Last week I picked up an oddball set of Cubs from the 1970s sponsored by the Shakeys Pizza chain. In the 1970s, Shakey's Pizza was big, with over 500 restaurants across the US (today there are less than 60, mostly in California). There was one a couple miles from our house, but we rarely went there. I can remember going to Shakey's only once. The reason for the lack of visits....the pizza wasn't very good. In Chicago at that time, there weren't many chains. Pizza was mom and pop places. And they had very good pizza. Why bother with Shakey's when you can have Vito and Nicks.
Well, enough about pizza. Let's talk about baseball cards. The Shakey's set wasn't a national set. It was produced by the Washington State Sports Collectors Association in 1976 and sponsored by five local Seattle area Shakey's. Cards were given away or sold at Association shows.
The cards were the standard size and the set was made up of 160 Hall of Famers. Nine Cubs were included. King Kelly is listed on the back as a Cub (they were actually the White Stockings when he played) though the card shows him in a Boston uniform.
"Vito and Nicks"
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Or Phil's. Or Joe's Italian Villa. Or Home Run Inn. Or....
I've mentioned this several times: when I was a kid, we'd go to Dairy Queen. There was a Shakey's Pizza next to the DQ. I desperately wanted to go to Shakey's (probably because I saw a commercial somewhere). If I knew they had cards, I'd have been insufferable.
ReplyDeleteThat was way out in upstate New York. Meanwhile I've visited Chicago and had pizza there. Shakey's would have to be awfully good to compete with what I ate there (although apologies to Vito's and Nicks, I prefer deep dish).
Shakeys should start making cards again. LA still has a bunch of Shakeys Pizza joints. People mostly go for the really cheap buffet.
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