What Did Your Neighborhood Look Like

[Jeebus]

My neighborhood was a cow pasture 30 years ago. I live in West Oaks Village.

[sevfiv]

I've heard the term "strip mall" many times, but I don't know exactly what one is.  Would someone out there describe/define it for me?

[mooneym]

I was surfing the net for westbury square, and I stumbled upon this site.

I went to preschool-5th grade at Little Red School House and Redbridge school that was located right next to the square. We had our international festival and holloween parades there too. I remember playing dodgeball in the main square parking lot!

My little sister had a birthday party at Rumplehimers, and my mom always shopped at Tuesday morning. There was also a great candy store, and a deli type place called the cheese man. I have such great memories of that place, and I wish I could see more pictures!!

It is too bad things have gone down hill.

[TJones]

Ruppleheimer's was the ice cream parlor in Westbury Square. There was also a pizza place (Shakey's maybe?), a dolls from around the world store, a Cargo Houston, an oriental store that reeked of incense, a fancy steak restaurant, the wonderful candle store where they made the candles in the store right in front of you, a huge fountain in the middle of the courtyard with ledge seating all around. ("Meet me at the fountain" was a common saying back then.)

There was also Fur and leather store, and a Smokehouse Deli store, where they sold cheeses and summer sausage and wines from all over europe. I can't rememeber the name of the store, it was right across from the Fur store though. The candle store, wow, talk about memories I actually got to make my own candle on a field trip to Westbury. The old Chinese store, what a great place for cheap trinket junk. I always got a chinese yo-yo and a pop-gun, everytime I went and both lasted for about the ride home, go figure. I recall a big fountain in the middle also, or am I mixing memories here ? I happen to drive by it the other day. I had stopped for a Hawiian Ice, at the little stand outside of it. I didn't even recognize where I was, until I really looked at the place. 20 some odd years really changes things. Truly a sad sad sight to behold.

[monkeemaven]

30 years ago, my neighbourhood looked pretty much the same as it does now! Only difference would be the three or four trailers across the road, but they've all moved in within the last three years.

[VicMan]

The Little Red Schoolhouse moved out of Westbury square several years ago and opened in the center on Hillcroft just south of S. Braeswood (Bagel Shop and Wal Mart in that same center). They (LRS) closed up a couple of years ago.

I don't remember the name of the steak house.

I saw an ad for LRS in the Village News. And yes, it's along Hillcroft.

[lowspark]

I saw an ad for LRS in the Village News. And yes, it's along Hillcroft.

Yup, they reopened under new management. It's in the strip center which is in the WalMart parking lot on Hillcroft just south of Braeswood.

[MarthaG]

I have lived in Oak Forest Subdivision since the early 60's. One area I think has changed the most is the shopping centers on W. 43rd between Oak Forest and Ella.

I remember in the occupants in the early 70's (North Side) Weingartens with a separate garden center in the parking lot. Weiners, Western Auto, Minimax Grocery, Buster Shoe Store, Gordon

[lowspark]

....Kresskey's (not sure of the spelling) ....

Kresge's -- there was one in Sharpstown Mall way back in the 60s. It was a sort of five & dime if I remember correctly, like Woolworth's or TG&Y.

[MarthaG]

That is it! Kresge's

They had a food counter. Cherry cokes and French Fries...Yum Yum

I remember the jewlery counter ... 5 & dime stuff.... but the way the old store fixtures use to be... they were so cool.

Another big shopping area for us was North Shephard. The Garden Oaks shopping center had a great Theater with a drug store (with food counter) next to it. I saw Gone With The Wind there at least 15 times.

In the same area was a J.C. Pennys' and right across from that is the Sears Ro. (which is still there).

Then down a few blocks was Shopper's Fair and Globe. Which were huge wholesale stores.

And right around the corner is Bar-B-Que Inn.... Still one of the very best restaurants on our side of town.

[nmainguy]

That is it! Kresge's

They had a food counter. Cherry cokes and French Fries...Yum Yum

I remember the jewlery counter ... 5 & dime stuff.... but the way the old store fixtures use to be... they were so cool.

Another big shopping area for us was North Shephard. The Garden Oaks shopping center had a great Theater with a drug store (with food counter) next to it. I saw Gone With The Wind there at least 15 times.

In the same area was a J.C. Pennys' and right across from that is the Sears Ro. (which is still there).

Then down a few blocks was Shopper's Fair and Globe. Which were huge wholesale stores.

And right around the corner is Bar-B-Que Inn.... Still one of the very best restaurants on our side of town.

I saw this thread and read through all 3 pages wondering if anyone was going to mention my old neighborhood, Oak Forest. Then I ran across MarthaG's post! I remember SS Kresge-which is now K-Mart. I also remember my sisters buying costume jewelry there.

Palais Royal, Weingarten's, Whites, the Post Office, the library [still there], Western Auto, Dr. Love the optometrist, WEINERS!!!!, Maddens Drugs at Ella and 43rd: that was our little downtown in Oak Forest/Garden Oaks. I went to Oak Forest Elementary and Black JH, both on 43rd. It was a great childhood I would wish on any kid today.

OH! I forgot! The Garden Oaks Theatre [now the Net Church-completely stripped of it's cool neon] Martha mentioned-my first kiss and a great old movie theatre. My mom and dad would give us each a dollar and we would take the Heights 50, see a couple of movies, gorge on popcorn, get sick on cherry cokes next door at the pharmacy and still get back home with change! Where the hell did the time go????

[MarthaG]

nmain, we must have gone to school together at some time. I graduated from Waltrip in 77.

My kids are now living the Oak Forest life. Both attended OF Elm and now one is in Waltrip and the other at Black. But OF is not the same. Kids do not play in the street and no one walks down to the park to play or swim, or walks to the shopping center to just "hang out". But we still love it here.

I had forgotten about the drug store on 43rd.... I think they delivered. Wish we had another one of those around. Dr. Love is still in the shopping center (new location).

[Jeebus]

But Oak Forest is not the same.

This is so true. Oak Forest's & Garden Oaks' shopping districts along 43rd are barely a shadow of what they once were. I can't say this from experience, but rather from the stories told to me by co-workers that grew up in the area.

They mostly tell me how from I-45 west along Crosstimbers/43rd/Clay all the way down to Gessner was the place to be. They also love to regale tales of their teenage years cruising through the Spring Branch area on Longpoint, which too now is barely a shadow of its former glory.

I drive through these areas sometimes and can tell how they were once great, but how they have slowly, over time, withered away. I can only imagine the same was the fate of neighborhoods like Westbury, Glenbrook, or Riverside Terrace. Even though the local business is gone, at least the homes still stand.

On a somewhat related note - what happened to reputable, clean, professional Ice-Cream Men?

[Guest danax]

On a somewhat related note - what happened to reputable, clean, professional Ice-Cream Men?

I'm not sure about clean, reputable, and professional but my neighborhood on the East End has tons of ice-cream trucks, if that's what you mean. A lot of neighborhood deed-restrictions now prohibit them . Our deed restrictions expired so it's a dogpile over here. We get 4 or 5 on a good summer's day driving by in various contraptions, along with the Mexican popsicle peddlers on bicycles honking their squeeze horns, which are much more quaint than the truck's music. Nothing like quietly sitting on the porch and suddenly be bombarded by Turkey in the Straw, followed by La Cucaracha, then Home on the Range and a couple of other unrecognizable jingles, one that even says "hello" in between cycles, all at jet-airline volume. Then, of course, one of the tunes always ends up circulating in my brain a couple of thousand times afterwards.

Although I'm not really exagerating much, I don't get upset by them as it triggers a sentimental nostalgia of my childhood in the 60s and it's good to see the kids running around, like I did, stopping to enjoy a treat.

If I ever find myself cursing the ice-cream man, then I'll know I've become a grouchy old fart for sure.

[nmainguy]

nmain, we must have gone to school together at some time. I graduated from Waltrip in 77.

My kids are now living the Oak Forest life. Both attended OF Elm and now one is in Waltrip and the other at Black. But OF is not the same. Kids do not play in the street and no one walks down to the park to play or swim, or walks to the shopping center to just "hang out". But we still love it here.

I had forgotten about the drug store on 43rd.... I think they delivered. Wish we had another one of those around. Dr. Love is still in the shopping center (new location).

nmainguy: Waltrip Class of 71.

[editor]

On a somewhat related note - what happened to reputable, clean, professional Ice-Cream Men?

They still exist in some parts of the country. Unfortunately, not in Houston that I know of. They'll show up at your home two or three times a week in starched white uniforms and bring fresh (like you've never tasted before) milk, butter, and ice cream. Even juice and other stuff if you want. They supply you with a little cooler with their logo on it that you can leave outside your door for the delivery man if you're not going to be home. I had the service for a while and the quality was terrific.

[TJones]

Speaking of old theaters, does anyone besides me remember going to the "WINDSOR PLAZA" theater back in the day. I loved those huge Velour seats. I also just saw that someone reopened "Harlow's" restaurant, not in the same Hilcroft location, I believe somewhere over by The Galleria. Has anyone else seen this.

[Jeebus]

They still exist in some parts of the country. Unfortunately, not in Houston that I know of. They'll show up at your home two or three times a week in starched white uniforms and bring fresh (like you've never tasted before) milk, butter, and ice cream. Even juice and other stuff if you want. They supply you with a little cooler with their logo on it that you can leave outside your door for the delivery man if you're not going to be home. I had the service for a while and the quality was terrific.

This sounds like something you would find in a master-planned neighborhood with heavy deed-restrictions, that has a permanent ice-cream man on the HOA payroll along with the security guard & lawn service. That, or somewhere up north in a rural community, or small town where a "mom & pop" company is still alive.

Eitherway - I miss them.

[TJones]

nmain, we must have gone to school together at some time. I graduated from Waltrip in 77.

My kids are now living the Oak Forest life. Both attended OF Elm and now one is in Waltrip and the other at Black. But OF is not the same. Kids do not play in the street and no one walks down to the park to play or swim, or walks to the shopping center to just "hang out". But we still love it here.

I had forgotten about the drug store on 43rd.... I think they delivered. Wish we had another one of those around. Dr. Love is still in the shopping center (new location).

Martha, just a quick question. If you and nmain grew up in Oak Forest, how come you guys didn't go to Wainwright elementary and Scarborough High? I actually went to Wainwright Elm. I lived close to Oak forest, just wondering.

[MarthaG]

TJones - Oak Forest is a really large neighborhood. There are several Elementary schools, but Oak Forest Elm is on the corner of W. 43rd and Oak Forest St. I'm not sure where Wainwright is.. I think it is closer to Mangum. Scarborogh was a new school to ease some of the population at Black and Waltrip. It was also further west towards 290.

Re: IceCream Trucks - I think we have 2 different dicussions going on here.... We still have Ice Cream trucks driving through the neighborhood with their annoying music. They do look a bit scary but I've been known to get a treat from them occassionaly. But the MILK MAN has long been gone. We had Westmorland milk. The would deliver 2 galls everyweek and on special treats we would get Ice Cream or Butter or something else. They came right into our house thru the back door and put the milk right into the refrigerator.

Re Theaters - I loved the old Windsor. What a LUSH place to watch a movie. It was a big scale version of Garden Oaks with the heavy velvete drapes, great carpets, very classy. I saw were someone had mentioned the old Northline Theater. I went there often as a child also.

[TJones]

TJones - Oak Forest is a really large neighborhood. There are several Elementary schools, but Oak Forest Elm is on the corner of W. 43rd and Oak Forest St. I'm not sure where Wainwright is.. I think it is closer to Mangum. Scarborogh was a new school to ease some of the population at Black and Waltrip. It was also further west towards 290.

Re: IceCream Trucks - I think we have 2 different dicussions going on here.... We still have Ice Cream trucks driving through the neighborhood with their annoying music. They do look a bit scary but I've been known to get a treat from them occassionaly. But the MILK MAN has long been gone. We had Westmorland milk. The would deliver 2 galls everyweek and on special treats we would get Ice Cream or Butter or something else. They came right into our house thru the back door and put the milk right into the refrigerator.

Re Theaters - I loved the old Windsor. What a LUSH place to watch a movie. It was a big scale version of Garden Oaks with the heavy velvete drapes, great carpets, very classy. I saw were someone had mentioned the old Northline Theater. I went there often as a child also.

HMMMMM, didn't realize that Oak Forest ran so far up 43rd. Wainwright is almost on top 290, a couple of blocks off, on the same road as Scarborough High. I think that is Costa Rica Dr.

[dbigtex56]

They still exist in some parts of the country. Unfortunately, not in Houston that I know of. They'll show up at your home two or three times a week in starched white uniforms and bring fresh (like you've never tasted before) milk, butter, and ice cream. Even juice and other stuff if you want. They supply you with a little cooler with their logo on it that you can leave outside your door for the delivery man if you're not going to be home. I had the service for a while and the quality was terrific.

When I was a kid, our milk was delivered by the milkman. It came in glass quart bottles, with pasteboard caps. He'd leave it outside our front door three times a week. The milk wasn't homogenized; a layer of cream would rise to the top, and before drinking it the bottle had to be shaken to redistribute the cream.

One winter day my mother forgot that it was a milk delivery day, and the bottles froze. Since water expands when it freezes, it pushed the caps (and the cream) out of the top of the bottles. Unfortunately, the neighborhood cats discovered it before my mother did, and ate all the frozen cream off the top. We had to drink skim milk for the next couple of days.

[Jeebus]

One winter day my mother forgot that it was a milk delivery day, and the bottles froze. Since water expands when it freezes, it pushed the caps (and the cream) out of the top of the bottles. Unfortunately, the neighborhood cats discovered it before my mother did, and ate all the frozen cream off the top. We had to drink skim milk for the next couple of days.

lol.. good times.

[Watchful]

If I ever find myself cursing the ice-cream man, then I'll know I've become a grouchy old fart for sure.

Great line, Danax!

By the way if you live in the right part of town, you may still be in luck!

http://www.the-milkman.com/main.htm

[editor]

This sounds like something you would find in a master-planned neighborhood with heavy deed-restrictions, that has a permanent ice-cream man on the HOA payroll along with the security guard & lawn service. That, or somewhere up north in a rural community, or small town where a "mom & pop" company is still alive.

Actually, neither. This is in downtown Chicago. Though the service is available across the city and most of the suburbs. It must be pretty successful since the guy who owns it was able to run for the Senate.

I like the thought about an HOA offering this kind of service. I wonder what some of the more outrageous HOAs offer their members.

[nmainguy]

Martha, just a quick question. If you and nmain grew up in Oak Forest, how come you guys didn't go to Wainwright elementary and Scarborough High? I actually went to Wainwright Elm. I lived close to Oak forest, just wondering.

I lived 3 blocks from OF Elem and Waltrip was where I was assigned to go to HS. Back then, you had to go to the school in your assigned area. Besides, Waltrip was much closer.

[TJones]

I lived 3 blocks from OF Elem and Waltrip was where I was assigned to go to HS. Back then, you had to go to the school in your assigned area. Besides, Waltrip was much closer.

Right, it was just my recollection that Oak Forest did go that far up 43rd. It was more closely related to the 290 area.

[MarthaG]

Here is some info from Waltrip's website in the Trivia Section:

"Do you know why there is such a rival between Waltrip and Scarborough? The first year for high school at Scarborough was 1971. Tenth & eleventh graders that had been attending Waltrip that lived in Scarborough's zone now HAD TO go to Scarborough H.S. Seniors had a choice to stay at Waltrip or transfer to Scarborough.

Just a tidbit for you: I moved to Houston in 1971. I understand that 1971 was the first year for zoning in HISD. I graduated from Scarborough in 1973 (the first class to go all three years of high school at Scarborough). Scarborough was a Jr./Sr. High School then (imagine letting your 6th grader going to school with seniors!!).

Homecoming at Scarborough was always with Waltrip. My Sr. class, 1973, was the only class/time that the Ram (the one we just brought out again this year) was stolen by Scarborough students. They pretended they were cheerleaders from Waltrip and the custodians let them in and they took it. They were suspended and had to miss homecoming activities. I was dating a football player and he was also in ROTC. He and a group of other football players and ROTC members would spend the night on campus homecoming week to protect the school.

The feelings, Scarborough VS Waltrip, were the same then as it is now!

Joni Straker

The first senior class of Scarborough was composed of about 100 students who resided within the Scarborough attendance zone who had been Waltrip students, many of whom were student leaders at Waltrip. They and their parents were disgruntled about their being made to go to Scarborough when it opened as a relief junior- senior combination school from Waltrip, Frank Black and Hamilton. They did things like picket the HISD building, stand up at the ball games when the Waltrip school song was sung or played by the band, wear Waltrip colors to school, etc. The Scarborough administration and teachers bent over backwards to please these students, their plight being understood and empathy was extended. However, Board policy was upheld. Shortly before Thanksgiving, as I best recall, because of so much pleading and unhappiness caused by these students and their parents, they were told by board of education action they could return to Waltrip and make an orderly exit from Scarborough. These students were called to the auditorium by the administration, Woodrow Fromain, Principal at Scarbrough and previously principal at Fonville, and Perry B. Pope, then Assistant Principal at Scarborough and later principal at Waltrip, to be told the news, with the senior class president presiding. The students discussed the situation. They decided that by then they were content with being Scarborough's first senior class and they voted to stay at Scarborough. Thereafter, they exhibited loyalty and outstanding leadership at Scarborough as the first graduating class. submitted April, 2004 by Dr. Teddy B. Pope, former counselor at Waltrip, English teacher at Scarborough and Director of Homemaking Education for the Houston Ind. School District "

nmainguy....I grew up 3 streets from Oak Forest Elmentary. Small World.

[TJones]

I attended Wainwright, then went to go live with my father, back to where my family hails from. Baytown, Tx. I Graduated from Sterling, and consider Baytown my hometown, but i do not try to tell too many people that bit of info.

[EastEnd Susan]

thx for the pic subdude. this is the building i remember as i child. i just remember you could see it off the pierce elevated.

And of course theres the Esperson Building in the background. Its hard to find a pic of old Downtown without the Esperson somewhere in there.