57Tbird

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Their ages were listed, and they were all too young to have been your mother, Sparky. I should have noticed that before asking.

Nope! It was the one where Blackie Lothringer went over the wall between turn 1 and turn 2. He landed in the area between the concession stand and south stands near the west entrance gate. Here is a Chronicle report on the accident. Front page and other page. Sparky, Was your mom one of the ladies named, at the concession stand, in the Chronicle article?

I went to Sutton, Fannin, Poe El, Lanier, Lamar '53. My wife went to MacGregor, Johnston, and San Jac '55.

I had forgotten about the Pla-Mor arcade downtown until you mentioned it. It was on Dallas, between Main and Fannin, across from where Sakowitz would eventually be built. I went there many times as a youngster in the mid-40's. As I remember, it was open-air, on the ground floor of some type of structure that may have been a parking garage. Where did you go to school while living at Playland? You and I are the same age. I am the "gentleman" you mentioned in your first post who was buying a Coke when that horrible accident occurred at Playland in 1959.

OK... I'm going to put in my $.02 worth here. I think I remember the End of Main from the late 40's-early 50's being where Sonny Look's would eventually be located. I believe that would be at the NW corner of S. Main and the present Loop 610. I'm not positive, but reasonably sure. It was certainly not at the end of Main then, but probably was when it was originally constructed.

Nope! Sivil's was further out S. Main. Sivil's became Stuart's. See this previous post

Hello to all my preservationist friends, please help me support David Welling and his book "Cinema Houston". David has worked very hard to keep the soul of the movie business in Houston alive through this wonderful book. His efforts will insure a fun part of Houston's history will survive. Mention your favorite Houston preservation group when you purchase a book and I will throw in a black and white poster of vintage Houston. Company discounts available on large orders! This book is the perfect Christmas item, priced at $45.00 it is an affordable way to show support of our historical community.... TO READ UP ON THE BOOK VISIT ITS WEBSITE: http://www.cinemahouston.info/index.htm Story Sloane

It was 4.9 miles according to this.

You think I would drive this in Houston? Seriously... I would like to, but I sold her several years ago.

For those who might be interested. I received this notice today... Hey all, Just a note to remind everyone that at 12:30 on Saturday, November 3rd, Houston Arts and Media will be having a: Houston History Road Rally! All the information can all be found here - http://www.houstonartsandmedia.org/news.htm - but I'll summarize... Gather your friends and your road maps and come compete against other teams to solve clever clues that will lead you to 15 or so historic Houston locations in the inner loop. You'll have to take a picture to prove you found it and include one of your teammates to prove you were actually there. We start at and return to the Shady Tavern, 1206 W 20th St, itself a local landmark since 1939, where we'll be serving free food, and giving away prizes. You can register your team online early for $25 (or $20 if you get yourself a HAM membership - recommended... or $30 ($25 - ditto) on Rally Day. That's a per team price, and with up to 5 people per team, that's a real bargain for a day of fun! So, grab your friends and come meet us at the Shady at 12:30 on Saturday November 3rd! Visit http://www.houstonartsandmedia.org/news.htm to sign up! thanks! laurie

This is a letter that Story Sloane, owner of Sloane's Gallery, wrote to the Chronicle recently. Some of you may have seen it. He gave me permission to post it here. Interesting! I think it expresses the concerns of many on this forum. Get History Museum With the city's 171st birthday close at hand, everyone's busy planning events to mark the occasion. We will be 171, but drive around town and you'd think the city was constructed in the 1980s. There has been much talk about preserving Houston's architectural history. Concerned citizens form activist groups and launch Web sites and with all the media attention, you might think something tangible was being done. But still the wrecking ball bounces! Perhaps the preservation of our great city's past is not always brick and mortar. How many Houstonians have shoeboxes full of local history that are headed for the trash bins? While working on a book in the '80s about Houston's history, I was given access to several historical archives whose wealth of history was amazing. I was also disgusted by how little of that treasure trove was accessible to the public. And unfortunately, the contents housed in the Julia Ideson library have suffered from more than six decades of political and philanthropical neglect. One good storm could cause catastrophic damage to its 3 million photographs and negatives. When these visual records of our demolished historical buildings are lost, all that will remain will be fading memories. The city needs a museum of its history and culture in order to educate young Houstonians to appreciate the city's fantastic history. We need a place to exhibit some of those "shoebox memories" and lighten the load for the underfunded and understaffed preservation groups. We need a place where all can go to be enlightened by the remarkable accomplishments of this great city: in short, a museum of Houston's history and culture. Where is Jesse Jones when we need him? STORY SLOANE III Houston

Are you saying that Howard Johnson's was the first ice cream shop in Houston? I don't think so. I remember the Rettig's shops from the early 40's. There was one on the SE corner of Main and Elgin, near where I lived at that time. The Rettig's factory was near downtown, not far from the YMCA. They may have existed before that, but that's the earliest I remember.

This was also the subject of a previous topic

Oh. Thanks.

The Post Oak Drive-in was located at 2900 Post Oak Rd. I went there many times in my youth. It was near the KPRC-TV studio of that time, if I remember correctly.

In a recent post, I made a reference to a maps.live.com link to show a Houston building location. I got an error message that said I had used a link that was not allowed on HAIF, and my reply would not post. I removed the link and there was no further problem. I, and others, have used links to this site before with no problem. What is the criteria here for links? Has this topic been covered before?

I think #13 is a little too far to the west to be Union Station, if you count the blocks from Fannin. Union Station is on Crawford. The Church of the Annunciation, also on Crawford, is directly south across Texas from Union Station, so US would be partially hidden by the church... if that's the church. OTOH, #15 may be too far to the east to be on Crawford. It looks like there is a steeple there, so that's why I thought it might be the COTA. Also, Union Station is only four stories high, and #13 looks more than that. Opinions, please? A maps.live.com link won't work here. If you use IE, go to the maps.live.com site and Birds-Eye View the area to the South of Minute-Maid Park. You can see the location relation between the old Union Station and Church of the Annunciation. Re #21... Earlydays said he and his wife remembered that structure as a very elegant 1920

I thought I would take a stab at adding names that I know and some I think I know. With the original poster's (Earlydays) permission, and with his help on some of the names, I am putting it up again with names at the bottom of the photo. I guess I am limited to the file size that's shown here, because the one I uploaded was about 1 MB. and you could zoom in for more detail than the final zoom allowance here shows. The numbers on the photo are small because I didn't want them to override the picture. Hope you can read them OK. Please help out with names that have question marks and with any other buildings you might know that aren't numbered. I will add them.

Great picture, isuredid! Thanks! Not much has changed except for the windows and lamps.

I'm here, but with no positive answer. Main thing I remember is the flickering, neon campfire at night. I thought the Indians' features were outlined with neon lighting too, but that wouldn't have been practical with a 3-dimensional figure like yours. In the back of my mind, I was thinking a flat, plywood version, but I really can't be sure. Subdude's postcard didn't show the Indians on top. Must not have been there then. I'm lookin' and askin' around. Your Indian is in pretty good condition, if he's been sitting outside for some 50 years.

Most kids couldn't afford the skates that were used on the wood floors of the roller rinks, so they were rented as were ice skates at the ice skating rinks. The roller skates had four wide hard rubber or urethane wheels on them. I find ads in my wife's and my old high school and college yearbooks. Lots of advertising in the back of those. That's where I found the Kelley's ad I posted earlier.

Careful!

I don't think Kelley's was in that area.