Dave W

"Kirkendall" is the correct pronunciation of Kuykendall. It's a Dutch thing, not a Houston oddity.

The street was Tatar, not Tarter. It was named for developer Herbert Tatar.

Her name was Rose Behar. I remember her from the Almeda Road store. I found this:https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/10336374/rose-behar and this: https://www.ebay.com/itm/373907237120?hash=item570e9ba900:g:WWUAAOSwRoth9Clg

I remember your father from the Oilers, and the Aggies before that.

This thread is about the building at 3736, which was a Stables restaurant at one time. Not related to the riding stables which IIRC was west of Fondren.

M. Herrick was the original bookstore in Westbury Square back in the early 60s. It was later called Westbury Square Books. But I was gone from Houston by 1979-80 so I don't know about the store you're referring to.

I remember M. Herrick Books in Westbury Square.

The store on Mykawa was a FedMart, not a Sage. The only Sage in southeast Houston was at 8555 Gulf Freeway. There was never a "Jesus saved at Sage" billboard. Never happened.

It was located on the southeast corner of Beechnut at Post Oak (later 610). Post Oak was the west border.

Kiddie Wonderland was the amusement park with the pony ride. Not Playland Park.

The Green Parrot on MacGregor Way. It was opened in the early 1950s.

The MacDonald's on Main at Gray was a carhop drive-in. It was there at least as early as 1955, because we ate there at least that early. The family that owned it and the other two local carhop MacDonald's couldn't have opened it to extort money from the national McDonalds, because in 1955 the McDonalds we know today was a small regional chain that Ray Kroc hadn't even bought yet.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/slaidblade/3871451920 See the comment below the photo from the person who uploaded it.

Have you seen this one? It's from the Pine Grove Press photostream, same guy who has the Wired For Sound blog. https://flic.kr/p/kSLC5

Anchor Fence, which was founded in Michigan, was making and installing chain link fencing a good 40 years before Hurricane Fence was founded.

Price's Hamburgers was the brainchild of Price Lovelady. According to a newspaper story way back when, he was financed by one of the Klebergs of King Ranch fame in exchange for 50% of the profits. For a short time he sponsored and appeared on a local kiddie show called Uncle Price's Party. This would have been in the early 60s. He seemed uncomfortable around the kids.

Palm Center opened about 1955. The FedMart to the east @ Mykawa opened no more than a couple of years later.

The Gemco in that area was on Fondren just south of Beechnut. When we were visiting back in the 80s it had become a Sam's Club. No idea what the 7005 Beechnut location was, but there wasn't a Globe there either.

Mickey's Diner in St. Paul is still very much in business. http://www.mickeysdiningcar.com/

That looks like the store on Westheimer in front of Tanglewood.

Lewis & Coker stores were around long before Kmart. As a teenager I worked at the Holcombe at Greenbrier and Palm Center stores, and later at the store adjoiining the Kmart on Van Fleet off South Park.

I agree with TielsBetter, this thread is useful, if for no other reason than to set the record straight. A few observations: There were never separate shopping sections anywhere in Houston, period. Separate restrooms and water fountains, yes. Separate lunch counters or restricted to whites only, yes. But absolutely no separate shopping areas. Woolworth's record department was bigger than average, but If you wanted a good selection of records, you went to a record store. There were dozens of them. They had different selections depending on their neighborhood and clientele, but none of them were ever restricted by race. OTOH a popular record like LaVern Baker's "Jim Dandy" could be found on the rack at your neighborhood 7-Eleven. Rack jobbers had Top 40 singles and albums in lots of retail stores. The term "race records" was obsolete long before the mid 50s. No, of course he wouldn't have been served alcohol at age 14. Curious that he used the term alcohol instead of beer. Liquor by the drink didn't exist in Texas until the late 70s (and still doesn't in some counties). Bars served beer and "setups." You brought your own bottle. [sarcasm] But who knows, maybe PJ stopped at the liquor store on his way to the non-existent bar where he never performed [/sarcasm]. Maybe the most ridiculous claim in the RegionalMag article is how he had a little crystal set radio that could get a special station in Pecos. With a crystal radio? Riiiight. Lucky if he could receive anything further than 5 miles away.

Yes, I remember it, it was the Delman Theater.

Tinker, In 1950, we moved right off 9600 South Main, and I'm quite familiar with the South Main/OST junction in 1954 and well beyond. There was not a bar called the Hitching Post at South Main and OST; not next door to Prince's, not across the street from Prince's. It wasn't there. Period. Prince's only next door neighbor was its competitor Stuart's Drive In directly to the north. The Palladium fronted on OST, across the street from the OST side of Stuart's. Across South Main there was a drive-in grocery/cafe, the Ace Trailer Park and Lee's Den Chinese restaurant. There was no building of any kind there that looked like a wooden cabin. Jimmy/PJ's memories of South Main St. are confused at best. South Main was certainly not a dirt road; it was paved throughout its length. Don't know why you mention that "there was no dual carriage way with a division in the middle in those days" but there was an esplanade in the section that bordered Rice University, and there were four lanes divided by a wide grass esplanade all the way from the OST junction south to just past Stella Link. More important, if Jimmy's mother lived near South Main, and he had to pass Bill Williams Fried Chicken on his way to South Main at OST, then she must have lived north of Rice University, a good three miles or more from Prince's. That's a long walk, barefoot or not. And if she lived in the Lamar attendance zone, chances are she lived a good bit futher away than that. Bill Williams was in the 6500 block, a half mile north of the Shamrock. Kiddie Wonderland (the "pony rides") was more than half a mile south of the Shamrock. Playland Park was in the 9200 block, more than a mile south of Prince's. Keep in mind that Prince's most famous location was in the 4500 block, near Sears. It's possible that PJ is remembering a bar or a building near that Prince's. That brings us to Elvis. There's simply no evidence that Elvis ever hung around Houston hustling for gigs. His whereabouts and his gigs are known and pretty well documented.

Uncle John's Pancake House was a California-based franchise restaurant chain. I don't doubt the one on O.S.T. was locally owned but it was definitely part of a franchise operation. There was a One's A Meal in the Braeswood Center on Holcombe at Greenbriar, we used to eat there often when I was growing up in the 50s. The Chuck Davis jingle came from an old ragtime song, Ja-Da (Ja-Da Jing Jing Jing).