SchwinnChopper68

The Candle Shop, 632 Westbury Square

No need to nowadays. Just relax inside your air-conditioned home and use the Texas edition remote controlled lawn mower. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDm9W_8NZ64

Favorite stop off on the way home from Westbury Square. Watch for the clown at 0:23

The large 640x400 Vallian's pizza photo seems to have gone MIA. Here's a smaller cached version.

Here is a pic of how the S. Post Oak Burger King looked like when I grew up. Forget the snow Still remember buying cigarettes for my dad for 35 cents from the machine in the dining room. Back then they would undo the top of the cellophane wrapping and slip in a Burger King book of matches. Yea, believe it or not the entire dining room would be filled with kids eating lunch with most of the adults puffing away on a Saturday afternoon. Never bothered me growing up.

In all my searches I have never found a video of Kitirik ever. Today I ran across one. Watch for Kitirik from 0:38 to 0:52

More Astroworld memories. Fire up the 63 Galaxie 500 and lets head out to play! Watch for Kitirik to show up at 0:38

Here's a couple.

Fond memories of Corkies. Even though it was not around very long. They had the great thin sliced ham sandwich with hot melted cheese. Around Christmas of 67 or 68 Walgreens had a display of 3 or 4 minibikes right after you checked out. Next to the wall on the way to the exit door. Never was so excited to go to a Walgreens when they had those up for sale. If memory serves correct right across the steet was a mini strip mall with a bunch of different businesses. Catycorner or behind the Esso station. I used to get haircuts there for 4 bits or so at a place that had a real revolving red, white and blue barber pole. A couple shops down was a slot car track place where we would go to race on the weekends. Corkies for sure was feeling the heat from Burger King and Jack both close by.

In regards to the photos on page 7....Well....that's not quite the way I remember Westbury Square. Here's my version of that photo. How many can name every item in this photo and score a perfect 100%

What is the link to the historic aeriel maps site? I grew up in Meyerland from 1964 to 1973 and do not remember seeing a grocery store there. Perhaps it was before or after my time. I do however remember the toy store adjacent to Meyer Brothers. A Lost In Space robot for $7.99 and the Time Machine 400 degree cooking machine for $10 that turns lumps of plastic into smelly multi-colored monsters. If something like that came out today every lawyer in the country would have a wetdream. Aaahh...the good ol days when folks took responsibility for their actions.

Here's another one for all the Kitirik lovers out there.

I'll always remember the 2 screen GCC theatre. They were HUGE screens one on each side. When the Green Berets came out that gigantic screen blew me away. There is just no comparison with today's rinky dink 25 foot screens that they want you to spend some crazy amount to watch. Back then it was 3 bits for kids and $2 for adults. I remember turning 12 and they had the cojones to ask me for $2 adult prices to see a movie! The nerve. Over 18 is an adult, not a baby face 12 year old. Lemme see.....On Any Sunday, Cat O' Nine Tails, True Grit, The GnomeMobile, The Hot Rock, Dr. Doolittle, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, Tora Tora Tora, Marooned, Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows, Look Who's Coming To Dinner, GoldFinger, WestWorld, EasyRider, Bonnie and Clyde, Yours, Mine and Ours, The Mechanic, RollerBall, Shaft, 2001: A Space Oddysey, Little Big Man, The Graduate, Midnight Cowboy...so many great movies on a REAL screen. Almost forgot, does anyone remember that Santa Claus movie that was made in Mexico that scared the living daylights out of just about all the kids that saw it? In it Santa Claus was at war with the Devil. The Devil was in a bright red costume, gigantic red horns and a long spiky tail. He had one of the most evil faces I ever saw. Painted bright red with a lot of black highlight makeup. Found a website that sells dvd's of it and it always brings back the memories.

I'm sure every generation says and will say the same thing but I will tell you one thing. In the 60's and early 70s we would close down our entire block on Halloween and have gigantic block parties. Every house was done up except for one or two old coots that could not be bothered. Hundreds of lit pumpkins, skeletons walking around, gigantic black kettles with dry ice inside them stirred by local moms made up with 3 inch long green noses. Free sno-cones, hot dogs. One or two homes made up inside to be haunted houses with grreat actors and the radio shack halloween special effects record playing in the background. We would walk all over our neighborhood for 5, 6 or 7 blocks door to door gathering fresh made soft ball size popcorn balls, caramel corn balls, huge red candy apples, big juicy caramel apples that were still warm (yum yum, the best!! ) wax bottles of multi colored juices, home made brownies, popcorn strings, you name it. All sorts of home made candies. No x-rays or inspection needed or even thought about. Just dig in and enjoy. Alas nowadays methinks that will never happen again. Perhaps it still does happen somewhere today but in a smaller community where one knows just about everyone. On the other blocks I only knew maybe 10% of the people in the homes yet most families there all had kids growing up and most families were into the holiday spirit. On my block I knew everyone except for the couple old coots that stayed secluded and watched WWI doughboy movies and Combat.

I think the rainbow bread place was always the first place I hit when I got there and the last when I left. So many times they were always sold out near closing and I left breadless. If I remember correctly my yearly pass the very first year was $18. A couple weekends of mowing lawns. Also I think they had one of those cool paint spraying places where you would put a white postcard in a tub and the postcard would be spun at high speed and you would drip all kinds of colors on it to end up with a trippy picture. Remember waiting in line at the Matterhorn and you would push your sister out of the way so you could stand under the ice cold jets of air-conditioning? Remember landing at either side of the aerial tram, moist hot air all the way and as soon as you come inside the station you are greeted with a deep freeze of ice cold air. I think the ride I used to take the most must have been that big round orange centrifugal barrel. They would open the door, everyone would pile in and then you would be spun so fast you hang on the walls while the floor drops 5 or 6 feet below. I being a 6th grader especially enjoyed all the mini skirted riders that would start to slide down the wall. I heard some crazy stories of people losing their lunch in there spraying other riders but fortunately I was never there when that happened. I dunno, one of my fondest memories has always been the 25 cent shooting gallery with those guns shooting at all the animated stuff in the 1860's bar with the player piano and the bar maids. They had tons of secret animations if you knew where to shoot. The owl was my favorite. We also used to spend hours and hours inside the arcade center with all the games and all the old timey games. We were experts at making the rounds every few minutes checking for quarters and extra games that others missed or forgot about. This has nothing to do with Astroworld but who remembers that museum of torture or museum of weapons near the astroworld hotel? I will always remember the oak barrel where it's closed around your neck then 4 or 5 starving rats were let out in the enclosed area around your face. That must have been one of the worst ways to die ever invented by a sick mind. They also had some full size casket with steel knives pointing inwards. They would close the casket up on the intended victim slowly. I remember visiting that place around 1970-71 ish.

Here ya go!

Yah, I remember getting all our goldfish from that store. They had tons of tropical fish of all kinds. I would spend hours looking at all of them. I miss the pet shops of the 60's. Back then you never ever knew what type animal you were going to see that week for sale. Mynah birds, Toucans, Squirrel monkees, piranhas, venomous snakes of all types. The pet stores nowadays have turned into some sort of watered down joke. .

Here's a new one for all the Kitirik lovers out there.

These should bring back a few memories. I remember being in the audience a couple times. Let me tell you one thing, as a 11 year old boy in the audience let's just say she had a most mesmerizing effect on me as she would pass me in the stands. After that, watching her on TV with the neighborhood gang could never compare to her sashaying down the aisle mere inches from moi.

Well boys and girls I just ran across this somehow in my quest on the Meyerland shopping center and GCC theatre circa mid 60s. If anyone of you remember the GCC intro here's a video clip that will bring back memories of Saturday afternoon at the Meyerland GC. GCC Feature Presentation I must say I spent a while here and finished reading the 4 pages on westbury square. Whoa, the memory cells are blowing up from overload. For a little atmosphere let's key up Steppenwolf - Born To Be Wild. Ah, that's better. After reading this and seeing the photos I too was almost reduced to tears from seeing in 1968 with my own eyes, ears and especially nose what once was and is now unfortunately no more. For those that were not there it's hard to describe in words or photos what it was like to wander the square on a friday night in 1968. The cars, the hair, the smells, the atmosphere, the jammed packed main aisles, strange sitar music coming from the Electric Paisley. Opening the door and getting assaulted by the incense. Walking into their blacklight room and staring at all the blacklight posters for sale. Key up Steppenwolf - Magic Carpet Ride I traveled back to Houston in 2003 for a little business and a little reminiscing. Did not recognize Meyerland Plaza. Where was the GCC theatre? OK, kept going. OK, food giant was still there or at least the building (not sure if they renamed it or not to something else). Past Kolter, past where I was part of the crossing guard patrol with long bamboo poles and orange flags. The front of Kolter still seemed the way I remembered it (graduated 6th grade 1971). Past Godwin Park, a left, a right and another right takes me to Wigton and the houses look pretty much the same except for a lot more trees. Johnston Junior High up ahead, is that what I think it is? Gang writing on my old junior high?? If coach had caught those miscreants he would have tanned their hides. Is that the cancer that is spreading? Parents that will not discipline their children. We'll save that for later. Onto westbury square! Key up Eric Burdon & The Animals - Sky pilot WTF?? Where is westbury square?? It's gone for the most part. Fences around it. Some horrendous corporate store closeby. I stop to look at the fountain and the whole scene reminds me of that final scene in planet of the apes when charleton heston discovers the statue of liberty. This is not the westbury square I remember. Key up Jim Croce - Mr Bojangles The westbury square I remember was a pizza parlor with a live band that was crowded shoulder to shoulder. Mr Bojangles was being sung while a piece of the best pepperoni pizza in houston was being devoured. The westbury square I remember had a gift shop where I purchased a blue plastic Gemini spacecraft with two folding doors and removable astronauts. The westbury square I remember had an old time soda fountain with a gigantic selection of candy. My favorites were the colored dots on paper 4 across. Their root beer floats were to die for. The westbury square I remember had a glass blowers shop where you stood fascinated for 30 minutes as a glass unicorn was made in front of your eyes. Blue flames, glass so hot it was orange, twisting the glass so finely to make all the details of the mane. That's the westbury square I remember. Key up Janis Joplin - Me and Bobby Magee Yah, the yumbo, I remember. I believe that was Corky's. Or perhaps the one before. I know they went through a couple name changes. Remember the Gulf station on post oak? It had the 60 second clock hand. If you were not waited on within 60 seconds your tank of gas was free. Nowadays they glare at you for giving them $80 through a bullet proof window. They also gave away a case of cokes with fillups, at 33 cents a gallon. And smiled at you! And asked about your family! Across the street was the 7-11. ICEE time after swimming at the park, yes!! Remember to mix cherry half and half with coke and pay the cashier 12 cents for your icee. Key up Marvin Gaye - What's Going On It's saturday, time for goonie golf. If you shoot the last hole and get a hole in one you get a pass for a free game. After the game you go next door to that restaurant that has phones on the table to order from. You order the melted cheese sandwiches with the tiny crumbs on the outside. Something like batter dipped melted cheese sandwiches with crumbs. (you had to have been there) Don't forget to order the large plate of onion rings. After lunch walk on over to westbury yamaha and salivate over the brand new green 1971 yamaha 100 enduro. Sit on it, twist the throttle, apply the brakes, close your eyes and imagine yourself in concrete buffalo bayou doing wheelies on your way to the offroad track with the gigantic hill where everyone practices. Believe it or not the burger king sold cigarettes from a machine in the dining room for 30 cents or so. Each pack came with a book of 20 matches carefully attached to the pack of cigarettes. Yes boys and girls, at one time children ate whoppers at a table while a strange man 2 feet away smoked cigarettes after his meal along with his wife. It never bothered me, I could never get enough of the whoppers. Remember the adjustable gold whopper crowns? There was a fresh egg store further south that sold 3 dozen for a dollar. I'll never forget the giant pig at Piggly Wiggly. The BBQ place I remember had sawdust all over their floor. I also remember the huge nursery with the duckpond. We would always bring a loaf of bread to feed them while our parents were shopping for plants. I remember Saturday July 20, 1969 when Neil walked on the moon we were feeding the ducks when the nursery announced it. Now if I remember correct there was a hardware store close to the nursery that sold ESTES ROCKETS!! Nothing better than launching some small animal in the invisible payload section from the 50 yard line at Johnston JH. I never cared for the electric engine ignitor. I liked the red dynamite cord that you would cut about 6 inches, light it and move back. I remember some rep from ATT coming to the public library demonstrating a video phone in 1967. I distinctly remember him telling us by 1972 every home in the US with have a video phone! Key up The Irish Rovers - The Unicorn There was a skating rink built inside a huge quonset hut. It had 4 gigantic fans at the end for circulation. Where you exchanged your shoes and rented the skates they had a 2 foot fan blowing down the counter. I remember asking for size 8, amazing, I wear a 13 today. The small snack shop was always crammed on the weekends with birthday parties. Right outside the snackshop was a jukebox and a couple pinball machines. Sharpstown mall had that revolving 6 flags over texas display. I remember one easter winning a rabbit from one of the hutches with my winning entry name of "hares haven". Somehow they got a cessna 150 into sharpstown, it was on display one weekend. Remember the 6 foot stereo egg chair at sharpstown? Oh yea, my easy rider poster from the electric paisley inspired me to take a long piece of pipe and turn my stingray into a chopper. It worked for about a week until the pipe cracked from stress. Do kids still put playing cards in the spokes with a clothespin? Thanks for the memories. P.S. Driveby's and rapes at westbury hs?, say it aint so joe.