marketingwiz

That would have been Hwy. 290 but I do not recall a Gabs anything and I'm a native as well as an Aggie so I traveled Hwy. 290 frequently. Guess I just missed it.

The top 20 best things about Houston in the 80s: Los Troncos Restaurant on Westheimer (now Marco's) The ORIGINAL Westheimer Art Festival The Rolling Stones at the Astrodome Elan Ninfa's on Navigation Midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Alabama Theater The San Jacinto Inn Confetti Urban Cowboy (stereotypes and all) the ORIGINAL Armando's on S. Shepherd (long before the socialite invasion, when Armando actually knew who you were) Watching Divine perform at #'s Cruising Westheimer on Fri. and Sat. night Mary's Biker Bar Cody's Boston Sea Party Margo's LaMode and Sakowitz Butera's Deli Jamails Grocery Store One's A Meal Gilley's OH, and KLOL, Rock 101, 'Crash' in your dash!

Cougar and Kerleq, thanks SO much for your contributions! The information you both provided is fascinating and I especially enjoyed hearing about your Aunt's personal experiences with Freedman and his associates, including movie stars from back in the day. I do remember my first visit to Las Vegas in the mid-60s with my parents and we stayed at the Sahara Hotel, which is now long gone. The entertainers performing there were Pat Boone and Harry James. My mother was beside herself because she saw both Harry James and his wife, the old Hollywood movie star, Betty Grable, at the hotel bar. And keeping in mind that this was long before LV became 'kid friendly,' I saw these tall, magnificent showgirls tanning topless at the Sahara pool to avoid tan lines. My mother threw a towel over my head and took me back to our room until it was "safe" to return.

Back in the early 1980s, I worked as an ad agency account supervisor who handled the regional Weingarten grocery store account (Texas, Okla and La). Among my many tasks was to produce the weekly television commercials which were in a "donut" format, meaning the beginning and ending stayed the same and I dropped in whatever products were being featured that week in the middle. That required me to actually secure the featured items for videotaping which became a huge and ongoing problem. I literally could NEVER find the products Weingarten wanted to promote in their TV spots AT a Weingarten's store. I had to go to Randall's or Kroger to secure those items. Ironic much? Additionally, Weingarten stores were nasty, stinky and dirty, as were their employees. The meat area smelled rancid, there was always dried blood on the meat shelves and the dairy case consistently smelled of spoiled milk. (The Weingarten in the Heights on Studewood past 11th St. was absolutely the worst.) And the checkers were the most awful and incompetent people I've ever seen. They could literally kill your appetite and some of them you didn't want touching your groceries. If the reek of B.O. wasn't enough, then perhaps a shopper might enjoy the bleeding and crusty sores I saw on more than one employee's forearm. An order of shingles to go, anyone? I don't fault anyone for their skin condition, but for heaven's sake, COVER IT UP!!!! (The cheesy red polyester checker jackets were cut off at the elbow.) But even better, as a young, naive and upcoming ad gal, I felt that our client should be informed of the store's numerous shortcomings. BIG mistake. It was like calling his baby ugly and he did not give a whit that the very products he wanted to feature could not be found in the store he wanted to promote. Old man Minnich, their 'marketing director,' taught me a 'life lesson' I never forgot. Thankfully, Weingarten finally bit the dust back in the early 90's I believe, and Mr. Minnich lost his job. And yes, the slogan was "When you see the red dot, you'll save a lot." It was voiced over by an elderly gentleman whose dentures whistled when he spoke, but they refused to allow me to have it rerecorded because he was one of Minnich's cronies. Pure genius.

We now live in Westbury and for awhile, there appeared to be some 'hold-out' residents living in the second floor apartments at Westbury Square, most notably in the front section facing W. Bellfort near a main entrance overlooking the parking lot. There were two balconies filled with potted plants and a TV dish. But around early 2010, those balconies were cleared off and it appears that this iconic shopping center may indeed be getting closer to demolition. My husband grew up in Bellaire and vividly remembers his teen years 'hanging out' at Westbury Square and the even cooler people who rented apartments there. My 15 y/o son recently rode his bike over there and shot some photos of the remaining debris. I'll post soon. It's sad.

Life Magazine Images Gosh, I hope I inserted the link correctly. If not, my apologies, but the link should take you to Google's Life Magazine Photo Archives that has some terrific shots of everything Houston, including interiors of the Astrodome and Hofheinz's private suites and entertainment rooms. Or Google this, houston astrodome source:life. I think the photography is stunning.

I'm not sure why my comments didn't show with the photos I downloaded, but I found these in the HUGE Life Magazine photo archives under McCarthy. These were the only ones I could find of the family at home but I knew I had seen at least one photo of them inside, in addition to the ginormous covered porch.

Pardon my ineptness, but I cannot tell from the first photo (cropped 60's shot) where the mansion, driveway, etc. is. I'm assuming it's still standing in the 1960 pic but I cannot see it. Can anyone enlighten me as to where the structure/compound is shown on the early photo? I try to use the 'star' and 'diamond' shapes that were etched into the yard to pinpoint its location but don't see them. Thanks in advance for your help.

Whatever happened to 'squatterkid,' the person who started this thread? I thought his adventures were fascinating. Anyone know?

Someone has purchased this home and there is activity. Over the weekend and today around noon, I saw workers there with pickups parked outside on the circle drive and a construction dumpster next to the house parallel with Rice. I'm hoping that someone has plans to remodel and embrace the 'Formica-ness' that this home brings from the past.

I drive by that house more than 2X/day and there is yet another For Sale sign; new Realtor. I feel sorry for the Formica House.

I read a description of it somewhere on-line that called the mansion's interior design 'a Holiday Inn on acid.' They might just be right. More like a really baaaaaad trip.

I found this interesting profile on Facebook (Todville Mansion) that has some great interior and exterior photos of what the mansion looked like after the murders and during its heavy 'party days. I think you'll enjoy it. It's been difficult to find any photos of the place at all.

How macabre...... I'd have to have that thing torn out, no offense to your friend.

P.S. It looks like the Shell is open for business again.

Wistfully, I remember the 5-7-9 Shop and my ability to legitimately shop there. Just add a zero to the end of each figure to calculate my current size. Did anyone mention Margo's LaMode? I actually had one of their credit cards.

I managed to snag a copy from the director, Jon Schwartz, no less, when I went to its most recent screening last April (I believe) at the Museum of Fine Arts. I wasn't able to stay for the 2+ hour film but I did buy a copy from the director who was there to present his documentary. Last time I checked, you could buy a DVD from the MFA gift shop. It's worth a check.

My husband and I drove around the remaining parking lot yesterday and it appears that someone still lives in a second floor apartment facing W. Bellfort. I thought all residents had been instructed to leave but there are plants and a small outdoor grill on the balcony as well as a couple of cars parked in front. We plan on touring on foot and taking a few snaps before 'the end' comes. My husband grew up in Bellaire and remembers Westbury Square as the coolest and hippest place in Houston during its heyday.

That place has 'evil' written all over it. I don't think I'd even want to step inside. And someone earlier in this thread mentioned the existence of a strange bathroom that looked more like a locker room with toilets lined up against the wall. Well Mr. List was quite the sexual deviant, as it turns out, although he claims he never made anyone do anything they didn't want to do. One of his regular house boys was quoted as saying that he vomited after being asked and paid to watch List in action with some fresh meat he picked up in Montrose. I'm guessing it was some pretty hard-core stuff. Check it out online.

That's it, Tucker. Thanks for the heads up, Filio. Boy would I love to see the photos that accompanied the '85 article in its original format. I've emailed the Chronicle to see if there is anyway to include the photos with the archived feature story. I hope to hear back soon.

At 55, I remember separate water fountains AND laundromats, or washaterias, whatever. My mother yanked me away from a "colored" water fountain when I was about six because I wanted to see what color or colors the water would be when I pressed the button. I envisioned a water rainbow! (The 'colored' water basin was black, btw.) I was further confused when we moved from Ft. Worth to a small town and had to use the local laundromat until our new washer/dryer arrived. In my naivete, I thought my mother could only wash our white laundry there because the sign read "no coloreds." Ah....the innocence of youth.

I read on-line that Bill List was indeed Debbie Thornton's father. The article pointed out how both father and daughter had died violent deaths. Just 'Google' Debbie Thornton or Carla Faye Baker.