Markle Steel Company, Inc. At 1709 Delano St.

[tarnashun]

in the 1960's, if you were coming from south houston down I-45 to go across town to visit ,say,your aunt carverene like i was, just before you hit the newfangled downtown overpass, on the right, you would see this huge corrugated butler building the size of an airplane hanger. it was the markle steel fabrication plant, and on the front of it, about two stories tall was a multicolored animated neon spectacular which pictured a construction worker in a hardhat sitting astride an airborne girder giving the thumbs up to hoist him higher into the air. letters a mere 6' (or so it seemed i guess) proclaimed MARKLE STEEL, one word on either side of him. every week we would go to my aunts house, and every week i would look for this drawing in light.

i am 48 now, and i make neon glass for a living in atlanta. i am working on my webpage and want to put the markle steel guy on my site with my bio. if anyone out there in texas has pictures of it to share with this texas transplant, i would be no end of grateful. plus i just want to see it again. thank you.

[musicman]

it was dozed a few yrs ago.

[Vertigo58]

Here is an interesting excerpt from great link about Markle Steel. Read the whole thing as it speaks of Houston's innovations in the steel industry and with car prototypes.

Here is the snipet and link:

"The Houston firm...is headed by Charles Markle Knipe, Houston steel firm executive and auto enthusiast.

His collection of classic cars is considered one of the finest in the country"

"...the firm is headed by Charles Markle Knipe...". First of all, what firm? The Venus Corp? I can find no reference to Mr, Markle Knipe in any of the legal documents. As a kid, I recall a large steel fabrication place near downtown just off I-45. It had a big animated neon sign of a guy on an I-beam waving his arm, under which was the name Markle Steel. So no doubt, Markle was a player in Houston during that time, but what did he have to do with the Venus? You can't just nonchalantly mention a prominent person's name in the newspaper without there being some truth to it. So was Markle the one pulling the strings in the background? Perhaps he was considering underwriting the venture at the time, but then got cold feet? An Internet search found nothing about Mr. Markle or his car collection. Did he own a Venus? Very curious.

Additional internet research shows that a Mr. John Brooks Williams as the owner of Markle Steel. Mr. Williams was very wealthy and gave millions to local parochial schools. So if Mr. Williams was the owner of Markle Steel, then who was Charles Markle Knipe?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

I wonder if it was like the huge corrugated factory building over off Clinton Drive? This building had BETHLEHEM STEEL in gigantic lettering on it.

I do however remember the Markle one you described. It was discussed in East End section I think? It is discussed along with the huge Coca-Cola neon sign at Telephone & 45. We have that one on 8mm film and most neons dring into downtown. I need to find and view before it disintegrates forever.

[mkultra25]

I do however remember the Markle one you described. It was discussed in East End section I think? It is discussed along with the huge Coca-Cola neon sign at Telephone & 45. We have that one on 8mm film and most neons dring into downtown. I need to find and view before it disintegrates forever.

Stored properly (low temperature and humidity), most film will outlive us. There are some exceptions where the base or emulsion is unstable, but in general film is the gold standard when it comes to archiving moving images.

There's a place called Video Transfer on Heights Blvd. near 20th St. which does film-to-video transfers and standards conversions - I've used him several times in the past. You ought to get your 8mm film transferred to DVD for regular viewing purposes, then you don't have to worry about the film getting damaged (assuming you still own a projector). I bet there'd be more than a few HAIFers who'd be interested in a copy of such a DVD.

[tarnashun]

Stored properly (low temperature and humidity), most film will outlive us. There are some exceptions where the base or emulsion is unstable, but in general film is the gold standard when it comes to archiving moving images.

There's a place called Video Transfer on Heights Blvd. near 20th St. which does film-to-video transfers and standards conversions - I've used him several times in the past. You ought to get your 8mm film transferred to DVD for regular viewing purposes, then you don't have to worry about the film getting damaged (assuming you still own a projector). I bet there'd be more than a few HAIFers who'd be interested in a copy of such a DVD.

[tarnashun]

Here is an interesting excerpt from great link about Markle Steel. Read the whole thing as it speaks of Houston's innovations in the steel industry and with car prototypes.

Here is the snipet and link:

"The Houston firm...is headed by Charles Markle Knipe, Houston steel firm executive and auto enthusiast.

His collection of classic cars is considered one of the finest in the country"

"...the firm is headed by Charles Markle Knipe...". First of all, what firm? The Venus Corp? I can find no reference to Mr, Markle Knipe in any of the legal documents. As a kid, I recall a large steel fabrication place near downtown just off I-45. It had a big animated neon sign of a guy on an I-beam waving his arm, under which was the name Markle Steel. So no doubt, Markle was a player in Houston during that time, but what did he have to do with the Venus? You can't just nonchalantly mention a prominent person's name in the newspaper without there being some truth to it. So was Markle the one pulling the strings in the background? Perhaps he was considering underwriting the venture at the time, but then got cold feet? An Internet search found nothing about Mr. Markle or his car collection. Did he own a Venus? Very curious.

Additional internet research shows that a Mr. John Brooks Williams as the owner of Markle Steel. Mr. Williams was very wealthy and gave millions to local parochial schools. So if Mr. Williams was the owner of Markle Steel, then who was Charles Markle Knipe?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...l%3Den%26sa%3DG

I HAD READ THIS TOO. AND I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A VENUS. THAT BEAUTIFUL LINE, AND THE GRILL IS JUST THE DEAL ISN'T IT? THANKS FOR THE RESPONSE. MARK

I wonder if it was like the huge corrugated factory building over off Clinton Drive? This building had BETHLEHEM STEEL in gigantic lettering on it.

I do however remember the Markle one you described. It was discussed in East End section I think? It is discussed along with the huge Coca-Cola neon sign at Telephone & 45. We have that one on 8mm film and most neons dring into downtown. I need to find and view before it disintegrates forever.

[guy chachere]

The old Markel Steel yard I-45 north just as you exited for downtown, had big neon sign of worker on a steel beam being lifted and he had one arm that move  up and down.