BS: Funny Names of Businesses

Subject: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Bobert
Date: 10 May 02 - 03:52 PM

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Well, the thread about the funny names of towns remined me of a couple of business names around my parts.

PEED PLUMBING

And CarolC can attest to this one for the outfit that rents inner tubes for rafting at Harpers Ferry....BUTTS TUBES.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Justa Picker
Date: 10 May 02 - 03:59 PM

There is an art gallery/store located in a mall near me called: "Pansy's". (I always chuckle to myself when I walk by it.)

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: C-flat
Date: 10 May 02 - 04:07 PM

From a fish and chip shop in North East U.K. ..."In Cod We Trust" We also have a local plumber W.E. Pipe & sons.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: GUEST
Date: 10 May 02 - 04:13 PM

On my last trip to Britain I noticed several businesses whose names seemed to be deliberate double-entendres.

A hamburger café was called BURGER OFF.

A shop that sold brass door hardware was called KNOBS AND KNOCKERS.

Someone had named his house FAR CORFE.

People who re-do pubs seem to be fond of the word FIRKIN (though I can't think of any examples).

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 10 May 02 - 04:18 PM

J W Shufflebottom, Sanitary Engineers.

'Butts Wholesale' on the Whitechapel Road.

I Savage, Dentist.

Dr Pane.

All true.... As was the Reverend Goforth.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 10 May 02 - 04:25 PM

Hairdressers seem to have the monopoly on Corny names though. 'Hair today - gone tomorrow', 'Clipso's', and 'Hair Razor's' to name but three.

Incidentaly, we have a local plumber called Noah. Hmmm. Perhaps there is a conspiricy amongst plumbers as well.

Mrs G and I fancied opening a cafe come music shop at one time but it never came about apart from in name - 'Tea and Symphony'

Cheers

Dave the Gnome

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Ebbie
Date: 10 May 02 - 04:36 PM

At Tom and Harry, Plumbing and Heating- I've always wanted to walk in and ask, OK, which one of you has the plumbing?

There's a local kitchen counter shop called 'Counterfitters'.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: catspaw49
Date: 10 May 02 - 05:06 PM

Well Bobertz, since you asked...........Everytime this subject comes up I think first of the old Steve Allan Show. I've always loved wacky signs. I used to love the "National Lampoon's" sign pages. Some are done to be cutesy or gross such as a butcher friend of mine who did actually have a slogan on his price board that said, "You Can't Beat My Meat." But those aren't all that humorous. The really funny ones are the unintentional things that you may need to be a bit "whacked" to appreciate. Like "Big A Cleaners"--Steve Allan called them from his TV show and asked how much it would cost to clean his big A.

We have a few around here of course and they may be where you are too, like the chain of art supply stores, Dick Blick. Or another artsy supply place, AB Dick. I know I have a juvenile mind, but I swear to you I would change my name if it were Richard. (And I hate to mention the DT's very own Dick Greenhaus......can you imagine what that would look like? Boggles the mind;long tables with little pots and dicks growing out of them.......Sorry Dick)

We passed a small plant, probably specializing in sandpaper or carborundum wheels or whatever with a nice sign out front that read:

ABRASIVE TECHNOLOGIES

Now don't you know I just am dying to call these people? Uh,huh. Phone call:
"Hello, I want to talk to you about this damn (insert computer thing, ie. scanner). The directions really suck and I can't get the focker to work and its a real pisser. I can't think of anything so abrasive as this piece of crap!......Not a gawddamn bit user friendly. I figure you must have made it, so tell me what the hell I gotta' do to get it working."

Can you see the poor slob on the other end? And you could play it for awhile too. Anyway...........

Then there's this roadhouse outside of Soddy-Daisy, Tennessee, just north of Chattanooga on 27. Someone new came along in the early eighties and reopened this dive with a fresh coat of paint and a huge new professional looking sign out front. They called the place "Celebrate".......Sadly, the sign painter must have been paid ahead in trade, because one side was missing the "R".......still spelled wrong (Celebate)....... but somehow you just KNEW you weren't going to get any action in that dive!

I think there is but one gas station in Mousie, Kentucky, but it has a big sign that says, Mousie Gas.......can you imagine what that smells like?

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: mooman
Date: 10 May 02 - 05:22 PM

Then there is the firm of Solicitors (Lawyers) in the UK:

Wright Hassell and Company

And we have a clothing store here in Brussels named:

Look 50

mooman

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: TheBigPinkLad
Date: 10 May 02 - 05:35 PM

Some old broad on the Matchgame had the idea for calling an antiques store "Dead People's Stuff"

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 10 May 02 - 05:39 PM

My honey, who used to work as a courier back in the day, used to make deliveries to the office of one "Harry Beaver, Gynecologist". No shit. He's still here in Annandale, VA.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: katlaughing
Date: 10 May 02 - 06:25 PM

I used to drive past Nerd Energy everyday in Casper, WY.

LMAO @ Spaw's postings!

JP, nice to see you here!!

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Joe_F
Date: 10 May 02 - 06:52 PM

Deathwish Piano Movers, Brookline, MA
Room with a Vieux (antiques), Brookline, MA
In Harvard Sq., Cambridge, MA, there has been for many years a second-story window with gilt lettering announcing the firm of Dewey, Cheatham & Howe; but I believe it is not for real.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Bert
Date: 10 May 02 - 07:09 PM

I used to know an electrician named Ted Flicker.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 May 02 - 07:31 PM

Dave the Gnome: You're right about hairdressers. There's one near here called CURL UP & DYE.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: wysiwyg
Date: 10 May 02 - 07:35 PM

Doctor Dy. You get your pick too, Johnny or his brother (I forget his name).

Pronounced Dee, but funny in print.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Mr Red
Date: 10 May 02 - 08:07 PM

Liz the Squeak
that Savage dentist? Would it have been Walsall? Can't remember the first initial but the surname yes.
Doolittle and Dally -estate agents (realtors) in Kidderminster & Bridgnorth, though my Aunt insisted they were solicitors (lawyers) and I saw the name in gold on a door as we drove past - they looked like solicitors in the 50's.
Estate ageents in Leicester German & Dutch.
A folkie who lived in Altrincham insists there was a pharmacist who's trading over the window name was "I Pillham".
then there was Mike Bender the physiotherapist on "Tomorrow's World" (TV science) a week back. This is what the New Scientist calls "nominative determinism".

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: michaelr
Date: 10 May 02 - 08:36 PM

There's a store somewhere in SoCal called "Bunghole Liquors". Really!

Cheers,
Michael

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: rangeroger
Date: 10 May 02 - 09:02 PM

There is a Harley Davidson motorcycle supply store in Escondido,Calif. called Hawg Nuts.

rr

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: GUEST,Mike Billo
Date: 10 May 02 - 09:07 PM

Best intentionally funny name, "Cheeses of Nazareth.

Best unintentionally funny one, "Linoleum Dicks" (with no apostrophe between the k and s in dicks).

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: GUEST,Skivee
Date: 10 May 02 - 09:54 PM

The Hopping Funeral Home

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Mr Happy
Date: 10 May 02 - 10:00 PM

justa pika

why?

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Mr Happy
Date: 10 May 02 - 10:05 PM

last year, while driving back from bridgenorth ff, i saw a motel just outside telford called, 'hatton court'

perh. specialising in cloaks + headgear?

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Ian Darby
Date: 10 May 02 - 10:11 PM

One of our suppliers has a business called 'Obsolete Engineering'.

I have also seen a sign on a van belonging to a building contractor in London which reads something like..

'Singh Brothers. You've tried the Cowboys, now try the Indians.'

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: CarolC
Date: 10 May 02 - 10:24 PM

No sh*t, Bobert! No, I didn't know about that one. Thanks for the heads up. I guess I'll know who to trust my butt to if I ever get crazy enough to put any part of my body into the genuinely scary waters of the Potomac River.

I think Wang is a pretty interesting name for a business.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 10 May 02 - 10:54 PM

A few years back I remember reading a newspaper story about a local guy who started a public relations company called PITHY, TRENCHANT, & GERMANE. They specialized in writing advertising copy, brochures and the like. Those are not people's names. It started with some college students trying to imagine what would be the ideal comment to receive from an English teacher on a term paper.

Joe F: DEWEY, CHEETHAM & HOWE is indeed a fictional law firm, but it is a famous one. It was invented by Tom & Ray Magliozzi, the "Car Talk" guys on National Public Radio. They end their weekly program by giving credit to various spurious staff members. Their mailing address is Harvard Square, Cambridge, MA, so what you're seeing is probably their office.

I think I've heard of a used record store that specializes is LP's...called FINAL VINYL.

My favorite bookstore used to be called the Hungry Mind, but a couple of years ago they sold their name for an undisclosed sum, rumored to be 6 figures, to an online company. The bookstore's new name is Ruminator Books. Meanwhile, the buyer of the name, which operated for a while as www.hungryminds.com, went belly up and was bought out by Wiley & Sons, publishers.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: nosluap57
Date: 10 May 02 - 11:04 PM

My wife and I had a good laugh over a hardware store Callander, Scotland called "Screw It".

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: catspaw49
Date: 10 May 02 - 11:18 PM

Hey Jim....That Car Talk thing is hooey. DC&H was used in the old Three Stooges films and probably in Vaudeville and Burlesque before that. It's ancient!!!

Spaw

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Celtic Soul
Date: 10 May 02 - 11:39 PM

There's also the mythical "Ketcham, Killum, and Eadam" law firm.

I also am fond of cross street signs that make a statement. The only one I can remember was when two roads crossed and the sign read "Nixon Bluett".

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 11 May 02 - 03:22 AM

I Savage was a dentist in Weymouth, Dorset for many years covering the 70's & 80's. I suspect he's retired now.

Oh, and if we're going to divert into appropriate occupations, the two policemen who lived in my village were PC Crook and PC Pinches.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Snuffy
Date: 11 May 02 - 04:32 AM

Hairdressers do seem to be the worst - "Hair Force", "Cut & Dried", and wasn't there one in Haworth called "Jane Hair"?

I also seem to remember a chippie in Bury St Emunds(?) called "Peyton Plaice" in the 1970s, and an Indian takeaway called "Curried Away".

WassaiL! V

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Pied Piper
Date: 11 May 02 - 08:40 AM

I think fish and chip shops (UK) come a close second to hardressers for puning names. Ther is one in Little Hulton called the "Chip a hoy", and numerous "jolly friers".But I think the Chinese chipies have the funniest. ther are many "Wankings" and my local one is called the "fu keu" pronunced by everybody as "fuck you".PP

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Genie
Date: 11 May 02 - 09:03 AM

Here in Portland we have a great coffeehouse, where patrons are treated to classical music.  It's called Rimsky Korsakoffee.

When I used to do market research, we often used the corporate 1000 book for reference.  One corporate name that always gave me a chuckle was the "Limerick Generating Station."   Yeah, I know it was a power generation station in Limerick, Pennsylvania, but I couldn't help picturing all these employees sitting in cubicles all day making up limericks!

There was also a "Peach Bottom Atomic Energy" corporation or agency or something.  [Do peaches have bottoms?  Or  maybe some bottoms are peach-colored.]

Joe F., my aunt from Kentucky [Lexington, I think] once told me that in their town they had had a law firm  [or it may have been a car dealership] by the name of Cheatham and Crook.  Jim D., Click and Clack do, indeed, credit Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe as part of their consulting staff, but, as Spaw said, they didn't invent it.  I remember hearing jokes about that law firm at least as far back as the '50s.  Come to think of it, I seem to recall the Stooges using it, too.

I've known a doctor named Paine, a dentist named Chu [whose assistant was named Gumm], a clinical psychologist named Doctor, professors named Boring, and a minister named Sinn, and a few others I can't recall at the moment.

Genie

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Paul from Hull
Date: 11 May 02 - 09:13 AM

Well, I've seen the occasional peach-shaped bottom, Genie....*L*

As for Hairdressers...'The Royal Hair Force' & 'The Head Gardener' are a couple of the ones we have in Hull....& I'm sure there are dafter ones, if only I could remember them....*G*

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: toribw
Date: 11 May 02 - 10:35 AM

Yet another hairdresser entry from my hometown in N. California: Bushwhackers. Also from that part of the world, a gynecologist called Dr. J. Fillerup.

In San Antonio, there's a place called Madhatter's Tea.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: wysiwyg
Date: 11 May 02 - 10:48 AM

Community hospitals are often nicknamed Baggem & Taggem.

BTW, off topic, but volunteer fire companies often have this as their (unpublicized) motto: "Haven't Lost a Foundation Yet."

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: DMcG
Date: 11 May 02 - 10:51 AM

There's a van nearby neatly labelled "Porn and Dunwoody". Heaven knows what they sell.

Off-thread, but similar: Old computer systems that have been superceded are usually called legacy systems. A friend had a long and confusing discussion with a charity group before he finally worked out that they were talking about a system to manage legacies.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 11 May 02 - 11:11 AM

I had a look in the phone book to see if the hairdresser 'A Bit Off The Side' was still in business - apparently not, but I did see the entry for a business called 'A Woman of Pleasure.' It's a very BOLD entry, very eyecatching.

My favourite sandwich shop is called 'The Bread Spread' - they make the best ever fruit toast, just oozing butter, a treat I limit myself to once a week.

Sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: allanwill
Date: 11 May 02 - 12:45 PM

A medical area I used to work in had a Doctor Nursey.

CarolC - If the Wang you are referring to is the computer mob, it is derived from the town of Wangaratta, a couple of hours drive up the highway from Melbourne, Australia, which is where the company began.

Allan

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Les from Hull
Date: 11 May 02 - 01:13 PM

Guest - the Firkin pubs all belong(ed) to the same chain who named them such as Firkin and Furlong (Beverley - there's a racecourse) and Firkin and Fo'c'sle (Hull - it's a port)

One shop near the Moor 'n' Coast Folk Festival campsite attracting some attention was Beevers Superstore.

Years ago a prominent business in Hull was A Boddy, Funeral Directors.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: fat B****rd
Date: 11 May 02 - 01:17 PM

Oh alright, near where I live there's a sunbed etc parlour called "Tanz in ea"

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Mr Happy
Date: 11 May 02 - 01:27 PM

genie,

yes your mail reminds me of the famous, Cardinal Sin, of the Phillipines

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Mr Happy
Date: 11 May 02 - 01:35 PM

in uk there's a learning to drive service called British School of Motoring.

some years ago, they abbreviated the company name to BSM

their latest slogan on all their learner driver cars is

'you can trust BSM...We won't fail you'

i feel this to be rather worrying. do they allow people who are useless at driving to pass the driving test?

judjing by the atrocious behaviour of some road users perh. explained

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Genie
Date: 11 May 02 - 03:39 PM

Happiness,
I think Cardinal Sin is the one I was thinking of.

Genie

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Mr Happy
Date: 11 May 02 - 03:56 PM

and me!

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Mr Happy
Date: 11 May 02 - 03:56 PM

p.s.

i do confess

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 May 02 - 09:47 PM

I stand corrected on "Dewey, Cheetham & Howe." In fairness, I should point out that, as far as I know, Tom & Ray never claimed to have invented DC&H—I just assumed that. My bad, not theirs.

When I was growing up in St. Louis, there was a brand of beer called GRIESEDIECK BROS., pronounced Grease-a-dick, or almost like Greasy Dick.

I remember listening to St. Louis Cardinals baseball games on the radio and hearing the announcers do live commercials for Griesedieck Bros. It's amazing they could get through them without stumbling over words or breaking up, but they did.

See http://www.gb-beer.com/gbbeerhistory.html

Despite what the history page says, I'm pretty sure the brand was still being marketed in the 1970s under the name GB, with the logo as seen at the web site, and the name "Griesedieck Bros." appearing only in small print below it. I remember it because this was about the time the beer-can collecting craze began, and I acquired six cans the old-fashioned way—I drank them. I probably still have one somewhere in my basement.

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Bill D
Date: 11 May 02 - 10:36 PM

hey. spaw!.....

re: " (And I hate to mention the DT's very own Dick Greenhaus......can you imagine what that would look like? Boggles the mind;long tables with little pots and dicks growing out of them......"

it's been done but....

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: alison
Date: 11 May 02 - 10:58 PM

we have a tree lopping company in sydney called the "the tree fellers".... I can't help thinking that if you rang them three Irishmen armed with chain-saws would arrive at your door... *grin*

slainte

alison

Subject: RE: BS: Funny Names of Businesses
From: Genie
Date: 12 May 02 - 12:45 AM

Jim D., I remember the Griesedick Bros. from when I lived in Quincy, Illinois, and as a high-schooler, I thought it was pretty funny then!

A business name that's not funny in its own language (German) but is pretty hilarious to an English-speaking person is "Pschitt"* Cola. I remember seeing the name on the walls of the ice rink when European or World competitions were held in Germany, and I got a quite a chuckle out of the name.

Genie

*For those not familiar with German, the "P" and "C" are silent, and the "i" is short.