Ashikaga

On the old Bob Bailey site there are photos of the South Main Amusement Park. I'm guessing it was adjacent to the South Main drive-in because you can see an outdoor theater marquee in the background of some of the shots.

DriveIns.Com has a photo of the South Main Drive-In. All it says is that it was located on

Old Fort Bend Road.

This was probably only in my neighborhood across from Town & Country Mall, but Panjo's Pizza was a great place we went after most T-ball games. They had a great arcade game that was kinda like Battlezone, but you were a sub and you played by looking through the periscope.

I can't remember the name of the place, but they sold was stero equipment at low low proces and had a very excited guy yelling about it on the commercial. It ws located near the Toy's R Us at I-10 and Gessner. Would of been around 1987 or so.

To me, there are so many pizza places that pizza is no longer a special treat. To me, there's no

difference between Domino's, Papa John's, Mazzio's, Pizza Hut, etc. Many of you probably

disagree with me. I remember as a kid going to Shakey's was a real treat, sitting on the hard

wood benches at the long table and listening to the player piano. All gone now.

Hey, the Capitan looks great!

I grew up in Pasadena and the old theater looked pretty bad at some points. The city bought the whole strip there and made the entire thing into some type of 'city services' building as well as redoing the front of the Capitan.

They did that around '95 iirc, and at my age then didn't care much about it. But I'm pretty proud of 'em for doing it now that I appreicate these type things. Pasadena did that with a few old buildings...why, I have no idea, but like I said I really appreciate it now. Wish they could have gone over to South Houston and saved the BEST building as well.

The other theater in 'old downtown' Pasadena IS the gunrange on Shaw. The range has been there as long as I remember, and I used to do odd jobs there when I was young (~14 or so, I was born in '75)

..oh, and don't forget the triple-X drive in on Red Bluff! It was a favorite bicycle destination for the older kids to sneak too when I was waaay young.

On DriveIns.Com, a guy I graduated from high school with posted a comment about the Red Bluff Drive-In Theatre. He said that it spent its last days as an X-rated theatre and that it had a tall wooden fence around it so that people couldn't see the screen from the outside.

Yep too sad to see it go away. So many memories. Hey someone mentioned the "Globe" store i went to one in 95'is are they still around?

Which Globe store did you go to? When I lived in Houston back in the early 1960s, I remember going to a Globe on Woodridge, which ran alongside to then Gulfgate Shopping City.

Deady is at 2500 Broadway St. and Milby is at 1601 Broadway St. And I also went to both of them.

What year did you graduate from Milby?

Great find!

I am not sure why but I really like this picture

http://www.nsula.edu/watson_library/postcards/pages/0265.htm

It just seems to represent such a different time, that looking at Houston today is hard to believe existed.

Not a bad collection.

I don't know about the Tropicana, but people had mentioned earlier that the Gateway Pool on South Main had a submerged plastic bubble. In the picture the pool is open, but in the photo of the Surrey Motel you can see they later enclosed it.

Years ago, I heard that the clorine water in some of the swimming pools in Houston contained a chemical that would turn a dark purple color in the water all around a person who would urinate while in the pool. Was this one of those pools? They did that to discourage people from relieving themselves in the pool.

Are you referring to the Sacred Heart Co-Cathedral in downtown?

If so, I believe they are still raising funds for it. They put an outline on the ground to show how big it will be.

I think the bell tower has been taken off the plan to save costs.

"Our Lady of 115th Street".

Not sure if any one mentioned this one or if there still around.

Yes, there are some Lucky 7s over here. I know of one in Port Arthur and of at least two in Beaumont. They're owned by Market Basket.

Rice Hotel

1881 - 1911

1913 - 1925

1925 - Present

These postcards might be collector's items. Who knows? Someone out there might be willing to buy them off of E-Bay.

i changed my major three times in two years (ended up with about three though when all was said and done) so it took me five years to get through full time.

not that those three things really did much for me job wise

in the end, though, my only advice would be to study what you want, not what you think you should (or what your parents think you should, for that matter...). you'll end up much happier in the long run

I have fond memories of Arkansas State University. I graduated from there back in May of 1990. It was in Jonesboro, 67 miles northwest of Memphis, Tennessee. But if I could turn back the clock to when I graduated from high school (1976), I would have tried to get into Rice University.

Yes and Yes.

Thank you. Concerning the former, I now plan to try to go there now that you've told me that it's still open. Concerning the latter, if I could turn back the clock to when I graduated from high school (1976) I would have tried going to Rice. I ended up graduating from Arkansas State.

If I am not mistaken, the diesel train at Herman Park is the same one that ran at Playland Park on South Main at Murworth. I rode that train countless times out there, and I have ridden it at Herman Park quite a few times. It is still a thrill to ride it.

So, smile when you call it a ?kiddie ride?, Pilgrim!

Does Hermann Park still have that zoo? I remember going there when I was a little kid. Is Hermann Park near Rice University?

I remember going home from astroworld or the astrodome late at night in the 70's and seeing nudity on the drive inn at the south loop right there at holmes road and cullen (where cherry demolition stores their debris now).

The instance that stands out in my mind is a lady standing up covered with balloons while a guy was popping them one at a time exposing select body parts. Probably pretty tame by today's standards but us kids were thrilled.

You could also get some "shots" from the Red Bluff drive inn on 225.

You can look at some aerial photos of the Red Bluff Drive-In on DriveIns.Com.

No. It's still Gulfgate Mall. But it sorta looks like Meyerland Plaza. Everything is outside now.

So now I'm curious. Since Gulfgate Shopping City became Gulfgate Mall, how has it been doing, business-wise, compared to other malls in Houston? I thought someone on this forum said that it might fold.

What Houston used to advertise as its theater district.

Interior of the Metropolitan Theater.

Metropolitan Theater Exterior.

Lobby of Loew's State theater, next to the Metropolitan.

Loew's State entrance:

Majestic Theater, Rusk between Main and Travis.

Delman Theater, Main at Wheeler. This was just torn down last year after a fire.

Mike Rivest's Ultimate Theatre website lists these theatres. Some of them go back as far as the 1920s. Are what housed the Kirby and the Metropolitan extant?

i have a city directory from 1955 that i can browse through, although it is a little before the times we have been discussing...

the problem with the directories, though, is that they are large and kinda hard to scan...

As most of you have heard me say all of the time, I'm still trying to find out information about a drive-in theatre that I went to with my parents when we lived in Houston from 1962-64. It was called the Winkler Drive-In Theatre, located on the corner of Winkler Drive and Flowers Street. I've been trying to find someone who might have a picture of it for over a year now, but no luck. But it would be nice if I could see its listing in either an old telephone/city directory and/or one of its advertisements in an old newspaper.

the logo reads: "Roller Skating Rink Operators Association of America"

Over here in the Beaumont area, there are very few roller rinks remaining. What about over there in Houston? Will they suffer the same fate as drive-in movie theatres? Will they someday be things of the past? Both skating rinks and drive-in theatres were the favorite pasttimes of my parents when they were young, and of my generation, too.

Found these in an old newspaper from 1963

Like I said, can you tell me how to come up with those old newspaper ads?

Old San Francisco Steakhouse.

I've always liked the thick plates, platters and cups that restaurants use. I wish that I could find a store that sells them.

Nasty!

When I was a kid we went to Der Wienerschitzel. I made a mess on my shirt when I spilled chili on it. From then on I would get either a kraut dog or a hot dog with only a weiner. I can't stand to eat messy food. That's why I don't like going to Taco Bell. You eat a burrito, and those refried beans sometimes squish out and spill into your lap.

I grew up across woodridge from Gulfgate, in some apartments called Village Way Apartments in front of Globe. Some of the things I barely remember are:

I couldn't wait for the carnival that would set up every year in the Gulfgate parking lot eastside near I45

The pony rides with the old man in the overalls, I think the ponies were trained to stop so kids would ask to go again on the medium track.

I could of swore that Peppermint Park was located on woodridge when leaving Gulfgate and going under I45, I thought it was on the right hand side, there was a Lutheran High School on the left, but I did not drive back then I was to busy bouncing around in the back seat (nobody knew what seat belts where back then) so I could be wrong about that.

They use to have Superslides that were three or four stories tall and you got a potato sack to sit on, there were two huge bumps that if you pushed off at the top you could actually get airborne for a couple of feet.

Twice I remember one of the car lots off of I45 at woodridge were giving Helicopter rides, they just took you up made a big circle and then landed, but it was still cool.

And I remember the pool with the high dive, my mom never would let me go off the top platform, I think thats why we quit going there, as I got older I keep getting a little more courage up, the last time I was there i was probably 8 or 9.

I'm 47. How old are you? I lived in Houston from 1962-64. I remember going to Globe and to Gulfgate. I also remember us going to the Winkler Drive-In Theatre on the corner of Winker Drive & Flowers Street. Can you tell me anything about that place?

I remember the Globe across from Gulfgate. It was the only one we ever went to. I think there was a Michelin tire store close to it with the big white michelin man standing either on the roof or in front of the store. On Woodridge on the other side of 45 was the christmas tree lot where we always bought our christmas tree.

Yes, I'm now 47 and I still remember the Globe Department Store from the years (1962-64) that we lived in Houston. Back then, I had my picture taken with Santa Claus at Globe. My mother still has that picture. I also remember my parents buying a solid white cat in the Globe pet department. They named it "Purty". But it had a problem with intestinal gas. It stunk up our house.

Excellent photos, Subdude! I love looking at those old cars. On a different topic I talked about the days when there were simply cars and pickup trucks, no mini-vans and SUVs. If you had a big family and needed more room, you bought what was called a station wagon.

Back then in Houston (1962-64), I remember hearing commercials on the radio for Tommie Vaughn Ford. Yes, I heard that it is still in business, but does it still look the same way that your photo shows it? I also remember hearing the radio commercials for Chuck Davis Chevrolet, but I guess that you don't have a photo of it.

Raymond Pearson Ford

Downtown

Extant

Raymond Pearson Lincoln-Mercury

1320 Louisiana

Demolished

Krieger Motors

Louisiana and Pierce

Demolished

Bonner's Willys Motors

1616 Pease

Demolished

Hart Radiator Works

1615 Chenevert

Demolished

Tommie Vaughn Ford

1111 North Shepherd

Extant

Ivy-Russell Ford

1102 Yale

Extant

Auto Trading Center

3702 Old Spanish Trail

Demolished

Hemphill Ford

6600 South Main

Demolished

Archer Rambler

5000 Block Kirby

Extant

Talk about bringing back memories! My first car was a 1963 Rambler American.

The Six Flags in Dallas is alot better then San Antonio. They not only have alot more rides, but better ones!

It's hard for me to remember. The last time that I went to Six Flags in Dallas was back in 1972. The last time that I went to Astroworld was back in 1978.

You need to lower your expectations my friend, so you won't be disappointed.

My degree wasn't in any kind of business. But I guess that there is a logical reason why Astroworld was closed down. I guess that the nearest amusement park we can now go to is in San Antonio.