El Paso Nostalgia-The Good Old Days! (San Antonio, Santa Fe: house, neighborhood, buy)

[Ms Kitty 98]

Back in the day when I use to live at Prices Diary on North Loop Rd; era about 1956-57-58, El Paso was another world. My grandfather worked at Prices Dairy all his life and before long we moved to Adobe Street right off Hunter; the good thing was that my other grandparents lived on North Loop Rd across from the Safeway Supermarket, and North Loop Rd was just a two lane road.
The El Paso neon sky was to the northwest of Trowbridge so there was a lot of green valley and plenty of open space; there was once a company called Howard Electric, and they ran operations out of a house on North Loop. During Christmas Season they would decorate the house with all sorts of lights and nativity settings, including reindeer's and sled and even had a real life person Santa Clause.
People would pull over off the street and kids would swarm all over Santa Clause and sit on his lap and tell him what they wanted for Christmas. Behind Howard's Electric was a huge antenna where the company use to rig up a large star at the top with white light bulbs streaming down to the bottom.
Before long, El Paso's traditional Mount Franklin star would make it's appearance to the west and all of downtown El Paso would be decorated in Christmas spirit.
El Paso use to have the Sun Carnival parade on New Years Day; and it was always very cold in those days, the parade was very colorful and the floats where amazing,they must of had serious sponsorship in those days. But after the parade it was back to business as usual ,the star on the mountain would not shine again till the following season; the the next holiday would be whan they would light up a giant Easter Cross on the mountain in about the same location where the Christmas star is located, the Easter Cross was discontinue after 1967.

[joqua]

My family always made time to tour the luminarios around Cumberland Circle in the days when there weren't that many other venues in town that set out so many. At least not where an entire neighborhood was lit by them.

One of the best Santa Displays for many years was in the windows of the Coca Cola Bottling Plant on Yandell - animated Santa and reindeer, toy train etc. The White House dept. store in downtown also had annual displays of Santa and all the elves.

And of course we never missed having supper at least one night at the cafeteria across from the Plaza Park so we kids could run free in the plaza after supper, looking at the lighted tree and other displays.

The New Year parade was always followed by the Sun Bowl game in the afternoon. Because the entire length of Montana from Five Points to the downtown plaza was closed to traffic during the parade, getting to and from the game in time to find decent parking was a challenge. Over the years the parade was held on January 1, there were a number of deaths from exposure to the cold because parade participants tried hard to hold to the costuming and themes of the parade floats, to say nothing of cheerleaders marching with the bands in skimpy uniforms.

[HookTheBrotherUp]

I remember Prices Dairy, and the milk man who used to deliver milk and eggs to our house. I recall going to the dairy as a kid in elementary school to see how they produced milk. I lived across the desert/reservoir, in Del Norte, when I was a kid, and I remember walking through the desert, taking a shortcut and trespassing Prices Dairy to get to San Antonio church for Catechism... when it was still taught by nuns. We used to harass the bulls, but that is another story. Can you believe my brother and I, six and seven years old, were allowed to walk to church? It was either the long way from Benson/Wilcox all the way down Hunter to the church, or the shortcut! And do you remember how they used to spray oil all over the parking lot to keep the dust down. How environmentally friendly was the church back then?!

That was long after your time of course, 'Kitty, but I'm sure you are familiar with all that.

[simbared]

I miss seeing luminarios at Christmas time after I moved away. I remember my father putting them in front of our house a couple of times in the 1960's. We didn't do a whole lot as a family, but we would get in the car and drive around to look at Christmas decorations. Later, when I flew in to visit for Christmas, I enjoyed seeing the star on the mountain at night because that was the only time of year it was lit.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

It was either the long way from Benson/Wilcox all the way down Hunter to the church, or the shortcut!

I didn't mention in my earlier reply that the very first house I purchased for my family to live in was in the brand new subdivision on Hunter, and we lived in what was then the last block on Hunter (at 1117 Hunter), just past the dairy yards where I obtained the manure that enriched my newly landscaped yard!

The freeway had not even begun construction in that area when we sold and moved to the even newer subdivisions being built west of McCrae Blvd in the Eastwood area. I used to hunt small game in the sandhills where the freeway and all those shopping malls now stand.

[Ms Kitty 98]

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

I remember Prices Dairy, and the milk man who used to deliver milk and eggs to our house.

That is so cool,remembering the milk man delivering the milk in a crate with glass bottles up to the front door.

Originally Posted by HookTheBrotherUp

I recall going to the dairy as a kid in elementary school to see how they produced milk. I lived across the desert/reservoir, in Del Norte, when I was a kid, and I remember walking through the desert, taking a shortcut and trespassing Prices Dairy to get to San Antonio church for Catechism... when it was still taught by nuns. We used to harass the bulls, but that is another story. Can you believe my brother and I, six and seven years old, were allowed to walk to church? It was either the long way from Benson/Wilcox all the way down Hunter to the church, or the shortcut! And do you remember how they used to spray oil all over the parking lot to keep the dust down. How environmentally friendly was the church back then?!

WOW! your story get even better, I remember the desert stretch between the dairy and the Del Norte subdivision; who would have ever thought about taking a shortcut through the dairy to go to San Antonio Church.
My grandfather that worked at the dairy use to tell me that Mr Price use to order the foreman to release some of the bull's from the corrals. I guess he was trying to scare me because I use to venture into the corrals to go check out the goats and all the cats that were over at the hay stack barns.
Now I think I do recall the spraying of oil and tar like substance on the parking lot of the church, I think that the parking lot was mostly sand, and in those days we use to have a lot of sand storms around February and March.
NO! that was not environmentally friendly at all,but in those days there was no environmental awareness either, gosh my dad even use to burn all the grass on our front yard as well during winter

[Ms Kitty 98]

Originally Posted by joqua

I didn't mention in my earlier reply that the very first house I purchased for my family to live in was in the brand new subdivision on Hunter, and we lived in what was then the last block on Hunter (at 1117 Hunter), just past the dairy yards where I obtained the manure that enriched my newly landscaped yard!

The freeway had not even begun construction in that area when we sold and moved to the even newer subdivisions being built west of McCrae Blvd in the Eastwood area. I used to hunt small game in the sandhills where the freeway and all those shopping malls now stand.

That reminds me that there was no freeway but Gateway Blvd East and West were there, and on Gateway East there use to be a restaurant called El Nido.
MC Rae and it's subdivisions from Desert Ridge to Scotsdale was all that was there,civilization ended right behind K Mart.
I use to take my dogs hunting North of the Freeway at the Lomaland exit,there was no development there and the dogs would chase road runners and jack rabbits.

[Ms Kitty 98]

Originally Posted by simbared

I miss seeing luminarios at Christmas time after I moved away. I remember my father putting them in front of our house a couple of times in the 1960's. We didn't do a whole lot as a family, but we would get in the car and drive around to look at Christmas decorations. Later, when I flew in to visit for Christmas, I enjoyed seeing the star on the mountain at night because that was the only time of year it was lit.

Since I moved back to El Paso, I really don't recall seeing any luminarios anymore, back in the day I was the one responsible for decorating our house with Christmas lights;but on Christmas Eve our house would convert to luminarios in the evening.
The only drawback was filling about 300 paper bags with sand and placing a candle in each bag,that by the time I would finish lighting that last luminario, the first ones lit would began to fade or the wind would turn them out.

[joqua]

Originally Posted by Ms Kitty 98

Since I moved back to El Paso, I really don't recall seeing any luminarios anymore, back in the day I was the one responsible for decorating our house with Christmas lights;but on Christmas Eve our house would convert to luminarios in the evening.
The only drawback was filling about 300 paper bags with sand and placing a candle in each bag,that by the time I would finish lighting that last luminario, the first ones lit would began to fade or the wind would turn them out.

I remember that there were different youth groups that went around selling luminarias to residents. They would deliver and install them but I don't recall if they came around to light them on Xmas eve and New Year eve - probably not. You could buy them in 10-100 bag lots, as I recall. The more responsible groups would also come back and dispose of the bags and sand after the holidays.

Years later - there were groups who began lining Scenic Drive with the luminarias. For some reason it was moved from Xmas eve to earlier in December. According to this web site it's scheduled for the night of Dec 15, 2012 (this year).

//www.facebook.com/events/124817101008941/

An aside: People in New Mexico refer to them as "farolitos" - especially in the Santa Fe area. There are some wonderful photos of farolito-lit scenes in Santa Fe that are available on the internet for anyone interested. Just Google on the words - farolito or luminaria.

[atrabilius]

I remember cruising to look at the Christmas lights when I was a kid, mainly in Eastwood and around Escondido on the west side. They say the Mountain View neighborhood (along Diana between Hercules and Hondo Pass) had some awesome Christmas light displays, but my parents never went there.

People I knew always used flashlights in the luminarias, not candles.