Replicas Of The White House

White House replica in Atlanta, Georgia

 

White House at Minimundus

 

Replicas of the White House are reproductions of the home of the President of the United States, the White House. Notable examples include:

• Decatur, Georgia: A 16,500-square-foot (1,530 m²) model exists. It was built in 2001 by Atlanta home builder Fred Milani, an American citizen born in Iran.
• McLean, Virginia: Not far from the actual White House, an anonymous refugee engineer from Vietnam built a 12,020-square-foot (1,117 m²) White House replica as a tribute to his new country, but has put it up for sale due to empty nest syndrome.
• Hangzhou, China: A replica of the White House has been built near Hangzhou, China.

Atlanta Georgia Explained

This is for anyone who lives in Atlanta, who has ever lived in Atlanta, has visited Atlanta, ever plans to visit Atlanta, knows anyone who lives in Atlanta, knows anyone who has ever visited Atlanta or anyone who has ever heard of Atlanta, Georgia.

Atlanta is composed mostly of one way streets. The only way to get out of downtown Atlanta is to turn around and start over when you reach Greenville, South Carolina. All directions start with, "Go down Peachtree" and include the phrase, "When you see the Waffle House." Except that in Cobb County, all directions begin with, "Go to the Big Chicken and...".

Peachtree Street has no beginning and no end and is not to be confused with Peachtree Circle, Peachtree Place, Peachtree Lane, Peachtree Road, Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree Run, Peachtree Trace, Peachtree Ave, Peachtree Commons , Peachtree Battle, Peachtree Corners, New Peachtree, Old Peachtree, West Peachtree, Peachtree-Dunwoody, Peachtree-Chamblee, or Peachtree Industrial Boulevard.

Atlantans only know their way to work and their way home. If you ask anyone for directions they will always send you down Peachtree.

Gate One at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport is 32 miles away from the Main Concourse, so wear sneakers and pack a lunch.

It's impossible to go around a block and wind up on the street you started on. The Chamber of Commerce calls it a "scenic drive" and has posted signs to that effect, so that out-of-towners don't feel lost...they're just on a scenic drive.

The 8:00 AM rush hour is from 6:30 to 10:30 AM.

The 5:00 PM rush hour is from 3:00 to 7:30 PM.

Friday's rush hour starts Thursday afternoon, and lasts through 2:00 AM Saturday.

"Sir" and "Ma'am" are used by the person speaking to you if there's a remote possibility that you're at least 30 minutes older than they are.

A native can only pronounce Ponce De Leon Avenue one way, so do not attempt the Spanish pronunciation. People will simply tilt their heads to the right and stare at you. The Atlanta pronunciation "pahnss duh LEE-on". The fall of a raindrop makes everyone forget all traffic rules.

If a single snowflake falls, the city is paralyzed for three days, and it's on all the TV channels and radio stations as a news flash every 15 minutes for a month. All the grocery stores will be sold out of milk, bread, bottled water, toilet paper, and beer. If there is a remote chance of snow, and if it does snow, people will be on the corner selling "I survived the blizzard" tee-shirts, not to mention the fact that all schools will close at the slightest possible chance of snow.

The pollen count is off the national scale for unhealthy, which starts at 120. Atlanta is usually in the 2,000 to 4,000 range. All roads, vehicles, houses - everything - is yellow from March 28th to July 15th. If you have any allergies, you will die. But other than that, it's a great place to live!

There are 5,000 types of snakes and 4,998 live in Georgia.

There are 10,000 types of spiders. All 10,000 live in Georgia, plus a couple no one's ever seen before.

Onced and Twiced are actual words.

It is not a shopping cart, it's a buggy.

There ain't no such thing as lunch. There's only dinner - and, then, there is supper. 'Jeetyet?' is actually a phrase meaning "Did you eat yet?"

You install security lights on your house and garage and then leave both unlocked.

The local papers cover national and international news on one page, but need 6 pages for local gossip and sports.

You know whether another Georgian is from north Georgia, south Georgia or middle Georgia as soon as they open their mouth (Albany = All benny)

Going to Wal-Mart is a favorite past time known as "goin wal-martin or off to Wally World.

Sweet Tea is appropriate for all meals and you start drinking it when you're 2.
If you understand these, forward them to your friends from GEORGIA (and to those who just wish they were).

~Cal~ - Born and raised in Atlanta! 7/31/39

Cal's Gallery Plus

Davison's

1970-1986 Logo

Davison's of Atlanta was the major competition to Rich's, once itself an Atlanta shopping institution. The chain took the Macy's name in 1986.

Founding

Davison's was founded around the time Rich's was founded as Davison-Paxon and later Davison-Paxon-Stokes, rising from the same Civil War ashes from which Rich's rose. While what was then known as M. Rich Brothers Dry Goods Company remained a family owned store, Davison-Paxon-Stokes sold out to R.H. Macy & Co. in 1925.


Davison's Flagship store. 180 Peachtree St.

By 1927, R.H. Macy built the huge Peachtree Street store that still stands today. The location no longer as a department store though. Owned by Taconic Investment Partners, it is now known as 180 Peachtree and is partly vacant, although it does contain offices for Level3 and others on upper floors. There are about 185,000 square feet of potential retail or museum space on the three lower levels: roughly 75,000 square feet on the first floor, 50,000 square feet on the mezzanine, and 60,000 square feet on the lower level.

The downtown Davison's store was a classic example of a downtown shopping experience. The main entrance on Peachtree features a very stately marble-floored cosmetics and jewelry area, modelled after Macy's flagship store on Herald Square in New York. There is a mezzanine overlooking the level with escalators leading to that floor. A bank of elevators in the rear serves floors from the basement through the sixth floor. The mezzanine and the third floor connected with the parking garage across Carnegie Way. When the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel opened next door in 1976, an entrance connected the two buildings, although the difference in floor heights required several steps up from Macy's into the hotel.

Davison's was owned by R.H. Macy & Co for sixty years before the name change. The chain made no effort to disguise its affiliation with Macy's. Advertisements clearly stated "Davison's - a division of R.H. Macy & Co." and charge cards from Davison's were usable at Macy's and Bamberger's (and vice versa).

Growth

Over time, the Davison-Paxon Company name was shortened to simply Davison's. Not long after, the company embarked on an aggressive expansion plan across Georgia and South Carolina. Locations opened in the downtowns of Athens, Augusta, Macon and Columbus, as well as a store in downtown Columbia, South Carolina. During this time, Rich's remained exclusively in Atlanta. In Augusta, Davison's competed with the J.B. White chain and in Columbus, Kirven's was its main rival. In 1959, Davison's opened its first suburban location at Lenox Square Mall along with Rich's.

Throughout the 1960's, Rich's began to very aggressively expand in the suburbs while Davison's remained a downtown player for the most part. However, Davison's did open one mall location at the now-demolished Columbia Mall (later known as Avondale Mall) near Avondale Estates. Davison's expanded once again in the 1970's and 1980's with locations at Cumberland, Southlake, Gwinnett Place, Shannon, Northlake and Perimeter Malls. New locations also replaced the downtown stores in all the other cities mentioned except Columbus, which faced stronger competition from regional chains, and Columbia, where the downtown Macy's store closed and was left vacant. The new Davison's stores were typically white brick with small glass atriums at the entrance. An example of this style is still visible at Northlake Mall and the Bloomingdales at Perimeter Mall.

Mergers

In the mid-1980's, Macy's began to consolidate its regional divisions to streamline its corporate structure. In January 1985, Davison's and Macy's Midwest were combined into one division, Macy's Atlanta.

Macy's slowly began to retire the Davison's name. In 1984, the logo was changed to the same font of its more famous counterpart in the ITC Avant Garde font.


Davison's/Macy's Banner from 1985.

By early 1986, all Davison's stores were formally renamed Macy's. In late 1986, the first Atlanta store to begin under the Macy's name opened at Town Center at Cobb in Kennesaw.

Final Act

By spring 2003, most all former Davison's stores were closed when Rich's and Macy's were consolidated under the "Rich's-Macy's" nameplate. That same year, the historic downtown Davison's/Macy's store on Peachtree Street was also closed. This ended the era of department-store shopping in downtown Atlanta. All of the old Davison's mall stores in Atlanta were left vacant except for three locations. The Perimeter Mall and Lenox Square locations were closed, renovated, and reopened several months later as Bloomingdale's in late 2003. The Northlake location was re-branded as Rich's-Macy's before changing back to simply Macy's two years later. One floor of the Town Center location, which had originally opened as Macy's, became a Rich's-Macy's Furniture Gallery location. It is now a Macy's Furniture Gallery location and a Macy's Furniture Clearance Center on the upper level, and now has a Macy's Men's Store on the lower level.

The remainder of Davison's former locations remain vacant except for the locations at Cumberland Mall, Avondale/Columbia Mall, and Augusta Mall. The Cumberland Mall location was torn down in late 2005 for a major overhaul at the 32-year-old center, a detached Costco now sits just to the west of the Davison's footprint. The Avondale/Columbia Mall location was completely demolished with the rest of the mall for a Wal-Mart SuperCenter. The Augusta Mall location was open till 2006 as a Macy's Furniture Showroom. It has closed to make way for a lifestyle center similar to Cumberland Mall, another General Growth Properties mall.

Source: Internet

The Varsity

The front exterior of The Varsity.

Slogan: What'll ya have??

The Varsity is a restaurant chain, iconic in the modern culture of Atlanta, Georgia. The main branch of the chain is the largest drive-in fast food restaurant in the world. There are now six other branches across metro Atlanta, and another near the University of Georgia in Athens.

History


The Varsity on North Ave. on a Saturday night.

Originally named "The Yellow Jacket,' The Varsity was established in 1928 at the corner of Luckie Street and Hemphill Avenue in Midtown Atlanta. Its founder, Frank Gordy, a Reinhardt University graduate, briefly attended The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) but dropped out in 1925. Then, as now, the restaurant catered heavily to Georgia Tech students. As the business grew, Gordy was forced to move the restaurant to 61 North Avenue (on the northwest corner of Spring Street) to accommodate the crowds; the present structure now covers two city blocks. It was here that the name was changed to "The Varsity," reflecting his desire to expand to other college campuses. During the drive-in era, The Varsity began its curbside service, which continues to this day.

The current location in Atlanta is now adjacent to the Downtown Connector's interchange with North Avenue. When that freeway (now I-75/85) was built by GDOT, it took out several blocks of Williams Street and much of The Varsity's western parking lot, forcing a parking garage to be erected as a replacement. The restaurant and the Georgia Tech campus sit on opposite sides of the Connector, linked by the North Avenue bridge.


The famous Varsity 'V' sign as seen from the Downtown Connector.

The enterprise has since expanded to Athens, Kennesaw, Gwinnett County, and Alpharetta. The Varsity, Jr., located in northeast Atlanta, was the only other location of the chain to offer curbside service. The Varsity, Jr. closed in August 2010 after more than 40 years at that location, after the city of Atlanta failed to approve the chain's plans to replace that building. The plans for the new Varsity, Jr. are instead being used for a new location in Dawsonville scheduled to open in December 2010. In addition, the main location is responsible for more retail sales of Coca-Cola, on an annual basis than any other single location in the world, a record which has stood for many years. The restaurant also offers catering services to the metro Atlanta region for both corporate and non-corporate functions, going as far east as Conyers and Stone Mountain, Georgia.

There is also a mini-Varsity on the campus of Reinhardt University in Waleska, Georgia. Frank Gordy met his wife, Evelyn, at Reinhardt in 1924 and went on to Georgia Tech to finish his education. Their custom-designed home was later moved from Atlanta to the Reinhardt University campus. The Gordy family gave part of their land to Cobb County for what is now the Mountain View campus of Chattahoochee Technical College and the Mountain View Aquatics Center, the rest was sold in the 1990's for upscale tract housing and strip malls. Gordy Parkway, a loop named for Frank Gordy, serves all of these.

CultureOne of the best-known employees at the Varsity was Erby Walker, who worked there for fifty-five years until he died in 2008. He started at the Varsity at the age of fifteen sweeping floors, and was nearly fired on the first day, but soon graduated to the kitchen. Mr. Walker was noted for his ability to move the service line quickly, especially during the rush period right before a Georgia Tech football game. His signature catchphrase was, "Have your money out and your food on your mind, and I'll getcha to the game on time!" He retired in 2003, but came back three weeks later. That year Walker was inducted into the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau Hospitality Hall of Fame.

Comedian Nipsey Russell began his entertainment career at The Varsity in the 1940's as a car hop. The creative and resourceful Russell would dress in a flamboyant style and pepper his order-taking duties with jokes and amusing songs, thereby earning him extra tips. U.S. presidents Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, and Bill Clinton all visited The Varsity during their terms in office. Mad artist Jack Davis has done advertising for The Varsity.

The Varsity was featured in the movie We Are Marshall while the coaches are recruiting players.

Varsity Lingo


A meal at The Varsity


Varsity catering at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers during the Celebrate Freedom 2007 concert on September 1, 2007


Varsity catering at the House of Cheatham facility in Stone Mountain, Georgia on March 6, 2008

Over the years The Varsity has become synonymous in Atlanta's folklore with a clever and unorthodox catchphrase. Originated by frazzled cashiers as a way to keep the lines moving, the blunt and abbreviated greeting "What'll ya have?" caught on with both staff and public and eventually became the restaurant's unofficial slogan.

Today it appears on takeout boxes and cups as well as Varsity memorabilia and is the required greeting to all customers.

Along with 'What'll ya have?" the Varsity staff, as was common practice, developed their own jargon when calling out orders. Being a restaurant with an open grill, the customers could overhear the staff's slang and eventually began adopting it as their own when placing orders. Recognizing that the customers enjoyed being 'in on the joke' the Varsity eventually began listing its items with both their conventional and jargon references on both their overhead and printed menus.

Hot Dog a hot dog with chili and mustard
Chili Dog same as a hot dog
Naked Dog a plain hot dog in a bun
M.K. Dog a naked dog with mustard and ketchup
Regular C Dog a chili dog with ketchup only
Red Dog a naked dog with ketchup only
Yellow Dog a naked dog with mustard only
Yankee Dog same as a yellow dog
Heavy Dog a hot dog with extra chili
Walk a Dog (or Steak) a hot dog (or hamburger) to go
Steak a hamburger with mustard, ketchup, and pickle
Chili Steak a hamburger with chili
Glorified Steak a hamburger with mayonnaise, lettuce, and tomato
Mary Brown Steak (or Dog) a plain hamburger (or hot dog) without a bun
Naked Steak a plain steak
Sally Rand a naked steak
Sally Rand Through the Garden a naked steak with lettuce, tomato and mayonnaise
N.I. Orange a Varsity Orange without ice
F.O. a frosted orange shake
Joe-ree coffee with cream
P.C. plain chocolate milk (always served with ice)
N.I.P.C. a P.C. without ice
All The Way with onions (on a hot dog, hamburger, etc.)
Bag of Rags a bag of chips
Ring One order of onion rings
Strings French fries
Sideways onions on the side
V.O. Varsity Orange, the original carbonated orange soda drink
L.G. Lazy Gordy, a Naked Dog and a Sprite

External Links:

Official website

Then (1953) / Now (2004) photo of The Varsity

Then (1963) / Now (2003) photo of The Varsity

World's Largest Drive-In

Atlanta Icons: The Varsity

Source: Wikipedia