Pittsburgh

Before Spot, there was Fresh Freddie who first introduced kids to 7-Up back in the 1950's.

The International Record Syndicate, or I.R.S. Records, was a label founded by Miles Copeland (brother of The Police's Stewart Copeland) and Jay Boberg. A division of A&M Records, its roster included some of the most important new wave acts of the '80s including R.E.M.,...

The Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) debuted in 1978 with six teams. Playing on a astroturf-covered hockey rinks, the league quickly grew in popularity through the 1980s. Interest began to wane toward the end of the decade. Teams included the very popular St. Louis...

If you didn't have MTV in the early to mid '80s, or even if you did, you were parked in front of the TV to watch??Friday Night Videos??on NBC after??The Tonight Show.

Family Video was in founded in 1978 in Springfield, Illinois as the Video Movie Club. The idea came about when??Midstates Appliance and Supply Company, owned by Charles Hoogland, found itself stuck with an excess of video movies as a result of being a distributor...

The Homestead Grays were one of the longest-running Negro league baseball teams in history, playing from 1900 to 1950. Formed in Homestead, a suburb of Pittsburgh, the team grew represent the entire area, eventually sharing Forbes Field with the Pittsburgh Pirates. The team also...

Somethings never change.

In 1976, America's largest fast food chain introduced the character of Phil A. O'Fish to help sell their fish sandwiches. In recent years it has become the opposite of an urban legend with many asserting Phil A. O'Fish never existed. He did, but he...

It's one of the world's most famous ice cream bars.

He is inarguably the greatest ball player in Pittsburgh history and one of the best in the big leagues period.

Home to hockey's Penguins from 1967 to 2010, the Civic Arena was nicknamed "The Igloo." It was also home to the ABA's??Pipers??and??Condors??in the late '60s and early '70s, as well as the indoor soccer??Spirit??in the '80s and the??Gladiators??of the Arena Football League. The Penguins...

As Squints from the movie "The Sandlot" might put it, live and die Pittsburgh FOR-EV-ER!

Burger Chef was a fast-food hamburger chain that started in Indianapolis in 1958. At its peak in the mid 1970s, it was second only to McDonald's in the number of nationwide locations. In the late '70s, animated spokespersons Burger Chef and Jeff were introduced....

"Hey Man, is that Freedom Rock?" "Yeah, Man." "Well, turn it up, Man!!!"

Ames Department Stores Inc. was a chain of discount stores??founded in 1958??in Rocky Hill, Connecticut and at its peak operated 700 stores in 20 states. Despite some success in its later years, Ames was plagued by debt and a slow decline in sales and...

A Pittsburgh institution, Chiodo's Tavern opened at the end of the Homestead High-Level Bridge (now the Homestead Grays Bridge) in 1947. Famous for its Mystery Sandwich, memorabilia-covered walls, and friendly owner, it became a popular gathering spot. It closed in 2005.

It was the jingle you couldn't escape if you watched TV in Cleveland in the early '80s. Channel 43 went on the air in 1968, eight months after the debut of WKBF, Channel 61. Both were independent stations, but only one survived the '70s....

Woodsy Owl first appeared in 1971 and asked Americans to take better care of the environment by disposing of trash properly.??An updated version of Woodsy was developed in the 1990s.

Family Video was in founded in 1978 in Springfield, Illinois as the Video Movie Club. The idea came about when??Midstates Appliance and Supply Company, owned by Charles Hoogland, found itself stuck with an excess of video movies as a result of being a distributor...

Brewed by Cincinnati's own Schoenling Brewing Co., Little Kings was founded in 1958. Its distinctive 7-ounce green bottle was invented soon after when patrons at Montgomery Inn stated they'd prefer not to buy a full-sized bottle of beer to go with their shots of...

While it sounds like a feel good, positive mental health message, the "I'm Thumbody" campaign was, in fact, created for a financial services firm. It was introduced in 1971 and used to market various bank and credit unions across the U.S.

The Checker Motors Corporation was a Kalamazoo-based vehicle manufacture best known for making taxi cabs. The iconic, boxy sedans, roamed the streets of America's cities for most of the 20th century, before ceasing production in 1982. Though widely used by cab companies, Checker cars...

Graffiti on Baum Blvd. was a music venue that hosted concerts and other events for 16 years, from 1994 to 2000. Local acts such as The Affordable Floors and Eleventh Hour played there, as well as national and international acts. The site is now...

Former neighborhood troublemaker, and some time loan shark, Kelly Leak became a star outfielder for the Bears.

Winky's was a hamburger chain that at its height had over 42 restaurants in Greater Pittsburgh, as well as stores in West Virginia and Ohio. The company went out of business in 1982.

Wright Airlines, founded in 1966, is considered to be America's first regional airline, as well as the nation's first commuter airline. Based at Cleveland's Burke Lakefront Airport, it flew until 1984.

If you survived Y2K, you can survive anything!

Crispy golden fries in two minutes was the promise made by MicroMagic, a line of frozen foods that appeared in the late '80s. "Give 'em MicroMagic now," went the jingle.

Who knows better than a skunk that smoking stinks?

ShowBiz Pizza Place was a pizza restaurant and video game arcade chain??in the '80s and early '90s. It was founded by Robert L. Brock, a Holiday Inn franchisee, who had ended his partnership with the owners of Chuck E. Cheese. In addition to pizza, ShowBiz featured...