marketingwiz
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I worked the 'grave yard' shift (11 p.m. - 7 a.m.) at a U-Tote-M in College Station, TX, right across from where I was attending school at Texas A&M University. My friends would come by in the middle of the night and keep me company or we would study together and smoke cigs all night. That was my one and only experience working retail.
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The top 20 best things about Houston in the 80s:
- Los Troncos Restaurant on Westheimer (now Marco's)
- The ORIGINAL Westheimer Art Festival
- The Rolling Stones at the Astrodome
- Elan
- Ninfa's on Navigation
- Midnight showings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show at the Alabama Theater
- The San Jacinto Inn
- Confetti
- Urban Cowboy (stereotypes and all)
- the ORIGINAL Armando's on S. Shepherd (long before the socialite invasion, when Armando actually knew who you were)
- Watching Divine perform at #'s
- Cruising Westheimer on Fri. and Sat. night
- Mary's Biker Bar
- Cody's
- Boston Sea Party
- Margo's LaMode and Sakowitz
- Butera's Deli
- Jamails Grocery Store
- One's A Meal
- Gilley's
OH, and KLOL, Rock 101, 'Crash' in your dash!
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- Los Troncos Restaurant on Westheimer (now Marco's)
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Cougar and Kerleq, thanks SO much for your contributions! The information you both provided is fascinating and I especially enjoyed hearing about your Aunt's personal experiences with Freedman and his associates, including movie stars from back in the day. I do remember my first visit to Las Vegas in the mid-60s with my parents and we stayed at the Sahara Hotel, which is now long gone. The entertainers performing there were Pat Boone and Harry James. My mother was beside herself because she saw both Harry James and his wife, the old Hollywood movie star, Betty Grable, at the hotel bar. And keeping in mind that this was long before LV became 'kid friendly,' I saw these tall, magnificent showgirls tanning topless at the Sahara pool to avoid tan lines. My mother threw a towel over my head and took me back to our room until it was "safe" to return.
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Ok...this is also in close proximity to me. It is an apartment building. I remember when it was being built...what they were building it woth is more like the material one would use to build a tool shed (read: CHEAP).
For those not familiar, it is located on the Hardy Toll northbound between Parker Rd. and Little York.
I KNEW someone would know what I was talking about. Yes, that IS the structure and it's still pink, albeit somewhat faded after all these years. I definitely got the impression it was cheaply built and I started seeing it around June 2003 while there was still some construction going on. This place does not look like an apartment building to me. It does look like they put in a driveway because before, there was only dirt and scrappy grass with building materials and some black wrought iron scattered around. I was convinced it was either a church or a restaurant that never opened. An apartment, not so much. It sure does not look occupied. I think it may have been 're-purposed' after the original intention failed.
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Back in the early 1980s, I worked as anad agencyaccount supervisor who handled the regional Weingarten grocery store account (Texas, Okla and La). Among my many tasks was to produce the weekly television commercials which were in a "donut" format, meaning the beginning and ending stayed the same and I dropped in whatever products were being featured that week in the middle. That required me to actually secure the featured items for videotaping which became a huge and ongoing problem. I literally couldNEVERfind the products Weingarten wanted to promote in their TV spotsATa Weingarten's store. I had to go to Randall's or Kroger to secure those items. Ironic much? Additionally, Weingarten stores were nasty, stinky and dirty, as were their employees. The meat area smelled rancid, there was always dried blood on the meat shelves and the dairy case consistently smelled of spoiled milk. (The Weingarten in the Heights on Studewood past 11th St. was absolutely the worst.) And the checkers were the most awful and incompetent people I've ever seen. They could literally kill your appetite and some of them you didn't want touching your groceries. If the reek of B.O. wasn't enough, then perhaps a shopper might enjoy the bleeding and crusty sores I saw on more than one employee's forearm. An order of shingles to go, anyone? I don't fault anyone for their skin condition, but for heaven's sake, COVER IT UP!!!! (The cheesy red polyester checker jackets were cut off at the elbow.) But even better, as a young, naive and upcoming ad gal, I felt that our client should be informed of the store's numerous shortcomings. BIG mistake. It was like calling his baby ugly and he did not give a whit that the very products he wanted to feature could not be found in the store he wanted to promote. Old man Minnich, their 'marketing director,' taught me a 'life lesson' I never forgot. Thankfully, Weingarten finally bit the dust back in the early 90's I believe, and Mr. Minnich lost his job. And yes, the slogan was "When you see the red dot, you'll save a lot." It was voiced over by an elderly gentleman whose dentures whistled when he spoke, but they refused to allow me to have it rerecorded because he was one of Minnich's cronies. Pure genius.
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I did not know where to post this so I decided to roll with Historic Houston. There is a very odd, three-story, dark pink building on the east side of the North Hardy Toll Road. I used to drive to Spring regularly for a former job and passed it all the time. I cannot remember what exits it was near. At first I thought it was a church because of the steep-pitched roof, then a restaurant, then a club. Back in 2004-05, there appeared to be construction going on but everything stopped abruptly and the building materials that were left there began to rot. It also has a lot of decorative black wrought iron on it including a fence. Has anyone ever seen this structure and if so, do you know what it is or was intended to be? I have asked several people who've seen it but no one has any info on it. Do you? Just wondering.
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Although I cannot remember where it exactly was located and I find nothing about it on the Internet, there used to be a Log Cabin Restaurant in Houston that served huge, family-style meals. They provided different menu selections every day, grew many of their own vegetables and baked fresh bread and rolls from scratch. It was quite good and very popular back in the 70s and 80s. If you didn't get there early, there was a line out the door. It was also a favorite of Marvin Zindler. I am wondering if this is what you're seeing. Unfortunately, I could find nothing about it online.
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I see your Confetti and Power Tools and raise you a Cardi's and Island!
Ah yes, Cardi's. When we first started dating, my husband and I saw a small start-up band there in the early 80's........let's see now, what was its name........oh yeah, U2.
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We now live in Westbury and for awhile, there appeared to be some 'hold-out' residents living in the second floor apartments at Westbury Square, most notably in the front section facing W. Bellfort near a main entrance overlooking the parking lot. There were two balconies filled with potted plants and a TV dish. But around early 2010, those balconies were cleared off and it appears that this iconic shopping center may indeed be getting closer to demolition. My husband grew up in Bellaire and vividly remembers his teen years 'hanging out' at Westbury Square and the even cooler people who rented apartments there. My 15 y/o son recently rode his bike over there and shot some photos of the remaining debris. I'll post soon. It's sad.
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We always parked and went in right at Sakowitz. Sakowitz had a great little candy counter with the chocolate coins and suckers with little faces in them. But we always made it down the mall to the popcorn. If you find that time machine please let me know. Now I'm craving an Orange Julius. When I was little I thought they tasted like St. Josephs aspirin.
OMG, I always thought Orange Julius tasted like St. Joseph aspirin, too! MUCH better than Bayer children's aspirin, which for some reason my mother insisted on buying more often than St. Joseph, probably because I told her St. Jo's tasted better.
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This home is perfect in every way. I WANT IT!
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Gosh, I hope I inserted the link correctly. If not, my apologies, but the link should take you to Google's Life Magazine Photo Archives that has some terrific shots of everything Houston, including interiors of the Astrodome and Hofheinz's private suites and entertainment rooms. Or Google this, houston astrodome source:life. I think the photography is stunning.
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I'm not sure why my comments didn't show with the photos I downloaded, but I found these in the HUGE Life Magazine photo archives under McCarthy. These were the only ones I could find of the family at home but I knew I had seen at least one photo of them inside, in addition to the ginormous covered porch.
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The only family photograph I remember seeing is from that time frame but the family standing out front (Time magazine):
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Here is a cropped view of the 1960 photo.
Here is the area currently.
Pardon my ineptness, but I cannot tell from the first photo (cropped 60's shot) where the mansion, driveway, etc. is. I'm assuming it's still standing in the 1960 pic but I cannot see it. Can anyone enlighten me as to where the structure/compound is shown on the early photo? I try to use the 'star' and 'diamond' shapes that were etched into the yard to pinpoint its location but don't see them. Thanks in advance for your help.
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Whatever happened to 'squatterkid,' the person who started this thread? I thought his adventures were fascinating. Anyone know?
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Wealthy, powerful businessmen-- upstanding, philanthropic citizens-- have a demonstrated record of doing dangerous, destructive, criminal things that make no sense. People who understand arson well could probably recite a litany of all the ways arsonists are the people you'd swear couldn't be responsible.
I don't want him to be guilty of arson, but OTOH I have no reason to believe he is above the fray. That's not a conspiracy, it's merely a reasonable observation.
Couldn't have said it better myself, Crunch. He is not above the fray. And let's not forget that 'upstanding, philanthropic citizens' may use their reputation to mask another agenda. All those donations Mac makes are tax deductible and he makes sure the media let's us know about it to maximize his popularity and image as a 'good guy.' None of his good deeds go unpublicized. As a marketing pro, the stories I've heard - especially from media friends and production companies who've shot his commercials - paint a totally different person. I'd say an over-sized ego supplemented by a big dose of meanness best describes the beloved Mac.
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Let me go get my foil hat on...
flipper
Go right ahead. I'm willing to bet you'll look sillier than me.
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The very first thing I said to my husband after the fire was that Mac must be trying to drive more traffic to his new location on Post Oak. Evidently I'm not alone in that theory. (But I also think Ken Lay is alive and well in another country with a new face). Also, Gallery Furniture has another warehouse in Sugar Land that they kept referring to on the numerous news reports that the fire generated. At one point, all three local networks were reporting on the fire simultaneously, not to mention the individual interviews with Mac. He could not have purchased this kind of coverage and publicity. And it presents him in a very sympathetic light. Mac is NOT the sweet humble man he presents himself to be, based on many stories I've heard from ex-employees, vendors and even some friends in the media. He might not have struck the match but he could have paid someone else to do it. Stay tuned.......
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Someone has purchased this home and there is activity. Over the weekend and today around noon, I saw workers there with pickups parked outside on the circle drive and a construction dumpster next to the house parallel with Rice. I'm hoping that someone has plans to remodel and embrace the 'Formica-ness' that this home brings from the past.
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I drive by that house more than 2X/day and there is yet another For Sale sign; new Realtor. I feel sorry for the Formica House.
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Splendid work Don Julio! Thanks for sharing these photos. Makes we want to read Blood and Money again for the umpteenth time. This entire saga has intrigued me for years.
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Now that I've seen the interior pictures of that place on Facebook, I"ll say one thing for sure...Bill List had lousy taste in interior design. :-) It was just like a standard 60's70's middle-class suburban house, just with many more rooms and an indoor swimming pool. Check out that living room with gold shag rug, low ceiling and rock wall. And these staircases with ironwork banisters that I presume were intended to make the house look fancy but did the opposite -- they just looked tacky. (As I recall, fancy ironwork bainsters were already considered passe by late 70's when I understand that place was built.) To sum it up....Mafia meets Brady Bunch.
I read a description of it somewhere on-line that called the mansion's interior design 'a Holiday Inn on acid.' They might just be right. More like a really baaaaaad trip.
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I found this interesting profile on Facebook (Todville Mansion) that has some great interior and exterior photos of what the mansion looked like after the murders and during its heavy 'party days. I think you'll enjoy it. It's been difficult to find any photos of the place at all.
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Gabs Bar At 6419-1/2 Hillcroft St.
in Historic Houston
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That would have been Hwy. 290 but I do not recall a Gabs anything and I'm a native as well as an Aggie so I traveled Hwy. 290 frequently. Guess I just missed it.