1969 and prior San Antone (Houston, San Antonio: how much, motel, subdivision)

[Paka]

We use to ride the city bus from near Kelly AFB to downtown as teenage girls to go "shopping" downtown. Would hit the huge Solo Serve, and who could forget stopping by the "Manhattan" after 3pm for their napoloian dessert? Yummmmmmmmm....

Also remember the "bottle cap" movies downtown and the 99 cent (no joke!) James Brown reviews when he would come to town.

Not downtown, but does anyone remember the 5 for $1.00 burgers on Wednesdays at Burger Chef??? That was about the ONLY time we ever got to eat "out"...and then we bought them and drug them home for dinner (like we were going to get a soda or something??!?!?!?!)

I STILL remember friends of mine with gun racks and a rifle in the back window of their pick up truck...and they would drive to school and leave it in the parking lot of the school with the windows down (it WAS hot otherwise) and no one ever thought about touching it!!! Now you would be locked up for 20 years just for THINKING about it...

Those were simpler times, weren't they??? Does anyone under the age of 40 even know what a "malted" is anymore?????

BTW, I graduated in early 70's from HS here, and LOVED growing up in San Antonio. Married military and never really expected to be living here again...but glad we are.

[baby_bytes]

Hey all I'm new here, been reading these posts for the past couple of days. I love this thread along with the other one Gone and not forgotten thread. I'm only 24 yrs old but love reading stuff about San Antonio's history and love looking at old pictures of how our city once looked like. In my own little research I came upon this pdf file and link. Have great pictures, it's on the history of Balcones Heights, which has great pictures of a lot of open land near Fred. Rd, 410/10 intersection, inside of Wonderland Mall, etc. and then there's this other one I found on transportation history in SA which also has great pictures. The Pdf is pretty long, but I actually read it Pretty neat stuff enjoy BTW I grew up near Kelly AFB on Cupples before Cupples ends and became Quintana Rd., and almost across the street from the 2 San Fernando Cemeteries on that part of town. Anyone who grew up here and know any history about that part of town? Apparently the house I grew up in was made out of stone or something was left but then it was covered by wood. Kinda wierd, and onions used to grow in the back yard lol We were close to the Kelly Drive in, which apparently I never knew existed until now that I was browsing through this forum lol I still lived in the area when it closed in 1991. Any info would be appreciated, just want to know a bit more from that part of town oh also somewhere in the Old but not forgotten I saw someone post on why McAllister (sp?) Freeway was called that. On the Balcones Heights book there's a mention of some prominent guy in SA with that last name, so I'm guessing that's why....3rd link is about Chinese history in SA, has some pix too. I'll post any other stuff I find.

http://www.balconesheights.org/newhistory.pdf
TTM site
CHINESE HEART OF TEXAS

I keep on messing up on the URL's, sorry :\

[irnag]

Yes, McAllister was the mayor of San Antonio in the '60s. He got a little bit of notiiriety of announcing his re-election campaign for mayor of San Antonio in Wonderland Mall which was in Balcones Heights.

[di_is_in_tx]

As I said in another post I grew up in downtown San Antonio. My home was actually where the Denny's is now by the Rivercenter Mall. My grocery store/dept store was the H.L.Green which is now the Ripley's Believe It or Not. I remember putting my first doll on layaway there. She skated too! I loved that doll! Do you remember when the parades use to go through Commerce St. also...I actually just had to run to the corner to watch ....Remember the nursery (plants) that was between Solo Serve and Burns dept stores. I always thought... what a strange place for plants and there was no sun because the buildings were so tall on either side! The church I attended was St. Joseph which is sandwiched between Dillard's formally Joske. What a wonderful trip down memory lane for us all!

[spaceage007]

As I said in another post I grew up in downtown San Antonio. My home was actually where the Denny's is now by the Rivercenter Mall. My grocery store/dept store was the H.L.Green which is now the Ripley's Believe It or Not.

Wow your house was where the Denny's is now, how long ago was that? It must have been cool to grow up almost next to the Alamo. Where there a lot of houses in that area? Where there more houses that buildings? Did you family sell the house, or were you forced out? How was the riverwalk then? I would love to hear more about how downtown use to be. Would you happen to have any old photos of your house or downtown back then?

[di_is_in_tx]

Yes spaceage007, it was real cool growing up next to the Alamo. My family lived there for about 25 years. We left the area about 1967 right before Hemisfair 68 came about. Actually my address was 111 Elm and it was no nightmare on Elm street either! hehehe Ok, I have to stop saying that...Not!!! Actually starting from the Elm Street area away from where the Rivercenter Mall is, there were mostly homes. My home was sandwiched between buildings as other homes going past Bowie Street were. We had to leave because the property was sold. The lady that owned our home....get this....her home was the only one situated in this large parking lot right in back of Joskes, which is Dillards now. She refused to sell for many years. Anyway, with the Hemisfair 68 coming in all that area was being bought out. The Riverwalk then was the Riverwalk....what else can I say. It was much darker in those days I must admit. When Hemisfair 68 came in, our city was really in the limelight. It's hard to forget the lights during Christmas and the River Parades. It was fun growing up as a child in downtown San Antonio. I must have pics somewhere! I will try to find some. Now don't hold your breath ok! :-P

[sereneintexas]

hey, mimimomx3, I don't know where Teen Canteen was by it did exist. I never went there but I remember hearing about it.

Paka, I vaguely remember Burger Chef, but I very vividly remember Griffs hamburgers... like... what..., 15 for a dollar! Of course, all they consisted of was bread, burger, and some kind of 'secret sauce'.
And, oh, yes! I remember going downtown on the bus to go 'shopping'. It was a blast!

baby_bytes, I remember Kelly Drive in, but only stopped by there once for a coke.

Wow di_is_in_tx, it must have really been cool living in downtown SA, would really love to see pic's.

thanks to all of you for sharing!

[mimimomx3]

hey, mimimomx3, I don't know where Teen Canteen was by it did exist. I never went there but I remember hearing about it.
It was by the Blossom Athletic Center/sort of by the airport...there was nothing out there!!!

[MidwestTexan]

Originally Posted by sereneintexas

"Gone but not forgotten" (another thread on this site), on San Antonio was interesting to read, but it seemed as if the folks posting there were quite 'young'. I thought it would be fun to have a thread for those San Antonians who have been around for the biggest part of the last century.

For example, it's for those of us who remember when the Tower Life Building, (Transit Tower or Smith Young Tower as some of us remember it), was the tallest building in San Antonio. This is a 30-story building of neo-gothic design which was built in 1929 and is now listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The Transit Tower is at 330 S St Mary's, bordered on the north by the river and on the west by S St Mary's.

And, for those of us who remember as kids going to Joske's on the corner of Commerce and Alamo (built in 1887). Remember the elaborate decorations, etc. that they had at Joske's at Christmas time. What was that called, was it Fantasy Land? I remember it very well, but can't remember what they called it.

Is there anyone out there who remembers the old Victoria Courts Apts when they were first built in 1940. Although this complex became an eyesore to downtown in more recent years it was considered progressive in 1940 when first built; or Better Home Ice Cream on S. Presa street?
How about the See and Eat restaurant which was over on Palo Alto Road near South San High School? We used to go there alot on Sundays and get carne guisada tacos which were the very best, for only 10 cents. WOW! I just realized, that this keyboard doesn't have a cent mark! Remember the cent mark

There was a magazine and book store downtown, either on Commerce or Market St, what was the name of it... was it Brock's? I remember there were so many books and magazines in there, there was hardly room to walk.

I'm sure there are so many more fond memories that can be shared from the first half of the 20th century in San Antonio. Let's not let these young whipper snappers have all the fun strolling down memory lane. Share your memories of San Antone before the malls, before the super highways, before the medical center, before the breakup of Ma Bell ....... before .... !

I may be one of the "young whipper snappers" that you refer to...I'm 34...but I do remember JOSKES...my grandmother worked there for years... some great memories of "Old San Antone"

[hemisfan]

Thanks for the reference to the YouTube piece on HemisFair'68. KLRN also made a good recap with interviews of some of the participants. Check their Website.
I was a department head at HemisFair and was on the grounds all but 5 days during its run. I arrived in town in August 1967, so saw little of Sereneintexas' pre-1969 view of the city.
There are many stories, of course. My favorite is this one. Several months before the Fair opened, while we were planning the programs, we saw a small item in the paper that the chorus of Alamo Heights High School had learned the national anthems of Mexico and Guatemala, to greet school officials visiting San Antonio from those countries. We got an idea, and my assistant and I met with the chorus director, Harold Greenley, and auditioned the chorus, which was excellent. Our proposal was that they take on the project of learning the anthems of the participating nations, and singing them at the Fair to greet the visiting VIPs from those countries on their special national day. The chorus and Greenley agreed, and the upshot was that the chorus stayed organized during the entire summer of the Fair, made uniforms for themselves, and ultimately sang the national anthems of 22 nations in nine different languages!
There was little publicity, because the primary audience was the special representative from that nation, for whom the rendition was a total surprise. We saw many teary eyes when the chorus had finished. Just one example was the singing of the anthem of Monaco for Prince Ranier and Princess Grace while they were on the grounds.
I wonder if any of the readers of this site were members of that chorus during 1968, or know people who were. I would like to see some of their memories. Mine couldn't be any more glorious.