Drive In Horror Movies were big in Houston during the 1950s. They encouraged bench style front seat togetherness among young couples at places like the South Main, Trail, Hi Nabor, King Center, and Winkler Drive In Theaters, among others.
Thanks for the link, Bob Dorrill. That little three-minute music and picture cascade brought back a lot of memories for one of us who remains, so far, as one of the long-of-tooth members of that supposedly simpler generation:
http://safeshare.tv/w/FEDEwZHZXu
Back in the 1950s, when yours truly welcomed in quietly at age 12 on January 1, 1950 and later blew out hard with everyone else on his 22nd birthday, December 31, 1959, here are some of the memorable differences, large and small, that I recall:
1.) Large: Racial segregation of blacks from whites in Houston was still the embarrassing norm. There were very few Asians here in those days and only a small enclave of Latinos who mainly lived in the Magnolia Park and Harrisburg @ Wayside areas of the east end. Bob Boyd became the first black to break the color line in local baseball on March 28, 1954, when he started at first base for the Houston Buffs. As one of those fans who came to support Boyd that long ago night in Buff Stadium, it marked the beginning of a lifelong history of hero worship in me for the man with the powerful bat, the graceful glove, and the infectious, fan-friendly smile. R.I.P., Bob Boyd! Thanks to our recently published SABR book, “Houston Baseball: The Early Years, 1861-1961”, your contributions to local baseball and, more importantly, to a much better Houston, are now recorded for the ages on the great wall of history.
2) Not-So-Big, But-Still-Large: Up until 1958 and the famous televised championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants, the NFL was little more to the national scene in the 1950’s than a “once every Sunday” grainy black and white one-camera game coverage of a game from Chicago that involved either the Bears or the Chicago Cardinals against some other ancient franchise, like the Green Bay Packers or the Detroit Lions. Red Grange, the old “Galloping Ghost” from Illinois was the somber toned solo man on the mike. The NFL spent most of its last decade in the shadows of major league baseball just trying to grab TV attention for its product. The 1958 Colts-Giants drama was the turn key that helped lead to the establishment of the AFL, the brief skirmish between the NFL and AFL in the 1960’s, the settlement of an undisputed pro football champion by the playing of a “Super Bowl” in 1967, and inevitable consolidation of all surviving teams into an NFL that would forevermore from 1969 and the birth of Monday Night Football that would usurp baseball’s undisputed control of the professional sports market for all time.
3) Huge: In the summer of 1950, 500 cases of infantile paralysis, a polio age-specific variant form of the dreaded illness were diagnosed and treated at Hedgcroft Hospital on Montrose Boulevard in Houston. Parents lived in terror of the dreaded disease and many of us were required to remain out of the sun during the so-called “heat of the day”, which was then defined as 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM. – Go figure. It makes you wonder what they thought was less harmful about the 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM daily heat of July and August? – That latter time zone was no daily “norther”, if memory serves. By 1957, the polio vaccine discovery of Dr. Jonas Salk had “won the war” against the disease for all who could win the war against their own ignorance and made sure their families had taken the medicine. Unfortunately, there is no lifetime vaccine against ignorance. Polio is making a comeback in areas where people will not take the vaccine in an early and timely way.
4) A Small Irony: During my student days at my beloved St. Thomas High School, 1952-1956, students could be suspended or dealt with in other harsh terms for using their Physical Education class time to slip through a hole that then existed in the back gym wall for the purpose of organizing and participating in a lunch money game of Craps – you know, the game that’s played with a roll of the dice. – Tonight, however, January 15, 2015, is Casino Night at dear old STHS for all of us surviving alumni who still feel the need to help the school’s fundraiser campaign with another roll of the dice – or a game of Texas Hold ‘Em or Blackjack. I couldn’t make it due to other commitments, but I completely support the idea of Casino Night and what it is aimed to do. – That is, to help St. Thomas High School. I just can’t escape the irony of how this change of attitude toward games of chance so neatly mirrors the mentality of Las Vegas, – It’s OK to gamble in ‘Vegas too – just as long as “the house” controls the action and gets its cut. – Go Eagles! – Seven Come Eleven! – All the Way to Heaven!
Tags: 1950s memories
The Pecan Park Eagle 
January 16, 2015 at 3:27 am |
Growing up in the Bronx in the 1950’s I can relate to the Colts Giants game at Yankee Stadium. I went to my first and only NFL Playoff Game when the Cleveland Browns and Jim Brown played the Giants at Yankee Stadium. The Giants beat the Browns with a Pat Summerall Field Goal. I was sitting in the bleechers (only time because I’ve never sat in the bleechers for a Yankee Game). I was with my friends and it was snowing. Sommerall kicked it toward what would be the first-base section of the stadium. We couldn’t see what happened because of the snow, but when the crowd in the first-base section started to cheer we know he had won the game. Later the Giants went on to play the Baltimore Colts in the “Greatest Football Game Ever.”
I also attended my only World Series Game in 1956 with my father as the Brooklyn Dodgers played the Yankees. The Yankees won the game with an Enos Slaughter home run. Just like I just missed the Colts- Giants game I missed Don Larsen’s “Perfect Game” later on in the World Series.
January 16, 2015 at 1:40 pm |
My comment is purely film related. Leo G. Carroll was a british born actor. He was best in six Alfred Hitchcock films: Rebecca (1940), Suspicion (1941), Spellbound (1945), The Paradine Case (1947), Strangers on a Train (1951), and North by Northwest (1959). I was a fan of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., in which he starred. He passed in 1972 and is buried in Glendale, California. Just an FYI 🙂
January 16, 2015 at 4:14 pm |
Leo G. Carroll, indeed, was one of the finest character actors of his time. In the end, the need for a payday and the availability of quick cash from low budget horror films were simply too powerful as a life sustaining concoction.The spiders got him. 🙂
March 17, 2015 at 3:01 am |
one of my favorite t.v. programs was of all time was Topper and i THINK leo g. carroll starred in the role. some of comments made by the invisible couple had sexual overtones or maybe it was the body language and sultry looks of the blond. Topper of course was always aggravated with them but they had great repartee. so the program existed on two levels … the witty conversations and flirtatious behavior of the couple, Topper’s sarcastic droll attitude … they all, obviously liked each other … and Topper’s wife who occasionally became part of the scene when she’d catch him talking to thin air. Topper was pretty cool though … he always came up with the most ridiculous excuses for talking to thin air … and again it was his droll attitude and great sense of sarcasm that made it hilarious, to me. Topper was so cool! of course they used to levitate his cane and it was all very cheesy but who cared? The joke and the embarrassing situation and Topper’s clever way of deflecting attention were always funny even it the same joke basically, was acted out over and over. Topper’s wife always had that confused look on her face … . i can’t remember the actresses name … she was also the good witch in the Wizard of Oz and played in Dinner At Eight … .
The most exciting football game of all time for me was, when the Lions beat that fabulous Green Bay Packers team coached by Vince Lombardi with Bart Starr at quarterback, paul horning .,.. the golden boy … Jimmy Taylor at fullback, my idol and so many great players … they were all stars in their own right … Jerry Kramer, Max McGee, forest greg, ray nitchke, herb adderly, willy davis ..
anyway, detroit beat the packers that thanksgiving. i played 9th grade football … junior varsity started in tenth grade … anyway … aunts and uncles and grandparents … all of us were jumping up and down when the Lions won. it was great because everyone thought the packers with Lombardi and all those great stars were unbeatable.
i think that without a doubt vince lombardi was the all time greatest NFL coach.
back then everyone walked home for lunch … in elementary … even high school although the high schoolers went downtown for french fries and a coke .. there was enough time to watch Soupy Sales during the lunch hour which i think was fantastic. soupy doing the Souple Shuffle .. white fang and black tooth, willy the worm, the cork in the wall … you NEVER knew what was going to come out of it … usually seltzer water but sometimes a fog horn would sound … you could always hear the guys behind the camera laughing and EVERY DAY … soupie got hit by a pie in the face. the funny thing about soupie sales was … he loved the role because he had so much fun himself . laughing at all the stupid stuff that happened … i could go on and on about the 50’s … i write a blog called The Big House Poems and Short Stories About the Golden Age of America … what a great movie Tarantula was!! I think we all sat through it at least two or three times … those piles of oatmeal … every time the tarantula ate another victim … great! gotta go … i’ll be here all night.
go to my blog … 1950schildhood.wordpress.com .. i just wrote an essay about why the 50s … from 1950 through 1963 .,.. were the golden age of America … ks