Show all posts by user

Re: Stores of Long Ago - 11 months ago

Are there no Kroger's stores in the DFW area? There are in many parts of the country, and they also operated under the name "Ralph's" (California) and Fred Meyer's (Washington and other places). I think I shopped in a Kroger in McKinney a year or so ago.

Re: Stores of Long Ago - 11 months ago

A VERY old thread, but hoping to hear something from others regarding Dallas mercantile history. Texaco is still extant, though perhaps not in the DFW area. The name is owned by Chevron, and it is used in West Texas (Permian Basin) and here where I live in Eastern Washington, though Chevron stations are more common in both localities. Gulf is also a Chevron brand, and the name is used in the

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 11 months ago

I realize that not many people follow this forum any longer, but for the few who do, HAPPY NEW YEAR! May you have the best year possible in 2023, prosperous, fun, and full of love and peace. Is that too much for anyone to ask? mcneely

Bonnie and Clyde - 11 months ago

Chris Jackson has posted this: on his blog, which mostly is about the DFW urban wildlife he so passionately documents on the blog. I thought others might find it interesting to witness and think about the setting for the movie Bonnie and Clyde. It is also worth thinking about the book documenting the same events, _My Life with Bonnie and Clyde_ by Blanche Barrow. Blanche lived until the

Re: Old Post Office downtown - 1 year ago

Thank you, Cop

Re: Old Post Office downtown - 1 year ago

Dennis, I was able to find several articles, mostly in the DMN, regarding restoration, and a Wikipedia article from 2020. I was unable to read the DMN articles due to a paywall. The Wiki article indicated that the building has been renovated and that it is operating as an apartment complex, with the PO still operating on the bottom floor. But one of the DMN articles from 2021 had a headline in

Re: Sportatorium - 1 year ago

Cop, Yes, thank you, I was confusing the Sportatorium with the Longhorn Ballroom. I think the latter went through a series of different owners including a couple of rather well known country western band leaders.

Sportatorium - 1 year ago

I saw a DMN headline about restoration of the old Sportatorium, which was a well known venue for Country Western back in the day, and later hosted a variety of entertainment types. In the 1950s it was the home of "The Big D Jamboree," I believe. It was owned at times by O.L. Nelms I believe. I can't read the article because of paywall, but would like to know what is to be done. Ed

Re: floods - 1 year ago

"Plugged the creek up entirely." The Corps of Engineers allowed that? White Rock Creek is (or should be) a navigable stream, and therefore subject to federal control.

Re: floods - 1 year ago

Thanks for these comments, Cop and Ben. Wow! Quite a downpour and damage. But that is the history of Dallas, and that has been exacerbated with more and more destruction of wetlands, stream channels, and wetlands. Fertilizer runoff resulting in vegetation choking stream channels has also made things worse. These problems exist all over the country, but Dallas, with its terrain built for floo

floods - 1 year ago

Wow! I sure hope everyone is ok, safe, with the recent floods in the area. I always wondered, especially given the flooding that occurs in the DFW area with some frequency, why I30 was built below grade around the S side of downtown. I realize that this particular flood was beyond usual, but the area is noted for this type of weather event and flooding.

Re: Something To Think About-History Repeats - 1 year ago

Cop, Thanks for this post. Well, I guess it is one of those summers down that way. The 7 year drought of the 1950s remains the drought of record for Texas, though a few individual calendar years have been drier than any single year in the 50s in some parts of the state. But not everywhere. In 1952 it did not rain in Wink, Texas. So far as row crops failing, though yields may be down, the

Re: It's Winter - 1 year ago

Cop, I just wondered if you were still questioning "global warming?" It would be nice if some of those "cold fronts" drifted south, I suppose, so far as Texas is concerned. Another hot summer down that way.

Re: White Rock Creek Bridge Cotton Belt Line - 1 year ago

Where is Murphy? Answered my own question. Google works. Lived in the Dallas area for a good portion of my life, and spent a fair amount of time in Collin County including the area in question, but never knew the community of Murphy. But when I left the area, Murphy had not yet taken on its suburban identity, or at least was overshadowed by other nearby communities.

Re: it's summer - 1 year ago

I'm sure it has a ways to go to match 1980. You can look it up if you are a mind to. NOAA NWS has climatology data online.

it's summer - 1 year ago

I see that you guys are really, really hot. I guess no records so far, but bumping up there, with temperatures going above 105 for several days now, and continuing. Stay cool, and stay healthy. Reasonable up here in the Inland NW, and so far we haven't had any fires. Keeping fingers crossed on that, but we had a wet cool spring, and the snowpack in the mountains is still melting, first time t

Re: Stores of Long Ago - 1 year ago

bparrish Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Not sure about the legality of it... but in the > 50s (specifically 1956-1960) I remember there were > a lot of chicks available around Easter and a lot > of people who had no idea about what to do with > them bought them... including us... when I was in > grade school. It was a bad idea. I thin

Re: Stores of Long Ago - 1 year ago

Well, there are always a number of people who go in a different direction from others. And chicken keeping in urban or at least suburban settings has become popular in recent years. I live in an exurban environment, and of course, lots of people have chickens. In Spokane, getting set up to keep them costs quite a bit, given the legalities involved, but a good many people seem to be getting int

Re: Stores of Long Ago - 1 year ago

Interesting combination of stuff. I don't recall baby chicks or barbed wire at any Dallas Gibson's stores, but then those items probably were not in high demand in urban settings when Gibson's was there. I can see how all 3 of the items mentioned might be sell pretty well in those more rural counties.

Re: Stores of Long Ago - 1 year ago

Hello Cop, There were several Gibson's stores in Dallas. The two I was most familiar with included one on Westmoreland between Kiest and Illinois, and one in Pleasant Grove, but exactly where the latter was I don't remember. A search on the site will bring up numerous threads that include Gibson's, including one about the history of the company and the locations of various stores in Dallas incl

Re: Ho Ho Ho! - 1 year ago

Late in answering your question, Rocket, but yes, it was Titche's (or Titche Gettinger (sp?) as it was actually titled.

Re: Stores of Long Ago - 1 year ago

The list of disappearing stores goes on forever. Since the original posts, others have bitten the dust: White's Auto Sears!! KMart! Montgomery Wards

Re: Stores of Long Ago - 1 year ago

I definitely miss things that could be repaired over tossing things. And the phenomenon includes rather simple objects, as well as more complex ones like computers and televisions. I bought a set of six outdoor chairs six years ago, and they need new fabric after being in the sun and weather for six years. So, I took a look at them, and sure enough, they are repairable. So, I thought I'd figu

Re: White Rock Creek Bridge Cotton Belt Line - 1 year ago

As time passes, people forget things. Matters that seem very important become less so or are just no longer paid any attention to as newer phenomena show up. Unless there was recent publicity about the specific plans as operations approached, most people probably didn't even remember where the line was going in -- until the equipment appeared and work started.

Re: White Rock Creek Bridge Cotton Belt Line - 1 year ago

So, there were no takers to buy the bridge for a dollar. Wonder why? And I guess DART nor parks has room for the whole thing.

Re: Stores of Long Ago - 1 year ago

Wow! You've resurrected a really old thread. Back then, one could check vacuum tubes at almost any outlet that sold them. One could also take spark plugs from a car to gas stations and clean them in a sand blasting machine that was for that purpose. Some other long vanished stores in the DFW area: Fred's Barbecue. When I worked at the Highland Park Sanger-Harris, I frequently ate at the

Re: Harry Hines/Northwest Hwy Traffic Circle - 1 year ago

Re: Harry Hines/Northwest Hwy Traffic Circle - 1 year ago

Back in the day we called them, as illustrated in the above posts, "traffic circles" rather than roundabouts. I remember the one that was on Ledbetter and Walton Walker (Loop 12) where Duncanville Road connected, and maybe Cockrell Hill Road? Back then (fifties, sixties) it had no development around it, just countryside. I 20 didn't exist, and the mentioned roads were 2 lane country

Re: Flying Red Horse - 1 year ago

An article this week in the DMN suggests that the repairs to the Flying Red Horse's support structure are underway. I could not read the article due to a paywall. I still wonder why this is the city's responsibility, since it is an advertising device for two corporations, one that owns the hotel, and one major oil and gas company.

Re: Benny Binion and the Osage Murders - 1 year ago

Binion and Hale did both serve time at Leavenworth, but did not overlap. Hale was paroled in 1947. Binion did not enter Leavenworth until 1953. So, my speculation that they may have met in prison was, it seems, ill founded. But in some way Hale, who lived in Oklahoma, found his way to Binion's employment in Montana once he was released from prison. How does one shady character, seemingly unk