Playland Baby

Thanks much everyone! Also, my grandad was Lou Gordon, and I'd love to hear anything you may have heard about him… I do know he wasn't the whitest sheep in the flock, and was well known for gambling at pinochle, and on other things as well, so I won't be offended if the memory isn't particularly flattering… I'm attaching a photo file taken at Playland in my grandmother's mug joint. I don't know the exact year it was taken, but guessing at my mothers age being around 12, it's '46 or thereabouts. My grandfather, Louis Carl Gordon, my grandmother Myrtle Jo Aldridge, my mother Judith, my aunt Betty Jean, and my uncle, David. As it happens, after reading Sparky's posts, I can tell she is my aunt Betty Jean, lol. Her memories and my notes of what my grandmother and mother told me about Sam's death are quite different, but she wasn't living in Houston at the time, so… I'll go with the original source, lol.

I'm hoping someone here can help me out a bit… I notice a few of y'all are very experienced and knowledgeable with respect to the stock racing at PLayland Park in the 1950's… I am looking for information about a driver, one Clyde Lowe; I can't be sure of the spelling, sorry. I'd like any information you can provide for a project I am working on. While I don't live in Houston anymore, I do have some PLayland credentials… my grandfather was Lou Gordon, and Zaydah (what us kids called him) ran the concessions at Playland, the Auditorium, and most of the theaters in those days. At one time the family owned a miniature train ( I believe in Hermann Park). My grandmother, Myrtle Gordon, owned the mug-joint (picture booth) at PLayland, and my Aunt Kitty had the Fortune Tellers… we lived next door to the Park from about 1959 until about 1962, and prior to that on Hatton Street, although my grandparent, mom (Judith), Aunt Betty Jean, and Uncle David actually lived in housing on the Park property until sometime in the late 40's or early 50's. I will be more than happy to swap stories of the Park with y'all, and I sincerely hope you can help me out with the information I seek. Please feel free to email me privately if you choose.