Alpha

Alpha, I thought I was the only one who remembered that place! Like you, I remember very little about it as I was very young. I went there with a birthday group with a kid from school, so I had to have been at least 5 (1953). All I really remember about the place was that there was a fire truck that ran around the fenced park, and kids were riding on the top of it. It was a huge fire truck, but I was seeing through a small kid's eyes. However, I didn't get to ride it for some reason.

I remember the place being way out Hwy 90 (I-10), and would guess it was between Bingle and, at the farthest, Gessner.

Thanks for your reply, Heights2Bastrop.

I was beginning to think that I was imagining it :-).

I was also 5 in 1953, but I don't know how old I was when I went there. I just remember that my mom said that Kiddieland was better than Playland Park for little kids.

I took lessons from Jerry Roe when he was on Westheimer near Kirby. He had two sons, one was hoody looking with slicked back hair and a surly expression, the other was a little nerdy but sweet. I sure learned to jitterbug good. Mr. Roe was a nice man.

I remember the American Bandstand show where Larry Kane subbed for Dick Clark. He brought the kids from his show and they completely outdanced the AB kids. I don't think they were ever invited back.

The thing is that I don't think the AB kids actually took dance lessons. They just went on the show. I remember thinking that the Larry Kane kids looked a little too "show-biz" doing all their fancy dances.

I loved Dugan's Drugs in Bellaire. I used to make my mom take me there even after we moved out to Meyerland.

I also loved Lew's Record shop. Up until a few years ago, I still had a few tokens from Lew's. I don't know what happened to them.

I used to spend most of my time in Woolworth's. They had huge ice cream sandwiches. We would buy them and walk around in the outside center court of Meyerland Plaza.

I remember going to Kiddieland park some time in the early 50s. I was very small and don't remember much about it. It might have been on the Katy freeway - which was highway 90 then. I have tried searching Google, but can't find any mention of it anywhere.

There was a Sage store at the corner of the Katy Freeway and West Belt (now Beltway 8). Later it became some kind of weird flea market - very seedy. It was closed for years and I think it has finally been torn down.

There was a Globe on Gessner across from Memorial City. It was torn down and Oshmans was built in the spot. I'm not sure what's there now - it may be part of Memorial City Hospital - sorry, Memorial Hermann.