Sparky
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Hi Friends. I have been away for quite a while. I stand corrected. There was a kiddie coaster at Playland. I talked to my brother and he reminded me where it was in the kiddie section of the park. If you look in the lower right section of the picture of Playland you can see it. Don't know why I didn't remember it.
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Hi. the miniature coaster you remember was not at Playland. It was at Kiddy Wonderland where the small pony ride was. My brother ran it for a while. Hope this helps.
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I am in the middle of moving and will be out of touch for about 3 weeks. I will post more pictures when things settle down. Sparky. (Thanks for oscar award)
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[ These are pictures of my sister and me, my sister, me and our little brother testing out some new "Boards" that my Uncle Homer painted for our Mothers Mug Joint. Any one that came to Playland and had my mother take a picture should recognize the background in the first picture. The picture of my brother holding our dog, Troubles, was taken years later. You can see the lead hill of the Coaster in the background. This is the hill that we watched blow over in the hurricane that I spoke of before. My brother is facing the side parking lot where race fans parked. The building to the right of our house was the "Fun in the Dark" ride. If you enlarge that picture you can see the oval sign that was above the laughing clown advertising the ride. If you remember coming to the park, you would enter under the giant Toothbrushes which turned into Murworth Street later on. As you entered the Park you would see, looking to the right, the Bingo House, my fathers frozen custard stand, my fathers front food stand, and the ticket booth for the coaster. On race days people would park not only in the front lot but also up and down the side parking lot, my front yard, from the Bingo House to the Race track. I will post some more pictures when I can remember how I did these. Mark, Thank you. Sparky Another from Sparky
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Gateway Swim And Skate Rink At 8510 South Main St.
Sparky replied to jwphillips2's topic in Historic Houston
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Hi Larry. My name is Becky, but my nickname was Sparky when I was a child growing up at Playland Park. When I say growing up, I mean I lived at the Park. I hate to tell you but you are wrong about the humps on the roller coaster. The twelve years I lived at the Park it had Three humps down to the turn which was a soft square turn, then three small humps back to the fourth elongated soft hump leveling off to the boarding platform. There is a perfect picture of the coaster in posting #3l7. I don't know what coaster you are remembering but it was not the coaster at Houstons Playland. My good friends Les and Marge Oldfield owned Gateway Roller Rink and Crystal Pool on Main St at Ost.. The bubble at the bottom of the pool was the bubble from the belly of a B-17. Gateway Roller Rink was built first and then the pool was built later. They were my home away from home and Les and Marge were my "adopted parents". The roller rink operated as such up until 1954 or 55, and then Les changed it to an indoor training pool for swimmers. I swam with the synchorinzed swimming team and we would do shows at different pools. Les just passed away two or three years ago. I believe there are some postings about Cyrstal Pool, which was the largest pool in Houston next to the Shamrock pool. The picture in posting 317 shows the coaster before the rest of the park was built so there is nothing but bare land around it. The Plantation night club was built much later and would have been in the foreground. Hope this post clears up any questions. Sparky
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Hi Earlydays. Yes the park was still there in 1964, but not in 1965. The ground breaking for the Astrodome was Jan. 3, 1962. Murworth street was not there at that time, so Playland was. April 9, l965 was when the exhibition game between the Astros & New York Yankees was held. Murworth Street had been constructed and Playland was gone. Hope this clears up the demise of the park. Sparky
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Maybe I can help out a little. Only the first hump fell over. The rest of the coaster was not damaged. It was rebuilt and the things in the park were repaired. If any one knows when ground was broken for the Astrodome that will tell us when the coaster was dismantled. The land under the race track and under the back half of the coaster was sold to the Astrodome complex and converted into a parking lot. Once the back of the coaster was gone, the park itself only lasted a few years. Like I said in a previous post I left the park in l952 after I got married. I know that the coaster was still complete at that time and up until at least l954 or l955 because I brought my son back to ride the boat road for children. Speaking of rides, I don't see any of them thru the framework of the coaster. You should be able to see the Ferris wheel, the Dive Bomber, The airplanes, the racetrack, etc.. I don't know when this picture was taken but I believe that it was taken when the park was just going up. I haven't heard from the library yet. Sparky
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It was the first hump that was blown over so it only damaged things in the front part of the park. I married and moved away in 1952 so I know it was well before that year. I believe it was in the early 40's. Maybe the Houston Library can help us. I will try to get some information from them. Sparky
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The coaster was the keystone of Playland. It was always there at the park. The track came later. You could walk thru my Dad's Beer Garden at the end of the park and walk into the front gates of the racetrack right up to the front stand where Sam was killed. I don't know if anybody remembers that the coaster was once blown over by a hurricane. It landed in the park causing a lot of damage. We watched the first hill going down from my bedroom window. It mashed the snow-cone, pop-corn stand that I worked in, and some of the rides. Took a while to clean it up and rebuild. When we moved to Playland we lived in a trailer where the racetrack would be built. Then we moved into our house bordered by the fun-in-the-dark on one side and the glass house on the other. It backed up to the mug-joint my mother ran, the mit-camp, and the cat-game. The mug-joint was the get-em-while-you-wait photo joint, the mit-camp was the gypsy fortune telling booth and the cat game was where you tried to knock three stacked cats off a table with three baseballs. I don't remember there ever being a dirt track at Playland. There might have been one before we moved to the park but I saw no signs of it anywhere. We moved to Playland when it first opened in the early 40's and my Mom worked there till the park closed. Good memories. Sparky
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Like I said, we did have a glass house with a walk around dark tunnel in the back. But no rotating floor at all. I hope somebody out there can tell us where it was. Thanks for the videos. I played them over and over. This is a step back into my childhood. I can show these to my children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Thank you all so much. Sparky
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Hi. I don't know where the "haunted" house that you are talking about was located but it was not at Playland on South Main. There was a "fun in the dark" there, right next to our house, but it was a ride in a dark building. The cars looked like scooter cars and ran on a rail. Spooky things would light up and scare you. I would be interested in knowing where the "haunted" house you are talking about was located. Sparky P.S: There was a "Glass" house on the other side of our house that had dark tunnels in the back of the glass part. You could walk around in the glass part and then you could walk thru the dark tunnels and you would come out in the glass part again. Sparky
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SAY WHAT? I didn't understand one word of what you said past email. Thanks for the thought but I don't speak tech talk. I will have my son teach me and show him your posting. Thanks again, Sparky.
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Mark, you have no idea what this site means to me. I lost my pictures of the park in a flood. I had nothing except the Chronicle picture to show my children where I grew up. My brother and sister gave me a few pictures that I will post when my son shows me how. I check this site every day. Thanks, Sparky
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I believe you just answered a question that has been on my mind for over 50 years. I seem to remember the name of Porter. Now does the name Doc Casey or Cassedy ring a bell with anyone. It seems that he was not a crown favorite. Thanks for help. Sparky
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Thanks for the message. I appreciate everything you said. Does anybody out there know the last name of a driver whose first name was "Hugh"? He was a friend of Buddy. Sparky
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I am not familar with any of these names, but they must have worked there with my mom. I had been gone from the Park for a while so I did not know some of the newer help. There was an other time that a wheel came over the same place but did not hit anyone. Tbird, your reply was edited so I could not read it. To change the subject again do any of you remember The Plantation night club right next to the Park? They had big name bands that used to come and play there. Further down the Hi-Way was a root beer drive in that showed free short movies. I can't remember if it was before or after the South Main Drive in Theater. Back to the Park. Someone had mentioned the park giving away free dyed rabbits on Easter. Sometimes my brother, sister, and I were the younger kids in the pen. We also gave out baby ducks. Only later did we find out how cruel that was. When the racetrack land was sold, that also contained the land that was under half of the coaster. Once the coaster was "cut in half" the park did go into a decline. I wonder if any one has any picture of that. Sparky
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That is the first time I have seen that article. I had already married and moved away when the wreck happened. My sister called me to let me know about the wreck before I saw it on TV.. She wanted me to know that Mom was ok. and home in bed. My mothers name was Myrtle Gordon. I would like to know the names that were in the paper. I have a feeling my Mom left the stand right away after seeing Sam being killed. Mark, OH YEAH that is Buddy. I had such a crush on him. I know he must have thought I was a pest because I hung around him so much. He had a beautiful wife who was very nice to me. Thirteen year old girls are such a mess to begin with. That is not the picture of the wreck that Sam was involved in. It was closer to the front wall where my dad's stand was. I love the picture that shows the third hump of the coaster. The next part of the coaster was the end turn around which was a soft square. I don't know if many people noticed the fenced in sheep that were under the coaster. They kept the grass mowed and were great to play with. I am really enjoying all of this. Sparky
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So you went to San Jacs arch rival, Lamar. Hmmm. Your wife might have been in all three schools with my brother, David Gordon, who is two years younger than me. Let me know. By the way, my name is Becky Gordon McKeehan. I was a majorette at San Jac with Amy Levine, Barbara Battlestien and another girl whose name escapes me at the moment. Sparky
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Hi Mark. I sent you an e-mail and I don't know if you got it or not. I then found out I could join and post. I believe that is Buddy, but I am looking a man that I knew as a much younger person. The photos are great. They brought back lots of memories. My brother and I used to go swimming in the pit pool where they rolled in cars to put them out. That was another thing my dad put a stop to. I was looking to see if Cotton Grable, the flag man was in the pictures, but I didn't see him. For a short rotound man, Cotton could really move fast once he flagged the race to start. Finding this site has been like a Christmas present to me. I am pulling out pictures for my son to post for me. Will post more later. Sparky
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Hi Alpha. They were probably made at Playmore in one of my dads mug-joints. He also had one at Stuarts Drive Inn where OST and Main street meet. Stuarts was inside of the V and Princes Drive Inn was on the point of the V. Hi 57Tbird. So glad to be able to talk with you and know that you are still alive. I went to South Main elementary until the school bus changed routes and then I went to McGregor. I attended Johnston Jr. High School and then San Jacinto High School. I was in the class of l953. Where did you attend school?
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I am a new member and this is my first posting. My posted name is "Sparky" which is a nickname given to me by Buddy Rackly at the old Playland Park race track. My Family lived at Playland. My dad fed you and my mom put you in jail and took your "get em while you wait" pictures. I have a couple of pictures I will get my son to post. It is great to find a site that I can share some memories with. We moved to Houston right after the coaster was built and lived in a trailor where the racetrack would be built. The Park was our personal front yard and the racetrack our sideyard. If anybody remembers the Fun-in-the-dark ride then you know right where I lived. I could walk out our side door and right into the back door of that building. Buddy nicknamed me Sparky because I wore a spark plug he had given me. I made it into a necklace and never took it off except to take a bath. I do remember the accident you are talking about. My Mom was working in the booth right inside the front gate to the raceway and had just finished talking to Sam Sulsky when he walked away and was hit by the tire coming over the wall. The gentleman who said buying a coke saved his life bought that coke from my mom. She never got over it and never went back to the racetrack again. I will be posting more memories as time goes by. I am now a seventy-two year old Great-Grandmother and loving this time of my life. And now to answer a question about Crystal Pool and Gateway Roller Rink. They were my home away from home and were run by Les Oldfield, my dad away from home. To answer the question about the bubble in the bottom of the pool read on. If you don't want to know the answer quit reading now. When the pool was built pipes were laid into the bottom of the pool that were just below the bubble. Air was pumped into the bubble and out. The bubble was the bomber bubble from a B-17 from WWII that Les turned upside down and chained over the air pipes. It was great to see the divers hit the water and surface. Just a little side fact, Les Oldfield was the son of Barny Oldfield, the great racer. Les has a son named after his grandfather, Barny, who is an airline pilot. Hope this answers some questions and causes more. Thank you for this site. Sparky
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