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Outside a Burger King in the 1980s
Repost from November 2010. I found a trade journal put out by Prosperity International in 1984 called, “FLORIDA: In Shape for The Future”. It’s filled with all kinds of promotional materials for Florida companies. (Ironic note… it was printed in Japan. I guess there were no Florida printing companies that would pay for advertising?) In it I found some fun Burger King photos. I loved Burger King in the 1980s. Hell, I can’t help it, I still love it! Click photos to make larger.
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It’s really quite something, the obscure collections of things you can find at estate sales. I found two bins full of these cheap plastic toys. I wasn’t even sure what they were initially, though I’ve since discovered that they are cake toppers. Most of them appear to have been produced by the Wilton company in the 1960s and 1970s. Though, honestly, I haven’t put that much research into it. I’ll probably sell this stuff on eBay, but it seemed to fascinating a collection not to share. Enjoy this collection of vintage Wilton Cake Toppers
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Here’s an article I wrote for Mouseplanet.com back in the early 2000s about Walt Disney’s Empress Lilly restaurant, called “The Queen of Lake Buena Vista“.

The food truck craze has hit Orlando and is delivering a lot of delectable eats to the locals. In a town dominated by chains, it’s refreshing to see so many local independent food mongers plying their trade in this way. This isn’t carnival food either. These trucks are delivering some really high quality food. Everything from Luther Burgers to Korean BBQ Tacos. On a daily basis, these trucks are parked at strategic spots around town, but several evenings a week, they gather at specific spots to take a unified stand. These events bring in a lot of local traffic. My wife and I have hit the Lake Lily Round-Up (Tuesday nights) twice, and today we were at the big round-up in the back of the Fashion Square Mall parking lot. 
Personally, I prefer Lake Lily Tuesday nights to the Fashion Square Round-up. It’s true that while there were even more food trucks at Fashion Square than what I’m used to, the Lake Lily location is just a much smoother jive, and includes a good deal more comfortable dining space (if you walk around to the other side of the lake.) What follows after the cut are some photos of the trucks. I only got photos of about half of them, unfortunately. Missing are the Korean Taco Box trucks, The Brisket Bus, The Crooked Spoon, and others.

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This is another bunch of ads from the Orlando Sentinel food sectionals from 1972. Check the original article here. Above is an advert for Sweden House. My love for “All You Can Eat Buffets” knows know boundaries. Of course, back then it was called a “Smorgasbord”. I’m not sure which is the classier moniker. These places were all over Florida in the 60s and 70s. I hope they had Swedish meatballs. If Ikea had all you can eat meatballs, they’d have to wheel me out on one of those HÅVET chair beds.

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Orlando Grocery 1970sOh, hello Richard Deacon, character actor of such classics as “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”. I had no idea you were a television chef. Was this before or after you were in “The Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood”? Answer: It was before.

I found a stack of “Orlando Sentinel” Food sectionals from the early 1970s, loaded with adds for local restaurants, grocery stores, appliance stores, etc. I have tons of these, so this is the first in a series. Click the images to make bigger.

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