jwphillips2

My hand prints are still in the concrete of the Scout House behind Shearn Elementary on Stella Link. There were two Scout camps that were just out in the boonies - Camp Hudson way out on Memorial Drive and Camp Strake north of Houston. I've got 8 mm movies of both. Camp Hudson is now Hudson on the Bayou Condominiums. Cub Scout 58, Boy Scout - almost got to Explorer.

Thanks for The Motto.

Alpha, you nailed it, but Subdude trumped us all with a postcard! I remember that it was also called Gateway Skate and Swim, I remember the Hokey Pokey, and that Crystal Pool was the only other Olympic size pool in the area(Shamrock), but the hills and meadows escape me. Thanks everyone!

Dick Gottlieb was just as nice in person as he was on TV.

Remember:

Kitirik (I went on her show for my 8th birthday)

Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal

I led 3 lives

Highway Patrol with Broderik Crawford

"And now, The FBI...IN COLOR!" (I think "Living Color" was NBC's trademark)

Andy Devine Show with Squeeky the mouse, Midnight the cat and "pluck your magic twanger, Froggy" all sponsored by Sugar Pops

Cadet Don

Mary Jane's Magic Castle

I totally don't remember the name. It was on the same side of S. Main as Gaido's (remember the giant crab?) almost directly across the street from Kelly's Restaurant.

I remember going to the bottom of the Crystal Pool and entering the air dome made by a B17 plastic canopy. The canopy was chained to the bottom of the pool and air was pumped in from the bottom. The canopy trapped the air and floated about 3 feet off the bottom. I know Liability Lawyers would be break dancing to get a shot at that now!

Anyway, my question is "What is the name of the skating rink that was right next door on S. Main? ".

The reason that channels 2 and 3 bit the big one everywhere was that they were guard channels for the Civil Defence. The FCC limited their transmit power and checker-boarded the coverage all across the United States. Tis was done so that these two channels could be used for emergency communications. Not only was Channel 2 (NBC) lower power, it was 54 Mhz the exact double harmonic of CB radio which was(is) 27 Mhz. No more analog after 2009, but don't throw away your antenna. They make great yard art or clothesline since most are aluminum. You can get a converter that will pick up analog along with the analog version of digital broadcast that is being broadcast now. Pick all of it up 'til 09 on the the analog sets. Sounds like camping heaven for two years....

There is nothing more relevant to "Historic Houston" than time capsules. There have been stories about using them to communicate to the future. There have been stories about using them to fleece the public into donating all kinds of valuable artifacts and then stealing them before the capsule is sealed. Horned toads (remember them all over 50s Houston?) have survived decades in them. And some of them have been incorporated into new buildings. Some are small capsules and a few are large time vaults...

I know where two are and I think some of you know where there are more.

1. Early 60s. At the corner of Bellaire and Voss. It was located just off the NW corner, stood off to the side of the entrance to the drive-in, and was about 25 or 30' tall, concrete. After the Sharpstown Drive In Movie folded in the 70s, the time capsule was incorporated into a billboard. Across the street(NE) was the original Fiesta(Globe?). This was the time capsule for Sharpstown Subdivision. Don't know when it supposed to be opened or what was in it. As far as I kow it is still there.

2. SE corner of Buffalo Speedway and Bellaire (Earlier 60s). Don't know much about this one except that it predated Sharpstown Capsule and that it was also concrete, about 20' tall, and was smaller than number 1. They incorporated it into a street lamp the last I saw of it. Un-opened as far as I know.

Time capsules were scheduled to be opened anywhere from 50 to 100 years and the dates were put on the outside or announced during the ceremonies. The list of contents was varied and fascinating.

http://www.oglethorpe.edu/about_us/crypt_o...me_capsules.asp

The sign under the weather ball had Texas National Bank on one side and Conoco on the other.

Wow, I do remember that! I wish I had the stats that were on the bookcovers. Something that would make Conservationists everywhere scream in agony. Total watage, total number of bulbs....

I found the story on re-assembling it as the entrance to Astroworld pretty facinating. I must have gone through that entrance a hundred times and never knew it was the old Weather Eye.

57Tbird - the year you were born, no doubt.

Yeah, me either.

Houston is too big now to have just one. In the 50s Dallas was bigger than Houston (we had less than 600000) and The Shamrock Hotel was out in the boondocks. We have about 6 times that many now. 6 would be good.

Red light, warmer weather.

White light, cooler weather.

Green light, no change in view.

Blinking light, rain is due.

Thanks everyone!

I remember, now that I've seen it again, this slogan was printed on the book covers we had to have applied to all our HISD textbooks in the 50's, all generously supplied by Bank of the Southwest(Conoco?). There were other sponsors for other covers such as Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey coming to the Coliseum, Houston FAT STOCK Show and Rodeo - Coliseum, etc.

I haven't seen a post yet for the Weather Ball on top of the Bank of the Southwest Bldg downtown(1957?). Now that may not seem like a big deal, but you could see that thing from Willowbend and Post Oak, or further out. It was monsterbig (50 or 60' diameter) and had a brazillion lights in it. It would stay green if there was no change, it would flash when it was going to rain, white meant colder, and red meant hotter. Flashing white meant snow. Lotsa red. It never turned flashing white.

Not sure if the giant revolving Gulf sign was first or not. Anyone know?

Anyone here remember the "Jester lounge"....apparently down in Montrose somewhere? The Old Quarter downtown as well?

It was just called "The Jester" and it was directly behind Byron's Barbeque on Westheimer between the railroad tracks (The Deputy drive-in) and 2K's restaurant on South Post Oak. They were going to open it closer to Sin Alley (Mid Lane), but Byrons had a bigger parking lot. The Jester was strictly after hours opening at 1:00AM and closing around 6:00AM - we still had liquor by the drink. It was about as big as Sand Mountain in The Montrose. They had a lot of individual performers as well as small groups. Great music!

Thanks for sharing your memories...

My web site

Anytime. There was a serious folk presence here at the same time. I remember watching my older brother play at places like The Jester, The Bird Cage, La Maison, Sand Mountain, La Bodega, etc. with C(addo) P(arish) Studdard, Scott Stripling, Lightnin' Hopkins, Doug Saum (later Sir Douglas Quintet and The Uranium Savages).

No one has mentioned Jim Scruggs and his poster store Dirty Jim's Dry Goods in Market Square.

I've got a great story about having a pre-Christmas dinner with all the Texas musicians in the San Francisco Bay area one year, all 11 of them from Hot Tuna, Tower of Power, Van Morrison, Jefferson Starship, etc. Better make a new thread, huh?

The original Catacombs was started by Memorial and Kinkaid high school kids who were ANGRY about the lack of safety and good entertainment in Houston. The original President of Catacombs was Scott Black, I was Vice President until becoming President the second year. I can't remember how many original members we had, but I remember Joann Hastick, Linda & Carroll Muller, Curran Phillips, Bruce Endendyck, and most of the Junior and Senior class of Memorial, St. Johns, Kinkaid, and Lamar. The members had peer review and self-policing. No in-and-out privileges, no alcohol, no smoking. I may still have one of the Catacombs membership applications somewhere. This policy was vital to the parent's attitude about dropping off Bobby and Suzie at the Catacombs and not worrying about their safety. I booked the bands for the club through KILT (the number one Rock and Roll station in Houston) and with the help of Bob White, the Program Manager. I booked Sunny and the Sunliners, Clarence Henry, Levinia Lewis, The Moving Sidewalks(later ZZ Topp), Lanier Grieg (still playing in Houston), The Glass Kans, Jay and the Americans, Earnie and the Interns, One-Eyed Jack, and I actually booked The Rolling Stones until the insurance company found out and said "NO!". The national bands (more expensive) were booked on the basis that they would come to Houston for two or three days for a single performance and then have a day or two off. I would book one of these off days for dirt cheap. A national band for $5,000 dollars!! I ran into Bob again in Korea. He was in the Armed Forces Korean Network in 68 - 69 and have lost touch with him since then.

The local bands had auditions at the club on Thursday nights. They were voted by the members who showed up. If they only knew two songs, they would be paired with enough other bands to fill the whole evening. There were hundreds of good local bands and they were supported by the Catacombs. We built the 2 stages so that a musician's audio cord (cable) could be plugged into the stage and then connected off-stage to the sound equipment. Blown-in insulation was sprayed on the walls and ceiling, sometimes over the wire structures at the doorways to make it look like a cave. This had the additional benefit of sound-deadening. The back stage was always for the breaks.

Everyone donated their time and money to make it work and that's why it succeeded. Imagine your customers doing all the work and paying for the privilege! Everyone wanted to come to Houston for the Catacombs. I talked to people from New Mexico, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas who would commute every weekend they could to be here.

I wish I could remember Mr. Jackson's first name. He owned the three 10,000 square foot warehouses behind Sakowitz and Zindlers that became the Catacombs. He was a risk taker and developed some of his other projects into the first motocross track at the patch of dirt surrounded by Richmond, S. Post Oak, and 610 West. That later became the Texas Amphitheater. He was a true believer of UFOs and was willing to trust a bunch of kids when we told him that the Catacombs would work as a non-profit organization.

There are a lot of stories about the beginning of the Catacombs, but all good things come to an end. The club was making a gazillion dollars and one day Bob Cope arrived and took it over. I went to the Army and the Catacombs was gone by the time I got out. Gone, not changed, gone, and that is the real truth.