Houston Trivia Game

[marmer]

Yogi Berra, as a coach, not as a player.

Nope. Yogi entered the Hall in 1972 and didn't coach for the Astros until 1986.

Another hint: This player was the Steve Carlton of his day.

[Mark F. Barnes]

Well, y'all aren't doing too bad. Still wondering about the first Astro in the HOF, first a/c auto, what's missing from the Marshall Field's facade...

Here are a couple more:

1. What was the original location of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center?

The M. D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research of The University of Texas started out in temporary quarters on the Baker estate near downtown Houston.

[Mark F. Barnes]

I'm gonna keep asking until someone answers!

1. Who was the first former Astro to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame?

Robin Roberts

I'm gonna keep asking until someone answers!

3. Craig Biggio will probably be in the Hall of Fame. What other three former Astros infielders are in the Hall of Fame?

Nellie Fox, Joe Morgan and Eddie Mathews

[Mark F. Barnes]

I'm gonna keep asking until someone answers!

2. What Houston businessman had the first air-conditioned automobile on record, and when?

This one is a little tougher, But the first car with an actual refrigeration system was the 1939 Packard. The Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit manufactured the first air-conditioned car in 1939. It consisted of a large evaporator, called the 'cooling coil,' which took up the entire trunk space. The only control was a blower switch. It was displayed to the public for the first time in Chicago Ill, at the 1939 National Automotive Show on Nov. 4th 1939.

Not sure if you mean the first person to have and A/C car in Houston or what.

[PuroAztlan]

Well, y'all aren't doing too bad. Still wondering about the first Astro in the HOF, first a/c auto

first guy with ac auto was Jesse Jones

[Dan the Man]

4. Who designed the facade for Marshall Field's at the Galleria and what was supposed to be added to it, but never was?

Philip Johnson originally intended for the facade to be an abstraction of a painter's palette. The facade was to be covered with brightly-colored "daubs of paint" to contrast with the white marble.

[marmer]

The M. D. Anderson Hospital for Cancer Research of The University of Texas started out in temporary quarters on the Baker estate near downtown Houston.

Well all right! Now we're getting somewhere! Yes, this is correct. I forget what the residence was called -- The Oaks I think. Apparently there were some WWII-era temporary buildings too.

Philip Johnson originally intended for the facade to be an abstraction of a painter's palette. The facade was to be covered with brightly-colored "daubs of paint" to contrast with the white marble.

Ding, ding, ding! Another winner! The brightly colored daubs of paint were an aluminum sculpture by Claes Oldenburg. Not sure if it was ever created but Marshall Field's chose not to install it, leaving the facade bare.

[marmer]

This one is a little tougher, But the first car with an actual refrigeration system was the 1939 Packard. The Packard Motor Car Company in Detroit manufactured the first air-conditioned car in 1939. It consisted of a large evaporator, called the 'cooling coil,' which took up the entire trunk space. The only control was a blower switch. It was displayed to the public for the first time in Chicago Ill, at the 1939 National Automotive Show on Nov. 4th 1939.

Not sure if you mean the first person to have and A/C car in Houston or what.

You are correct that the first car with factory air was the 1939 Packard. However, according to this document from the archives of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers, the first ever air-conditioned car was a Cadillac owned by John Hamman Jr. In 1930, C&C Kelvinator fitted a custom-made unit with its own small gasoline engine to the back of Mr. Hamman's Cadillac.

Robin Roberts

Yes, the former Phillies great had a cup of coffee with the Astros on his way out of the major leagues in 1965 and 1966. He was elected to the HOF in 1976. He was one of the NL's dominating pitchers for the late 40s and throughout the 50s and led the 1950 Phillies (the "Hitless Wonders") to the World Series.

Nellie Fox, Joe Morgan and Eddie Mathews

Yes!

[marmer]

Here's a couple for architecture history buffs:

John F. Staub and Birdsall P. Briscoe are most commonly associated with houses in Broadacres and River Oaks. What famous architects or firms are associated with multiple houses in the earlier elite developments of Courtlandt Place and Shadyside?

Large public buildings were planned by some unusual architectural teams in prewar Houston. What buildings were created by these teams:

John F. Staub, Kenneth Franzheim, Louis Glover, Lamar Q. Cato, and Harry Payne?

Birdsall P. Briscoe, Maurice J. Sullivan, Sam H. Dixon Jr., and Joseph Finger?

[brucesw]

James Coney Island is the oldest restaurant in Houston

Yale Pharmacy and Grill, now doing business as Yale Grill and Gift Shop, also dates to 1923, but, depending on your definitions of 'in Houston' and 'restaurant:'

Christie's opened on the seawall in Galveston ca. 1917/18, moved to Houston in 1939. There used to be several locations, the one on Westheimer is the only surviving one.

Houston City Club has been in operation since 1894 and has food service, though it's not open to the general public.