Category: 50s to 90s

The Undertaker went on a PR tour recently ahead of his induction into the WWE Hall of Fame and during one of his interviews, he recalled the infamous incident he had on KTV with fellow wrestler Vader and Kuwait TV host Bassam Al Othman. WWE (previously WWF) was performing in Kuwait back then and both wrestlers went on KTV’s Good Morning show to be interviewed by Bassam. During the interview, Bassam asked Undertaker and Vader if wrestling was fake. In response, Vader flipped over the table they were sitting at and grabbed Bassam by the tie, asking him if it seemed fake while using foul language. If you haven’t watched that old interview before, I’ve embedded it below.

According to The Undertaker in his recent interview with SHAK Wrestling (video below at 14:50 minute mark), they actually ended up arresting Vader after the incident:

“I remember them whisking me out,” he said. “When everything broke down, I remember Jerry Brisco grabbing me and like, ‘let’s get in a car, we’re getting out of here.’ I look back and I see Leon like, ‘Take, what do I do?’ I was like, ‘I’ll see you at the hotel, brother.’ Because I am getting pulled, I am physically getting pulled to get into the car before everyone gets arrested. We just didn’t know. I knew that was going to be a bad decision right away and it was. He didn’t leave with us, he had to stay there for a week or so after we all left.”

I never knew Vader was arrested but I found another show on KTV that discussed the aftermath of the incident and supposedly, after the interview, the Good Morning show host ended up pressing charges on Vader at the police station. Two scrawny cops then went and arrested Vader who was put under house arrest for a couple of weeks until the WWE eventually managed to get him out.

The anniversary of this incident is actually in a few days since it took place on April 12th, 1997. Good times.

I’ve had these photos in my archive for a couple of years now, I forgot where I got them from but I guess it’s about time to share them. Some of the photos are really great but I’m not 100% positive about the date of the photos.

They’re a mixture of photos ranging from 1975 to 1977. I think 1977 because in one of the photos you can see the Kuwait Towers in the background and it looks like construction on it was completed, but that only happened in 1977. But in other photos, you can see the dates 1975 and 1976 so it’s a mix.

No matter the dates the photos are really great and with all the silly drama with yoga taking place now, vintage photos like these are now more important than ever to share. You can view and download them all in hi-res by clicking here.

In addition to the photos, there is also a video taken from the AP archive showing the 1975 parade. Usually, I’d say bring back the parades but even if we did, I don’t think it would ever be the same. Kuwait was so different back then.

A few years ago I shared some photos of when the Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show came to Kuwait in 1986. One of the performers of the show had shared them with me after reading my initial post on the show asking if anyone remembered it or had any info on it. The performer had promised to send me more photos but never did and I forgot to follow up with him until recently. While working on my Kids’r’us post I came across two photos of Kids’r’us staff at the Buffalo Bill’s event since they had a pop-up there. So I sent the photos over to him and turns out his brother was one of the performers posing in the photo. He then sent over all the photos he had of their trip here.

Now they’re not the best quality photos since he took photos of the photos with his phone and the lighting isn’t that great. But it’s better than nothing. I uploaded all the photos to Flickr so they can be downloaded by anyone and you can see them all by clicking here.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been preoccupied researching, interviewing, and scanning photos related to Kids ‘r’ us and I think I’m finally ready to share all my findings. For those of you too young to remember, Kids ‘r’ us was a huge and very popular toy store that opened in Kuwait (Dajeej) back in the early 80s. They later opened smaller locations around Kuwait including one in the old Salmiya souq which was popular after the 1990 invasion. A few weeks ago I got a comment under one of my old posts from a person called Khaled Al-Qutub saying he was part of the original team that opened Kids ‘r’ us. So right away I got in touch with him by email and later by Whatsapp to get his story. Here is everything I’ve managed to gather over the past few weeks.

Background
Firstly let’s get some background information out of the way. Kids’r’us was not an imitation of Toys “R” Us nor was it inspired by it. Kids’r’us was Toys “R” Us. Why we have a different name, logo and mascot isn’t very clear, from what I was told they wanted to create a new more relatable brand for the Middle East, but if that was the case then why would you go with a koala bear for a mascot and not say a camel or another animal from our region? Alghanim was granted a limited right to open Toys “R” Us stores (Kids R Us) in Kuwait and 13 other countries located in and around the Middle East that included Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen (source). From 1982 to December 1993, Alghanim opened four toy stores, all in Kuwait. Kids R Us lost over 2 million Dinars over the 11-year period from 1982 to 1993, and turned a profit only in one year of this period. (source).

The Begining
Khaled Al-Qutub was a Jordanian expat born in Kuwait back in 1964. Like many of the original Kids’r’us employees, he was young when he joined the team. According to Khaled, they were around 25 employees and 6 managers that helped launch Kids’r’us (most pictured above). When they joined and visited the store for the first time it was completely empty with just tiles and columns. Over the next months, they had to install all the gondolas (what they call the store shelves), receive the containers, and unload items into the warehouse and onto the shelves. The store was composed of three floors. The warehouse was located in the basement and was 2,500sqm, the main store was on the ground floor and was also 2,500sqm, and there was a small 500sqm mezzanine floor that originally held offices but later got turned into a buy-as-is damaged goods area. The original location is still in Dajeej, it’s now where Sears is located.

Two or three guys from Toys R Us (USA) came to Kuwait to train the Kids R Us staff. They brought floor layouts with them and showed the staff where to put everything. When the toys arrived in the containers they had Toys”r”us labels on them.

Dabdoub
One day while they were busy setting up the store Khaled got called into the office by the manager back then, Rawi Alkhatib, and his deputy Amal Haddad. They had gotten delivery of a large blue box that morning and it was now in the office and they asked Khaled to open it. That was when he saw the dabdoub costume for the very first time. It was huge! Khaled was told that he would be dabdoub and was given some basic set of rules to follow, feel free to do whatever you want to make the kids happy, but you’re not allowed to make a sound or talk. Later after Khaled left Kids’r’us other people took over the job, but he was the original mascot.

The Opening
Before the store opened the employees went around giving out bumper stickers to people on the street telling them about Kids’r’us. A while back I found some newspaper ads for the opening and you can see one of them above.

Kids ‘r’ us officially opened on November 10th, 1983 it was considered to be the largest toy store in the region at that time with over 10,000 toys. According to Khaled, the first day was crazy with thousands of people, families, and children all visiting the store. You couldn’t move inside.

The Work Environment
Khaled only stayed with Kids’r’us for 2 or 3 years and then left. After talking to him I realized I might be able to find other Kids’r’us employees who might also have information and photos to share with me. So I did the most basic thing, I searched LinkedIn. I wasn’t expecting to find anyone but somehow I did, I found another Khaled, Khaled Saqer.

Khaled Saqer joined Kids’r’us around the same time Khaled Al-Qutub left and one thing I found fascinating is how both of them talked so highly about their experience working at Kids’r’us. The Kids’r’us managers must have been really great because the work environment seemed incredibly fun. All the employees were similarly aged, and all with similar mindsets. According to Khaled Saqer they all used to play football together and they used to even come into the store on their off days just to hang out in the back.

Khaled told me he was part of a Whatsapp group with around 14 ex-employees who were still in touch with each other which I was invited to join for research. It’s a group where they shared old photos they come across of Kids’r’us, but mostly it’s just like every other Whatsapp group where they share random videos and memes. During the Gulf War everyone ended up leaving to different places and since then over the years they’ve been slowly reconnecting and finding each other. For example, I ended up connecting them to Khaled Al-Qutub who is now part of their ex-employees Whatsapp group.

Not a lot of them have any photos from back when they used to work there except for Khaled Saqer. Not only did he have photos, but he also had documents and sketches all archived in an old photo album. He even still has his uniform. Khaled was one of the lucky employees to get training in the US, Alghanim sent him to Toys”R”Us in Atlanta for three months where he learned everything and came back and applied it to the store. Most of the photos I was able to gather were from him.

The Demise of Kids’r’us
As I mentioned at the start of the post, Kids’r’us wasn’t a profitable business. During the 1990 Iraqi invasion the Dajeej store was looted and burnt down and after the war, it was never restored. Alghanim also never ended up fulfilling their end of the deal with Toys”R”Us, so in 1993 when the contract was up for renewal, Toys”R”Us handed over the franchise rights to the UAE group Al-Futtaim. But, Toys”R”Us made a mistake and handed over the franchise a bit earlier than they should have so Alghanim took them to court for breach of their agreement, and on July 11, 1996, the arbitrator awarded Alghanim $46.44 million for lost profits (source).

So that’s the story of Kids’r’us. I’ve uploaded all the photos and documents including the floor plans for the Dajeej store to my Flickr account so they’re available to download in high resolution. You can check them all out by clicking here.

There is a very cool retro RV parked on the Gulf Road near Burj Hammam. It’s been there for a few days at least and looks super cool. No idea who its for but really curious to see if the inside is also retro-looking. The exterior makes a great backdrop for a 70s photoshoot.

Retro City, the arcade place that opened back in 2020 inside Boulevard Mall relocated a couple of months ago to a new location. They’re still inside Boulevard Mall but they’ve moved to a larger space on the top floor instead. They’re across from Fantasy World, on the opposite end of the mall from Sultan Center.

Retro City also carries some toys and figurines from old-school cartoons like Grendizer, Masters of the Universe and Thundercats. If you’re into retro gaming and cartoons, their Instagram is @retrocitykw

The other day out of the blue I remembered this drink I used to have back in the 80s called Hapi. I used to only have it in one place, a drive-thru car wash I used to go to with my dad. It was in their vending machine and I think it tasted like root beer. I doubt it was a popular drink and don’t think a lot of people remember it.

Anyway, just a random flashback for those who might remember the drink.

The 1976 movie “The Message” is one of the classics currently playing at Cinescape’s 1954 movie theater. What not a lot of people know is that the star of the film, Anthony Quinn came to Kuwait back then because of the movie. Kuwait, Libya and Morocco had originally promised to support the making of the film financially, but when it was rejected by the Muslim World League in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait still kept its financial support which is why I think the press conference was held here.

Above is a short clip from the conference which starts with Anthony Quinn and then is followed by the director Moustapha Akkad. If someone knows where I can find the full video, let me know.

Sitting two seats down to the left of Anthony Quinn is also Farouq Abdul-Aziz, the creator and host of the Kuwait Television cultural show “Cine Club” which aired from 1977 to 1992. According to a recent interview I found with Farouq, turns out he was later hired to document the making of Anthony Quinn’s movie “Lion of the Desert“. You can watch a short clip from that interview above.

And completely random but related, I just found out while researching the info above that Farouq was also responsible for the Kuwait scenes in Ron Fricke’s award-winning movie documentary “Baraka”. He had researched and produced those scenes which you can view above. If you haven’t watched “Baraka” or the follow up film “Samsara“, then you’re missing out.

I wasn’t planning on posting about this until I bought a watch for myself, but I don’t need another watch so I need people to go buy everything and not leave anything for me to impulse buy.

Al-Batel is an old watch store that was established back in 1959. Back then they used to carry a number of watch brands including Breitling, Heuer (before they were purchased by TAG), Nivada, and Zodiac. Incredibly, they still have unsold watches available for sale (New Old Stock) dating back to the 60s and 70s. They have some of them listed up on their website but they have more on display in their shop in Mubarakia next to AlFares (Google Maps).

If you’re into vintage watches then definitely check them out ASAP. Their prices are pretty much the same compared to online prices for used versions of these watches except the ones they have are all new. Link

MajorSamm is a YouTube account where they make anti-war music videos with the intention of introducing both music fans and history fans to lesser-known conflicts or aspects of conflicts by giving a glimpse into their look and feel. His latest video is a mashup of “Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound of Silence” with footage of the burning oil wells that were set on fire by the retreating Iraqi army during Desert Storm in 1991.

Thanks @syedfraz

Kuwait Little Theater started back in 1948 in Ahmadi under the name KUOCO Independent Players and is considered to be the oldest community theater in the region:

The first recorded theatrical activity in Kuwait’s oil era dates back to 1947 when a group of Kuwait Oil Company employees met in the old Magwa Club and called themselves “The KUOCO Independent Players”.

Their first production in 1948 was staged in a large nissen hut located in the Ahmadi Industrial area. Rehearsals were usually held in the producer’s or a member’s home. As the building was also the local cinema the sets were often built and painted and then assembled on stage at the last minute.

In 1950 KOC provided the group with a small hut next to the cinema with a mere 18-inch high platform serving as a stage. The hut was so small that it came to be known as Kuwait Little Theater.

Two years later the group moved to larger premises, (the former KOC food store known as Spinney’s on the Main Street), and this nissen hut has gone on to become the permanent home of ‘Kuwait Little Theater’.

Sadly, KLT no longer exists having closed down years ago (I think 2014) because the KLT hut which was still being used contained asbestos and so was no longer safe.

Recently I came across old photos as well as a list of every production that KLT held from 1950 up to 1990 which I’ve decided to upload to flickr. You can check everything out by clicking here.

Also back in 2010, I posted about a documentary that was released to celebrate KLT’s 60 year anniversary. You can check out that old post here.

I recently came across the picture above of a Kuwait Airways plane crash dating to 1966. Only a month after Kuwait Airways received their brand new plane, it crashed on landing due to pilot error and was written off.

On 30 June 1966, the Trident 1E registration 9K-ACG was destroyed when it crashed 4KM short of the runway at Kuwait International. The plane was on its way back from Beirut when the plane descended at a high rate and the pilot didn’t follow the proper regulations. No lives were lost.

A higher resolution of the photo is available here, and a full report of the incident can be downloaded from here.

A beautiful photo taken by Jules Pearson which I had to share.

I’ve been collecting old video game ads from the 80s and uploading them to my Flickr account. I’ve got over 20 ads so far in the album including ads for the Intellivision, Coleco, Amiga, and Atari consoles. I also found some newspaper clippings of old video game tournaments which I thought was cool.

The big players in the video game business back then based on the ads were Alamiah, Alghanim (Xcite), and surprisingly, Marafie. Check out all the ads I’ve found so far here.

Cool footage of Salhiya and the surrounding area from back in 1984, but sadly, I didn’t spot Alamiah in the video nor the Korean restaurant on M2 in the video. YouTube

Thanks @forzaq8