brucesw

I got my 2010 appraisal notice in the mail yesterday. I had a similar situation when I bought my house in '92, $13,000 less than appraised value. I took the closing statement in and they said they can't argue with that. Took about 4 minutes once I got face to face with someone. This was before online protests.

I'm remembering another store in that neighborhood in the early 70s which I believe was Pueblo to People which sold crafts from Mexico and Latin America at amazing prices. It was another favorite place, got lots of good stuff there, most of which I lost in a home burglary. I remember it as a one-story shop but am not sure if it was on Pacific, Hyde Park or Fargo - that neighborhood has changed to much. Could have been right next door to the Emporium. Here's a NYT's piece I found on Pueblo to People when I was trying to jog my memory.

In the 70s the place where JR's is was The Emporium, specializing in architectural relics, restoration hardware type stuff, rustic antiques and decor pieces. It was my favorite of all the antique/junk shops in Montrose and I could spend hours there browsing. I still have a couple of small pieces I bought there. They later moved out to Westheimer at Morse, across from Southland Hdwe where they had a large outdoor display area and were still in business up until about 5 years ago? (I'm not absolutely certain of this - The Emporium may have been in a very similar building next door to where JR's is, now demolished). Obviously that building goes back farther than that but I have no idea what it was earlier. I moved out of the Montrose and didn't get down there very much until about 25 years ago when I had a job in the area; I remember being somewhat surprised by the Mining Co. It was very unfamiliar looking. I tend to think there was a residence on that corner that was either demolished or added onto. That building looks a lot newer.

According to the Handbook of Texas the original location (1911) was Capitol @ Bagby; in 1927, moved to Rusk @ Chartres. No specific street addresses.

Thanks. I've had the gumbo - very good. Maybe the best in this end of town, I don't know because it's been quite a while since I tried any gumbo out this way. I'll have to try the po'boy. A chaurice or what? Now they need to do a roast beef po'boy and the one that's even scarcer on Houston menus, a hamburger po'boy. They had a guy out on S. Braeswood the other day, with a signboard and passing out leaflets or coupons (I didn't get one). Sure are nice folks.

This is good news. The Carter Building is one of my favorites; I originally discovered HAIF while searching for information on it for my history. An early broadcasting enterprise, the Clifford W. Vick Radio Construction Co., had offices at 1801 and a license for station WSAV. The antenna on top, however, was not for a broadcast station. It was originally installed by a wireless telegraphy company as early as 1911 and later used by the Houston Radio Club (ham operators in today's terms). Perhaps the new owners could also revive the rooftop garden and cabaret that supposedly was a popular downtown entertainment venue in the 1910s.

Yes. I nearly always wound up there when I came to town from Austin in the 60s and went there many times in the early 70s when I lived in Montrose and worked in what was then the Fannin Bank building at Main and Holcombe. Picked up box lunches during the week when the place was too crowded to wait, went on weekends with friends for leisurely lunches. Before the foodie explosion it was one of the most dependable and versatile eateries around. They did lots of things well. When I moved out of Montrose and changed jobs, I was closer to the one on Stella Link but the one in the Village was always my favorite.

No, sorry. Just a vague memory. I was hoping someone else might have some insight or knowledge.

I wondered if this had anything to do with the establishment of the Rose Garden in Hermann Park just about a block away. Didn't find an answer but did find this from Stephen Fox's History of Hermann Park - basically the sunken garden proved to be a traffic hazard. Plans as early as 1948 called for replacing it with a fountain and this was apparently completed in 1964. A couple of paragraphs from pps. 11-12: "Hare and Hare proposed, at the time the Fannin extension was being designed, that a museum center be built in Shadyside on the estate of former governor William P. Hobby and his wife. Oveta Culp Hobby. This would incorporate a new Museum of Natural History, axially aligned with the Sunken Garden and Hermann Drive. At the same time they proposed that a large fountain be constructed in the Sunken Garden. Because of its depressed, bowl-like configuration, the Sunken Garden had proved to be something of a traffic hazard, a problem that could be rectified by building above the curb line. None of these proposals was carried through, although the city did acquire an additional nine acres along Brays Bayou to compensate for the loss of the Hogg tract. Between 1967 and 1969 a new Miller Outdoor Theater, designed by Eugene Werlin and Associates, was constructed on the site of the old Doric proscenium. A high, bermed lawn provided amphitheater-type seating in front of the new stage and orchestra. The columns of the old theater were salvaged and grouped around a circular pool to form the Mecom-Rockwell Colonnade in 1968. Four years earlier, the donors of this fountain, Mr. and Mrs. John W. Mecom, had constructed the Mecom Fountain in the Sunken Garden, sixteen years after Hare and Hare advanced their fountain design." I seem to also remember some talk, perhaps only among my relatives, that there was a p'ing match going on over installing public fountains. This was roughly the same time period the R.E. Bob Smith fountain was erected I think.

Toddle House, Steak 'n Egg and Dobb's House were all, eventually at least, under the same ownership; Toddle House was the earliest and one of the first chain restaurants. There's a lot of love for them on Roadfood.com in an old, long running thread. Here's a brief history. Dutch Kettle was essentially a knock-off and I think may have been based here. I never saw a Dutch Kettle anywhere but in the Houston area. Up until just a few years ago there was still a Dutch Kettle on 225 in Pasadena. Dobb's House was a more upscale brand. Wasn't the original revolving restaurant at IAH a Dobb's House? In the late 70s, early 80s, they tried to revive the TH brand with new, larger restaurants of which there were at least three in Houston but they only lasted a couple of years. The Tacos La Balita on Beechnut @ Wilcrest was originally one of them; D'African Village on S. Gessner was another; there was one on Main in Stafford that's already been demolished and replaced by either the JitB or Church's, I forget which. Part of the charm of Toddle House for me, besides pretty good food for a small diner, was sitting at the counter, interacting with the short order cook who was often the only crew. That was lost in the larger restaurants. I loved the MasterBurgers and waffles and chocolate fudge pies. I didn't know until I read the Wiki article that Waffle House is essentially a continuation of Toddle House. I remembered when the one on Shepherd was My-T-Byte (that's the spelling I remember). Sliders - way before they became trendy, celebrity chef offerings.

Does this place have a name?

There was a Volvo dealership on Bellaire just west of Weslayan, across from the Bellaire Theater. I went there once to test drive the P1800. The main showroom became an Italian restaurant, Nick's Place, I think, for a long time but is something else now. There was a Nash/Rambler/AMC dealership on Bellaire just west of Chimney Rock. Vance and Sons? All the buildings have been demolished I think. Last fall the topic of old dealerships came up in the comments on a Leon Hale column in the Chronicle. Someone asked what dealer used the slogan 'I sell cars cheap because my wife is rich.' Nobody ever identified the dealer. Any ideas? Someone else in those comments mentioned a Crosley dealership on Shepherd near the Alabama Theater in the 40s and 50s. Here's an excerpt from Marguerite Johnston's Houston, The Unknown City, on Google Books on the early days of the automobile in Houston. Mosehart and Keller was a long time Studebaker dealership; a poster on another board said at one time they claimed to be the oldest automobile dealer in the world. Mercedes gained entry into the US market through the Studebaker dealer network according to Wiki so was M&K was probably the first Mercedes dealership here. Later M&K had a Ford dealership; I think it was on OST maybe? According to the AC Collins website a manager there, AC Collins, quit to purchase the Ford franchise in Pasadena and is still in business.

Claus sounds like he was after my time. I did a lot of work on mine myself - stuff I wouldn't even think of doing now. I took it to just one mechanic other than Joe. He kept it forever; finally I had to demand my car back. It ran very poorly and 2 days later I took it in to Joe to get it fixed right. Wasn't long after that I got rid of it. Never really did run right again. I had a lot of trouble with that car but a lot of fun too. Once had to leave it sitting beside the road in Rosharon late at night; can't remember the problem but this was ages before cell phones. Hitched a ride home and called Triple A to go down and haul it in to Southwest. I traded it in for a Chevy Silverado! I like variety.

Joe was 'my' mechanic over the years I owned the car but I would have identified him as the fellow on the right in the picture. It's been a long time, though. Looks like those two could've been brothers. I'm not sure I ever knew I was dealing with the owner of the dealership. My salesman was Jerry Bland/Blank? I remember the race car and that it was Joe's. It was often parked beside the dealership. Triumph? I just don't remember but maybe it'll come to me. I'm thinking I may have seen a Citroen in the showroom at some time? I was familiar with Triumphs and wouldn't have taken a second look at one but would have walked over to look at a Citroen and can't recall ever having done that.

Great. I've heard of Chenango Plantation before but never the hotel. Re: the bus caller, Chenango is north of Angleton so in terms of when the bus would've passed through, the order would have been Arcola, Chenango, Angleton. I've never seen the movie but will have to.

Yes, you are correct, I got it wrong. Another one outside the loop was Southwest Motors, on Chimney Rock at Gulfton, an Alfa Romeo dealer. I bought a 1972 Spider Veloce 2000 there. They carried one other import brand but I can't remember if it was Fiat or what, I was only interested in the Alfa. It's now an Aamco Transmission shop, show windows bricked in. Mosehart and Keller was mentioned above. That may have become Houston's first Mercedes dealership. My dad bought a Mercedes 190 in 1959 and I remember the name Mosehart and Keller.

I'm making a list for a friend of places in Houston that make boudin. It can be a meat market, restaurant or shack but it has to be 'house-made' - not a store bought product like DJ's or Zummo's. It can be served ready to eat or cook-it-yourself. I know Burt's on Lyons makes their own and that's my favorite; also Pierson and Co. BBQ claim to make their own, as does Boogie's BBQ but there have to be others. Also if it's any good and why.

Almost certainly there would be articles in the Post, Chronicle and Press concerning this; copies can be found on microfilm at the HPL Central Branch, and the Rice and UH Libraries. If none of those are convenient to you, the Pasadena Library has the Citizen on microfilm - very likely there would be a story in that paper - and the Sterling Library in Baytown has the Sun on microfilm. The latter two have indexes but all you're going to have to do is start looking around that date. The Post and Chronicle were huge daily papers by that time and you might have to search to find the story buried deep in the paper somewhere whereas it might well have been a front page story in the Citizen.

Perhaps he'd like to know his grandfather was the subject of one of the features on Postcards from Texas this week. Just missed the re-run by a few minutes but the clip is online.

I had to be in the area today and looked for it. Unless it was incorporated into the back of Central Market, it's gone. I think it probably sat right where the loading dock driveways are at the back of CM.

A slogan on the Kahn's website says 60 years of Family Tradition; that puts it in the late 40s at least. When was your subdivision established? According to Wiki, Meyerland was developed in 1955 so probably not much business for a Jewish deli out there before then? Alfred's has been discussed before here on HAIF and there used to be a history on the website. I've always understood 1948 for the Village location and it was the only one. I know my mother was going there on her shopping trips to Houston in the mid-50s.

That is really interesting - I never knew that. I lived briefly on Southmore just off Almeda in '63 and don't remember it. As far as I knew the original was the one in the Village, dating to 1948. There used to be lots of pictures lining the walls of Kahn's in the Village when Mike Kahn ran it (son of Alfred) of the original location just across the street. The only place I remember along Almeda was the One's A Meal (Brooks System Sandwich Shops it was also called) which was a couple of blocks below Southmore as I recall.

That would be the Hamburger Steak Sandwich on an Egg Roll, right? A roll the size of a po'boy roll, 1" thick patty which included some minced garlic I think, on the side a half-cup of mayo, enough lettuce for a side salad and a thick slice of tomato and onion so you could assemble it as you liked, kosher mustard on the table of course. Between that and Hamburgers by Gourmet over on Kirby I never saw any reason to go to Prince's or any place for a burger other than an occasional visit to Brittain's Broiler Burger across from St. Anne's while it was still there. It was one of the big disappointments of Kahn's in the Village when Mike Kahn still ran it that they never had the Hamburger Steak Sandwich on the menu. One of the great ones.

Al Parker was the Buick dealership on Hillcroft just south of Bellaire I believe; it got absorbed into David Taylor Cadillac on the SW Fwy but the old building is still there - an appliance store now?

3935 Westheimer was the address. As I recall the building actually faced the east, not Westheimer. Went on the air 8/15/71 as KVRL operating only a few hours a day in the afternoon and evening. Does anyone know if the building was specifically built for the TV station or did they just move into an existing space?