Houston In The 1960s

[Heights2Bastrop]

It was exactly 50 years ago today while sitting in Mrs. Tillinghast's class at Love Elementary that Jimmy Hulme shouted out, “It's snowing!” No one turned to look because Jimmy was prone to shouting that out as a joke.

But he quickly followed with, “No, it really IS snowing!” It was the very first time most of us had ever seen snow. February 12th, 1961 will always be fondly etched in my mind.

[Alpha]

It was exactly 50 years ago today while sitting in Mrs. Tillinghast's class at Love Elementary that Jimmy Hulme shouted out, “It's snowing!” No one turned to look because Jimmy was prone to shouting that out as a joke.

But he quickly followed with, “No, it really IS snowing!” It was the very first time most of us had ever seen snow. February 12th, 1961 will always be fondly etched in my mind.

I mentioned this to my sister just about an hour ago. I was in the 6th grade at Horn Elementary in Bellaire. After school, my grandmother took my sister and me to her house in West University to spend the night. The next day we built two snowmen in her front yard.

My sister lives in Georgia and it's snowing there right now.

[JLWM8609]

It was exactly 50 years ago today while sitting in Mrs. Tillinghast's class at Love Elementary that Jimmy Hulme shouted out, “It's snowing!” No one turned to look because Jimmy was prone to shouting that out as a joke.

But he quickly followed with, “No, it really IS snowing!” It was the very first time most of us had ever seen snow. February 12th, 1961 will always be fondly etched in my mind.

Don't you mean 49 years ago today?

[RedScare]

Don't you mean 49 years ago today?

No, he really meant 50 years ago today.

[JLWM8609]

No, he really meant 50 years ago today.

Cool link. You know, now that I think about it, I believe there's some old news footage of the 1960 snowfall floating around the web somewhere. I think KTRK filmed it.

Edited February 13, 2010 by JLWM8609

[august948]

No, he really meant 50 years ago today.

Is it a typo or did we really get 20 inches of snow in 1895?

[devonhart]

Edited May 26, 2010 by devonhart

[Stargaze]

An evening out with the gang can sometimes be filled with scandalous drama. It may sound like fiction, but true to the story, it's the basis of eye popping camp and party lore. If you have awoken to find your garter around someone else's leg, only to ask the question - who is this sleeping in my bed, then please Goldilocks, by all means, delight us with some of your best diary snapshots.

Think of this little chat as a visit to Carlos, your favorite hair dresser, and you're reliving the unforgettable experience. It's your story, as you remember it.

[Subdude]

See this topic here.

[devonhart]

Found a July 9, 1966 broadcast, edited down to a couple minutes and added photos.

[Alpha]

I loved that! What memories. I was 18 and had just graduated from high school. I had listened to KILT since sixth grade, but when I was 16, I switched to KNUZ. I liked Paul Berlin's morning show and would listen while I got ready for school.

[devonhart]

I loved that! What memories.

I especially like the Rainbo bread ad with it's "miracle polyethylene plastic bag".

[Fringe]

That was great. Loved the ads.  Forgot about some like the Mike Persia commercial. Also forgot most of the deejay names. James Bond was the morning guy. Must have been right before Hudson and Harrigan (Stevens and Pruett) started. 

[FilioScotia]

That was great. Loved the ads.  Forgot about some like the Mike Persia commercial. Also forgot most of the deejay names. James Bond was the morning guy. Must have been right before Hudson and Harrigan (Stevens and Pruett) started. 

Not quite, but almost. James Bond was just one of the personalities created by a talented DJ named Ben Schwartzman. It was of course inspired by the extreme popularity of the James Bond movie series which was in high gear with one hit film after another. Schwartzman's "English" accent wasn't very good, but it was passable for Houston.

The "Bond" show lasted until late 1966. When "Bond" left, KILT used fill-in DJ's for a time. Then a new DJ named Alex Bennett showed up in the morning slot, and he was completely different from "Bond". They were in fact the same guy - Ben Schwartzman, finally getting the chance to be himself. Alex Bennett was and still is a damn good DJ. So good he left KILT about a year later in '67 to look for greener pastures. He's still at it today, doing his show on Sirius and XM Satellite Radio.

Here's a link to his website: http://www.radiofreejack.com/

When Bennett left, station owner Gordon Maclendon KILT GM Dickie Rosenfeld decided to install a two-man morning show. So they hired Mack Hudson from a Beaumont station, and teamed him with Paul Menard from KLIF in Dallas, named them Hudson and Harrigan and sent them to KILT. The original pair held down the morning show till the early 70s. After they took the last train to the coast in the mid 70s, Mark Stevens and Jim Pruett became H&H.

Edited November 30, 2010 by FilioScotia

[Fringe]

Ahh yes. I forgot the original H&H was not S&P. Did not know Bond and Bennett were the same guy. Very interesting. 

[devonhart]

Then a new DJ named Alex Bennett showed up in the morning slot, and he was completely different from "Bond".

He also had a call in night show on KILT, in the midst of Vietnam you can imagine how heated it got sometimes. My buddy and I tried to call one night, never got on, but it was like a party line where you could talk to the other callers waiting to get on, at least that's the way I remember it, no guarantee I remember it correctly.

[Houstonian in Iraq]

That was great. I remember growing up my mom telling me she watched the Lunar landing at the Foley's Downtown back in '69. I believe she was already here in the States by '66. I'm going to show this to her, thanks for posting it.

[4PROP]

He also had a call in night show on KILT, in the midst of Vietnam you can imagine how heated it got sometimes. My buddy and I tried to call one night, never got on, but it was like a party line where you could talk to the other callers waiting to get on, at least that's the way I remember it, no guarantee I remember it correctly.

Alex Bennet , "The man you love to hate". He was definately the king of the spin doctors back then. Wow, all the good music on air and we sat and listened to this jerk? I gotta' hand it to him, he certainly held the secret to successful radio!

I may be wrong but I though it was only one caller at a time so he could do all the one-on-one razzing himself.

[icepickphil]

Alex Bennett: "The man you love to hate"

Several mp3 audio file airchecks of Alex Bennett/James Bond at this site The Vasthead Houston Retro Radio. Many other KILT and Houston radio airchecks at that site also.

[Fringe]

Alex Bennett: "The man you love to hate"

Several mp3 audio file airchecks of Alex Bennett/James Bond at this site The Vasthead Houston Retro Radio. Many other KILT and Houston radio airchecks at that site also.

Wow. That really was a poor English accent. Guess when I was 15 it sounded realistic to me. 

[devonhart]

I may be wrong but I though it was only one caller at a time so he could do all the one-on-one razzing himself.

Correct, one caller at a time on air, but while waiting to get on the air you could talk to other who were waiting also.

[devonhart]

A young Ron Stone, Steve Edwards, and Joanne King

[kennyc05]

kool!!!

[Retama]

My father knew Harry Kalas when he did UH football games on the radio. I had forgotten he did the sports on 11 in those days too. You can still hear his voice on NFL highlight tapes into the 1990s.

[FilioScotia]

My father knew Harry Kalas when he did UH football games on the radio. I had forgotten he did the sports on 11 in those days too. You can still hear his voice on NFL highlight tapes into the 1990s.

Harry Kalas had a career most radio play-by-play announcers can only dream of. For a long time he was the #2 man on the Houston Astros radio and TV broadcast team, with Gene Elston and Loel Passe. Until 1969.

That was the year Astros Publicity Manager Bill Giles moved to Philadelphia for a major move up. Giles' father -- National League President Warren Giles -- was about to retire, but on his way out the door, he persuaded the Phillies to hire his son Bill to be General Manager of the Phillies.

Two years later in 1971 Kalas's Astros contract came up for renewal, but Giles made him a better offer and hired him to lead the Phillies broadcast team. The rest is history.

Philadelphia is also the home of NFL Films, so Harry was a natural for doing many NFL films voice-over narrations, behind "The Voice of God" John Facenda. Harry moved into the first chair at NFL films when Facenda died in 1984.

Yes indeed. Harry was one of the great ones.

[nm5k]

Sid Lasher.. I'd forgot all about that guy. Been so long..

I still remember the night he died right before the newscast

was about to start. I was thinking it was probably about 1970-71,

and a quick search showed it to be in 1971.. 40 years ago..

Note how primitive the weather map was back then.

[FilioScotia]

Sid Lasher.. I'd forgot all about that guy. Been so long..

I still remember the night he died right before the newscast

was about to start. I was thinking it was probably about 1970-71,

and a quick search showed it to be in 1971.. 40 years ago.

Sid Lasher was one of the most popular TV personalities Houston has ever had. He wasn't a meteorologist. Never pretended to be one. He just explained the weather and the forecast in words we ordinary folk could understand. His warm and cordial on-air style endeared him to everybody. He died one night in 1971 between the 6pm and 10pm news.

Ron Stone told me an interesting story about the guy who replaced Lasher. Stone was anchoring at KHOU then, and a guy named Jerry Dale was Lasher's backup and weekend weather guy. When Lasher died, Dale was promoted into the full time weather job.

Stone told me that Dale really loved Lasher as a friend and father-figure, and he was so grief-stricken by his death he had a "nervous breakdown." Today we call that a "deep depression."

Worse, Dale believed with all his heart that Lasher's spirit was still roaming the halls and studios at KHOU. He ended up leaving KHOU not very long after that, and I heard from one source at the time that he went into therapy. But that story has been debunked, so I have no idea where Dale went or what happened to him.

[toadfroggy]

I'm so glad you guys remember Sid dying right before air time one evening. I remember that, too, but I was afraid my memory was a bit creative. Was Sid the one that was known for "ta-da-da-dum-ta-dum Presidio, Texas!" when announcing the hottest spot on the map or was that someone else?

[Urban Commando]

I had thought Sid Lasher died around '74. I do remember watching a distraught Ron Stone make the announcement and that it had happened in studio just before on-air 10PM. They cut to a picture of Sid Lasher and then went straight to the Late Show movie. A long time ago, but I still remember it clearly.

[nm5k]

Was Sid the one that was known for "ta-da-da-dum-ta-dum Presidio, Texas!" when announcing the hottest spot on the map or was that someone else?

Yep, that was him.. According to what I found when I did the search to verify the date,

that happened not long before the 10 PM news was to come on. One source said he was

out in the hallway.. They said Ron Stone came on to give the announcement, and then they cut

to a three stooges cartoon.. I'm not sure if that's right or not... Seems to be a

weird choice of programming to put on right after announcing something like that.

But maybe that's all they had ready to go at that moment to fill the air.. ??

I also ran across another obit about his wife. She died just this year. I think Feb 2011,

or thereabouts.