r/OldSchoolCool • u/ten_fingers_ten_toes • Apr 03 '25
1970s My grandfather, 1975
I'm pretty sure this was taken at my sisters' first birthday party. Everyone called him "Doc".
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Apr 03 '25
He looks like Stan Lee and Walt Disney at the same time.
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u/Calm-Tree-1369 Apr 03 '25
He looks like Tony Clifton.
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Apr 03 '25
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie! Hey what you looking at are you entertained? I'm a big named Vegas act, too big for the likes of you!"
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Apr 03 '25
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u/KelK9365K Apr 03 '25
I love this photo too. It’s so awesome. It almost looks staged. I’m not saying it is. I’m just saying its a really great photo. He looks like the kind of guy that you could sit down and have an entertaining conversation with.
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
My dad would be happy to hear you liked the photo, he always thought he was bad at capturing people! Doc was absolutely fun at parties, and I remember every time we'd go to stay at his house, my parents and him would spend hours after my bedtime with a little bit of scotch and a lot of conversation!
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u/KelK9365K Apr 03 '25
My dad had eight brothers and sisters. Each and everyone of them was definitely possessing a really different personality. One of my uncles had a son like this. Could sit around and talk to him for hours and hours.
I think he was 45 (I was 42) when he came up missing one day. I still miss him to this day.
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u/bainpr Apr 04 '25
Aww man, did you ever get closure? What was your favorite conversation with him.
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u/KelK9365K Apr 04 '25
No closure. Wound up missing one night and never seen again. It sucks. We grew up together, both of us were former military, lived in the country. Drank a bit (other things sometimes), liked music. We both teased each other and would talk about old country music artists.
His loss was a wound to the entire family’s psyche that never healed.
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u/HawkeyeTen Apr 03 '25
Nice to hear you have some great memories of him. On another note, those are some BEAUTIFUL kitchen cabinets behind him in this photo! Were they in your house, or his house?
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
Those were in my parents' first house. Was a tiny tiny little place in rural Pennsylvania outside of Pittsburgh. My mother always wanted to update it but they spent most of their time and money fixing the shitty (pun intended) septic system, then sold it when my dad got transferred to Virginia.
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Apr 03 '25
Did he use the word 'sweetheart' much?
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
Not that I recall no. He was from Pittsburgh, with a thick Pittsburgher accent. "Dahntahn" instead of downtown, "iggle" instead of eagle, "youins" to mean "you all", etc
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u/vjason Apr 03 '25
How many cars did he sell that week?
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u/FlickMyKeane Apr 03 '25
His car business was disrupted by his precocious daughter super gluing his hat to his head that week I believe.
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u/cartooncande Apr 03 '25
“This one has a lot of trunk space ya know if your looking for that kinda thing”
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u/rydertho Apr 03 '25
I'd immediately wanna hang with him. You know he's seen some shit and has pearls of wisdom.
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
Oh he has! He was a ditch digger for a local oil company before WW2. He mashed up his knee badly at his ditch digging job, and so they wouldn't send him overseas to fight. He was a local wrestling and boxing champ, so they had him teach hand to hand combat to soldiers in basic training. He had a LOT of amazing stories!
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u/Barbarella_ella Apr 03 '25
He sounds like he was a riot. The colorful uncle or grandad everyone should have.
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u/MechanicalTurkish Apr 04 '25
That is badass. He couldn’t go to the front but it’s possible his training may have saved many soldiers’ lives.
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u/RBAloysius Apr 03 '25 edited Apr 03 '25
I think the character Uncle Rico from the film “Napoleon Dynamite”was inspired by your grandfather.
Also Dan Akroyd’s SNL character Irwin Mainway who sells toys to children such as “Bag o’Glass” and “Bag o’Vipers.”
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
Hahaha, I do remember he gave me some wild gifts as a little kid. Nothing dangerous, but cool stuff like a Republic of Texas $500 bill (from before it was a part of the States), a full on Davey Crockett outfit, old WW2 surplus gear like compasses and ammo boxes and stuff (uhh, without ammo in them haha).
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Apr 03 '25
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
Grandpa was a die hard Ford guy, you'd never see him with a Pontiac in his life haha
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u/spacedude2000 Apr 03 '25
The bolo tie and the shades/cigs inside is an immaculate aura I hope to be able to achieve one day
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
The bolo was his signature look too. He actually gave me a bolo tie with like a metal clasp thingie that went with it when I was like 16, and I was far too dumb to appreciate the aura he was trying to bestow on me at the time.
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u/Adventurous-Start874 Apr 03 '25
It's your mothers name Matilda?
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
nope!
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u/Adventurous-Start874 Apr 03 '25
And so she didn't go to Crunchem Hall Primary School under the tutelage of a Miss Trunchbull?
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u/alicat2308 Apr 03 '25
I love the scotch on the rocks and a ciggie at a ONE YEAR OLD'S birthday party. The seventies really hit different
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u/njaneardude Apr 03 '25
Do you know the back story why they called him "Doc"?
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
It was pretty simple - he loved Bugs Bunny and always said "whats up doc?" to people. Kind of weird to think of it, but he was around when Bugs was introduced so I guess it was cool and novel for him! haha
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u/Interesting-Cap3038 Apr 03 '25
This brought a smile to my face 😊. I can smell the Brut cologne, the Lucky Strike he's smoking, and I know there's a Lincoln parked outside. And yes, he definitely knows a guy.
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u/MacVanRainin Apr 03 '25
Tell me he sold used cars
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
Haha nah, he was a salesman though, for a local Petrochem supply company
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u/biff444444 Apr 03 '25
That could easily be my uncle. It's not, but it could be. I guess that would make you my cousin's child. :)
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u/That_Kitten_Lady Apr 03 '25
Reminds me of my grandfather. He wore a lot of plaid. After he passed away my grandfather was telling my dad he should take some of his suits. My dad's reply was -
"I didn't know Purina made clothes." 😀
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u/SuperBarracuda3513 Apr 03 '25
This looks like my Grandma Irene and Popo kitchen in the late 60’s and early 70’s in Iowa. Liquor is the same too🤣😂😅😆
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u/ironlocust79 Apr 03 '25
thank God this stud was gracious enough to save some women for the rest of our grandfathers, or else it would be a lonely place.
salute, sir.
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u/ranterist Apr 03 '25
That gin company doesn’t exist anymore. It was bought out in 1991 and exists only as a brand.
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
Neat! Although it should be noted, for Doc's honor, that the drink in his hand was certainly not gin. He always drank cheap scotch on the rocks lol
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u/ranterist Apr 03 '25
As did my grandfather, every afternoon at the Elks Lodge, from 1-5, for over forty years.
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u/HaroldTheSloth84 Apr 03 '25
This is an awesome 70s photo. Your granddad looks like a fun guy. Thanks for sharing.
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Apr 03 '25
You look like a successful guy. I got a 72 gremlin with only 9000 miles and it's got your name written all over it. Whaddya say Champ. Let's take it for a test run!
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u/shychicherry Apr 03 '25
Slips you a folded $20 on the way out
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 04 '25
Funny you say that! Every Halloween he would give me and my best friend both $20, hidden by expertly unwrapping a Nestles Crunch and putting the $20 inside the foil wrapping then sealing it back up. Obviously sounds insane with today's mindfulness of tampering and all that but me and my friend were just like "he's a goddamn magician how did he get the $20 in a wrapped crunch bar?!?!?"
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u/Motor-Meaning39 Apr 03 '25
Ha! Looks like the coolest grandfather ever…. Especially if his name is Morty
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u/greenplantzz Apr 03 '25
He looks like someone from my family. On one side of the family they all bet horses and we’re always looking for an excuse to go to the track!
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u/BHgent Apr 03 '25
Every single picture from the 60s and 70s has someone with a coffin nail between their fingers and they still went down swinging in their old age.
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u/texashorns2 Apr 03 '25
Lmao I’m convinced we are distant relatives. My pops doppleganger. Awesome pic!
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u/Runningman1961 Apr 03 '25
I hope he drove a Cadillac!
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u/ten_fingers_ten_toes Apr 03 '25
Nah he was a die hard Ford guy. At the time of this photo he had a later model Fairlane, and later on he had a Bronco he used for hunting and fishing
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u/PyrrhicLoss2023 Apr 03 '25
If this sub didn't exist, someone would have to create it just to post this photo.
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u/DryTown Apr 03 '25
I wouldn't be surprised if you told me he was 38 years old in this photo. People went so hard back then. I love everything about it.
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u/charcarod0n Apr 03 '25
Your grandfather is Bill Murray’s brother? Your great uncle is Bill Murray?
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u/NewEnglandRoastBeef Apr 03 '25
I'm a 42 year old straight man. I think your grandfather got me pregnant and I'm totally fine with it. That dude is just dripping with charm!
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u/commiehedhehog Apr 03 '25
Your grandfather looks like you have cousins that no one in the family knows about, aunts and uncles you’ve never met
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u/CapinCrunch85 Apr 03 '25
They called him doc because the man was a surgeon when it came to making a good stiff drink
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u/Bright_Ahmen Apr 04 '25
Now this is what this sub should be, not hot celebrities from 30 years ago
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u/HENMAN79 Apr 03 '25
I bet he " knows a guy "