Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Mission: first date, factory)

[tcs]

Originally Posted by Dwangle

In the early sixties my uncle bought some property on Vance Jackson road between Wurzbach and Huebner. From the back of his property you could see Algo Diferente. It was majestic and mysterious sitting on top of a hill all by itself. I never knew the real name until I found this site. We just called it the Castle. We always wanted to hike out to it but my parents said it was too far to hike to. We also heard it was a dangerous place because it was full of HOBO's!

That is what called it too. It was a uncomfortable place to visit even on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

[Dwangle]

Originally Posted by tcs

Jay P had mentioned that Alan passed away recently. Alan was a DJ at KISS for a while after the KEXL days while Joe Anthony was still around. I was at the studio one day and had not seen him since the 104.5 days. He was a great DJ.

Yes I have contacted JayP and told him that I have some old recording of the NOW SOUNDS on reel to reel tape. He is more interested in KEXL. This stuff is KITE tapes..I understand where JayP is coming from and I loved that time too! I remember Nick ST john and Sam Kendrik ..yes ! This stuff is older than that..I have the reel to reels and I put a bunch of it on cassette..I could put it on CD if anybody was interested...ok this is not about money I would do it for free! Oh unless the copywright guys could get me!

[Miguel Ahrens]

Dwangle and TCS, what year are we talking here? Yes, The Castle was a mysterious place, but we never encountered hobos or anyone like that. My memories are of late 60s, early 70s. There were lots of structures made of rock and cement. On some, just behind the dance hall, there were little porcelain angels embedded into the cement, between the rocks. I loved that spot, but returned one day to find that someone had knocked all the little angels from their berths. I am sad to this day...........but it remains a fantastic memory of San Antonio........

[Miguel Ahrens]

What about The Pond? Anyone remember this? Just behind Tony Perry's house there was a pond, inhabited by frogs, snakes, fish, birds and many other creatures we discovered, but are forgotten by me. I would camp there with my friends, Tony Perry, Robert Robeshoue(sp?), Donny (last name?), Mark Beaudette(sp?) etc.........we would build a big fire, smoke a couple of joints, then go gigging frogs, return to the camp and wait until the frog community would quiet down, then go hit them again!!
Wish I could find these boys. I try and try when in SA, but no can do!

[Miguel Ahrens]

Oh yeah and, in the summer heat, we would skateboard as if it were 60 degrees when it was 100+, barefoot. Our boards were wooden and hand painted. We would do all kinds of tricks.....nothing like you see today on the XGames, but perhaps more extraordinary because we did it without the elbow and knee pads, without the ultra-light plastics, without the helmets, without the audience. We did it without knowing that there was NOT a community of thousands and thousands out there, just like us, doing the same thing, trying the same jumps and tricks. We were original. We did it for ourselves. If, at the end of the day, when Tony and I finished our day, no one had seen us doing our tricks (well, maybe his dog, Skipper, who followed us everywhere).......well, we wouldn't know anything about it because we were independent of the bull**** : We were a cool island.

[Dwangle]

Originally Posted by Miguel Ahrens

Dwangle and TCS, what year are we talking here? Yes, The Castle was a mysterious place, but we never encountered hobos or anyone like that. My memories are of late 60s, early 70s. There were lots of structures made of rock and cement. On some, just behind the dance hall, there were little porcelain angels embedded into the cement, between the rocks. I loved that spot, but returned one day to find that someone had knocked all the little angels from their berths. I am sad to this day...........but it remains a fantastic memory of San Antonio........

When I was growing up I always heard stories of things to be afraid of. The Donkey Lady was one. We were always told about Hobo's too. Stay away from them. I still wouldn't know one if I saw one. Polio was ANOTHER thing to fear. There was supposedly a water fountain in Olmos Park that would give you POLIO if you drank from it. You could also get Polio if you didn't shower before getting into a public pool. I heard most of this stuff from kids I hung around with. I don't know where they got it.

[Dwangle]

I read in an early post about field trips to the Butterkrust Bakery and Symphony Concerts. Sometimes we went on a field trip to one of the missions too. I also remember a field trip to a shop that sold rocks. I think it was called The San Antonio Rock Shop or something like that. They had all kinds of polished stones and I think they would give everyone a freebie. I remember Fools Gold too. Does anybody remember this place?

[Dwangle]

I just thought of another place that is gone but maybe forgotten. The ALI-BABA pet cove on the corner of West Avenue and Jackson Keller where the Bill Millers is now. They had birds that talked.

[Blanco Joe]

Just joined the forum. I was born in 1946 on Grapeland street on the southside. By far, my fondest memories are of growing up there in the fifties. We were lower middle class, not a lot of money but we were not needy. The barefoot walks on hot summer days to the corner Commerce Ice Station to buy nickel cokes and then crossing Flores street to Womack's Pharmacy to peruse the Donald Duck, etc. comic books are still in my mind. Captain Jim's on Loop 13, the original El Rancho restaurant, or any other sit down eatery required some type of formal dressware.....almost like dressing for church.
The numerous drive in theaters like The Trail,& Mission were neat nightime family adventures. There were no drive-by shootings, no drug problems, and very little serious property crimes. The neighbors were sort of bound together because most all the windows were open (no A/C) and people could see out and could hear well. Also, most people had lawn chairs and polka dot ice tea glasses with which they passed idle time in the front, back, and side yards. Neighbors knew each other and pretty much watched out for each others houses and kids. Terrell Wells swimming pool was a sulpher water (warm) swimming pool with life guards, a sandy beach area on one side, a covered swing portico, and deep diving pool. I remember there was also an arcade there with a rifle that you shot at a little mechanical bear which would stand up and roar when you "hit" it. You also had to step in a pan of chlorinated water to kill fot fungus. You were also checked for any type of body sore or injury, and if you had one, you could not go in the water. This was done supposedly to prevent water borne polio from spreading to others. Speaking of which, I remember the pollio shots and booster shots and smallpox vacinations that we school kids were routinely carted off in buses to go get. I went to Gerald elementary which was located at Pleasanton Rd. and Tennessee (now Southcross). We kids would cross over fences and through other neighbors backyards to shortcut our way to school.That was not a problem in those days....just had to watch for any dogs. Radio was the main of entertainment, THEN came black and white small screen television!!! We were the second family in our block to get one. I still remember many of those shows, but not the plots. Dozens and dozens of shows came and went during that decade. I occasionaly find and buy them on dvd when I find them. Science Fiction Theater was a favorite for me, and especially Tales of The Texas Rangers on saturday morning. I recently purchased a 1957 Sears catalogue and a 1957 telephone book, to go along with a 1957 Chevrolet that I am rebuilding. If you were a red blooded American boy at that time, you hurried home from school to catch the Mickey Mouse club with Annette Funicello. I knew I liked her, but was too young to understand why.
The fifties had blemishes, of course. It was not without stain. But if I could borrow a time machine, I would go back to Grapeland street in the fifties with my old chums and neighbors several times a week. Keep the computers and cell phones (even though I like them) but just let me run down that hot road barefoot with Billy and Roy and Carl
just a few more times.

[Primo]

Originally Posted by Dwangle

I just thought of another place that is gone but maybe forgotten. The ALI-BABA pet cove on the corner of West Avenue and Jackson Keller where the Bill Millers is now. They had birds that talked.

Speaking of that area...what was the original name of the bar that is across from the Columbia bolwing ball factory?...it is now called the Martini Ranch.?

No far down West Ave is another bar, called the Texan....that place has not changed in the past 30 years(maybe more?). Anyone know how long that has been around? That always looked like the type of bar that you could get your throat cut ear to ear for saying the wrong thing.