I was asked recently via e-mail what the name was of the pizza joint at 1830 E. Eighth St. before it was Vintage Italian Pizza (as seen in the modern photo above).

Since I spent no time at all in that neighborhood in my youth, I looked it up.

V.I.P. has been there since at least 1989. For about a six-year stretch in the mid-1980s the building was home to Zippys Pizza Express.

The city directory lists four different managers of Zippys during that time:

• Mike Ouellette (1983)
• Pat David (1984)
• Dave Willis (1985)
• Gary Lund (1986 to ’88)

So there you have it. That’s all I know, except that two other businesses that occupied the building prior to Zippys were Kelly’s University Galleries (an art gallery) and Hiller’s Critters (a pet store).

Anyway, you may now commence referring to V.I.P. as “Zippys” for your personal amusement.