The rest of the places in Buffalo this weekend that weren’t quite big enough for their own posts
WILDROOT — the product that made 50s hair the greased-up mess it was. Just by nature of what the factory made, and a precipitous drop off in demand once greasers were out and bowl cuts were in, Wildroot closed after just 14 years of operation, in 1963. A few later attempts were made to bring the product back, then to attach the Wildroot name to other hair products, but the association with crew cuts and grease was just too much for the company to ever be profitable again, and the factory was left to rot.
A TV commercial from 1953 for Wildroot:
And their factory roof from 2012:
The decay in there was about the level one would expect for a place coming up on 50 years gone
STATLER — Theater in South Buffalo that went the way of most live theaters around the country; first into a movie house, then into oblivion. After the theater’s closing, it spent some time as a shared church/mosque known as the Holy God Temple, until that too closed. Renovations are expected to begin later in 2012 on the theater to bring it back to life as a Broadway theater for traveling shows. Unfortunately I had the absolute wrong lens for the job here and couldn’t take any pictures of the whole theater, or anything close. I’d like you to at least imagine this sunbeam pointed down onto one random seat in the gallery, since that’s the shot I wanted to take!
This theater organ has certainly seen better days…
Don’t try exploring the Statler on your own… it is FRESHLY boarded up as of today, we got permission (easy to obtain) from the developers, who will come and personally unscrew and un-nail some boards just for you! The other way in is much too dangerous, unless you enjoy falling through floors as much as I do!
TERMINAL — I’ve already seen most of what there is to see here, but I was back again, and did a few redos of pictures from last December…
And a clever graffiti that wasn’t here last time:
Didn’t bring nearly enough beer for that one to work…