GBryant

The Fame City building was purpose-built for Fame City. It was an empty field before that.

Was it a Roy Rogers before it was a Lee's? I only remember the Lee's being there.

I remember the place, but I don't think it was a Fame City. They had a virtual reality setup and a Battletech simulator center - neither of which I ever got to try.

Do you have a plan for sourcing the pictures? I've never been able to find much online.

There were also Safeways at Bellaire Blvd and S. Rice (where the Randall's is) and Stella Link and S Braeswood (where Sellers Bros is now). My family and I used to go to the one on Stella Link all the time.

I don't know if you fine folks have seen this yet: http://www.cardcow.c.../texas-houston/ It has a bunch of, well, vintage Houston postcards. Edit: Crap, I thought certain that if I'd seen this here before that I would have remembered it. I just found the other threads that mention this site. Sorry, guys. If a mod wants to delete this, please do.

Heh, I lived out that way at one point, as well. Never played in the landfill, but I would drive past it quite often on the way home from football practice at Elsik.

I see you mentioned monkey's hill. In the 80s we had a Monkey Hills that was the drainage ditch at the north end of the horse pasture between Bellaire and Beechnut. We'd jump our bikes across the ditch. Same place? I, too, remember walking to Horn Elementary. My folks never gave a second thought about my walking home form there.

Aww, c'mon now! I was aged 4-14 in the 80's and I still have very fond memories of the era. I guess it's just what you grow up with. My top 10 (in no particular order): 10. The OLD Third Planet in that little house. 9. GiGi's model shop in Sharpstown Mall (especially that model of the Invisible Woman) 8. Trick or treating - after dark! 7. Funland arcade at Meyerland Plaza 6. Open-late Thursdays at the Bellaire Public Library (Yeah, I was/am a dork) 5. Cruising Westheimer (It was in the back seat of my parent's station wagon, but Westheimer at night still felt magical) 4. 25 cent bowling at Palace Lanes on Bellaire during the summer 3. World Toy and Gift 2. Astroworld when a season pass was $30 - not that my parents ever got one for me. 1. PLAYING THE FARK OUTSIDE. The city is safer now, but back then parents seemed to have less compunction about letting kids play outside. At least my parents and my friend's parents didn't. There was also less emphasis placed on safety and that "neglect" was lots of fun. I wonder if kids still try to climb the electric towers in the horse field between Bellaire and Beechnut, east of Newcastle? Or cross the trestle over Braes Bayou? Or navigate Bellaire and Meyerland via bayous and drainage ditches? I spent much of my youth playing in - and around - sewage. Fun. I do hold some envy for those that were young and on their own in Houston during the 80's. But, I wouldn't give up my childhood in Bellaire during that time for anything.

I'm another one, but I always thought that it was called People Places. I like your recollection better as I always thought that was a dumb name. I attended Horn Academy on Pine Street in Bellaire and would have gone to People Whatever in or around 1984. I'm afraid I can't confirm any specific memory of it other than it existed and that I had to ride on a bus to get there.

My family would frequent the Po Folks at Fondren and 59 South. I really liked the chicken and dumplings and the fact that they served drinks in Mason jars. I guess, now that I think about it, they were going for the whole Cracker Barrel thing including the peg games at every table. I remember that they had old Burma Shave signs on the walls and one read: Peach is good with lots of fuzz Man's no peach. . .and never was! Wow, I'm now having a vague recollection of a Chinese restaurant at the same location. They had a noodle soup dish that they prepared at the table. They would drop dried noodles into a bowl of something or other and it would create a billowing cloud of steam that greatly impressed my young self . It was also there that I learned that hot mustard nauseates me.

Wasn't there a Christie's on Bellaire Blvd? In the early eighties, my family would go there quite a bit and I could have sworn it was Christie's. I think it was near Bellaire and Renwick, but can't be sure. Anybody have any ideas?

I may be completely making this up, but I seem to have a vague memory of there being some sort of Post Office kiosk in the Southeast corner of the parking lot. Does anybody else remember this? Oh, and my friends and I spent hours in that Fun Time. Thanks so much for the pic.

Well, what do you know - I was both a Cub Scout and a Boy Scout. My Cub Scout pack met at the clubhouse behind Horn Academy on Holly next to the playing fields. I couldn't tell you the pack number. My Boy Scout troop was 1113 and met at a Catholic church in Alief. We had a lot of good times. I still have my Death March patch from Camp Strake. I wonder if they still do that?

When I was a kid in the 80s my friends and I had but two wishes: a bag that contained an infinite number of quarters and the ability to teleport to the arcade at Meyerland Plaza. Alas, we had neither and had to walk or ride our bikes the couple of miles or so to get there with our lone dollars and change. I think fifty cents was the threshold for legitimizing the trek. We couldn't care less about the rest of the mall at the time; but, I would give quite a lot to be able to walk through its run-down interior again. I do remember there being a kind of dumpy toy store on the side that faced Beechnut. And the JayCees would have a haunted house around Halloween in one of the empty storefronts.

Hi there. I went to Horn Academy and was a member of the Singing Boys in around 1985 or 86. We practiced at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. I'm afraid I didn't last very long as I didn't like waking up on Saturday mornings for rehearsal and would throw a fit to get my parents to let me stay home. One of the dumbest things I ever did.

My folks had a bakery in Sharpstown in the 70s and 80s and I remember them getting a job to do a cake for some new place called Fame City being built way the heck out in the 'burbs somewhere. I went with my dad to deliver the cake and can remember standing in absolute awe of the arcade. It was ginormous. I could be making this up, but I seem remember that when it first opened, you could pay a flat fee and play all the games all you wanted. That may have been a rumor born of the wishful thinking. The whole place seemed to turn pretty shady, pretty quickly. Some friends and I were there one night when one friend adjusted the bill on his cap. He was immediately approached by a security guard and ordered to stop flashing gang signs. None of us were in a gang or even knew anyone in a gang, but that was the tone of the place by 1990. There was a crappy dance club for teens upstairs called Studio something. In the seventh grade, it was the cool(ish) place to go.

You know, that may have been it. The Chinese restaurant sounds vaguely familiar and it would have closed in the 80s. Thanks! Come to think of it, I also remember one on Westheimer across from what used to be the Briargrove Dollar Theater. It had a most excellent arcade with - I think - a jungle theme. My folks took me there for my birthday one year and my mother lost her wedding ring somewhere on the course. Yeah, I got blamed for that.

Okay, I know this is a longshot but if anyone could help me identify the location of one of my earliest memories, I would be eternally grateful. I am thinking of a miniature golf place. It was (I think) on Bissonnet between Beechnut and Fondren. There was (I think) a drivers license place right next to it and both would have been on the left side of the street if you were heading west. The thing that sticks out most in my mind is that it had dinosaurs. They looked huge to - what must have been - five year old. I know it's not much to work with, and I doubt it was even that significant of a landmark. Still, I would very much appreciate some confirmation of this memory. Thanks, all. Oh, and I'm not thinking of the mini golf place at the corner of Fondren and Beechnut with the batting cages out front; though that place was cool, too.

My family moved to Alief in 1989 and I attended Holub Middle and Elsik High. I think, at that point, it was just beginning to really turn for the worse. Big pants, man. Everyone wore really big pants. I remember when the Auchan Hyper (Hyper!) Market opened on Beechnut at the Beltway. It was truly an event. Imagine, being able to by tires and groceries under same roof! Of course, I imagine it wasn't much bigger than a Walmart Supercenter, but back then it seemed to truly earn the "Hyper" moniker. I've just discovered this forum and have really enjoyed it for the past hour or so. Hopefully, I'll be able to contribute to this collective trip down amnesia lane.