El Charro Restaurant, 140 W. Broadway Road, Tucson, on July 1, 1968, after closing the business. The restaurant was forced to vacate to make way for the Tucson Convention Center and other redevelopment projects. The business started on 4th Ave., moved near the Temple of Music and Art in 1930, then the Broadway location in 1935 and finally to the current location at 311 N. Court in 1968.

 Art Grasberger / Tucson Citizen

Did ya know? The Arizona Daily Star has a throwback email newsletter — snapshots of Tucson’s history sent to your inbox every Thursday.

The weekly newsletter, appropriately dubbed Tucson Time Machine, is a quick read, it's simple and it's fun.

Here's where you can sign up, with just a couple clicks: tucson.com/timemachine

And here’s why you should sign up:

1) Been in Tucson long? Grew up here but moved away? Beware: This newsletter might cause severe nostalgia

If you’ve lived in Tucson for years and years, you likely have endless memories of the Old Pueblo — the Hidden Valley Inn, the filming of Revenge of the Nerds and the devastating 1983 floods. This newsletter features all your favorite — and not so favorite — memories of our favorite desert city.

2) Haven’t been in Tucson long? That’s OK

If you’ve only been in Tucson for five years — or five months — that’s OK! It’s fun to look at photos of what Tucson used to look like — even if you weren’t here to experience it in person.

You might not remember Gordo’s Mexicateria (do you *really* like chimichangas?), but our newsletter will feature other fun things that you're likely familiar with. Think decades-old photos of the Tanque Verde Swap Meet, the Pima County Fair and tons of shots of what downtown Tucson used to be. (Plus, so much more.)

3) We have so. many. photos (and historical tidbits) to share

Seriously. We can't even begin to count the number of photos in our archives.

We have photos of the construction of Tucson Mall, the Rodeo parade when it was downtown, and lots of gems of families cooling off at Breakers Water Park. And that's just the tiniest sliver of what's in our archives.

4) We're open to any and all throwback-related ideas

If you're ever awake at night wondering what the decades-old restaurant that sat on Speedway near Euclid was, we might be able to help. 

Want to see anything specific? Have an idea for a Time Machine newsletter theme? Let us know and we can do a dig through our archives to see if we can find the slice of Tucson’s past you’re looking for.

P.S. — Greasy Tony's. That's the restaurant you're thinking of. 

Sign up to receive the Tucson Time Machine newsletter here! 

While we're on the subject, here's a historical gallery of Tucson in the '60s:

Aerial photos of Tucson and Pima County taken in 1984. Video produced by Rick Wiley / Arizona Daily Star 2021

Become a #ThisIsTucson member! Your contribution helps our team bring you stories that keep you connected to the community. Become a member today.

Contact reporter Gloria Knott at gknott@tucson.com or 573-4235. On Twitter: @gloriaeknott