Specwriter

That photo is amazing. Consider what is on the land between Main and Fannin now. My mother went to work for an obstetrician in the Hermann Professional Building around 1965. This scene must be much like what she saw then.

1 hour ago, s3mh said:

The upside to the failure to get leases for more upscale local vendors is that a fair number of the original vendors have been able to stay.  When Canino's closed, everyone thought that the new owners would kick out all of the vendors and turn it into a permanent version of Urban Harvest's market.  So far, the market is still serving the same folks who frequented the market before the renovations with facilities that are way nicer for both the customers and vendors.  I think there is still potential to have the original vendors and more upscale vendors to thrive in the same space.  But, ironically, the question seems to be whether the latter can make it and not the former.  

Thanks for the update, s3mh. Obviously a nicer facility will bring more shoppers which should benefit both the original and newer vendors.

Canino's was a special place for me. My family and many of our neighbors created an ad hoc co-op if you will back in the early 1970's. I remember going to Canino's with my parents and buying cases of produce which we then took home and divvied up with the other co-op members. They were doing that as much for the quality of the produce as for the cost savings.

In the early morning of my wedding day I went to Canino's with my caterer's shopping list and filled my vehicle with all sorts of fruits and vegetables. I remember distinctly the smell of strawberries filling my vehicle as I made my way back from the farmers market. I was glad to lend a hand since the caterer was, and still is, a friend of the family and all the food and a beautiful wedding cake were a gift to my bride and me. We were just out of college and didn't have a lot of money so her gift was tremendously appreciated. 

21 hours ago, s3mh said:

The new owners were planning on bringing in more high end foodie stuff, including vendors that you would see at the various weekend farmers markets around town.  But that has not happened yet.  I think it may be that these vendors aren't ready to have a retail space that is operating on a daily basis.  

If there has been an upside to COVID it is the ability for some of us to work from home and do our food shopping on days other than the weekend. Foodie stuff is fun, especially for us DINKS (empty nesters who don't want to go out too often these days), but there is a significant segment of the population that need access to affordable and healthy food. When I did go to Canino's I would see many people there who I suspect were on a tight budget and made their own meals as opposed to eating out.

I relocated from Houston to San Antonio last summer (note: I am a native Houstonian and will always identify as such) so I don't get much opportunity to "get around town." Does Houston Farmers Market actually have produce vendors or is it just a fancy food court? It seems in these times of shortages and logistics problems having an outlet for locally sourced fresh food would be a very good thing.

Too bad the original Gothic lanterns could not be repurposed instead of the light fixtures that look like someone's C+ project from a basket weaving class. I was going to write "C-" but realize basket weaving is not as easy as may be thought. 😀 Otherwise, this is a great looking adaptive use of the building.

On 1/24/2022 at 2:06 PM, mkultra25 said:

Paul Barabash’s Store

There was a thread on Nextdoor about this a couple of days ago, but when I went to look for it just now I discovered that it had been removed. The gist of it was that a lot of people were upset about the demo, but as it turns out the demo apparently does not include the facade as pictured above - it is being preserved and will be incorporated into the new structure that is being built on the site. So, adaptive reuse as opposed to "scrape it all and throw up a townhome".

Saving the facade is not exactly adaptive reuse. That would entail saving much more of the original structure. However, I am pleased to see that the facade is being saved. It does speak to the significance of the contribution of the original owners to the neighborhood.

Recall that in San Antonio about 30 years ago the developer of a multi-story office building was encouraged to preserve the facade of the Texas Theater. It was a pity that the wonderful interior was lost and the subject remains controversial to this day but, IMO, the historic front is much better than what might have been built in its place.

Apologies for ending on a tacky note but I am compelled to recount the story. One of my architecture professors at the time of the Texas Theater demolition would not be satisfied with the preservation of the entry to the 1926 building. He said it was a "blatant case of facade-omy." Ugh! 🙄

My former dentist, and a good friend, retired to Hunt. Now I know exactly why.

11 hours ago, PJE said:

Does anyone remember the name of a restaurant that was off of 45 and they served their food on a trash can lid? I think it was a Cajun restaurant.

 

Thankfully, no. 🙂

Another example is when two existing streets "meet" like when Ella Blvd. becomes Wheatley just north of Pinemont. Strangely, Wheatley becomes Ella Blvd. again as it crosses Dewalt about a quarter mile south of W. Gulf Bank. Consider also how Elgin seems to "segue" into Westheimer although the route does curve there.

The Studebaker is definitely a good donor vehicle with many body parts and trim intact but restoration is out of the question as a value proposition. The Ford, on the other hand, looks completely restorable and parts for it are much more readily available. It looks like a 1978 or 1979 model.

On 12/23/2021 at 1:38 PM, BlindTiger said:

This is correct. The silver cladding is all fabricated in Australia.  Or at least that is the info I got when talking with someone involved in the project ages ago after they had constructed the little condo showroom. 

I also heard Australia from a reliable source who also told me the panels are not metal but a composite material with metal pieces embedded for attachment to the building.

1 hour ago, mkultra25 said:

I've seen a 1960s-era photo of the building before, but don't have it at hand and wasn't able to find it online. 

Our family's go-to grocery stores were the W. Mt. Houston Henke's/Kroger, once it opened in late 1966, and the Piggly Wiggly on the other side of I-45. In later years we'd sometimes patronize the Safeway on Gulf Bank and the Randall's in Deauville Plaza. I also remember an A&P in the Northtown center but am drawing a blank on Randall's there.  

The Randall's in Northtown also opened around 1966. It may have replaced something that was previously there are been part of an addition. The shopping center was L-shaped with a Grant's in the middle. The Randall's was along that leg that stretched toward the freeway access road. I cannot remember if Mom ever shopped at the Safeway nor the Piggly Wiggly though I know our next door neighbor did patronize the latter. Notably those two stores were the most convenient to my parents' house in Hidden Valley.

In the early 70's my father went to work for (ironically) Lucky Stores. That was a California-based company that owned the Gemco Department stores and Eagle grocery stores like the one on the southeast corner of Little York and Airline so Mom saw incentive to shop at Gemco for groceries. It could have been confusing if Lucky from California  used that name in Texas. It was probably the desire to avoid a lawsuit that the stores were called "Eagle."

For those not old enough to remember the Gemco on the north side of Houston was in the building that houses the Fiesta where Airline crosses the North Freeway.

On 12/17/2021 at 4:14 PM, mkultra25 said:

I missed this when it was originally posted. That would have been the Fairway Food Center, and the family that owned it was indeed the Iio family (with two 'i's). I've lost the attribution for the attached photo, but I think it was uploaded to a Facebook group by one of the Iio children.

 

This image was probably from the late 1940s or early 1950s from looking at the automobiles. There was a more modern building which looked like it may have been built in the early 1960s. It is the only one I remember since I too was "built" in the early '60s. 🙂 Thanks for a catching my misspelling of Iio as well.

We rarely went shopped at the store. My mother's preferred was the Randall's in the Northtown shopping center (I-45 at Tidwell) or the Henke's (later Kroger)  at i-45 and W. Mt. Houston.

Someone please correct or clarify this but I think Lucky 7 was a confederation of independent grocers who were able to get competitive pricing from suppliers by combining their orders.

How about "SoMa" (South Main)? Merriam-Webster defines soma as an intoxicating juice from a plant of disputed identity that was used in ancient India as an offering to the gods and as a drink of immortality by worshippers in Vedic ritual. Works for me. These days I like Ho ho ho. 🙂

4 hours ago, samagon said:

it's because the public education system has failed to educate them

It is not just grammar and syntax that are deficient. IMO there is a general decline in the ability to communicate effectively (notice I did not split the infinitive 🙂). Is this in spite of, or because of, all the communication tools we now have? I wonder.

My grandmother graduated from a very rural high school in southern Louisiana in 1932. Her grammar and spelling were impeccable and her handwriting was gorgeous. She always wrote in clear and complete sentences. Of course, I have saved the letters she wrote to me when I was in college. She passed the year after I graduated. 

We need to start (or resume) thinking of school as boot camp for our lives after we "leave home."

It looks like some real craftsmanship and skilled labor went into the construction of that building. That must still exist to some degree in recent times since this part of the façade was reconstructed after 2007. 

9 hours ago, mattyt36 said:

 

(Bad night to be mentioning Atlanta. And the number 7.)

Agreed. My "baseball expert" nephew told me before the series started that Atlanta's pitching was its weak point. Hummm? I'll have to ask him about that. ☹️

It was a good year for the home team. We did win the American League pennant for the third time in five years. I've been following the Astros since they became the Astros. As in life, I take my joy in winning a series, winning a game, or just witnessing an outstanding play.

I wait with enthusiasm for next year. Now let's go Rockets. It seems they last won a championship when the Braves won theirs - 1995 IIRC - so we're due.

1 hour ago, trymahjong said:

 

 

After reading many Chronicle articles,  I agree……..now my question: Is the same Statement from Junior High still True? 
I am puzzled, if it is true………then what exactly is an eighth grade level?

My seventh grade English teacher walked into the classroom on the first day of class and immediately said, "Analyze and criticize and I won't penalize." (!) How many junior high students hear that these days or even understand what it means? We understood what she meant but day-um were still struggling with our locker combinations.

By the way, she was a very nice person but tough as nails when it came to grading our work. She had us competently diagramming sentences before the Thanksgiving break. I wonder if I can still do that. 🙂 

6 minutes ago, Ross said:

chron.com is pretty bad. The houstonchronicle.com pay site is far better, and has the same content as the paper version, plus some other stuff that is far better edited than chron.com

Good to know. I guess the adage, you get what you pay for, is still true in some instances.

5 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

What is it about the image this guy presents or his loudmouth way of making ridiculous, polarizing statements that made cities want to keep hiring him as a public steward?

 

I think it is a misunderstanding of what candor and honest actually is. Being frank is not the same thing as having no filters and I fear the distinction is being lost on too many. Also, hyperbole has become the norm. The "shoot from the hip [figuratively I hope]" style seems to be popular with those who do not apprehend nuance and subtlety.

I can not reed the Chronicel any more longer. The editing is atroshus and the grammer and speling isn't so hot neither.

One wonders if it is compiled by robots who have been victims of a power surge. 😧

20 hours ago, kennyc05 said:

Yeah true! How is it that vines up north don't die in harsh conditions but these did?

Different vines up north? Theses will probably grow back from the roots if those were deep enough. We had vines that looked really dead on a brick wall grow back  after the freeze, and vigorously, but they may have been in a more protected area.

17 hours ago, hindesky said:

Who gets credit for this image? It's great.

4 hours ago, hindesky said:

Here....

https://www.bygonely.com/houston-1930s/

Great images. Thanks for sharing. Obviously not all are from the 1930s though the structures in the images may date from that time. It is amazing to see how Houston has changed in less than 100 years though.

Even though oil was making its way on the scene in a big way cotton was still an essential commodity.

I think the "holding the noise in" is more of a psychological thing but I did not have an audiometer at the game. 🙂 It is a bit of a pity though since last Saturday at least was a beautiful day. A bigger pity of course was the two grand slams by the Red Sox. ☹️