February 16, 1956

Elvis's ’56 Show in Winston-Salem Amazed Newspaper Reviewer

In 1956 Elvis performed in 79 cities. during his break out year. Kids knew about Elvis in early 1956 but the press didn’t. While teenagers tuned into Elvis and excitement was beginning to follow him wherever he went,  most newspapers didn’t deem his concerts worthy of coverage.

• North Carolina newspaper one of first to review Elvis in 1956 •

One of the earliest local newspaper reviews of a 1956 Presley concert appeared in the Winston-Salem Journal on Friday, February 17. The day before Elvis had played three shows at the Carolina Theater in Winston-Salem, N.C. Staff reporter Roy Thompson wrote the review. Elvis’s performance completely blind-sided Thompson. He was dumbfounded by what he saw. His review included the following:

“A most remarkable young man named Elvis Presley came to town yesterday and rocked the staid old Carolina Theater to its very dignified roots. Mr. Presley must be seen if he is to be believed. He plays (‘beats’ would be a better word) the guitar. He sings (almost any other word would be better there). But, somehow, he wows ’em.”

“Mr. Presley is a part of the new musical phenomenon called ‘Rock ’n Roll.’ He slouches; he mugs; he bumps and grinds. He brings to the stage one of the most monumental artistry seen in these parts in many a day.

Remembering Staley’s on Stratford.....from many

**I remember "dragging" Staleys ....... I think that was the term we used meaning "drive around the parking lot looking for girls." Girls drove around the parking lot looking for boys, but rarely did stop. They would just look, giggle, and drive off.

**My favorite there was a cheeseburger with tomato, slaw, and mayo (35 cents)and a chocolate milkshake (25 cents). But the hot-dogs were good too...at 15 cents.

**My ride then was a 1946 Chevy Coupe. A straight six with wide whitewall tires, AM Radio, and nylon plaid seat covers. Gas 21 cents/gal. Chevy got 16 mpg. Zack Reynolds used to drag Staleys in his black 1944 jeep named "The Black Mully" Taking a date there, parking (backed in) to watch cars go by.

**I remember ordering beer from my car at the tender age of 16 and turning my overcoat collar up so I'd appear older.  Makes me smile. 

The irony is that NC was a dry state, but you could buy beer from the comfort of your car at the age of 18.  However, it was pretty easy to obtain beer in this manner even as young as 15 years old.  I also remember just cruising around and around in the car aimlessly for hours on end to see and to be seen!

**This one is pretty easy as it is our version of the Greensboro Boar & Castle or the place you always went if you were not going to Farmer's Dairy Bar also on Stratford.  My best memory( besides the obvious good food of which the steak on a bun with piles of gravy on top would be number one) would be the night we stole the Fire/Police car from Staley's (which was running and no one in it) and took it over to John Whitaker's place and parked it down at his lake below his house off Robin Hood.  I will not mention others involved, but they were not from the LS1 group of folks, but more in my range which was usually G2.

**Summer Sundays with the convertible top down, backed in watching the chicks slide by.

**The Saturday night I was returning to WS late from a date at W.C. in Gboro. I was traveling about 60 mph and a white 60 chevy convertible rode up on my rear and finally tried to pass me on I-40. I dropped down into 2nd gear and ran up to around 115-120, dropped into 4th gear and he never got his nose past me.....rode behind me at 55-60 mph the rest of the way home. On Sunday afternoon I backed in beside a top down, white 60 Chevy convertible with a triple-deuce front plate (for the folks in Rio Linda, supposed to indicate three - two barrel carbs on board). He looked across at me, looked at my car front to rear (I had a distinctive red trim stripe down my black 60 Chevy convertible) and asked if I had been on I-40 the night before. I replied. "Yes" and he asked, "What in the H*** have you got under the hood?" I answered, "just an ol' single two barrel carb, small block, why?" He wouldn't believe me and wanted to look under the hood but I refused and drove off. He never found out I had a 350 hp with two 4-barrel carbs.....a running machine. Sonny Hill and I had some great times in that car and I ended up selling it to him and he continued to enjoy some great times with it.

**I remember Ralph, the tall colored server, who always waited on Bonner Sams and I. We would pull in late at night and slide him a cold one which he would put in the side pocket of his white jacket and give a big grin. Occasionally we wouldn't have money and he would get us a cheeseburger and we would pay him the next night or time we came in to eat. With all those cheeseburgers, we probably tipped him enough over the years to make a downpmt on a car.

**Real late at night, going inside to the counter and Richard Nance cooking up a good ol' cheeseburger........they were good, weren't they? I was real surprised when we went to Badin Lake one summer and found him running the marina, fixing those good ol' cheeseburgers. He and his wife leased the marina, living upstairs, for quite a few years and now we are well known for OUR great cheeseburgers!    Richard Henning

**Remember Dick Peel, the roly-poly, off-duty policeman, who tried to keep the guys in their cars when they were hanging in the windows of the girls cars, trying to hook up. It is a wonder, with all the continuous circling traffic, that the parking lot did not wear down several feet over the years.

**I have very fond memories of frequent lunches at Staley's.  Even though we didn't have a lunch permit to leave the campus, several of us would sneak out and go there for lunch about twice a week.  For fifty cents I got a delicious sandwich of country style steak with lots of gravy and a drink.  We never did get caught.  Robert was the soda jerk, and he always piled mine up real high. Haven't had one since, but it sure was a mouth-watering delight!

**I will never forget standing around in the Staley's parking lot and admiring Zach Reynolds' shiny new chrome motorcycle.  It seemed like a fire-breathing monster compared with Eddie Armfield's Allstate scooter.  Just then Zach roared out of the parking lot in a cloud of smoke and lit out toward town on Reynolda Road, peeling rubber three distinct times with  loud squeals as he upshifted through three gears.  I remember Zack fondly.  He had some things the rest of us didn't have, but then most of us had some things he didn't have, such as two parents at home.   Lawrence Davis

**I distinctly recall the occasion, I think it was my junior year, Anna Bair invited me to the Sadie Hawkins Day Dance.  We went to Staley's for dinner beforehand.  It was my first time there. It was great!  I recall that I had pork chops.  Nice big plump ones, and all the trimmings and a big dessert. It was a charming evening. And not just because of the pork chops.   Anonymous

**I remember Staley's for serving the best country-style steak in town during the day, and the best place to get a beer at night when you were underage. You just got someone who was 18 or looked 18 to drive and order beer from the curb hop and he brought it - no questions asked. I do remember the night one of my classmates and I were doing the usual thing at the drive-in (which included many adult beverages) and ended up riding around Winston with two movie stars----their combined weight must have been around 700 lbs but what the hell---the hour was LATE!!!

**Memories of Staley's.  That was the place I went with a date straight from the movies to get a coke and see who was there and who was dating whom.  My dates never had enough money for a hamburger.  I don't recall ever going there with my girlfriends.  We always went to the Dairy Bar for the same reasons we went to Staley's.  As for any other details, I don't have them.  I never went in, so I didn't know who ran the place.  I just knew it was very popular at least with the RJR crowd.

**NOTHING beat Staleys as a hang out. But other places I remember:
Bobbit's Drug Store on Hawthorn Road (best shakes in town) and King's Esso station around the corner, where we would buy cigarettes ($.20/pack) in their machine. Remember the Town Steak House near Staleys? They had the best salad in town.  They cut the lettuce in a baloney slicer.     

**One Saturday night parked in the curb hop area, a Mineral Springs dude with several of his buddies cruised through. We had taunted them sufficiently to encourage a fight.  Walt (last name?) the restaurant manager came outside and told us to leave the premises. Someone in my car (you KNOW it wasn’t me!) cursed at Walt and he began to chase my moving car. Unbeknown to us, Walt had grabbed onto the car through an open window and we drug him across the parking lot as we were leaving. Walt finally let go and tumbled to the ground.
Several hours later, dumb and dumber us returned and parked across the street from the restaurant attempting to maintain a low profile. As we were sitting in the car, very smug and inebriated, a flashing blue light.....maybe two or more.......greeted us from behind. Several of Winston-Salem’s finest escorted us downtown to you know where. The only details I remember from that point is facing my dad when he picked me up from jail. No charges were filed after I agreed to apologize to Walt.
Years later, Walt and I became good buddies as we reminisced about the boys from RJR high school.

**Typical boys night at Staley’s.  Park your cool car in the curb service area, waiting for babe’s from other high schools. Hold on! Here comes a car with two blonde babe’s. Whoa....they are pulling into the space next to us! They are smiling and giggling but won’t make eye contact. Even in the dim lit parking lot, we know they are blonde and we know they are stag. Excitement is building as we make our move with
“Hi there! I don’t believe we’ve met have we?”
The blonde in the driver seat, now openly laughing and smiling, turns to us and replies, “Not hardly, cause we ain’t never bin here before. Whar ya’ll from?”  Gawd awful ugly! Without a word of acknowledgment, we decide it’s time to leave and cruise the Dairy Bar.

**Never forget. Staley’s is where I bought my first pack of cigarettes (Winston filters) after my last football game my senior year.

**Forgot what year but remember Lawrence Staley dating June Dinkins (PE coach and Civics teacher at RJR)

**Staley’s was THE place to congregate (men) after a football game if you didn’t have a date. Those with dates hung out at the Farmers Dairy Bar and/or parked in some dark hideaway. It was nothing to consume two or three cheeseburgers, fries and soft drink. The burgers were the BEST with cole slaw, slice of tomato, mayo and onions optional. The open-faced steak sandwich was Staley’s classic; a steamed hamburger bun (no microwaves then) and piled high with country style steak with lots of gravy. I think cholesterol was unknown in those days.

**Many memories of Staley’s. Boys cruised between Staley’s and the Farmers Dairy Bar, back and forth. Also we would cruise favorite “parking” spots just to see who was making out with whom. On one nightly occassion, Sonny Hill was driving with passengers Joe Parish, Gwynn (Hup) Hupfer, Gray Steifel and Pete Lawrence younger brother.
Leaving the Miller Park parking lot, the left front bumper hit a steel culvert, throwing all of us (no seat belts then) forward. Hup, in front passenger seat, face went through the windshield. The three of us in the back seat went halfway into the front seat, then recoiled backwards. Exiting the car, Hup was screaming “I can’t see.” There was blood covering his entire face. After wiping the blood away from his eyes, determined that he only had some deep cuts in his forehead, finally calming him down, he began to see clearly. Then comes Lawrence from the other side of the car, sees Hup and the blood, and begins screaming, “Gwynn..you look horrible!”, which required more calming of Hup before he went into a state of shock.

**Staley’s conjures up memories of late night escapades. Many were in the drive-in parking lot. But one in particular involved a raid on the goodies stacked outside the A&P, just behind the Farmers Dairy Bar. In the wee hours of the morning, the Merita Bread truck would unload stacks of baked goods outside the entry to the A&P. They included breads, cakes and pies. After a large consumption of beer one night, several of us decided to “raid” the bakery goods for a late night snack. I think our intent was to grab a couple of cakes or pies and then haul a--! But one in the group went beserk and loaded whole cases of stuff into the back seat of my car. We had at least 20 loaves of bread, 20 cakes and 20 pies. Cruising down Stratford, we’d take several bites from a cake or pie, then sling it out the window. We were lucky not to get caught for this thievery...by the police.
BUT dummy me took home a stack of pies and some bread and put them in the kitchen. The next morning, my Mom asked where they came from. I told her they fell off of a bread truck. Mom’s know when you are lying!! She made me return the items to the A&P and confront the store manager. My dad went along to make sure. The manager thought my embarrassment was punishment enough and did not press charges. Up to her last years at 82, my mom never let me forget that experience.