houpro

On South Main in late 50's or early 60's was a place that sold pre built shelters that

you'd insert into holes dug in your backyard; will have to go google for pics of these

kind of shelters

the bubble was a Plexiglas canopy which was chained to the bottom of the deep end at 4 anchor points. A pump blew air through a hole in the bottom of the pool. the air stream was regulated so the air captured under the canopy was forced out by new air, therefore it did not become stagnant.

My older brother swears he has some old 8mm reels that relatives from NYC took at Gateway in the late 50's. I have yet to see the films. Like you, I have very fond memories of Gateway, tetherball, zinc oxcide on my nose, burgers and soft serve from the concession stand, and the Archies on the juke box...man, oh man..."Sugar, Sugar" I can almost smell the place now

Thanks for the info - I knew I should'a paid more attention to the Mr. Wizard shows since he probably

talked about this -- what I don't understand is that since under the plastic canopy, where the air was being pumped in, there was still water also -- thus how could people breathe the air being pumped in without getting the water in their mouths ? Or did the air push out the water so that there was an air pocket ?

speaking of smells of the pool area, I'm remembering suddenly the smell of the rink; not the greatest smell

but probably due to so many people sweating and the building itself being hot too since I think it was made

of galvanized metal; I think it had these big fans in the windows trying to circulate the air and always

tried to rest near one of those windows.

some memories of meyerland - circa late 50's-early 60's

Uncle Lew's records - got my first 45 there, still have it; it had those listening booths;

agree it was next to Playhouse Toys as mentioned in some other posts

I learned to drive in the parking lot on Sunday's after got my learner's permit - my Dad would

take me over there.

Madings - haven't heard that word for a long time - that was a drugstore, right ?

I recall a Walgreen's at Meyerland with a lunch counter but maybe it was Madings ?

anyway, I remember the cherry cokes there or even regular cokes, that were made

from the syrup put into the glass first, then the carbonated water - really good !

separate water fountains - good topic for another thread - I had same experience with my parents as the

poster to this thread who mentioned about it.

a great thread !

going back to the first posting in this thread about what we called the "bubble":

"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."

could someone explain more about how it all worked, and about what a B17 canopy is, and how one

could breathe under there -- for the non techical types ? I can't understand how if someone could

get into it, then how could the air remain there ?

I've wondered about how it all worked for so many years - never had the guts to even try to swim

down to it myself and over the years its become one of those unexplained mysteries of childhood;

maybe it would be better to let it be but after seeing this thread, got curious about it again.

I do remember the skating rink - lots of fun, hokey pokey, bunny hop, and the birtthday party

room that could be rented out.

good comments about the postcard and the "hills" ; I don't recall even the pool area looking

anything like the postcard but then the card doesn't show all the kids running around and hanging out.

the tall floating pole I recall was called the "Bobber" and I think you could climb up to the top

of it and swing back and forth on it.

In the mid eighties I drove over there and walked towards the back of what had been the parking lot and discovered the pool was still there; I remember a big metal structure floating in the water and am guessing

it was the Bobber. I tried to see if the bubble was still there but as per my comments in this post,

really didn't know what I was looking for and perhaps it was still there under the deep end.

thanks again for the memories.