Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Houston: to buy, high school)

[OzzyRules]

I loved the old Earl Abel's building.

[retrocarnation]

Earl Abel's dates from the '50's. The architecture is definitely art deco. The old entryway with the wavy, curved floorplan and tropical feel is called "googie." A perfect example of googie was Jim's at Hillcrest. It is too bad these buildings are being destroyed...there aren't many left.
O.K.- my vintage radio ditty, that to this day plays clearly in my head, is Countywide Service Company
"....We're professionals, fast and fair."
Anyone other than me remember it?
Before there was any such thing as Long John Silver's, there was a chain in San Antonio called First Mate. I don't recall where it was now, but I loved that place when I was a kid.
I miss getting pizza at Fargo's off Wurzbach and watching old movies and cartoons in that little theater they had. Brilliant marketing, by the way.
I remember being scared stiff of the animated characters in the window of Whimsy Works in North Star Mall. That was just flat creepy.
One other oddity I remembered- the Handy Andy in Wonderland has already been mentioned, but the unique feature of that location was that you pulled your car under the covered carport on the south side, and the bagger brought out the basket and put the groceries in the trunk for you. You never had to mess with your own bags at all.
Imagine that...real honest-to-god service.
More later.

[940]

Originally Posted by retrocarnation

O.K.- my vintage radio ditty, that to this day plays clearly in my head, is Countywide Service Company
"....We're professionals, fast and fair."
Anyone other than me remember it?
Before there was any such thing as Long John Silver's, there was a chain in San Antonio called First Mate. I don't recall where it was now, but I loved that place when I was a kid.
I miss getting pizza at Fargo's off Wurzbach and watching old movies and cartoons in that little theater they had. Brilliant marketing, by the way.

Hey Retro..I'm not remembering the entire ditty from Countywide but the one line you posted does give me an inkling of something I used to sing long ago!
Maybe some of the other posters to this thread that have longer memories than us can help with the words to that.

I barely remember First Mate but Fargo's is another story. Back in the 70's and early 80's that was the Marshall High place to be after a Friday night high school football game. I have an older sister who graduated from there in the late 70's and at that time, there was no Clark High. To show how sparsely populated the NW area was, the Marshall zone included all areas from east of I-10 towards the Churchill boundary west and southwest towards Potranco Rd outside of Loop 1604. My sister's friends all seemed to live off Wurzbach and I-10 and they could be found at Fargo's just about every weekend. After certain big football games against rivals Churchill, Holmes and Jay, I was lucky enough (as an 11-12 year old) to be included in all the partying and pizza-eating. I thought they had the best pizza in the world and the little theater with the old b&w silent films and old cartoons just added to the allure!

I also remember the Handy Andy car port. After a day of shopping either at North Star or Wonderland, we'd do our grocery shopping there because there really weren't a lot of options out on the far nw side of town back then. I remember my parents appreciated the convenience and customer service.
By the way, I'm not sure if you've seen this old post card of mine. I've saved it to the computer and it's been posted in different forums and threads already but here it is again. The view is looking towards the N/NE up I-10 from the 410/I-10 interchange back around 1962. Handy Andy and its car port is clearly in view...also, notice how there's a total lack of development further north across 410 and I-10 from Wonderland!
For those who don't know, Wonderland is now Crossroads Mall after a major remodel some years back.

[OzzyRules]

There was a First Mate located at 410/Vance Jackson. Now there's a Grant St Pizza.

[retrocarnation]

The whole Countywide ditty was:
For the finest, fastest service
in cooling and heating repair
call Countywide Service company
we're professionals- fast and fair.

The first thing I remember built on the north side of 410 at Fredericksburg was Ray Ellison Real Esatate's home office. It was directly across 410 from Wonderland, or top center of 940's post card. Across Fredericksburg on the northwest corner was Alamo Investments and the then brand new La Fontana restaurant. For all I know, the La Fontana is still there.
Up Fredericksburg, at Wurzbach, was the bowling alley on the northwest corner. That is the first place I ever saw a video game. It was Pac-man, as I recall.

[940]

I was thinking the same thing about Ray Ellison when I saw the post card for the first time. The land across from Wonderland already looks as if some clearing and development was under way. Of course by this time, Ray Ellison was already in full force building affordable homes in neighborhoods near Lackland AFB, especially the Valley Hi area, and also just across I-10 towards Vance-Jackson and West Ave inside Loop 410 in areas like Dellview.

I remember the restaurant there at Fred. Rd north of 410 but I thought it was called La Fonda. It's a Mexican food restaurant and it's still there but perhaps there was another restaurant that you remember there.

[israel]

oh yeah does anyone remember going to buttercrust for field trips ..the bone club trippers ..the last stand..dmz..club oasis..wackys.. im an old punker too

[israel]

Originally Posted by Paka

How about "Bongo Joe" downtown, and the "6 bottle cap" Pepsi movies at the Aztec theater and the "99 cent God Father of Soul James Brown concerts???

Woooo-----PLEASE tell me someone else is old enough to remember those!!!!!!

i remember bongo joe he was pretty scary looking i have a few pictures with the legend

[googie2525]

Originally Posted by israel

oh yeah does anyone remember going to buttercrust for field trips ..the bone club trippers ..the last stand..dmz..club oasis..wackys.. im an old punker too

Ha, the Bone Club! I saw GG Allan there in, I think, 1987. Scared me to death!
Isn't it a Subway now? You remember the "Fearless Iranians from Hell," they were always playing there. Wow, forgot about that place!

[purtex]

This is a great thread...thanks 940 for starting this because it's bringing back a lot of good memories and putting a smile on my face.