devonhart

quote name='FilioScotia' date='Friday, February 9th, 2007 @ 6:44am' post='146217']

Over those years, when it was called "The Fat Stock Show", many movie stars and celebrities were part of the show in the Coliseum. It's where I saw Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gene Autry, James Arness, and a bunch of others

I saw my childhood idol there, Chuck Connors as the Rifleman. It was in 63, the year the series ended. Chuck donated his horse "razor" for an auction. It's still one my best memories.

I was the big kid who was outside writing my name in the snow.

Did you print your name, or use cursive.

The next time it snowed, I was a senior at Milby High School

I was a senior at Bellaire, my two buddies and I borrowed a neighbors dune buggy to run around in the snow covered roads. I think we took out a mailbox when we slid up into somebody's front yard.

I now live in White Plains, NY and still get a kick out of snow. My nieghbors think I'm nuts because I enjoy whipping the snow blower around.

The snow I remember best was in 1972 I think.

Close Jan, Feb of 1973, snowed three times that winter.

houston snow records

It was a Friday, not long after lunch when it started snowing. We didn't even get out of class early, and the wait until the 3 o'clock bell was excruciating.

I was in kindergarten, so I had a short day, but I remember tracking the cowboy boots I got for Christmas in the snow on the way home. I think school was just a couple blocks away, Woodrow Wilson elementary, but I recall I was walking home alone. Man, I don't think any kindergartner walks home alone from school now.

It orginally had four screens. Years later two more screens were added. I don't think any of the other screens were split up because I remember the building actually expanding.

Thanks, I was sure it was Shamrock 6, I just didn't remember it had once been a 4 screen.

Last night, they showed the unaired 90-minute pilot. There were some fairly major changes from this pilot and what eventually became the final show as we know it.

You can watch it at: http://video.aol.com/video-category/in2tv-secret-agent/2454

The pilot was also in color, which the first season of TMFU wasn't.

Yes, even now that we push buttons, we still say that we are "dialing," not "pushing."

The first prototype for a cellphone I saw was in 1964. This guy opened up a cigarette lighter and said, "Open Channel D" Napoleon Solo even beat out Captain Kirk's Communicator.

Psych! Going through old photos, found this 1975ish Texas Ave photo a friend took. At first glance, at least to me, looks like Jones Hall is under attack, but actually 19th century buildings being cleared away for progress.

http://www225.pair.com/dhart007/misc/jones.JPG

I remember riding from rice to Herman park, stoping somewhere near stella link for bagels at a bakery I dont remember the name

Three Brothers Bakery is on S. Braeswood a block or two up from Stella Link, been there over 40 years.

We regularly rode for miles on the flat concrete bottom of Brays Bayou, occasionally taking side "hikes" into the storm sewers that fed the bayou. There was one big pipe running up the middle of Stella Link in which you could walk (standing) all the way to Bellaire Blvd.

I did ride the paved Bayou, but never mustered the courage go into the storm sewers. For some reason, I thought that's where the "bad people" hung out.

That's Cliffwood running north-south just to the left (east) of Waterhole Bayou, which runs into Bray's Bayou at the bottom. W. Bellfort is at the top right and dead-ended at Post Oak at the time this picture was taken about 1960.

Here's how it looks today, flipped vertically from your photo. 1 is where I lived. 2 is the intersection of Cliffwood and Belfort. 3 is the bridge over the bayou. And 4 is the undeveloped land your photo shows.

It's now an apartment complex and probably some of the parking lot of the movie multiplex. To the neighborhood kids of the 60s and 70s, it was just "the woods."

It was where the kids got away from their parents to do their smoking, toking, drinking and all the other "ing" things that they weren't suppose to be doing. I tried hiding my Playboy stash out there once, carefully bagging it in plastic and carefully tucking my treasure under some rocks, but somebody discovered it and took it.

I remember coming across a yucky matress and a makeshift shelter of plywood with cigarette butts, empty liquor bottles, etc all around it. Strange thing was, there was evidence galore of people coming and going, but we rarely ran into anyone else. The occasional bb gun dude, but 90% of the time, you felt like you had all the acreage to yourself. Seems like a weird thing to feel nostalgic for.

Did you go to the Majestic? If so, do you remember the big, burly guy with one eyebrow with kids hanging all around him?

I was taken to the Majestic by an older friend a couple times when I was about 10 (1964). Beleive it or not I was allowed to take a bus downtown on my own starting at about 13 (1966-67) and just hit the Metropolitan and Loews. I probably didn't know where the Majestic was or the movies I wanted to see--Wild in the Streets, Beneath the Planet of the Apes, James Bond double and triple bills, and On Her Majesty's Secret Service--seemed to be always playing at one of those two theatres.

My interest in vintage architecture started then, I was quite impressed with downtown and with the Metropolitan in particular.

I remember this guy very well, but with a slightly different slant. He didn't have a cup full of pencils. He had a single pencil which he held in the same hand as the cup, but pinned against the side of the cup. In other words, he was begging, but with the pretext of selling pencils.

I always wondered if anyone ever tried to take that pencil after they gave money.

You're right, because the coins definetly went into the cup, I can still hear it in my head.

In the mid 60s, when I went to the Metropolitan or Loews theater, I recall seeing an African American man standing with a seeing eye dog, planted somewhere around Woolworths. He had a tin cup filled with pencils. I don't recollect any patter, just a thank you if someone dropped a coin and took a pencil.

I only went handful times downtown during that time, but he was there each time I went. Anybody remember him?

Okay, the internet is now officially amazing, I just found the music I was talking about.

http://tulsatvmemories.com/wav/gccfull1.wav

It's even more amazing than I thought, I also found a video of the projector logo that went with it.

http://forums.cinematour.com/ubbpics/GCC.mov

I don't know if the two theater complex in Meyerland Plaza was the first in Houston, but I saw Dr. No and From Russia with Love when they both played there at the same time in the mid-60's.

Meyerland Plaza was great for me, it was within bicycle distance and they had the $1.00 matinee so I could afford the James Bond double features. The coming attraction music (cool brush drumming with some kind of keyboard notes) is still my all time favorite.

Okay, the internet is now officially amazing, I just found the music I was talking about.

http://tulsatvmemories.com/wav/gccfull1.wav

It would be strange it if was 6.....and that long ago. Maybe 4....but not 6.

Well, as the above ad pointed out, it started as 4. I think it was open at least a decade, and that's why I think they might have subdivided a couple of the auditoriums. I remember two auditoriums had as little as 50 seats.

When they opened, they ran first run, major films, but later on they ran drive-in quality films like "White Line Fever", Charles Bronson shoot-em-ups, and even soft porn. I recall it as the Shamrock 6, and this other guy 8 years ago did too. I guess the only way to settle it once and for all, would be to take a look at the newspapers ads from the late 70s or early 80s.

I'm satisfied that someone else remembers it the way I do, a historian would still need the newspaper ads or some other document.

Not sure how far I'd trust that list.

Man, this was really start to bug me, so I googled the newsgroups and found a 1999 entry in houston.eats where someone refers to the Shamrock 6. So at least one other human being remembers it the way I do.

Quoting the post, "and lets not forget the old department store at beechnut/610 called Sage and they used to put that colored tape on your merchandise. and theres Globe where the fiesta at bellaire/hillcroft is now. and last but certaily not least these trio of theatres Shamrock 6, The old south main drive in and the mclendon triple."

It's post #50

http://groups.google.com/group/houston.eat...0eab0bf4056c0cd

Under another topic someone posted a photo of the Shamrock Hotel. Was that theatre near there?

Yes, it was across South Main from the hotel. If you read the ad above, it says "South Main at Holcomb . across from Shamrock Hilton."

I think you are giving the theater 2 more screens than they actually had.

I do remember it as 6, it's listed as Shamrock 6 on this Houston theatre list

http://209.85.165.104/search?q=cache:8KlYY...t=clnk&cd=1

so you got me wondering am I remembering wrong or did they add a couple more by dividing a couple of the auditoriums. I recall the auditoriums being quite small.

Anyone remember the "Shamrock 6" a six screen theater on South Main across from the Shamrock Hotel. First movie I saw there was "The Andromeda Strain" in 1971. I seem to recall them advertising themselves as Houston's first multiplex.

Early on, it was quite easy to see two or three movies with one ticket--go to the bathroom and return to another screen. Eventually, they started checking tickets to crack down on the practice. Googled around, one site claimed they closed down in 85, not sure that's accurate. Compared to today's stadium seating, it was kind of cheezy, and so were some of the movies. "The Stewardesses" in 3D. Which I can't remember if I saw or not. Just remember the ads.

"A short time later a tree was planted near Meyerland Plaza with a plaque dedicated to Captain Herod."

I didn't move to the area till 1966, but I do remember a plaque outside the library on Bellfort, when I was a kid.