Heights2Bastrop

George Wagner was born in 1915 and began wrestling at age 14. After 10 years of wrestling with little success,

How about "Gorgeous George" who came into the ring throwing gold hair pins from his flowing blond hair. Then there was Ray Gunkel & Cyclone Anaya. Now that was REAL show biz!

Anyone know how George came up with the idea of his "identity"? It was Bob Hope. Hope told him that if he wanted to make it big, he needed an act, something to distance himself from the rest.

Here is the information I now have about Luna Park. It was opened in June of 1924 on 36 acres of land. The parking lot was right along the bayou on a somewhat precipitous slope. It was stated that the park was on the south side of Buffalo Bayou at Houston Avenue, but that cannot be as that is the location of Sam Houston Park. I am sure they meant to say White Oak Bayou.

The roller coaster may have been called the Scenic Railway. Another of the most thrilling rides was the Mechanical Caterpillar, a ride still found in many traveling carnivals. The cars went around in a circle on an up and down track, and a canopy was extended over the cars to make it dark.

A big attraction at Luna was

Yes, it was the KUHT series and can be purchased at the Channel 8 Store online. However, it appears that Vol 3 is not available. It is the one about "Holiday Memories". Segments from that tape include the annual Wheatley-Yates Thanksgiving football game. That was one of the biggest sporting events in Houston back then.

Also included is Foley's downtown store with its Christmas decorated windows, and Mrs. Baird's bakery on W Gray with a live Santa in his sleigh. What was strange about that display is that Santa looked an awful lot like Vernon Baird.

I do believe that Luna Park was on Houston Ave. I could have sworn it was shown on one of my maps, but I cannot find it. I may be wrong, but there may have been another park somewhere off Allen Parkway, possibly around Taft.

I first heard about Luna on one of the

$1.19 "Dollar Nineteen" Steakhouse.

They had, what else, steaks that cost, well duh, $1.19.

Did I mention Toddle House before?

The Pillot House is one of those in Sam Houston Park.

I think Henke and Pilot gave out Top Value stamps, and one day a week they gave double stamps. I think it was on Tuesdays. Other storesa gave double stamps as well.

If we are talking stores and gas stations, then we might as well get a bonus

Steak n Shake was probably the worst hamburger I ever had. Not only was the meat tasteless, all you got was the meat patty and bun. Anything else you wanted you had to pay extra.

I used to love the CFS at Dirty

This used to be a Rettig's Ice Cream store. It is located at Studewood and 13th in the Heights. The rounded windows are what makes the building distinctive to Rettig's. However, the window trim on all Rettig

Naturally, there was a Someburger at Studewood and 11th, and that one may still be there. There was another on 19th in

Anybody recognize this place?

Picture the trim a different color.

I saw this on the news last night. It

Pol Parrott Shoes

Allbritton's had THE best fried chicken. I think they put paprika in the batter.

My dad went to Red Lion way back when with some business associates. He was on his way to or from the bathroom when he somehow wandered into the kitchen. He said it was so dirty in there that he wouldn

There was a Food Lion at Antoine and Pinemont. It was HEB until a few months ago, and now it is closed down.

It wasn

Battelstein

According to my late dad, the first location was at 6100 Gulf Freeway in what used to be (may still be) the Houston Office Center. It is the one with the oil derrick in front. If you look at the buildings, you might agree that it is obvious since the place looks like it was designed by an engineer rather than an architect.

could it have been the Schlumberger park on I-45 S?

Nope.

When Houston was chosen to be home to the new space center, NASA built a temporary facility in Houston while the Johnson Space Center was being constructed in Clear Lake.

Does anyone know where that facility was? It is still in operation today as an office park.

I am positive that Gulfgate was before Northline, maybe by some 5-10 years.