Billett's hobby shop circa 1930's and 40's (pics)

[Bill Ervin]

I grew up building and flying models in the Twin Cities area during the 60's and 70's and a little bit into the 80's before moving out west.  Why did I move out west?  Well, there was a girl involved but that's another story.  As a teenager I made it a point to check out all the hobby shops I could within the Greater Minneapolis and St. Paul area.

The Medical Center Cyclery (the basement was where all the action took place, that's where the Hobby Shop was).

Jolly's in Apache Plaza (the beautiful Jetco Navigator hanging in the entrance made me stop and stare every time I walked under it).  

Hub Hobby (huge and well stocked)

Woodcraft Hobbies (had their own local television show that aired every Sunday morning!).

Dedrick's in downtown Anoka (the hometown HS, entrance was from a staircase that led down to the basement from the sidewalk).

Great memories all, give anything to go back...



Here's another prominent HS that was in Minnesota a generation before my time.  Billett's on Nicollet Ave.  Man this takes me back.

Bill

[Bill Ervin]

Inside Billett's and the University of MN fieldhouse.

[Bill Ervin]

Proprietor Richard Billett.

[Claudio Chacon]

Man, I LOVE those antique photos...

Thank you for posting them!

Regards,
Claudio.

[Don Hutchinson AMA5402]

I was fortunate enough to have been one of those who flew in the fieldhouse. You could fly 70  foot lines and do the entire stunt pattern in there. They also flew Hornet and McCoy 60 speed models in there. "47 Nat's indoor events were also held there.
Don

[Shultzie]

BILL..
THESE PHOTOS ARE PRICELESS....THANKS FOR SHARING!

[Bryan Higgins]

Thank You Bill

What a great treat!  It's nice to see pictures of where it all started and the
great people who shared the fun.

[Bill Ervin]

Hi fellas, glad you enjoyed the pictures!  An old flying buddy sent them (dozens and dozens!) to me and I thought I'd share them here.

When I first received them they seemed, to me anyway, rather random and anonymous.  But when we study the images they reveal a story that tell us a little about who these modelers are.  Hal Hatlestad is the taller one holding the Dennyplane and the younger boy is Ray Vandewalker.  We can see that these two were flying buddies from the shot of them together, and that they favored Dennyplanes for competing with.

One other item we know about Hal is that he smoked cigarettes, seen in two of the pics is one last pull.

Another picture shows their specialized trailer hitched to the rear of Mr. Billett's car (compare the car with the earlier pic) so we could guess that the boys were all under 16.  Ray certainly seems younger than 16.


The pictures tie us to these modelers, now we know a small yet very important part about them;  and there's something profound in that.

This site ties US all together too.


Merry Christmas, Bill

[Scott Hartford]

Great pics! More please!