Ashikaga

Last year Subdude posted an excellent aerial view color photo of Gulfgate that was taken in the late 1950s/early 1960s. On it you can see the Winkler Drive-In Theatre. My parents and I went there when I was a little kid.

Well, Astroworld folded. It's only natural that other amusement parks would follow suit. As I said on this forum a week or two ago, I think that because of the Internet, DVDs, video games, etc., that people are having fun simply staying at home instead of going out to amusement parks, drive-in movie theatres, roller rinks, etc., the places that I went to as a kid for entertainment and recreation. All that we had at home back then was a black and white TV and a record player. That wasn't enough to keep us home even for half of the time on my dad's days off from work.

A nice old building. That's the first time I've seen cables used to support a roof.

Well, at least an effort was made to restore it. If it had been fully restored, do you think that it would have suceeded?

Was this one of those old drug stores that had a soda fountain where you could eat a hot dog and drink a root beer float?

Are you saying that it's condemned and unoccupied? A lot of old hotels suffer that fate.

Yes, I remember overhearing the radio playing there in Houston back in the early 1960s. Two car dealership commercial jingles are still in my head: Chuck Davis Chevrolet and Tommie Vaughn Ford. Last year Tommie Vaughn died at age 87.

I've seen some digital cameras that resemble this old one.

Is the Tennyson Hotel a ritzy joint that charges a minimum $200 a night like the Four Seasons Hotel?

I've been reading a recent issue of Consumer Reports magazine here in the library (July 2006). It has quite a few pages devoted to an article called "The Right Digital Camera For You." Yes, it discusses 3 megapixels as what you call a bare minimum. It says that it depends on what you want to do. If you want to print your photos, you should have between a 3 and a 5 megapixel camera. If you don't plan to print, you just want to look at your photos on the computer, or post a photo ad on the Internet, then a 2.1 megapixel would be enough for that. Who knows? I might just stay with buying the Fuji disposables. Some people say that 35mm photos are better quality than digital photos. I'll probably continue getting them developed at Wal-Mart, then scan and post them on the Internet. I've seen photos on the Internet taken by both kinds of cameras. Regular 35mm photos appear to look clearer than digital photos. But I might be wrong about that. The only difference that I see is convenience and time. You have to drop them off at Wal-Mart, wait a few days for them to be developed, and go pick them up. But if they are better quality, the wait might be worth it.

Gnu, I'm trying to learn something about digital cameras. Someday I might get one. I'm studying megapixels. How many megapixels does your camera on your cell phone have, the camera that you took of the house that I used to live in?

On TexasFreeway.Com there's a black & white photo taken in October of 1958 of the split of Texas highway 35 and U.S. Highway 75 (Gulf Freeway). On the left of the photo you can see Joske's and Sakowitz there in Gulfgate.

On CinemaTour.Com, there's a good photo tour of one of those 30 screen theatres in Houston.

KTRH has always been popular. Does anyone know how long it's been around?

Yes, many things about telephone calls have changed. You no longer have to wait until certain times of the day in order to be charged less for a long distance call. On most cell phones, you can call almost anywhere. And phone companies have a flat monthy fee to call anywhere, anytime. It's nothing now to call from Houston to New York.

Yes, it is an excellent photo. I guess the lights were on to discourage any homeless people from breaking in.

Thanks. It was indeed a chain if it had 130 locations. The fact that it is now down to two shows that banana splits and sundaes must have lost their appeal. That was really some alliteration in their opening sentence.

--> QUOTE(Brian B @ Saturday, June 17th, 2006 @ 2:09pm) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Born in Houston but grew up in Dallas, told Kitirick(?) I wanted to grow up to be a garbage man, she had to go to commercial she was laughing so hard. Remember Ferrells(SP) on your birthday at the Galleria... with the crazy Ice cream antics? This was way after I left Houston, but still went with realitives in Houston on visits. Usually after being on the mountain ride at Astoworld. There was also one of these resturants in Dallas at Valley View Mall. There used to be a Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor in Parkdale Mall in Beaumont, but it's been long gone. Was Farrell's part of a chain?

Thanks, Gnu! I printed the pages about Brown and Todd and I'll show them to my dad.

That reminds me of Cheech & Chong's "Big Bambu" album. "Unamerican Bandstand" hosted by Laid-Back Lenny. He said: "We now have the winner of the 'How many downers you can drop' contest". "The lead singer of the band couldn't make it because he stuck himself in the eye with a coke spoon".

Wasn't Big Boy the place whose french fries were "curled"?

I talked to my dad last weekend. He told me that the name of the place that he worked for when we lived in Greens Bayou was called Todd Shipbuilding. He said that we lived there when I was about a year old. I'm now 48. I don't think that that company would still be there after that many years.

How can people be "laid back" with loud, live music playing?

I think that Roy Rogers' Roast Beef Sandwich is similar to the kind that Arby's makes. The only Arby's in this area is one in Parkdale Mall in Beaumont.