I was just organizing some photos on my Mac and was moving some images into my “Vintage” folder when I noticed one of the photos in the album had Pearl Marzouq written on it. It was a photo of my parents (pictured on the right) with my aunt and uncle having dinner at the restaurant in what I presume to be the early 70s.
I had forgotten I had this photo and then I remembered just a few weeks ago I had spotted an ad for the restaurant in a 1972 issue of The Daily News. I need another trip to Lebanon so I can go through all the photos and see what other treasures I could find.
Below is also a photo of Pearl Marzouq taken in 1971 after construction. It was designed by SSH, the same architects behind JACC. I’ve tried getting more photos from them but they’ve been unresponsive so if anyone can help me get access to their archive, please let me know! SSH were behind a lot of big projects in the 70s including Messilah Beach Hotel and half of the buildings in old Salem Mubarek Street.
I found this old aerial photo of Kuwait taken in 1960 but I can’t figure out where that area is today. There are some major clues to help, the school on the bottom, the mosque across the street and what looks like another school behind the mosque.
All three structures should still be standing today but I couldn’t find a similar combo on Google Maps. If you’re bored and looking for something to kill time with today, help me find the location! Here is a link to the super high res copy of the image.
Update: With the help of a reader it looks like we might have found the location and it seems to be Farwaniya. Here is the link to the mosque on Google Maps and I’ve taken a screenshot of the map and rotated it to match the direction of the original photop=. I also highlighted all the similar areas that existed in the original photo and that still exist today. The old huts/shacks in the background of the original image look to be what today is Ishbilia and Jleeb Al-Shuyoukh.
The Kuwait Boy Scouts have been around since 1935 and officially became a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1955. On their website they have a section that contains old black and white photos from back in the 60s and 70s but with no caption or specific date mentioned under the photos. Still, they’re worth checking out if you’re curious and like old photos of Kuwait. Here is the link.
I also found an old AP video shot in 1960 at a scouts camp in Kuwait where they were preparing for a visit by H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Mubarak. The video has no audio but is surprisingly great quality so check it out as well.
Bonus: Their Facebook account contains a few more photos including ones of the Kuwait Girl Guides which was founded in 1957. Their photo album is completely unorganized though so you go to scroll to a lot of random stuff to find them. Here is the link.
Yesterday I read a story about a guy who drove his 1982 Mitsubishi Galant from Kuwait to Delhi, India during the 1990 invasion. The family still owns the car today and the son is now trying to restore it. If that wasn’t interesting enough, there is a similar story of another guy who drove his 1984 Mitsubishi Galant from Kuwait but to Kerala, India, and also still has his car today. Both cars seem to be the same color and they both might have been in the same convoy of cars that left Kuwait to India by road during the escape.
The journey from Kuwait to India took around 110 days and involved driving through Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan before finally reaching India.
The 1984 Galant and the owner Mathunny Mathew seem to have gotten more coverage online. There is a video interview with the owner on YouTube but it’s in Malayalam so I couldn’t watch it. But, there is another very cool video on YouTube where the Petrolhead Motor Garage guys attempt to start the car. It’s not in English but there is very little talking, it’s mostly them taking apart the engine to try and start the car which is a total rust bucket. It’s a chill video and I’ve embedded it above.
I love stories like this so if you know of anymore, let me know!
A few years ago I scanned and uploaded a Kuwait TV Guide issue from back in 1989. Back then we didn’t have satellite channels just regular UHF and VHF stations with the English one being KTV2. If the weather was humid, we used to get Saudi Channel 2 and Dubai Channel 33 sometimes but we mostly survived on KTV2 and video rentals.
But after the 1990 invasion, we started to get access to satellite television. I remember we had around 8 satellite channels with the main English one being Star Plus. A few weeks ago I found a 1994 and 1995 copy of the TV Guide and I decided I’d scan the 1994 one. It’s got the KTV2 guide as well as Star Plus, Prime Sports, Zee TV, Star TV Music and the CNN and BBC guide. I also added a bonus Showbiz ad that was in the Arabic section.
If you want to flip through the PDF or download it then click here.
I love interesting stories about Kuwait and this one is particularly fascinating because I was able to get so much information, photos, and newspaper clippings to go along with it. Last week I got an email from someone telling me that their dad back in 1970 became the first and only Kuwaiti to ever be drafted by the NFL. They wanted to know if I’d be interested in telling the story and obviously, I jumped all over it! I really wanted to know how someone from Kuwait in the 60s ended up in the NFL so I met with his two sons and managed to get the full story.
Back in the 60s, their father Maher Barakat graduated from Shuwaikh High School for boys and received a government scholarship to attend the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. When Maher was in Kuwait he used to play soccer with his friends and family and he was known to be a powerful striker who was accurate and usually scored a lot of goals. It was soccer that got him into the NFL, and it was also soccer that ended his NFL career.
During one of his PE classes in college, Maher was given an opportunity to Punt (kick) a weird-shaped ball into a U-shaped goal. He hadn’t played American Football before but apparently, it was very easy for him to kick the ball as he used to when playing soccer. The coach then asked him to do it again and Maher scored the ball again. The coach then moved him to different points around the field and kept asking Maher to try and score from there and Maher would keep kicking the ball through the posts. After completing the assessment, Maher was given an offer by the coach to join the college football team as their starting punter and Maher accepted the offer.
Though his punting style was unconventional (leaning more towards a soccer kick), Maher Barakat became a star at South Dakota. He ended up breaking college and division records, which is most likely how he was spotted by NFL scouts. Maher became really well known in his college town and earned the nickname Bear-Cat.
Maher was officially drafted by the NFL in 1970 and became the first football player from his college as well as the first Kuwaiti to ever be drafted to the pros. Bear-Cat was approached by a number of NFL teams such as the Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys, and St. Louis Cardinals but ended up choosing to sign with the Broncos.
In the summer after signing his NFL contract, Maher Barakat flew back to Kuwait to see his family and share the good news. Once back in Kuwait he was eager to play soccer with his friends just like he used to in the old days and that’s where the story takes a turn. Unfortunately while playing soccer with his friends, Maher ends up fracturing his toe. Even after healing, he couldn’t kick the same anymore and that was the end of his American Football career.
Maher eventually graduated and moved back to Kuwait where he worked in the Ministry of Electricity until the early 80s when he decided to leave to start his own business. He ended up opening what eventually became the popular video store, Blue Belt (حزام أزرق) and held the rights to WWF (now WWE) for the GCC (that needs a whole separate post). In the 90s he also became the partner in IVC, the video store located next to Fanar Mall.
Maher had kept all the newspaper clippings and photos from his college years and his sons passed them to me to share. There were a lot but I chose to share the ones I thought were the most interesting and informative. I’ve shared some in this post but you can download the PDF with all the articles, photos and letters I scanned by clicking this link Maher-Barakat.pdf
There is very little information about Maher online so I really appreciate that his sons decided to share this with me. According to them their dad doesn’t like talking about himself and so very few people know of his story and accomplishment. Hopefully, after today he’ll get the recognition he deserves.
A few years ago, I posted about digitizing your old videos using a video capture device that plugs into your computer. It’s a great way to convert all tapes, but the downside is you needed the actual tape player. If you just had videotapes but no means of playing them then the capture device was pretty much useless. This was my dilemma, I had an old Betamax tape of a school ski trip and no means to play it. I considered buying a Betamax player but the cheapest I found was 50KD and so wasn’t going to be worth it for just one video.
Someone ages ago told me Al-Nazaer converted videos but since all their stores closed down years ago I couldn’t just visit them and ask them about it. So last week while feeling nostalgic I decided to call their head office in Subhan and ask about it. Turns out they have a small media academy in Hawalli that was still functional, and that’s where their digital conversion studio was located.
I headed straight to the studio with my Betamax tape and headed to their conversion studio. I asked if they could convert Betamax tapes and they said yes and took my tape and played it on their screen so we could check and see if it was working. A few seconds later my 11-year-old self popped up on the screen.
It was the first time I had ever seen myself as a kid in the 80s on video and it felt SO WEIRD!
During the 1990 invasion, we took most of our family videos to Lebanon and stored them away in our family home without any means to watch them. So no one in my family has watched any of our family videos that were filmed in the 80s for 30+ years. Since I had no idea what was on this video and since I had never seen myself on video as a kid, it felt like I was watching a video of myself in another dimension. That’s the best way I could describe it in words, it was a very strange feeling.
But anyway, back to the subject of converting videos, Al Nazaer can convert any video format to digital. So camcorder videos like Hi8 or miniDV, VHS tapes and Betamax tapes are all no issues. The cost of converting depends on the kind of tapes you have and how many you want to convert. They charged me KD10 to convert a single Betamax tape and I got the footage on a DVD as well as a digital file. The more tapes you have the better price. Their studio is located on the first floor of the building across the street from Muhallab Mall. Their phone number is 1888900 and here is their location on Google Maps.
I recently heard that they might be demolishing Mishref Palace and obviously if true, that’s upsetting. But also no surprise since there seems to be a general lack of care for old important buildings in Kuwait. Anyway here are some videos showcasing the palace back in the 50s and a video showing the state of the palace today.
I think this would be such a great location for an art museum, similar to the Getty museum in LA. Does anyone know the actual name of the palace since I might be able to dig out some old photographs and videos?
Yesterday @badshaiji posted the photo above taken back in 1975 of the old Kuwait Television studios that were located in Dasman. For those of you old enough, turns out that’s pretty much the same compound where Villa Moda and Mais Alghanim used to be located. I didn’t realize that location had previously been the KTV studios and offices so I decided to pass by after work and explore the area.
The last time I visited that compound I think was around 6 years ago. I was looking for a location for an event and decided to check out the old Villa Moda building. Back then it looked like some businesses were occupying the various buildings in the compound but when I passed by yesterday it was completely deserted.
There was nobody there and nearly all of the buildings had their roofs caved in and were in a horrible state. I actually ended up banging my head on a fallen beam so now I have a big bruise across my forehead. I should learn to keep my hard hat in the car so I could use it on these spontaneous explorations.
It’s pretty sad that this is all that’s left of the old studios. The compound is pretty big and I could have seen these buildings being utilized for so many things from restaurants, to design and photography studios to a museum celebrating Kuwait’s rich broadcasting and theater past.
If you want to know the exact location of this abandoned compound, here it is on Google Maps.
For someone that spends so much time trying to dig up stuff on Kuwait I don’t know how I just found out there was an English newspaper back in the 60s and 70s in Kuwait called “The Daily News”. I found two copies of the newspaper this weekend while sifting through a pile of old newspapers at an old books and magazines sale in Sulaibiya and was completely caught by surprise since I didn’t know this paper ever existed.
One copy is dated Wednesday August 16, 1972 while the other Wednesday October 17, 1973. The newspaper is described as “Leading Political Daily Newspaper in Arabian Gulf” and Edititor-in-Chief was Fahed Al Massaeed. The newspaper was published by Al Rai Al Aam and was launched in 1963. I’ve found no information about it online which is why I never knew about it.
Both issues mostly covered international news but there were a few articles and ads in the papers that were super interesting. For example, one paper had a TV guide while the other one had a radio guide. Then one of the issues had a section called Kuwait Dateline which must be equivalent to a 1970s version of Twitter. Actually, I thought Dateline was really bizarre, why would random people reading the newspaper be interested in this info I have no idea, and they’re so detailed! For example:
Al Haj Nicola Abu Khater, Bristol Hotel Manager flew for one day – stay in Lebanon which he spent with his children in Aljtoun.
It must have been a thing they did back then because traveling wasn’t so common?
Another interesting article I found was regarding the acquittal of the editor-in-chief of the Al-Siyassa newspaper Ahmad Jarallah from the charges brought against him. I only know of Ahmad Jarallah because he’s constantly in the news, always being referred to the public prosecution or always having charges against him dropped. So seeing this article from 1973 which wouldn’t seem out of place today put a smile on my face. He’s STILL the editor-in-chief of the Al-Siyassa newspaper today and he’s STILL getting in trouble with the courts, I love that!
Anyway, I’ve uploaded all the interesting bits from both papers and you can check them out above and in the post below (click on more).
I found a ton of old ads online and decided to go through them and pick out the most memorable ones to me growing up in Kuwait during the 80s. I think the one that caught my interest the most was the Al Khalejiah Complex ad. So very few people remember that when Al Khalejiah Complex originally opened it was one large department store. The only reason I remember it is because that’s where I used to go get my Legos from so it was pretty cool finding this commercial.
The Samsung and Indesit commercials were also great finds since I used to find their tunes extremely catchy as a kid. Anyway check out the full list below of my favorites:
Since it’s an odd posts day, here is another one. For those of you who aren’t aware, the first UFO sighting in the Arab world was in Kuwait back in 1978 and then again in 79. Reports of the sightings were published in newspapers and even the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR) got involved.
I’ve posted about the sighting before but this morning I found an interview with the photographer who captured photos of the UFO (Ali Shash) as well as an eye witness who contacted the press. The interview was shot the same week as the sighting since the eyewitness starts off by stating it was Friday 11:30AM when he spotted the UFO from his window which faces the Qadsia stadium. Very interesting stuff and I love that this interview is available online to view.
I don’t recall this place at all and only found out about it recently. It was owned by Mahmoud Alghanim, the same person behind Pizza Italia and Prego and I believe it opened towards the end of the 80s or early 90s. It was located right next to the Kuwait Towers which is why I find it odd that I don’t remember it.
