialty stores, back in the 1970s comic books were a staple of newsstands, convenience stores, and the like.

Not far from my mother's condo was one of those little convenience stores, a chain called Li'l General. Researching that chain online has yielded relatively few results. I have no idea how long this store operated, but it seems to have run somewhere down South between the late 1960s and early 1970s. (If anyone knows different, please contact me! Seriously!) And then, who knows?

Now, in order to eliminate any confusion, I should point out that there has been a franchise operating as Li'l General Convenience Stores, based in Woonsocket, R.I., since 1970. Different business entirely.

Anyway (he said again), Li'l General insured that I wouldn't miss any of my comic favorites from Marvel and DC. I don't recall the specific "look" of the store; I do remember some of the comic titles I bought while there, but I'll spare you the details.

In recent years, as I said, I've done research on the internet and found precious little about Li'l General. But I've started a small collection of sorts, a collection which includes the three matchbooks pictured below, all of which were purchased on eBay.



And as for the red felt figure of the chain's mascot, the li'l general himself, sitting at the start of this post? I picked that up in "my" Li'l General store back in 1973!

The following two ads were scrounged from the internet.

 


And that leaves us with the next beauty. A few short years ago, I found two photos of the front and back of a Li'l General yo-yo! Surely this was a rarity, the Holy Grail for Li'l General collectors (of which I would be one of less than a handful, I assume).


But it gets even better, fellow babies! Look what I just scored on eBay! A Li'l General yo-yo of my very own, complete with its original package.


Now, with this post, I'm going to increase the hits you get when you do a Google image search for "Li'l General." So if anyone (besides myself) cares, and remembers this long-forgotten chain, they may just contact me and share their memories.

Trivial? Well, of course! In fact, the main reason I posted this is to have all these illustrations online for my own purposes. But if I've entertained you at all with all this rambling today, so much the better. 

Thanks for indulging me, or should I say, thanks for your time.





33 comments:

  1. I assume you will not remove the yo-yo from the package in order to perform "walk the dog" and "accidentally break the nose while attempting an impossible trick."

    Love,
    Janie

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  2. Open the package? Oh, hell no!

    Hey, where did my other comments go?

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  3. Umm err, wasn't this already posted? Did I just time travel or something?

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  4. This is pretty cool! I'd never heard of the Li'l General stores but I certainly think the little guy is adorable. And go, you, for scoring such a great yo-yo!

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  5. Girlfriend or comics... Comics or girlfriend.... That's a tough one.

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    1. Mom kinda took the choice out of my hands -- so to speak -- for a couple of weeks.

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  6. Lil' General is unfamiliar to me, but I do remember reading magazines at the Woolworth and Walgreens stores in the area where I grew up while I was waiting on my parents to do stuff.

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    Replies
    1. It's amazing what things stick in our minds over time.

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  7. I've got another one for you, there is a Bulova watch that was posted on ebay with the lil' General on the dial.

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    1. I'd love to find that. Funny I never encountered it. I have an automatic eBay search for "Li'l General." Thanks for the tip.

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    2. It'll never show up as what you've described in your search because the seller listed it as "unknown character" in his listing. It's currently back on the market, as it didn't sell the first go around.
      Here's the current listing. keep us informed if you buy it.

      eBay item number:
      201817072064

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    3. Thank you SO much for the information. What a great item! I checked out the eBay listing, but declined to bid because of the price... but now I have something to look for!

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    4. You're welcome. I'm a Bulova watch collector, but the BIN price was too steep to keep me from buying it also. I'm not a "character watch" collector but have to admit it caught my eye due to the "Lil General" although I have to admit I had no idea it was the "Lil General". It just looked familiar. I originally thought it was the "Muntz" character and it started driving me nuts when I found out it wasn't. So I posted the watch on a watch collectors forum challenging the members to "name the character". One guy, from Australia, said he knew (later admitting he was just screwing with me) and finally, another member solved my dilemma and posted a link to your Blog. Thank god for the internet!!!

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  8. Sometimes the trivial, mundane or otherwise useless is what fascinates us most.

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  9. There was a Li'l General store near my house in the 1970's in Pittsburgh, PA. I remember the sign had the guy in the red cape. My dad would take us there on Sundays for candy. I can barely remember it.

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  10. Hi. Don't know if you're still monitoring this page, but I have a great story to tell about a Li'l General store in Holiday, FL. Don't know if it's the same one you're taking about. It was within the golf course community of Beacon Woods. I spent 9 months living near that store in 1979 when I was 19 yrs old. I was basically homeless when I arrived, as I'd just left my crazy off-the-rails brother near Miami and hitchhiked to Port Ritchie where I'd briefly lived the previous year. I had no money, only a garbage bag with my clothes. As I loitered in front of Li'l General, some kids directed me to a makeshift fort in the woods where I spent my first night. The next morning, back at the Li'l General, a guy pulled up who ran a local lawn service. He drove me to an employment office and told me if I got a job working midnights, maybe I could work part time for him. I got a midnight job at a plastic molding shop and then saw him again later that evening at the store. He invited me back to his house for a beer and while I was there he kicked out a roommate who wasn't paying rent. He looked at me and said, "Guess I need a new roommate". I ended up working full time for him and we were fast friends. It really took me back in time reading your page. Not to mention the irony of the Russell yoyo. His name was Dan Russell! Thanks for sharing the info. I'm all nostalgic now!

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    1. Thanks for your great story! Here are the links for my other Li'l General posts. (And by the way, the LG I visited was in Boynton Beach, Florida!)

      http://silverfoxlair.blogspot.com/2016/08/only-i-would-dare.html

      http://silverfoxlair.blogspot.com/2017/03/more-lil-general-stuff-part-three-in.html

      http://silverfoxlair.blogspot.com/2017/04/a-brief-i-promise-lil-general-update.html

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  11. Hi. I worked for Lil General convenience stores in fort Lauderdale from 1979 until 1982, with occasional hiatuses in between. I was all of 22 when I started. There were many convenience stores around here then e.g. magik market, 7-11, Cumberland farms, Food Spot, Stop-in-Go and Farm Stores- both actual stores and the original drive-thru. Most of the Lil General stores were bought up by what later became circle K. You have brought back some very old yet fond memories of these stores and fort Lauderdale. There are very few chain convenience stores left in Broward county. They have been sold to private owners, nearly all asian or middle eastern. Even what were formally 7-11s have all but disappeared. The illuminated sign out front was the red dressed general on a white background. I later got my teaching degree and taught all over the U.S. and even Europe. I've been home here in fort Lauderdale for ten years now and all the changes are impressive but somewhat saddening since there is little left of my youth. I guess that's why they are called memories. Thanks for letting me share. Joseph.

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  12. I was googling Lil General getting nostalgic and stumbled on to your post! My family moved to a newly built home in a small growing city, Margate, Fl about 1970. At that time it was a development that replaced a bean farm as far as the eye can see. It's not too far from Ft Lauderdale. We had a Lil General a block away. As a 3rd grader I'd buy candy, brownies, frozen cokes etc. and of course they had magazines and comic books. It was the only store in walking distance and was the go-to after the grocery stores closed at usually 9 pm. I remember my dad got into an argument with the clerk because mom needed "sweet" (unsalted) butter which stumped the clerk who said there was no such thing. Anyway, Lil General's were everywhere in South Florida until sometime in the 80s when they were bought out by Circle K and rebranded. Maybe this link to a picture might jog your memory if it works.. https://scontent.fcae1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t39.30808-6/299897709_10222951435919833_2073879096192252852_n.jpg?_nc_cat=111&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=5cd70e&_nc_ohc=ljJmuVuctaIAX9mcYht&_nc_ht=scontent.fcae1-1.fna&oh=00_AT-lE0-YCUb3jORUk8v4T49QVzXbT1r8TNwoFRTIiZeaRw&oe=6321614D

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    1. Thanks for the story, and I'll try the link!

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    2. I remember two of them on the Mississippi Coast in the late '70s. I used to get Icee's there all the time in Long Beach, MS in '78.

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    3. I remember Lil General on the coast in Mississippi in '78; one in Long Beach and Ocean Springs.

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  13. They were in St. Pete. And Clearwater' in the 60s and 70s. I remember.


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    1. Hello! My mother and I worked at Little generals in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and Wilton manors in the 70s. My mother worked at the one down from the old courthouse in Fort Lauderdale and I was a manager of one in Wilton manors. Recently return to a brother that lives in the Fort Lauderdale area boy has that changed!!! yes, talk about memories. My mother has since passed away, and I have recently updated my résumé which included manager of a little general store back in the day. Thanks for the site.!!!!

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    2. We had a lil general in Deland, FL… as a young kid we spent our summers forgetting change for candy and snacks. It was less than a mile from our home. They always had novelty ice creams that were 10 for a dollar; dream sickle, rocket pops, push up, ice cream bars, snow cones, and others. As I became older it became somewhat of a hang out for a few of us.We would play pin ball, read tiger beat magazines! We eventually bought our first pack of cigarettes and beer there! I’m sure long gone now. I was nostalgic and searched for this. Thanks for the trip down memory lane.

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  14. I grew up in fort Lauderdale in the 1970s and I remember little general it was the corner store I go get milk in the paper for my parents then one day it became circle k this would have been very early 80s

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  15. My father held many management positions with Li’l General Stores from the mid 60’s through the mid 70’s. The companys home office was in Tampa, Florida on Commonwealth Ave. Stores were located throughout Florida, North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.They were purchased at some point by General Host Corp. As I recall the watches described in earlier posts were given to managers for years in service.

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