"The Crystal"---just the words bring a flood of memories for Lockport's home-bred over-50 crowd! I must admit I didn't spend a lot of time there. One of life's regrets. The Crystal was in the league of Castle's and The Royal as Lockport's top soda foundation hang-outs, not just for teens, but for families and generations! I suppose it's appropriate that on this site today, the corner of Cottage and Main, is the Friendly (Ice Cream) Restaurant. Too bad in the latest Friendly remodeling they didn't include a framed picture of the old Crystal on the wall.
Oh, and that street going off to the right in the picture? That's Buffalo Avenue! Try to find it today! Thanks to Charlene Bower for the photo. Perhaps those of you who spent some "serious time" at The Crystal will send some of your recollections in and we'll reproduce them below. (1/18/00) --Lou
Jim Shumis
Opening & Closing The Crystal
Thanks to Paul Oates at WLVL Radio we have two pictures of Jim Shumis at the Crystal.
On the left, about the time the shop opened and at right just before he closed popular Lockport downtown landmark (another loss from the Urban Renewal era).
In both pictures, Jim is standing out in front of the shop next to a sign that promoted some of the items they sold. Sorry we don't have exact dates on the photos but they, how shall we say, span a lifetime.