Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Houston: coastal, agent)

[Mom0f2Girlies]

Originally Posted by hhwolfman

Loved Conan's Pizza. Great Deep Dish and Cool Frazetta Paintings, of Conan, all over the Wall. Colonna's Had the Best Canadian Bacon, I had ever eaten. HHW

Am very happy to see Colonna's has a new location in Helotes.

[abelanthony]

I dunno if anyone's mentioned this, but the Adult Video stores that were all over town alongside freeways in shady-looking, windowless buildings. I never got the oppurtunity to visit one but it's something I always think about when I pass by. haha

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by Mom0f2Girlies

Ok....I'm feeling real old now !

Across the street from the drive in that use to be where Culebra and Bandera cross (now its an HEB) there was a restaurant. Was it a Jims? I think there was also one inside of Wonderland.

Remember when the Carmelite Nuns use to have a retreat at Culebra at Ingram?

I remember being around 10 and driving all the way out into the county to buy fireworks...back when Potranco was a two lane country road.

There's an old spanish style looking house in the southwest field on Culebra/fm 471 at fm 1560. What was that?

The old Varsity Drive In !! Yes, it was a Jim's Frontier at Culebra and Bandera. There were several around town. Think I've been to the Carmelite Nun thing you speak of. Those were the days!

[SATX56]

[quote=BudB;7244661]

Originally Posted by satx56

Hey Bud !! Is the old Boy's club gone?? It was still sitting there in Oct. '07 when I went by and shot a couple fotos. It was apparently being used by some entity but I cannot recall what the sign said. It is Quonset hut shaped but much larger and more like an airplane hangar really, so was terrific for the Boys Club. There was even a small wood shop for making things if you can imagine boys having semi-supervised access to power tools. Stanley was strict but he could only be one place at a time so things happened. He had older boys who did some supervision but again there were too many kids to watch them all. There was even a regular boxing ring with gloves so guys could duke it out whenever the urge hit without doing much serious damage. The real fights happened outside as usual but not too often as I recall.
I hope somebody else chimes in about their memories of that Boys Club because it was quite a place. Saturday nights meant a free movie, usually Tarzan, King Kong or other kid fare. The back wall had a huge American flag hung on it that was covered by a screen that was pulled down for movies. There were several rows of movable seats kinda like a real theater but not very comfortable. But oh brother, when the lights went down and the movie started, stuff started flying and at times you almost needed a helmet .. ah the good ol' days.
Before the freeways took a big bite out of that neighborhood there was a real movie theater on Hackberry nearby named the Highland. It sat just north on Hackberry and across the street from where the Little Red Barn is located. For those of us who grew up in the 1950s, it was another great place on Saturdays when movies were .25 cents for a double feature.
And back then Brown's was a beer joint that made great hamburgers and of course their later to be famous enchiladas. By the end of the '60s it was a restaurant primarily. I ate there last April just to see how the food was and learned that its owners for the past few years now are Chinese and are still making good enchiladas. No, they are not as good as once upon a time but then what is? Glad you enjoyed the map with South Loop.

Hello BudB , Yes I was thinking it was a huge quonset style Bldg. I've not been by there for a number of years. Couldn't say if it's still standing. Sounds like great times , I recall going there for something at least once. Not something you'd pass by often because of it's location. Wife's dad was impressed with Brown's at least at some point. Been in and out of lots of Beer joints as a kid!! They were everywhere!! Next time in town try the little Restaurant across from the soon to be razed Mission Drive In!! Pretty good eating I thought. I should have said if you like Mexican food! My dad had a Shop next to a very successful little Beer joint on S. Flores. They served Barbecue with smoking going on everyday. I remember it always smelled great around there!! Thanks again for the maps. See Ya' !!

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by wCat

Remember the Sinclair "dinosaurs"? I don't remember where I saw the life sized models.....in SA? or somewhere . [Edit for correction....the Dino models were never in SA...they were at the Worlds Fair in 1964 and were split up and sent to various states. Glenrose got the Bronto and the T-Rex!] The Dinosaur State Park near Glenrose, TX has them on site...the real thing! They are so nostalgic and what a great place for them to be "put out to pasture".

here's the link .....the Brontosaurus was always my fav.. TPWD: Dinosaur Valley State Park

Hello Cat, I can't quite recall but seems like their grades of gas were
Dino..??
Did Tom Turner own them all the way back to Sinclair days?? Someone mentioned the A.J. Ploch on Hackberry. Now that's a name you used to see a lot. Seems like he had a ranch east of town way back. He owned the big truck stop that was there at I-35 and Judson I think for many years. Old former Green Beret Medic friend of mine used to manage that thing. Went on later to manage the Exxon at I-10 and West Ave (or Vance Jackson) I forget. His Filipino wife managed the old Handy Dan's north of 4-10 by Castle Hill's I think. He now works I believe in Exxon's corporate offices. Finest character I've ever known!!

[BudB]

[quote=Dwangle;7236646]"My great grand parents lived on Drexel just next to the boys club you are talking about."
Dwangle, I'll bet your folks were speaking German since your Gross-Oma was making kolaches or possibly Czech. Either one, wish I had some of her kolaches right now. That stretch of Drexel is still there and so is the old Boys Club building as far as I know. I'll look tomorrow when I'm down from Austin. The Boys Club faced the track and athletic fields for Page Jr. High which I assume is still operating. I went to Poe Jr. Hi up on New Braunfels so Page was the opposition for us then. Anyhow, thanks for recalling the Boys Club, Bud

[Boss Rider]

Originally Posted by satx56

Hello Cat, I can't quite recall but seems like their grades of gas were
Dino..??
Did Tom Turner own them all the way back to Sinclair days??

My first job was working at a Sinclair station across from MCreeless Mall. Was owned by Oran Evans. Sinclair was "Power X" gas until they switched to the "Dino" pumps. The pump color showed the type; Red was 98 octane Ethyl and Green was 90 octane Regular. If you were into racing on the weekends, you could get a can of Octane Booster and make the ethyl 104 octane.

[mimimomx3]

Originally Posted by GWhopper

Per today's paper, it looks like SATEL'S is going away. not because of the economy, though. It seems they are losing their business to La Cantera. Very Sad. Almost all the clothes I wore for job interviews over the last 15 years came from there.

I remember going to Frank Brothers downtown for school uniforms. My dad loved Satel's! What was the upscale men's store in North Star Mall that was affiliated with Penner's downtown?

[Dwangle]

[quote=BudB;7250177]

Originally Posted by Dwangle

"My great grand parents lived on Drexel just next to the boys club you are talking about."
Dwangle, I'll bet your folks were speaking German since your Gross-Oma was making kolaches or possibly Czech. Either one, wish I had some of her kolaches right now. That stretch of Drexel is still there and so is the old Boys Club building as far as I know. I'll look tomorrow when I'm down from Austin. The Boys Club faced the track and athletic fields for Page Jr. High which I assume is still operating. I went to Poe Jr. Hi up on New Braunfels so Page was the opposition for us then. Anyhow, thanks for recalling the Boys Club, Bud

My grandmother was 95 when she died (about ten years ago). I would visit her and she would tell me all kinds of stuff. She said she was Bohemian and my grandfather was Czech. She called me a half breed because my mother married that damn german! My sister still has great grandma's reciepe for her Kolaches. My sister thinks they are a lot of trouble to make. Some people think a Kolache is a hot dog wrapped in dough. I just laugh at that. I saw Martha Stewart make some on TV and she was on the right track--pretty close to the way I remember them. I alway's wanted to check out that Boy's Club but I was too young to go by myself and my dad wanted no part of taking me. Thanks for sharing your memories.

[jg1208]

Originally Posted by satx56

Hello Cat, I can't quite recall but seems like their grades of gas were
Dino..??
Did Tom Turner own them all the way back to Sinclair days?? Someone mentioned the A.J. Ploch on Hackberry. Now that's a name you used to see a lot. Seems like he had a ranch east of town way back. He owned the big truck stop that was there at I-35 and Judson I think for many years. Old former Green Beret Medic friend of mine used to manage that thing. Went on later to manage the Exxon at I-10 and West Ave (or Vance Jackson) I forget. His Filipino wife managed the old Handy Dan's north of 4-10 by Castle Hill's I think. He now works I believe in Exxon's corporate offices. Finest character I've ever known!!

The A.J.Ploch owned truck stop your referring to was at 35 & O'Connor,
and he also owned the one at IH10 & Fred Rd. They sold Texaco products.