# Things you thought were unique and local, but really aren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2010, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330 "2010-02-09T20:59:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/41 "2010-02-15T20:47:12Z")
> [@jlpaul89](#): > > I always thought Mellow Mushroom was a local pizza place. The decor looks kind of hand-made to me, which it may be- according to their websites all the Mellow Mushrooms have a “different vibe”, so maybe they get stuff made differently for each one? I felt kind of stupid when I saw another one in a different state. I did too up until your post, well, more like a local chain because the sign looks too well-done to be a one-off. Then again I’ve never been to one (just seen one driving by) so maybe if I had been in there I would have gotten a chain-y vibe. ---
**Author:** ![hopesperson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e95f7d/32.png) [@hopesperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hopesperson)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/42 "2010-02-15T23:11:31Z")
I grew up during the Cold War with the understanding that my home town was a nuclear missle first strike target because it was vitally important to the regional infrastructure for some reason. When I moved off to go to college, someone whom I did not know asked me why my hometown was a strategic nuclear target, and I couldn’t figure out how he knew. I felt like an idiot when he explained that the “my home town is a nuclear target” myth was a common one, not at all unique to my home town. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/43 "2010-02-15T23:22:38Z")
I thought the Watson’s girl was shilling for a local company in Arkansas. Turns out there were a bunch of those stores in the south. ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/44 "2010-02-15T23:25:12Z")
> [@Oredigger77](#): > > There is a nice burrito shop in Isla Vista, Ca that makes one of the best burritos that I have ever had. Every time I’m down in Santa Barbara I swing buy to pick one up. For the locals on the board I’m talking about Freebird’s any how I was talking to a buddy of mine about how great these burritos were and he disagreed and said there was a chain in Lubbock, Tx that was the best in the world which by a weird coincidence was also called Freebird’s. > > We did a little googleing and discovered that the original shop was in Isla Vista and the owners split with one taking all of the naming rights with him to Texas. He’s started a chain of them in Lubbock. So what I grew up thinking was a local burrito shop was actually a chain. I didn’t know that either! Have you tried the quesseritos? I’m told they were awesome (a quesadilla in burrito form). I went to get one but they messed my order up and gave me a regular burrito. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/45 "2010-02-15T23:28:09Z")
We always heard that Cleveland was a high-priority target, but I’m not sure that I ever heard a number given. I figure the top 5 were probably something like Washington, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and then either Philadelphia or Houston. But “top 5” is kind of irrelevant when the other guys have hundreds or thousands of missiles: It’s not like they were going to hit 5 cities and then just stop. Sure, if the balloon went up, Cleveland probably would have been hit, but there’s nothing special about that. And while we’re at it with the sinking library, another one that shows up at every university is the chemistry building designed so that if it ever exploded, it’d fall in, rather than out, so the debris wouldn’t hit the sidewalk. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2010, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/46 "2010-02-15T23:41:10Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > We’re number 13! We’re number 13! Amateurs. Number 2, bitches. Although it doesn’t seem fair to include tourists. Wonder what Fresno is doing wrong (right?), I would drink a lot if I lived there, too. I always thought the famously monotone Tom Shane of The Shane Company was a Bay Area guy because he talked about specific store locations. It wasn’t until he showed up in South Park that I found out he was a Colorado institution who expanded elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/47 "2010-02-16T00:00:12Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I lived in a small community (40 houses on a long street) that had a special Halloween tradition. Every house took a small white paper sandwich bag, and put about 2 inches of sand in the bottom. Then, put a candle in the middle. The bags were place about 2 feet apart along the curb. Each house had about 40 bags with candles. > > The display got so popular that they needed a cop to direct traffic from visitors wanting to see the display. This 1968- ?? maybe 1980. I’m not sure when they stopped. > > I’ve always assumed this was a unique idea to our tiny community. It could only work if every house on the street did it. Otherwise, the effect would be spoiled. > > Now that I’m older, I realize somebody must have thought of the same thing. But, I’ve never known for sure. I can’t tell if any of this is tongue-in-cheek but those are called “Luminaries” and have a very long history and are common all over the place. I am sure yours looked beautiful because everyone was encouraged to participate but lots of places around here give them out or sell them as a fund-raiser for Halloween and Christmas. They aren’t quite as common as Jack-O-Lanterns or Christmas trees but the idea is the same. I hope you never believed your neighborhood invented those too. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/48 "2010-10-05T19:59:08Z")
When I was in college, there was this nifty sandwich shop underneath the downtown movie theater. It was situated kind of like a metro station and had great subs with fresh bread baked right there at the counter. They called it Subway. Yeah, I was a little slow on the uptake. ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2010, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/49 "2010-10-05T22:55:53Z")
Appearently, Fuddruckers is a national chain. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2010, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330/50 "2010-10-06T00:45:13Z")
Once upon a time poutine was absolutely unique to Montreal (or at least Quebec). Now it is everywhere. Sigh. I have been several times in the flagship Starbucks that must have once been unique to that location (across from the Pike Place Market). Now they are everywhere. Sigh. The cheese steak and hoagie were once unique to Philly. Now they are everywhere. Sigh. I have never heard of an eggcream anywhere outside of NYC. You cannot buy OTCs (original Trenton Crackers) anywhere outside Philly and south Jersey. I love 'em. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-thought-were-unique-and-local-but-really-arent/528330.md?page=2)