The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Pop culture giant’s iconic shop to close
Fans, friends mourn loss of late ‘Wild’ Bill Ziegler’s Nostalgia store
MIDDLETOWN — Over the 35 years of its existence, “Wild” Bill Ziegler’s iconic novelty and vintage shop enthralled not just the city but the world as the pinnacle of pop culture collections.
Ziegler, former owner of Wild Bill’s Nostalgia on Newfield Street, died April 11, 2017, at 70. His legacy has lived on for the last 16 months as his family ran the store. Friday, the family posted its bittersweet decision to close on the store’s Facebook page.
“Growing up in this environment was fun and exciting for the most part, but this was all Wild Bill’s dream project. However, his dream is bigger than any one of us can collectively accomplish as a family. The business grew into something that we as a whole could never have imagined. It saddens us to the core, but the final curtain call looms on the very near horizon,” the message reads.
Hundreds have responded — sharing their sadness and memories of visits there
and “Forever Strange” Ziegler, as well as their enjoyment of memorabilia, fun novelty items such as fake vomit, murals, a fantastical funhouse and Dark Ride, complete with an old Staten Island Pretzel car.
The gag gifts especially pleased him, said Cromwell filmmaker David Gere, who counted Ziegler as a kindred spirit.
“If you didn’t buy one, sometimes he would stick one of them in your bag or give one to a kid. Bill was fun — he always smiled, he always laughed. He love the idea of stimulating someone to get a joke or political anecdote or just something simple like his glass paperweights” with insects “trapped” inside, Gere said.
The original, modest storefront opened in April 1983 on Main Street: “The very start of what will become a world-renowned phenomena began,” with the opening of The Apple Core, according to his family. “It was an exaggerated version of a hospital gift shop.”
With ideas from his good friend Rubie Vine of Railroad Salvage fame, Ziegler moved the business to the former Waldbaums (now Petco) in the Staples shopping plaza on Route 66.
“Here he started getting interested in collectibles like toys and sports cards — a very lucrative business plan at that time, as those markets were essentially nonexistent,” the family’s Facebook post read.
Wild Bill’s moved to a larger site on Washington Street next to the car wash, across from Palmer Field, and later 38 Ward St., behind McDonald’s on South Main Street.
“I met Wild Bill as a curious teenager — one with a love for art, collectibles, and anything weird, wacky and wild. It was a search for an original and rare Grateful Dead poster which led me to Bill,” said Middletown photographer Reina Dimauro.
“My sister and I were always at The Apple Core way back, begging for charm bracelets and trinkets. However, I had never had the chance to interact with Bill until the day he pulled that poster out of what seemed like an endless sea of them . ... Never a dull moment at Bill’s place.”
Anyone who doubts Ziegler accumulated an unrivaled poster collection will take pleasure in a family story.
“One day, he was perusing a copy of Billboard magazine and came across an ad” offering 100,000 1960s and ’70s posters from a company in San Francisco.
“It might have been the shortest call: ‘Saw your ad: How much? … I’ll take them.’ Couple weeks later, a 50-foot tractor trailer comes to deliver the posters,” the Facebook message said.
Ziegler had an air of mystery surrounding him, according to Dimauro.
“After getting to know him, you would begin to see the super-cool, laid-back and extremely knowledgeable man he was. As the years passed, I would stop in with my children, who, like myself, fell in love with the place.
“My son would ask every weekend to go see ‘Wild Bill’ and ‘his giant man cave.’ He would always leave with something, whether it be wise advice from Bill or an old toy that was not going to be allowed to leave the box,” Dimauro said.
Ziegler absolutely loved bobbleheads and had an impressive collection.
“He had one made of himself. He got it: He understood people recognized him as this iconic guy, and he figured, ‘I’ll make myself into a Bobble Head, ” Gere said of his friend, who was elated every time he and others asked to use his place as a backdrop for films and other projects.
Ziegler had only one request in return — that he or his grandson have a cameo.
He acted in scenes for a big horror anthology series “Chilling Visions: The 5 Senses of Fear,” which aired on national cable TV for the Chiller Channel in 2013, Gere said.
Ziegler counted the time Frank Sinatra performed there several times in 1948 — when the building housed the mob hangout Club Vasques — as a point of pride.
“Middletown is identified for many, many things. Living around here, we all have our elements of the city we identify with. I would argue that it was one, of if not the central, marker to the city for people that were coming in from out of town,” Gere said.
Rob Zombie and his wife, Sheri Moon Zombie, who live in Connecticut, even shopped at Wild Bill’s for film props. They are among hundreds of legends who visited the store over the decades.
Ziegler expertly maintained the illusion of a place frozen in time.
“There was never an LCD computer screen or a television screen broadcasting anything modern. It was about the collectibles, it was about the vintage stuff. It was about the nostalgia. He had an incredible amount of Middletown history condensed in one space,” Gere said.
Cromwell and Portland state Rep. Christie Carpino recalled years ago, when her 32nd District covered a portion of Middletown, asking Ziegler whether she could stand outside and wave to passers-by with her campaign signs.
“He had the warmest smile and was very engaging. (The store) was like a kaleidoscope of memories. It was like reliving your entire childhood in one walk.”
Wild Bill’s Nostalgia is open Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m.-6 p.m., until everything is sold.