bugtoaster

Did this cafeteria ever connect to Houston's downtown tunnel system? (particularly in the 1970s)

Maybe the fallout shelters were to escape the smoke from the fire. Mystery solved.

On 7/15/2022 at 1:07 PM, Kasper said:

Hey Rage, I follow you on Mixcloud, coincidentally found you here looking for some old Richmond venue info! Knew & had been to most of the incarnations of the 6400 location & actually was part of the crew that opened Back Alley in 91-92 (Blake Davidson spun there in the beginning). Do you (or anyone) remember the retro 50's style diner that was right across the street from Back Alley around 92/93? It lived almost exactly as long as BA then disappeared. I recall that the female owner was also part of an ownership group of other clubs around Houston in the 80s, possibly Power Tools. Could be way off base tho. Also, I recall the diner having a UFO/alien theme to it & it was referenced in the name but can't for the life of me remember what it was called. It was open late & I think 24 hrs over the weekend so we'd always end up there after club-hopping. Was heavy into Power Tools at the time, where I had also moonlighted for a bit in '94 when their door guy left them stranded.

I remember eating at a late-night, UFO/alien-themed restaurant in 1992, on either Richmond or Westheimer. I guess it could have been described as '50s style as well. I was pretty impressed with the decor, and I remember a lot of blue light. Sorry I can't remember the name. (Even sorrier I can't provide info on Highrise Tower's request about the girls at the Reno Club - they sure are a bunch of lookers who embody all that Houston has to offer!)

55 minutes ago, cowboybud said:

Looks downright rural. Is that Bellaire Blvd. toward the end of the film? Is that HS football stadium on the same site as the current stadium?

That's what it looks like, based on my memories of many high-school lunches spent seeking out fast food on Bellaire.

The stadium in the 1976 film looks the same as I remember it in the '80s, although it might have been expanded by the time I was there. Google Maps shows a stadium there now, "LeRoy Crump Stadium." Is it the same one? 

"Old Alief" is, for the record, the neighborhood north of Alief Middle School, but that is not what this post is about. It's more about YouTube. If you search for Alief on YouTube, you can find lots of neat stuff, like this film (made in the same year that the Texas-centric movie Dazed & Confused is set, and looking pretty much like it): 

But if you focus your search to "Old Alief" in quote marks, it pulls up this:

The video above is somewhat rambling, but does in fact contain some relevant descriptions of life in Alief in the 1970s, mostly beginning at 21 minutes into the video. It's only one of thousands this guy made, starting about ten years ago, and ending his production run five years ago. A number of his videos contain details about Alief, although there is a lot to filter through to get to it.

On 3/18/2023 at 4:55 PM, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

Neighbors (John Belushi's last flick)

We saw Continental Divide on the upper screen in 1981. Not what I was expecting from a Belushi flick. And after you mentioned it, I might remember the stairs to the upper section being taped off for construction. Can't be sure if I am thinking of a different theater at Fuqua and Hiram-Clarke that was also converting its balcony at the time.

Yes, that's the one, thanks. Except I wouldn't have described the bread as 'biscuits' like those at a KFC. More like soft dinner rolls.

I thought this was going to be a thread about going to Numbers, but good luck in finding out what the 'Jackson' exchange meant.

Wasn't there also a Ron's Fried Chicken across the street on S. Post Oak, maybe a little further south?

I dunno, it looks like the VCR would sustain water damage when the lady jumps out of the pool to give it to you.

They had a memorable ad jingle: "Weiner's...Weiner's...Keeps you lookin' great for less."

Thanks for posting that Texas Monthly article - it's a great snapshot of mall culture at its height, and shows what made the Galleria like its own, self-enclosed city (although THX1138 is a good point of reference too).

I cannot define art, but I know it when I see it. 

I went there in the '80s, probably to the Bellaire location. Cafeterias like that didn't do a lot to distinguish themselves from the competition, so it's not always easy to remember which cafeteria was which. They all seemed to have the exact same food selections.

On 10/10/2022 at 4:42 PM, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

Star Wars there in the days before they converted the balcony to a second theater

Which narrows down when they added the second screen - 1978, maybe? I remember the chairs and walls looking brand new at the time, but I don't remember it being under construction. It was definitely there by the end of 1980, because that's where I saw Flash Gordon.

We went there in the late '70s-early '80s. It was known as the Palm Twin Theater at the time, because the balcony had been converted to an additional, smaller screen. The room with the larger main screen retained an old-timey, decorative appearance. Appropriately enough, we saw Flash Gordan and Raiders of the Lost Ark there. 

They had a location in the early 80s on Westheimer, in the same complex as the original Brown Book Store.

On 3/21/2009 at 12:19 AM, RhinoVP said:

 I remember the Wicks n' Sticks at Westwood mall back in the 70's which also had candles either carved or moulded like dragons and castles among other things. I couldn't imagine someone buying one of these, and then ever lighting it. They were not cheap!

 

The history of Wicks 'n Sticks is something I would like to find more of - did they have a catalog circa 1980 that illustrates all the crazy candle designs? Are there candle catalogs from this era, not necessarily from Wicks 'n Sticks, which include these sorts of candles? Is there anywhere on the web that showcases the candles of this era? 

According to their Wikipedia entry, the chain started in Houston in 1968. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wicks_'N'_Sticks Does anyone know more about it?

On 5/20/2008 at 4:08 PM, isuredid said:

 I also remembered that Nan's Toys used to be in the Galleria, but the rent was too high to make a profit and she moved to SW Frwy. 

This is one of my more enigmatic memories of the Galleria. I mostly remember that Nan's had displays set up by the original movie theater during Star Wars' first run in 1977-78, when there was always a long line for it. The display featured bootleg lightsaber toys before the official Kenner version. The enigmatic part is that I cannot remember where the actual store was located, and it is hard to sort out my memories of it and other hobby shops of the time.

I vaguely remember they were selling Kenner's line of die-cast Star Wars toys, but not the rest of the Kenner toys. I also remember buying a book of Michael Goodwin's Star Trek cartoons, because I was not yet playing wargames or D&D, so it was hard to find something I could understand at a young age. 

Around 1983-84, Nan's was located about a mile west of the Galleria on Westheimer. It was next to Briargrove dollar theater, which sometimes played old cigarette commercials along with the film trailers. This incarnation of Nan's was pretty small, and the only comics they stocked at the time were ElfQuest and maybe a few more independents like Cerebus. I guess this was before the SW-Freeway location near Shepherd.

On 8/21/2021 at 8:17 PM, DMJ said:

Yeah Bruce was notorious for offering to sell you that razormaid with feeling like a stranger on  it for 20 bucks if you would pull your junk out...

I remember those rumors.

On 9/15/2021 at 5:28 PM, Dave W said:

I remember M. Herrick Books in Westbury Square.

There was a seller of new books in Westbury Square around 1979-80. They had a selection of Usborne books and other imports that was more extensive than you would find in an ordinary store. Was this Herrick? By the mid-80s they were gone, but a seller of comics and collectible magazines had opened around the corner. It was staffed by an older gentleman, plus a younger man with a brit accent who moved very slowly and carefully, as if he were over-cautious about damaging collectible stuff.

The original Brown Book Store (located on Westheimer near the Hobbit Hole restaurant) and the Sam Houston bookstore in the Galleria both had elevated children's sections, so as a kid you would feel like you were climbing into a treehouse.

A quote from:

"Further west near Kirkwood, in the 1980s people began converting those mini-storage units facing Beechnut into storefronts. That seemed to last for a long time, but I don't remember seeing any storefronts on a recent drive-through."

I believe the writer of this post may be referring to a complex which was home to A Few Books & Records in the mid-80s. I had just seen The NeverEnding Story, and all the old books reminded me of the bookstore in the film. It then moved to a strip-style shopping center (possibly at 11332 Beechnut) that was also the location of a teen club.

There was a 7" record on display behind the counter, called "Alief, My Alief," or something like that. I never bought the record, and have never been able to find the recording online. Does anyone remember it?

The owner, a tall, thin, middle-aged man with glasses and a receding hairline, passed away about 1987 and the store was inherited by two of his elderly female relatives. They seemed at a loss over how to manage the store. They tried stocking it with a paltry selection of Warhammer figures to bring in a fresh crowd, but complained bitterly when it didn't work and moved the store to a stall in an antiques mall to save on rent.

On 6/13/2014 at 6:00 PM, sevfiv said:

, and Kendrick Books (2429 Rice Blvd.)

I remember a Kendrick books in a house in Bellaire, possibly on South Rice Ave., which closed around 1986.