The Pecan Park Eagle

Thanks to two old friends, both fellow St. Thomas High School Alumni from different eras,  and also independent thinkers, to boot, I received separate day links this past week to some very interesting and nostalgic U Tube videos of Houston as it was a half century ago, when some of us were still growing up or just starting out in this wonderful city of ours.

Vito Schlabra is our first contributor, with some help from Roy Bonario,  the long-time Houston historian and collector who first sent it to Vito, who then sent it to me so that I could then pass it on to all of you. “Houston at Night 1960” plays as an in-motion pictorial on restaurants and night spots that used to be. As I viewed it, here are the places I was able to recognize and note in the order of their appearance in the film: (1) Prince’s Drive In, appearing to me as the Fannin Street location in the area of the city we now call Mid-Town; (2) La Louisiane Restaurant & Court; (3) The Red Lion, a wonderful old English style steak house on South Main; (4) a Polynesian restaurant whose lights glared out the name. I recognized the place, but could not jump-start the identity of the fancy eatery  into consciousness; perhaps, you may be able to do so; (5) Ye Old College Inn, on Main, near Rice University and for decades, a Houston tradition; (6) Maxim’s swanky downtown restaurant; (7) Martini’s Lunch & Dinner, but I don’t recall its location; (8) Ding How Fancy Chinese, with KC Steaks in neon to make sure they didn’t miss the real Texan diners, on South Main, near the Prince’s-Stuart Drive Ins burger war field; (9)  Leo’s Mexican Restaurant on Shepherd, north of Fairview;   (10) Alfred’s Delicatessen on Rice Boulevard in the Village;  (11) C Kelley’s Restaurant, Steaks & Seafood, on Main, just south of downtown; (12) Valian’s Italian & Pizza Restaurant on Main at Holcombe, our lamented lost shrine to the greatest pizza of all time, even though they also served up delicious shish-ka-bob, barbecue, and steaks too; (13) a little burger joint known as “Someburger,” but I forget it’s exact location in the OST, South Main, Kirby Drive triangle; (14) Gaido’s Steak & Seafood, on South Main; (15) Toddle House, the first one was also located on the popular South Main street site, I think; (16) Lott’s Grill (I forgot its location); (17) Paul’s Sidewalk Cafe (ditto on the failed memory page); (18) Cokin’s (blank screen on the location again; I didn’t have a lot of memory-making money back  in the day); (19) Kaphan’s Seafood on SOuth Main; we all knew this one; it was both good food and affordable;  (20) two guys buying tickets for a movie at the Loew’s State, downtown on Main Street; (21) several other movie theatre marquees; (22) Carrousel Motor Hotel, next to Gulfgate Mall on the Gulf Freeway; (23) Tidelands Motor Hotel & Floor Show, on South Main, next to Rice U; (24) Cruising on Main Street, with a quick stop at Bill Bennett’s Grill on Main for some sobering late night/early morning coffee. – The whole short film uses an instrumental version of “Caravan” to take us on a tour of old Houston. Someone did s nice job here – and, speaking of here – here’s the link that is your first movie ticket:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8OxoiRz6SgA

We have Larry Joe Miggins to thank for this next one, but, as Mike Vance so aptly points out in his supplemental critique of the facts in the comment section, we need to give credit to KTRK-TV for the original production and to the availability of it that has been made possible by the UH Special Collections program via JR Gonzales’ Bayou City History blog from the Chronicle. That little mouthful now being said  for purposes of clarity, I would also add by first name amendment that this little clip features Rodney  (not Roger) Crowell singing his “nailed it” song about Telephone Road and how things were in the East End back in the day. The only thing Rodney  gets wrong here, which is far better than I can allow for my own first draft errors and omissions,  is the inclusion of the Astrodome in his lamentations about the wrath of Carla. Carla came in 1961; the Astrodome wasn’t finished and open until 1965. We simply have to cut him some slack for poetic license here. He may have just been talking about the storms of life – of which there once were many – along a street named Telephone Road.

Here’s the link to film clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSU145Cr9So&feature=youtu.be

Now, to enjoy it even more, here’s a link to the lyrics of  “Telephone Road” that Rodney Crowell wrote and now sings as the soundtrack to this show of life along Telephone Road. If you care to print these out, it may help you follow the narrative even better on your second listening to the song.

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/r/rodney_crowell/telephone_road.html

Have a nice weekend, everybody!