Ashikaga

Business is great for the stores that are open.

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.

Anyone know what's going on at supertrac? I drove past and saw a few bumper cars(or go carts) being loaded. The track looked like it was being converted into a parking lot they had a bunch of yellow parking bumps on the track.

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.

read the thread above. it was renovated a few years back but was never finished after financial problems

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

Yikes! What an ugly building.

Are there any pics without the facade?

I spent Sunday morning driving around downtown, appreciating old buildings, then some time Sunday eve looking up stuff on HCAD, thanks to sevfiv.

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?

I remember the food court on the second level.

Which was trashier? Sage or Globe?

Back then, those stores might have been classified at discount department stores, like Wal-Mart and Target are today. But if they weren't national chains, that might be the reason why, as you say, they were "trashy." National chains usually have housekeeping and cleanliness standards and policies.

I was called on the phone years ago to take a survey. I was asked silly question such as how many glasses of beer had I drank in the last seven days. Then they asked me the last time I visited an upscale department store. I said Wal-Mart, but was told that Wal-Mart didn't qualify as upscale. Stores like Dillard's and Neiman Marcus did.

nope, just a derilict building between the freeway and the post office.

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

Ha. that is great. I listened to the KRBE link from 1970. I was sort of expecting something different. I was pleasantly suprised not to hear Sam Malone and his retard crew.

About half way into the broadcast they do a weather report. The DJ clearly called a number which gave him a recorded report. The DJ talked through it which was pretty humorous.

I guess this was the Beattles hour as all the songs are tunes from them.

Great find. Thanks.

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.

Thanks for specifying the camera! I love those old rangefinders.

If anyone saw "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", it's the same camera that Gwyneth Paltrow used.

It's affectionately known as "The Brick", due to its shape (and weight).

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

Anyone know what the story is with the Tennyson? It was redone into lofts but never seemed to open up. There was a fire in the parking garage a couple of weeks ago. Was the redevelopment a scam? What is the story?

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

not enough. its just a cruddy cell phone camera - i don't really know what it has - certainly not over 1. I am not a camera afficianado (maybe someone else could assist with information ) but these days you pretty much see 3 as a bare minimum and probably 5 is standard. there has been a couple of dig. camera threads on the board recently. you might search them out.

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.

Okay, here is the picture of 8 West Court.

Not the best shot in the world.

Is/was this your house??

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?

If you want to refresh your memory about how the mall was configured around 1960,

go to this link

http://houstonfreeways.com/ebook.aspx

and download the file for the Gulf Freeway. There is an aerial view on page 13 (book page 156)

I took photographs of the demolition in 2001 (I think), but I don't have any online.

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.

Great photos Subdude. The cool thing about old theater photos is that you can date them precisely based on what was playing, ie; "She Married Her Boss", 1935, "The Last of the Mohicans",1936 and "Parnell" June 1937.

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

Wasn't KFMK one of the first "album rock" stations in the whole country, not just Texas?

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

On "Hee-Haw," I think that most people will remember "Junior Sample's Used Cars." He would always say: "The number to call is BR-549."

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.

Great picture Sevfiv!

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

I found a web site of Farrell's history. It said there were 130 parlours coast to coast and two currently in operation. They have a video of a birthday celebration from 1974. That takes me back. I was there for my birthday in 1976 and remember being mortified! Here's the link to the site:

http://www.happyitis.biz/

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.

-->

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?

I did the research for you...

http://www.sname.org/sections/texas/April2...0in%20Texas.pdf

and then a 2001 Halliburton Press Release

http://www.halliburton.com/news/archive/20...snws_042401.jsp

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

Probably some chemical assistance.

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".

i used to love going to that Spanky's as a kid. I remember occasioning the Dot always with my best friends family because they smoked and that place was always lit up like a chimney as i remember it.

we would also hit the Brisket house on Sundays sometimes that was good stuff.

I also remember going to a Big Boy restaurant with the big figure outside holding up a burger. was there one of these in the vicinity it must have been on 45 south if memory serves me?

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

My dad said that we lived in Greens Bayou when I was about a year old. Does it still exist?

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.

looks comfortable

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

They are still around in the Northeast US. I ate at one in Maryland a few years ago.

http:\\www.royrogersrestaurants.com

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.