57Tbird

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Sue Payne, Agnes McCandless (sp?), and Aurora and Virginia Bowen.

Their ages were listed, and they were all too young to have been your mother, Sparky. I should have noticed that before asking.

T-Bird is this the wreck in question? I think this is the one that there were a couple of spectator fatalities.

Nope! It was the one where Blackie Lothringer went over the wall between turn 1 and turn 2. He landed in the area between the concession stand and south stands near the west entrance gate. Here is a Chronicle report on the accident. Front page and other page.

Sparky, Was your mom one of the ladies named, at the concession stand, in the Chronicle article?

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?

I went to Sutton, Fannin, Poe El, Lanier, Lamar '53. My wife went to MacGregor, Johnston, and San Jac '55.

Sparky said:

I do have pictures I can post but I will have to have my son show me how to do that. I just discovered that my sister had posted #119 on 5-10-2006, as member No. 2116. What a pleasant discovery. She passed away on July 3, 2006, one day shy of her 73rd. birthday on July 4th.. When we were little she always thought the July 4th. celebrations were for her birthday. I really don't know what kind of posts to do so I will just ramble on about living in the park. Some one said they remembered the neon towers at the park entrance. They did look like giant toothbrushes from a distance. They were hollow inside and filled with spiders, webs, and a lot of wiring. Before the school bus was allowed to pick us up inside the park grounds, we would have to catch the bus in front of the park. We would take cover in the towers if it was raining. When my dad found out we were doing this, he got the buses to come into the park and pick us up by our frozen custard stand. The first job I can remember having was blowing us ballons for the dart joint. I blew them up by mouth, tied them and them put them in a big ballon box. If you ever try this game at a carnival throw the dart up so it will come down to hit the ballon. It works better than a hard straight throw. I worked in the front food stand until I was old enough to run the snow cone, cotton candy, and popcorn stand by myself. I still roll cotton candy cones if I am holding a dollor bill. To change the subject, my sister had mentioned Playmore that was in downtown Houston. It had bumper cars, a penny arcade, my dads food stand, some joints, and of course the man who was buried alive. That was my "Uncle Homer". He was not really a blood uncle, but was one of the people that came in off the road when my family did. Coming in off the road meant that you had left the sawdust trail and settled down. The saw dust trail meant that you traveled with a carnival or a circus which we had done. If anyone is interested I can post some stuff about that. Uncle Homer not only was buried alive, he also managed to make the board cut-outs that my mom used in the mug joint. The favorite cut-out of course was the jail. When I married and moved away from the Park, I still could hear the sounds at night when I went to bed. My father had the concessions at Arrowhead which was on Old Spanish Trail. The monorail was also on OST.. As a matter of fact the year my father passed away he had the concessions at almost all of the public places in Houston. The Colliseum, The Music Hall, The Auditorium, The Zoo, Herman Park, Playland Park, and was bidding on the Astrodome when it was built. Like I said I am just typing what comes to mind. Let me know if you like it. Thanks again for the site. Sparky

I had forgotten about the Pla-Mor arcade downtown until you mentioned it. It was on Dallas, between Main and Fannin, across from where Sakowitz would eventually be built. I went there many times as a youngster in the mid-40's. As I remember, it was open-air, on the ground floor of some type of structure that may have been a parking garage.

Where did you go to school while living at Playland? You and I are the same age. I am the "gentleman" you mentioned in your first post who was buying a Coke when that horrible accident occurred at Playland in 1959.

OK... I'm going to put in my $.02 worth here. I think I remember the End of Main from the late 40's-early 50's being where Sonny Look's would eventually be located. I believe that would be at the NW corner of S. Main and the present Loop 610. I'm not positive, but reasonably sure. It was certainly not at the end of Main then, but probably was when it was originally constructed.

That particular Valian's looks like the building that was also the home of Sivil's Drive In and also one other drive-in that I am forgetting at the moment.... is that right?

Nope! Sivil's was further out S. Main. Sivil's became Stuart's. See this previous post

.... How far was it from Rice University? ....

It was 4.9 miles according to this.

Cool, thanks 57Tbird!

6 was the Post/Shell Bldg/Magnolia Hotel. The dark building at the bottom was the Rossonian.

7 I think is Texaco

8 Medical Arts

9 Cottton Exchange?

10 Petroleum Building

13 Union Station

21 I believe was the Montrose Apartments

I think #13 is a little too far to the west to be Union Station, if you count the blocks from Fannin. Union Station is on Crawford. The Church of the Annunciation, also on Crawford, is directly south across Texas from Union Station, so US would be partially hidden by the church... if that's the church. OTOH, #15 may be too far to the east to be on Crawford. It looks like there is a steeple there, so that's why I thought it might be the COTA. Also, Union Station is only four stories high, and #13 looks more than that. Opinions, please?

A maps.live.com link won't work here. If you use IE, go to the maps.live.com site and Birds-Eye View the area to the South of Minute-Maid Park. You can see the location relation between the old Union Station and Church of the Annunciation.

Re #21... Earlydays said he and his wife remembered that structure as a very elegant 1920

Wow, fantastic photo!

Would someone mind posting an editing version of this photo showing the various landmarks than can be identified? That would be really cool. I always have a hard time figuring out what's what on these aerial photos...

I thought I would take a stab at adding names that I know and some I think I know. With the original poster's (Earlydays) permission, and with his help on some of the names, I am putting it up again with names at the bottom of the photo. I guess I am limited to the file size that's shown here, because the one I uploaded was about 1 MB. and you could zoom in for more detail than the final zoom allowance here shows. The numbers on the photo are small because I didn't want them to override the picture. Hope you can read them OK.

Please help out with names that have question marks and with any other buildings you might know that aren't numbered. I will add them.

Great menu, SpaceAge!

I swear someone posted a photo or post card of the restaurant with the two Indians on the roof. Maybe it was Subdude, but I haven't seen him posting recently.

Tbird, are you out there, Buddy?

I'm here, but with no positive answer. Main thing I remember is the flickering, neon campfire at night. I thought the Indians' features were outlined with neon lighting too, but that wouldn't have been practical with a 3-dimensional figure like yours. In the back of my mind, I was thinking a flat, plywood version, but I really can't be sure. Subdude's postcard didn't show the Indians on top. Must not have been there then. I'm lookin' and askin' around. Your Indian is in pretty good condition, if he's been sitting outside for some 50 years.

Gateway Skate was a huge roller rink in the late 50s. The floors were polished oak which is why they wouldn't let you bring your metal skates. Giant mirrored ball which was lit during the "All Skate".

I think it was wishful thinking about the proximity to Kelly's, but it made me think about where all the addresses in Houston are based - Number 1 Main Street, the M&M Building. The first building in the US that was accessible from trains, boats, cars, horseback, and air. The 8510 S. Main address on the Gateway postcard is further from M&M than the 3512 address on the Kelly's card (where do you guys find this stuff?!) Sometimes knowing this helps with placing addresses in Houston. I remember meeting the wife of the Kelly's owner at one of the Medical Center hospitals in the late 50s - he was dying. I'm not sure how long after that the three locations had disappeared. Outrageous good steaks!

"I used to know a guy who told me that swimming pools in Houston have a chemical added to the water that turns a dark purple color whenever someone urinates. " My chemical would make their suits dissolve.

Most kids couldn't afford the skates that were used on the wood floors of the roller rinks, so they were rented as were ice skates at the ice skating rinks. The roller skates had four wide hard rubber or urethane wheels on them.

I find ads in my wife's and my old high school and college yearbooks. Lots of advertising in the back of those. That's where I found the Kelley's ad I posted earlier.

I totally don't remember the name. It was on the same side of S. Main as Gaido's (remember the giant crab?) almost directly across the street from Kelly's Restaurant.

I don't think Kelley's was in that area.

To ALL,

Just reading through some of the last posts. This site is great. Like many it seems here I grew up at Playland Park and Meyer Speedway. My dad Dennis built race cars in the early 50's and Don Burton drove for him. Our families were all really close. The Burtons, Wades, Pierces. Reading these posts bring back so many memeries. I have also read were there might be video's or DVD's of some of the old action. I'd love to have one of thoses if anyone knows how to get one. I and my 2 brothers raced Bronco's from 75 through 79 at Meyer. It was great and i'll never forget it. I really can't remember a Saturday nite from the time I was a baby till I left for college. As my mother says I've been going to races since the womb. Maybe I can rattle my old memory and contribute to the forum.

Darrell Koebelen

This info is almost a couple of years old, but try Gil Dudek at gill.judy@sbcglobal.net for a Playland & Meyer Speedway DVD with action from the 1950's and 60's.

I would like to buy some large photos and/or prints that I would like to frame that capture images from historic Houston. Specifically, I'm looking for downtown shots of Houston near the beginning of its history, the Astrodome during construction, old photos of Rice University, and possibly some photos of oil derricks from the turn of the century.

Does anyone know of a place that might have something like this? The thought would be to frame them and put them up on my walls at home.

Try this place.. Sloane Gallery on Fondren. I've been there. He has a great collection of old photos.

That's definately Bill White behind the wheel, I'd say 61 or 62 is a good guess.

I just talked to Bill. He didn't remember the year, but said Billy Wade sold it to him when he (Wade) left for NASCAR. I don't know exactly when that was, but I think it was the early 60's.

That's Bill White in the "2" car. Bill bought it from Wade in 1961 or 1962. 57 Tbird, you might have to bail me out here. I don't remember the dates and years that well.

I'd say you're pretty close. Budman? Mark? I can ask Bill next time I see him.

Melinda, I have sent you a PM with the info I think you're looking for. I didn't want to post too much personal info on the forum.

In the first photo, what is the large building on Holcombe, about where the Fannin Bank building is now?

Also, in the late 1950s aerial shot, is the Pier 21 restaurant visible? I haven't been able to figure out the exact location.

Thanks.

Subdude, As Earlydays mentioned, that building at the bottom (where Fannin Bank would be later) is the Hi-Hat dance hall.

In my picture, Pier 21 is the building just south of and right next to the bayou on the east side of Fannin, or Old Main Street Road as it was referrred to then. It's kind of hard to see, but it's at the end of where that big parking area is.

Would be nice to have something for landmark identification like with this 1958 photo of the Medical Center area. The drawing was done on a drafting table. No computer-aided drafting back then.

I am thinking around 1948 - based on the construction on Fannin, since that is when it was extended through Hermann Park

I think you're pretty close. The Hermann Professional Building and the new Hermann Hospital Building are under construction in the picture. Here's what I found looking at Hermann Hospital history...

1947- Ground is broken for new main hospital building

(later named the Robertson Pavilion) and for Hermann Professional Building, the first high-rise office building outside of downtown.

1949- Professional Building opens.Opening ceremonies take place for the hospital's new main building, reportedly the first major hospital in the nation to be air-conditioned.

What a fantastic picture! You can also see the merry-go-round, which is all that remains of the little kiddie-ride park across the street from Bill Williams' Restaurant. That is where the Tidelands Motor-Inn would eventually be built.

So many possible jokes and puns. So little time.

I started to post this yesterday. Since you brought it up...

That must be a really swingin' place!

Next.

Waaay back.... in the late 40's, early 50's, I played at one near downtown, on Fannin, near a Prince's Drive-In that was close to Gray. I think there were two courses there.

Another was on Almeda just across from the riding stables at Hermann Park. Still another on W. Alabama, a couple of blocks east of Shepherd, that was across the street from what is now referred to as the Alabama Ice House.

Edit: A 1967 Houston/Bellaire map lists the Golf Course near the Veterans Hospital off Old Spanish Trail . and Almeda Road.

Anyone list The Velvet Turtle?

Everything was to die for from the gazpacho to the chocolate mousse. It was on the Southwest Freeway before you got to that hotel that I can't remember the name of and it had a swinging disco in the 70-80's. Big old English looking Place.

The Royal Coach Inn?

Riverside is my home and no, it's not for sale. (Since I rent and don't own. )

Seriously, I've been looking for that documentary but can't find it. Anybody on here know where I can score a copy?

An old friend of mine loaned me a copy years ago, and I thought I had made another copy from it. I couldn't find it in my collection, so I contacted my original source, who was kind enough to send it back to me. It is almost 20 years old (1989). Since the tape is about 3 1/2 hours long, it was recorded in the EP mode. Surprisingly, it is in fairly decent, viewable condition.

So... I have some questions for the legal and technical experts on the forum. Since it is copyrighted, can I make more copies from a copy that may have already violated the copyright? Obviously, they would not be up for sale. Since it is over 3 hours long, should it be split up into two DVD's, or can it be put on one DVD and still not lose much, if any, from the original VHS EP copy? Pardon my ignorance on this, but I do not have a recorder. A neighbor does, and after I get it transferred, I can make more copies on my PC. Lastly, would it be better to have it transferred professionally? However, if copyrighted, that might not be an option.