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Peppermint Park At Gulfgate Shopping Center


Parrothead

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Does anyone have any pics of the old Peppermint Park? I loved that place! I remember going there for a birthday party, it was awesome!!!

Moderator edit: 

According to Wikipedia (user generated database, could be incorrect) Peppermint Park had several locations during its existence. 

1958 located in the Sears parking lot, Pasadena, TX.
1963 located on the Gulf Freeway, near Gulfgate Shopping Center.
1972 located at 2701 North Loop West.
1979 located on Highway 59 at Beltway 8.
1986 located at 17164 Blackhawk Blvd. In Friendswoods, TX.

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  • 4 months later...
Does anyone have any pics of the old Peppermint Park? I loved that place! I remember going there for a birthday party, it was awesome!!!

I don't have any pics but I sure wish that someone did. I remember Peppermint Park well. The one that I went to was in the close vicinity of Gulfgate Mall (then Gulfgate Shopping City) and the Carousel Motel. I remember its name in big visible letters on its roof. You could see it clearly from Gulf Freeway.

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  • 11 months later...

I'm not certain, but I remember the Peppermint Park building (Red and White stripes) suddenly appeared near 59 South and West Bellfort about 20 years ago or so. I never knew what it was doing there (or if it was even the same building), but it sat there for a while and then became the paint and body shop for the local Jeep Dealership. Anyone remember this?

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Does anyone have any pics of the old Peppermint Park? I loved that place! I remember going there for a birthday party, it was awesome!!!

Sorry about the quality but these are from 1963 8mm film. Note the Carrousel Hotel in the background of one of these shots. This was my sixth birthday party.

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Sorry about the quality but these are from 1963 8mm film. Note the Carrousel Hotel in the background of one of these shots. This was my sixth birthday party.

AWESOME! Thanks for posting these!

It's hard to tell, but is the carrousel hotel under construction or is it maybe the gulfgate cinema? it looks like a construction crane in the background.

so when are you gonna post the video onto youtube? :)

Edited by gnu
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AWESOME! Thanks for posting these!

It's hard to tell, but is the carrousel hotel under construction or is it maybe the gulfgate cinema? it looks like a construction crane in the background.

so when are you gonna post the video onto youtube? :)

I would love to post the video on youtube but its on one of those giant vhs tapes. I had the 8mm tape converted to vhs at Sears back in 1991. I just recently found out how to post a pic. I'm so proud of myself. The snippit of film is only about 1 minute long. I think what looks like a crane is actually part of the fence. It had barbed wire on top.

Edited by EastEnd Susan
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Sorry about the quality but these are from 1963 8mm film. Note the Carrousel Hotel in the background of one of these shots. This was my sixth birthday party.

2rymrli.jpg

4fuya1i.jpg

2vumvit.jpg

2lcv0d0.jpg

3zta83s.jpg

4ggqnb7.jpg

3yyflhd.jpg

2ymdkew.jpg

Susan, OMG! This brings back SO MANY memories! This is SO AWESOME! LOL! There's that huge, giant rollercoaster that made me so fearful! Now I absolutely LOVE rollercoasters! LOL! That thing had to be no more than 2 - 5 feet off the ground! That train is very memorable! WOW! This is awesome! Thanks so much for doing this for the rest of us who have no photos of our childhood memory of Peppermint Park! This is GREAT! The plane ride, the train, the rollercoaster! What fun we had in the old days! HA! LOL!

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Susan, OMG! This brings back SO MANY memories! This is SO AWESOME! LOL! There's that huge, giant rollercoaster that made me so fearful! Now I absolutely LOVE rollercoasters! LOL! That thing had to be no more than 2 - 5 feet off the ground! That train is very memorable! WOW! This is awesome! Thanks so much for doing this for the rest of us who have no photos of our childhood memory of Peppermint Park! This is GREAT! The plane ride, the train, the rollercoaster! What fun we had in the old days! HA! LOL!

I still do not understand that with all the aerial photos of Houston I cant find a single one with that big red and white striped roof. They get close..like Gulgate and the cinema but no Peppermint Park.

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I still do not understand that with all the aerial photos of Houston I cant find a single one with that big red and white striped roof. They get close..like Gulgate and the cinema but no Peppermint Park.

That's the same time that I was going to Peppermint Park. I was five years old in 1963. I remember seeing the big letters "PEPPERMINT PARK" on the roof as we drove down Gulf Freeway. Yes, those were some great times for a kid. Every time we went to Gulfgate next door, we would always enter through Newberry's. Ah, the constant sound and smell of the popcorn popping! The jelly beans, cashews, malted milk balls! I wish someone would invent a time machine so that I could go back and experience it again.

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That's the same time that I was going to Peppermint Park. I was five years old in 1963. I remember seeing the big letters "PEPPERMINT PARK" on the roof as we drove down Gulf Freeway. Yes, those were some great times for a kid. Every time we went to Gulfgate next door, we would always enter through Newberry's. Ah, the constant sound and smell of the popcorn popping! The jelly beans, cashews, malted milk balls! I wish someone would invent a time machine so that I could go back and experience it again.

We always parked and went in right at Sakowitz. Sakowitz had a great little candy counter with the chocolate coins and suckers with little faces in them. But we always made it down the mall to the popcorn. If you find that time machine please let me know. Now I'm craving an Orange Julius. When I was little I thought they tasted like St. Josephs aspirin.

dodge i think.

Used to be Charlie Thomas Ford back in the late 70's.

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We always parked and went in right at Sakowitz. Sakowitz had a great little candy counter with the chocolate coins and suckers with little faces in them. But we always made it down the mall to the popcorn. If you find that time machine please let me know. Now I'm craving an Orange Julius. When I was little I thought they tasted like St. Josephs aspirin.

Used to be Charlie Thomas Ford back in the late 70's.

orange_julius.gif

mmmmm....I LOVE Orange Julius!!!

http://www.orangejulius.com

i may have to head over to west oaks mall to get my fix.

I think the charlie thomas ford (name, at least) made it into the 90's.

Edited by gnu
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We always parked and went in right at Sakowitz. Sakowitz had a great little candy counter with the chocolate coins and suckers with little faces in them. But we always made it down the mall to the popcorn. If you find that time machine please let me know. Now I'm craving an Orange Julius. When I was little I thought they tasted like St. Josephs aspirin.

Used to be Charlie Thomas Ford back in the late 70's.

Yes, me, my cousin, and my aunt and uncle would go through the Gulfgate parking lot. We would pass by Sakowitz and Joske's. My cousin asked my aunt if they would ever go into those stores and she told him that they couldn't because those stores were for rich people. We all had to be content with Newberry's, Weingarten's, Globe, etc. I've never heard of an Orange Julius. We usually had to share both our bag of popcorn and a soda with each other. Times were somewhat lean back then.

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  • 1 month later...

Wow, peppermint park. I remember when my mother told me I was too old to celebrate my birthday there! I loved the helicopter and motorcycle rides. My mother claimed it was a neat place because you would bring your own cake, hats etc, and then the kids could ride. I do have old pictures that will need to be scanned. My pictures will be from the early 70's. I also went a few times to kiddie wonderland with the ponies.

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Wow, peppermint park. I remember when my mother told me I was too old to celebrate my birthday there! I loved the helicopter and motorcycle rides. My mother claimed it was a neat place because you would bring your own cake, hats etc, and then the kids could ride. I do have old pictures that will need to be scanned. My pictures will be from the early 70's. I also went a few times to kiddie wonderland with the ponies.

Can't wait to see your pics. Mine were from the mid sixties and poor quality as they are from 8mm movie film. The helicopter and the carrousel were my favorite rides.

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  • 1 year later...
orange_julius.gif

mmmmm....I LOVE Orange Julius!!!

http://www.orangejulius.com

i may have to head over to west oaks mall to get my fix.

I think the charlie thomas ford (name, at least) made it into the 90's.

Didn't Orange Julius have some kind of little devil guy as part of the logo in the late 60's-early 70's? (kind of like the canned "deviled ham" logo) Remember something like that at Gulfgate, the stand was by the bowling alley, I believe where the record store was located. My g-mother loved it. (I have way too much time on my hands today) :) .

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Didn't Orange Julius have some kind of little devil guy as part of the logo in the late 60's-early 70's? (kind of like the canned "deviled ham" logo) Remember something like that at Gulfgate, the stand was by the bowling alley, I believe where the record store was located. My g-mother loved it. (I have way too much time on my hands today) :) .

I remember the little devil guy too. I also remember it being where the record shop was. I think it was Hastings Records.

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Edited by EastEnd Susan
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I remember Pepppermint Palace. I went there a lot as a kid. It was a cool place to be. Now, it is part of a car dealership. I believe it closed in the late 1980s.

I believe you mean "Peppermint Park".

There's the little devil, thanks, EastEndSusan. Why a devil? Maybe the Julius name as something to do with it. :rolleyes:

PS I loved Peppermint Park, when it was around Gulfgate. Such a simple place.

Edited by NenaE
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I believe you mean "Peppermint Park".

There's the little devil, thanks, EastEndSusan. Why a devil? Maybe the Julius name as something to do with it. :rolleyes:

PS I loved Peppermint Park, when it was around Gulfgate. Such a simple place.

Yeah, I meant to say Peppermint Park.

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  • 7 months later...

You can view Peppermint Park at the Gulfgate (original) location in HistoricAerials.com, by selecting the 1964 map. It wasn't there in the 1957 one. Maybe try Arnim as street address.

A few things I didn't realize when I was little... the train actually had a huge track, and there was a neighborhood very close to the PP pavilion, off Arnim St. The site actually sat much deeper in (closer to the homes) than I originally thought. The feeder road that led into it was Gulf Freeway Service Road. The bldg. actually was used by the dealership that replaced it (in 1973 map, the park has been moved). Several later maps show the bldg. outlines (ground clues) were there for awhile, then built over with another dealership bldg. You can even see another small track, believe that was for little hand-petal cars. Great shots of Gulfgate layout, as well.

The roof is striped/ painted with lettering "Peppermint Park" (smaller letters below - kiddieland).

http://historicaerials.com/default.aspx

The Carousel Motel is to the left (West) of it.

Edited by NenaE
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  • 3 months later...

I worked at Peppermint Park after school & summers, 1959, '60 & '61. Would probably be against child labor & OSHA laws now since I was only 14 when I started. I remember that I was hired & started work with no social security card, but had to promise to get one. As I remember it, the park was only open Friday afternoon, Saturday & Sunday during school year (since all who worked there were students - mostly from Milby, but a couple from Austin & Mt. Carmel). During Summer, it was open 7 days a week. We made $.65 an hour, no overtime. Working the birthday parties (usually Saturday AM, before park opened at noon) was a real bonus. Our "party comp" was $3.00 plus whatever we might get as a tip. Once I got a $5.00 tip, but it was usually a buck - if anything at all. For that $3.00 we had to take the kids on all rides & help serve drinks, cake, etc.

The park was originally in Pasadena & moved to the triangle formed by Revilee & Gulf Freeway frontage road in 1958 or early 1959. The train went around the whole fenced perimeter of the property, most of it open space. It was right across Revilee from the Carousel Motel & the park parking lot, between frontage & Revilee, backed up to houses in that neighborhood.

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