You Know You Grew Up in Billings If …
Billings, nicknamed the Magic City, is the most populous city in Montana.
Everyone who visits here finds his or her own magic about the city, but those who grew up here were born with it and carry a little piece of it wherever they go.
The magic transcends far beyond the city's borders. Billings is located within 100 miles of the Beartooth Highway, which links Red Lodge to Yellowstone National Park. The late Charles Kuralt called the Beartooth Highway "the most beautiful roadway in America."
It is little wonder natives of Billings choose to live here, raise their children here and retire.
They work hard, play hard and let the hustle and bustle of Hollywood and Nashville come to them, including Carrie Underwood, Willie Nelson and Elton John and that's only the beginning.
Natives of Billings can identify a newcomer coming a mile away. So, take heed. Don't try to pass yourself off as native if you're not. It could get embarrassing.
How can they tell? Well, they know whether you grew up in Billings if ...
- 1
You know where the Smiley Face is located.
You will be able to tell others where it is, how long it's been there, who put it there and why.
- 2
You know what Burn the Point means.
- 3
You attended baseball games at Cobb Field.
- 4
You remember the city being shrouded in smoke for weeks during the 1988 Yellowstone National Park fires.
- 5
You remember celebrating your birthday at Happy Joe's Pizza where your name would be announced and you would stand on a chair.
- 6
You remember the Billings Big Horns.
- 7
You remember Cranky Ranky TV commercials.
- 8
You remember when Montana State University Billings was Eastern Montana College.
- 9
You remember pitching pennies at prostitutes on Montana Avenue.
- 10
You remember Billings Deaconess Hospital.
- 11
You know where the steps are to the Rims.
- 12
You know which buildings in Billings are alleged to be haunted.
- 13
You remember when Yellowstone County was home to four drive-in movie theaters..
- 14
You have not only survived but thrived record winter snowfall and spring storms.
- 15
You remember the Billings Rimrockers.
- 16
You remember Jake Jabs TV commercials and the live tigers.
- 17
You remember Billings being covered in ash an inch thick after the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens.
- 18
You remember rollerskating at Skateland at 2228 Grand Ave.
- 19
You remember Wizard's Workshop, a comic book store.
- 20
You remember Clown Town, the hottest toy store in town, in Rimrock Mall.