Paul1956

Here's a Houston classic fer ya...Remember Stereo Warehouse? The guy smashing the axe though Marantz speakers and receivers? Went out of business alleging that Fed-Ex or somebody lost their package of cash.

I bought a bunch-o-crap from the one on Edgebrook/I-45.

Yep, I remember David Fowler, and I remember he got shuffled from time slot to time slot. I seem to recall he ended up on some FM station briefly before disappearing from the Houston market.

Along about 1972 or so there was a host named Philip Clark who had a memorable English accent. I remember that whenever a caller asked for his thoughts he'd say something like "I'm not here to tell you what I think, I'm here to find out what you think."

Philip Clark also had one amateur night a week where folks would call in and sing or play some instrument. Man, what a different time that was.

For a short period of time there was a small airport on Old Galveston Rd, across from Ellington Field. They ran commuter flights to Houston Intercontinental only, as I recall.

Ring any bells?

Yeah, it's gas, but it's inside the house so I might be ok with a simple replacement. Better make some phone calls though.

Gracias all.

My water heater is close to 17 years old. I've heard that building codes will require a replacement to be 18" off the ground - does that apply to any replacement?

I ask because the utility room has a low ceiling by design. If I have to raise it 18" then it's going to be within 12" of the ceiling. Not sure how that makes any sense at all.

Sort of a related item - When I was a kid at Freeman Elementary (Pasadena) in the mid 1960's there was a girl who played in the 'Texas Hotshots'. The Hotshots were an all accordian band, and a couple times she brought her accordian to school and played for us. I remember a picture she had of the group, and as I recall, about 20 kids played in the Texas Hotshots. They even wore matching uniforms.

Can't believe I remembered that....

I remember commercials for Meyer Speedway, and for Houston International Speedway, which was down in the LaMarque area I seem to recall.

"SUNDAYSUNDAYSUNDAY at Houston International Speedway...."

A friend worked at the Russell-Stover candy store in Almeda Mall, which was located near the center court. I worked briefly at Palais Royal and Battlesteins. Anyone remember Hardy's Shoes and Spencer Gifts?

Anyone remember the little Fotomat booths that sat out in parking lots? Some poor soul had to sit alone in a tiny little booth selling film all day long. What a terrible job that must have been.

I'm also a bit nostalgic over that Burger King. I remember when it was brand new. We'd skip out of Dobie at lunch and zoom over there, which was forbidden at the time.

For a little while, in a building at the far end of the Target parking lot was a place that had a bunch of trampolines, and I remember going to a family friend's birthday party there one time and jumping around. It didn't last long - think it became a lamp store after that for a while.

I remember going to a number of cubscout functions at "Galveston County Park", now Walter Hall, I think. We always took some chicken chunks and string to catch crabs and we've have a big crab boil. On one occasion we were there when a group of control-line model airplane enthusiasts were there giving a show. Those old planes were FAST! I have very pleasant memories of that old park.

Does anyone still make a shortbed with non-extended cab? (I don't have enough room left in my garage for an extended cab.)

I want to say it was on the south side of Spencer, within sight of Preston, but I was just a kid in the back seat then. The house had clearly been added on to over the years - I remember walking up and down inclines between rooms. But I mostly remember the PIE!

Thats an amazing picture. Spencer Highway sure grew up.

I'm spitting mad at Comcrap. I still don't have any services and they told me they can't send someone out because my zip is classified as 'Outage', even though all power was restored days ago. Some neighbors with other providers were up and running within 24 hours. BatRastards.

I remember going to the 'Old Time Fiddle Contest' they held in Almeda Mall every year, for several years. The center isle was jampacked with folks standing round and playing bluegrass music.

I remember when the main post office for the whole SB area was on Old Galveston Road, near the Genoa subdivision. We went through Genoa to get to the post office and I remember an abundance of rough looking biker bars along the way. The TELTON lounge was there for years, but across from it was a very rough looking bar that used to be a two story house - I believe it was called 'Franks', but I'm not sure anymore. I remember that there was always a bunch of choppers out front any time of the day or night.

Is Hall road still there? I remember when Hall road was the fastest way to get to Telephone, to go into Pearland. This was long before there was any connection to Green Tee. Hall road was just a dirt road, through low flood zone, with a few farm houses scattered along there. It was littered with junk washing machines and trash all along the way.

For the first couple years that we lived there, I could look out my bedroom window and see the orange glow of the Dixie/Brio refinery flame tower in the distance. It lit up the whole sky at that time. We could even smell it on occasion. It was many years later before their secrets came out.

Yes, I went to Dobie with one of the kids whose family owned that house. His Dad was an architech (spelling?), which made sense. It sure stood out on that street. Could see it easily from I-45.

And yes, I well remember those four gas stations, and the rumor that "one of these days there's supposed to be freeway through here". Whenever I go back over there I'm still blown away how much the area has been paved over. I can't get use to BW8 soaring through there, and how much traffic there is now.

For a very short while, I could actually look out our patio door in old Kirkwood, and see a family friends house on Sagedowne.

Wow - I had no idea Leonardo met a tragic demise. Sheesh.

I know there's another section for Historic Houston, but I wanted to share some memories about the old Fuqua, Beamer, Hughes Road area specifically. I'm sure the moderator will move this if needed.

We moved into old Kirkwood in 1968. At that time, Beamer road did not connect to Fuqua at all. There was a two lane road one stoplight east of the current Fuqua/Beamer intersection, and it rambled though a field and tied on to Beamer near Dobie. And Beamer actually ENDED after the third street in old Kirkwood. To get to Hughes Road, we had to drive back to 45 and ride the feeder.

We had some family friends who moved into a NEW HOUSE on the first street of Sagemont, Sagewood. Seems like forever ago. For years, there was a little league park at the end of Sagewood.

In '68, the only building at I-45 / Fuqua was an open air honky-tonk called 'The Breezeway'. I remember that it had a HUGE KIKK boot shaped sign out front and you could hear the kikker music playing loudly as you drove by. There was also a large unmarked metal building next door that I heard was where fireworks were made. No idea if that was true or not.

I don't remember specifically what the event was, probably a ballgame, but I remember a guy wearing a jetpack flew around the dome, rounding the bases. The noise was deafening.

I apologize if this thread is too old to reactivate, but I just saw it and it brought back a memory of the Alvin Van Black radio show. There was a very frequent caller named Leonardo who's voice stuck in my memory. Leonardo talked in very short choppy sentences and was hard to understand sometimes, but I remember because he always had some interesting comments on events of the day. Even grumpy old Alvin stopped to listen to him. Anyone remember Leonardo?

Any Pasadena folks remember these burger joints from the 1960's:

'Three Gables' on Shaver?

'Burger Mart' on Edgebrook?

'Mad' Drive-in on Shaver, across from South Houston High School?