Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part II (Houston: ceiling, trolley)

[huckster]

I bet there aren't many more fabled big ones at the bottom of Medina Lake after this latest severe drought...

[wpme]

"In 1932, Charles Elmer Doolin, manager of the Highland Park Confectionery in San Antonio, purchased a corn chip recipe, a handheld potato ricer and 19 retail accounts from a corn chip manufacturer for $100, which he borrowed from his mother. Doolin established a new corn chip business, The Frito Company, in his mother's kitchen. Doolin and his mother and brother produced the corn chips, named Fritos, and had a production capacity of approximately 10 pounds per day and roughly 30 cents per product. Doolin distributed the Fritos in 5¢ bags. Daily sales totaled $8 to $10 and profits averaged about $2 per day. In 1933, the production of Fritos increased from 10 pounds to nearly 100 pounds due to the development of a "hammer" press."

Hah! One of the stories in my family is how grandpa passed on the opportunity to invest in Fritos. Grandpa was a big time stock broker in SA way back when, every day after work he would buy a bag of Fritos from the street vendor. One day the vendor approached grandpa about investing in his company so he could expand production and sales, grandpa's response was "these are pretty good chips, but your never going to make any real money on these things" . Instead of investing in Fritos, gramps invested in Delaware Punch, biggest mistake he ever made

[SATX56]

Originally Posted by Boss Rider

I've consulted with the Oracle (my 95 year old Mom) about a Highlands Confectionary store. She doesn't recall the name, but says there was a bakery a couple of blocks south of the Highlands theater that specialized in sweet stuff (pies, cakes, cookies, and such) that everyone always went to for any 'special' occasion. Could this be the missing store in the story?

There are those couple of old buildings just across from the Little Red Barn. They would have been just south of where I understand Highlands theater sat. That's Hackberry though and Roosevelt or S. Presa is what I recall reading. But who's to say.

[outafocus]

Here's as song that every native San Antonian over the age of 50 has heard MANY times. At least the first 20 seconds or so. It is "The Purple Pageant March", better known in these parts as the theme song for "Twelve Star Final", aka "Blood and Guts".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-vWnqL72qI

I can see the Lone Star Beer logo pop up after the Twelve Star Final logo in my mind as they were the sponsor for many of the newscasts.

[ranchodrive]

Originally Posted by outafocus

Here's as song that every native San Antonian over the age of 50 has heard MANY times. At least the first 20 seconds or so. It is "The Purple Pageant March", better known in these parts as the theme song for "Twelve Star Final", aka "Blood and Guts".


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-vWnqL72qI

As a kid I thought it was cool to say..."it's tamales on twelve"...

I remember in the 60s, 12 Star Final at 10pm was Tom Ellis main anchor &
Bill Kelso was the weatherman who usually ended his weather
report with..."and in good old Carribou, Maine...."). I wonder why

"It's 10PM...do you know where your children are?"
(a phrase used at the start of the newscast.)


The playing of our National Anthem at midnight to end the day of broadcasting
followed by the screen going white/blank with tiny specks & a hissing noise or something similar.
If you have seen the movie "Polterguist"...you will know what I mean.

I may not be 100 % on the above, but that's what I recall.

[huckster]

I remember well those forecasts too.The weather guy would stand and write with a big wax pencil onto a glass map of Texas in the studio, with temperatures and cold front winds and clouds - hand penciled in, all
the time telling the weather.
Always mentioned too, was the temperature of the city of Mule Shoe , far away in the Texas panhandle along with Caribou, Maine. I can recall both cities being mentioned a lot. I suppose they were spoken of as the farthest away cities north of us to give us sort of a point of reference for contrasting winter weather ? As I small kid I thought it so cold here sometimes , but it was never actually that bad.
Hurricanes ...a different story. Hurricane Carla was something to have experienced. Awesome, in the truest sense of that word , not as kids overuse "awesome" to describe mundane things such as perhaps- an awesome candy bar. Droughts are no picnic either.

Wan't there video of a car overturning in the 12 star final newscast introduction played during the music ?
The days of black and white local newscast seem antiquated , so antiquated.

[outafocus]

The first anchor I remember on 12 Star Final was George Sharman. Tom Ellis took his place. I remember when Bill Kelso took over as weatherman, but can't remember the name of the weatherman that preceded him. I definitely remember Bill Kelso always giving the temperature in good old Caribou Maine, too.

Tom Ellis left San Antonio for an anchor job in Boston. He was still in the business in 2009, when this video was shot:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUALcgDUyMY

[Boss Rider]

Originally Posted by outafocus

Tom Ellis left San Antonio for an anchor job in Boston.

Tom showed up here in the Boston area in 1968 as lead anchor for the news at WBZ. He left them about '78 to go to WCVB, and then on to WNEV until they folded in '86. He was out of the business until 1992 when he was hired by the new New England Cable News. He quit there in December of 2008, and I don't think he's worked full time since then.

[GWhopper]

Does anybody know the history of the house Aldo's is in by the Medical Center?

[Azure110]

Originally Posted by GWhopper

Does anybody know the history of the house Aldo's is in by the Medical Center?

Here is what I could find online.

In February 1985, Ghaffari came to San Antonio and fell in love with a farmhouse on Fredericksburg Road at the corner of Wurzbach Road.

The building and land were both owned by the San Antonio Medical Foundation. At that time, the building was occupied by another restaurant.

“I knew I could (be successful) and I wanted to open a restaurant,” Ghaffari says. “If you give people good food and good service, people will come.”

Ghaffari approached the owners and made them an offer to buy them out.

Rest of the article here: Aldo's Italian Restaurant owes success to loyal customers - San Antonio Business Journal