Café of the Arcade

Hello readers and welcome back to the Hometown Heritage blog!
 
Today we got a new donation of some old photos showing an interesting little café that used to exist here in Perry. The café was called the “Arcade Café”, and it appears to have been owned (or at least primarily operated by) George and Merle Watson. The photos, as you can see, show a nice little café that appears to have been very popular. The booths are full, the tables are full, even the counter in one photo is surrounded by people. In one photo you can see a sign that reads telephone, which must lead to a small area where the telephone booth was located (this place reminds me of the café scene in the movie Back to the Future). Overall, it looks like the café used to be quite the place to eat in Perry!
 
Now, some of you may be asking yourself “These are just ordinary photos of a café, why are they interesting at all?” Perhaps some of you may have already deduced the answer, which is that these photos may be of the same café, but they are not taken in the same building. One photo, which shows the telephone sign, is actually taken at the old location of the café. This location is 1109 2nd Avenue, in what people used to call the Wimmer Building. The other two photos were taken at the café’s new location on Willis Avenue, where Vivi Nails is now located. Today, many people call this the “Arcade Building.” Perhaps it is called this because it used to be the location of the Arcade Café? If you have any more information about the Arcade Café, or why the building is now called the Arcade, please let us know in the comments!