blue92

Back in 1960 or 61 I watched A.J.Foyt run another driver threw the southern fence one Sat. night. To this day I don't care much for the guy.  

I too used to go to Playland park. We also went to the stock car races in the back. My dad and I was there that fateful night in 1959 when a car crashed through the fence during the time trials killing three people outside the entrance near the concession stand, We were only about a minute from being at that very spot. As a couple of you mentioned the fortune teller. She was creepy as all get out and I avoided her like the plague.

That night marked the end to Playland Park one of the people that was killed that night was the owner of Playland. It closed not to long after his death. I too used to go there with my dad to watch the car racing, A.J. Foyt raced there then moved on to race at Meyer's Speedway.

I was just looking at the street course layout for the Indycar race there this Oct. it got me thinking where all the course was going so I google mapped it. Now to my question in the google satelite view I see what looks like a round domed stadium right next to Reliant Stadium, is that the Astro Dome or have they tore down the Astro Dome?    

Stuart's was across the street from Prince's drive-in (well I don't know if it was a named street as much as a pass through between OST and Main St.). My family preferred Stuart's over Prince's and we ate there many a time. It was always an exciting day when my mom told us we were going to Stuart's. Also I remember going to Price's on Bellaire St. at Stella Link and 19¢ hamburgers with secret sauce.

Photo by Ken Rudine

I saw Tull, musta been in the eighties, don't think it was seventy nine.During imtermission some bum looking guy, which was part of the show came on stage and threw up in a large lookin trash can, then the band came out, one by one, and they would pull a musical instrument out of the trash can. It was a badass and a very fun show. We sit close to the stage and they had this beachball, that would vibrate with the music as it floated thru the air or it seemed to, might a been the buzz I had. Dont remember no opening show.

They closed the show I think with the lights out, and when the lights came back on, the band was gone. The song The Last Walz by the band started playing, that even sounded good.

The concert I saw was in 1979 the year I moved from Houston to Shreveport, La. to work for a Rolex dealer in their new store in a newly opened mall. The concert you saw must have been different concert than the one I saw, because no one threw-up on stage at the one me and my ex-wife saw.

What was an "underground" station?

Well back in the late 60s early 70s FM stations didn't really play rock they played mostly classical or easy listening. And like someone else all ready said they played music off the albums. Back then record companies made 2 versions of some songs one for the top 40 stations. Underground FM stations played the albums long versions of the songs.

The station was probably KFMK. It was the big underground station of the 60's.

You saw Cream, Spirit and the Doors at Love Street? I saw all three in 68 but at either the Coliseum (Cream, Doors) or the Music Hall (Spirit). Some groups would go over to Love Street or The Cellar to jam after their gigs but those three were pretty established performers and not the small club type.

Didn't say I saw them I heard them on that underground FM station.

Back in 1968 when I was in high school there were lots of bands that played Love Street Light Circus feel Good Machine down at Allen's Landing. There was some underground FM station that simulcasted the shows every Saturday night. I heard Cream, Fever Tree, Spirit, The Doors, and many more local and west cost bands that played there that year. Does anyone on here remember this or the call letters of that underground FM station?

Also my last concert I saw in Houston was Jetro Tull at the Houston Coliseum in 1979 the year of their Songs of the Woods album. I remember there was some heavy metal band that played before before Tull did that had a stage full of equipment for just a 3 piece band. Between sets they cleared the stage and out of the rafters they lowered Tull's equipment which was over half as much equipment as the metal bands and Tull out played the metal band all to hell.

Speaking of Houston Concerts in the 80s, did anyone on here happen to see or remember this 86 concert? I've heard it caused all the freeways near downtown to shut down till way past midnight.

In the Mall north of Joske's there were a couple jewelry stores, a Godon's and a Zale's and maybe a Michael's. On the street that ran into Sakowitz's big circular drive going to the big main entrance was a Sweeney E. Co. Jewelers store. I did some high end watch repair for both Joske's and Sakowitz between 75-79. I was delivering watch repairs twice a week out there.

I worked at the Chuc Wagon on Bissonnet in 1975ish. I remember Richard Warren and his wife, along with several other co-workers. The onion rings were the best. I was actually trying to remember that darn recipe a few months ago. I do remember the Post solicitors (back when there WAS a Houston Post) and that little bitty window next to the large flat griddle that you ordered from. I can still hear those metal spatulas clanging............... The uniforms were yellow checked shirts and those fake leather (vinyl) aprons <ick>. It could be a crazy place at times. For those who worked there, remember the little office in the back...and that squeaky back door? Too funny.

I worked at the 7-11 around the corner from this Chuck Wagon in the fall of 67. Worked there for 3 months before I was transfered to the store behind Westbury Square shopping center. At the Willow Bend location we could smell the Chuck Wagon cooking the french fries and the onion rings, the smell drove us crazy in a good way. The guy running that location told me they had someone that specially grew the onions for all the locations. The onions were a special large size so Chuck Wagon's onion rings were all a good size, they never sold a small onion ring. I never ate onion rings because I didn't like onions, but the smell and the guys I worked with looked loved them so I had to try some. My lack of liking onion rings and onions went out the window after eating those Chuck Wagon onion rings.

Cool pics. Though I would take them into Photoshop and and color correct them to match just a little better.

Anyone remember Wilson's? They later became Service Merchandise. Their home office was in Port Arthur and started out as a local Jewelry store chain there.

I think you mean Woolworth, not Walgreens.

Well what can I say, I've slept since.

http://www.khou.com/...-144994555.html

3 million for maintenance a year? Someone is pocketing a lot of money because from that video you can see there's been no maintenance done on the inside of the Dome.

I would like it to turn into a Houston Sports Museum. While one tours the dome the concession stands could be open or have a food court with restaurants. They should install a huge hd tv like the one in the new Cowboy Stadium and it could be used for Texas baseball history films and the times Reliant is a sellout they can sell tickets for people to sit in the Dome and watch the games on the big screen tv.. Or sell tickets for Astro games, some people might like this so they don't have to go to downtown Houston, find parking and have all the walking to get to the downtown stadium. Actually Houston always likes to outdo Dallas so their big screen could build the largest 4 screen big screen in the world.

Familiar with Globe but not that location. We had one by us, when i was growing up. I think it was owned by Walgreens...it was their answer for Woolco and Kmart.

Actually Walgreens owned Woolco. Back in the 70s I did some watch repairs for Woolco and my paychecks were from Walgreens, well the checks had Walgreens in the letterhead.

I hate that we can't correct a misspelling in the title once we've posted. I did that last year and have been embarressed ever since.

Our editor and father web administrator needs to fix that.

Most forums even ones that you can edit you can't edit the titles, I run a car forum myself and in our forum you can't edit the titles once it's posted up.

Tnx. I'm so glad the report I got about the place was false . In 1978 me and my family took the tour of the place and we didn't want to leave, an amazing piece of Houston history one can visit still in Houston.

Is it still there? Someone told me they thought it burned down and there now is some Condos there. Sorry misspelled museum in the title.

Bill Williams Chicken House on S. Main.

http://blog.chron.co...-chicken-house/

My family ate there many times during the mid 60s we always went there for seafood. I was wondering if the restaurant ever changed it's name in the mid to late 60s. I for some reason thought the name was Bill Williams Sea Food Restaurant and Oyster Bar.

I'm not looking for a chain, I am looking for a diner, kind of like this place

http://samsno3.com/

How about a Ones-a-Meal? They were the perfect dinner, food was good and were open all night.

For your other amusement parts around Texas there's Landa Park in New Braunfels probably the oldest in Texas dating back to the late 1800s here's their web site

As a kid growing up in southwest Houston in the 50s and 60s I went to sleep in the spring and summer months listening to the screams of the people on the roller coaster at Playland. We lived within walking distance to the park, that was across the street from Gaido's Seafood restaurant. On Saturday nights I could hear the race cars roaring around the track. When I was 8 years old my dad would take me to watch the races. They raced there up into the early 60s then moved the racing to Meyer's Speedway out on S.Main past the South Main Drive In. I watch A.J.Foyt more or less start his racing career at those 2 tracks. Here's an overhead shot of Playland park from 1953.

On 11/30/2011 at 7:47 PM, NenaE said:

That's an interesting article about the house facing Brays Bayou. I stumbed on that pond in the culdesac many years ago, when it wasn't in the best of shape. I took pics of it. Nice to know the history. Seems like there was new construction going on at the time. I remenber one beautiful (I think it was Spanish Style)house sitting at an odd angle on the western side of the pond.

Yea that is a good article, I guess I should ask about the history of the Spanish Style home that one has been there since before 1944. AS seen in the pic here.

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg60/dlfswi/historic-houston/bras-mansion44.png

1953 pic

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg60/dlfswi/historic-houston/bras-mansion53.png

1964 pic

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg60/dlfswi/historic-houston/bras-mansion64.png

02 pic

http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg60/dlfswi/historic-houston/bras-mansion02.png

Also thx for the responses guys I appreciate it.