Cal Worthington wasn't unique to Houston...I think there are still Cal Worthington dealerships in California...

You can several of the old commercials here...

http://www.calworthington.com/

Birraporetti's Belfast Bomber was half a gallon. The bread at Astroworld was Mrs. Bairds'. Westheimer was two lanes and you could hit every light at 120 mph. Pizza was from Pan Joes or Shakies. Memorial City was new and on the "outskirts" of town. San Felipe didn't go through to Memorial. Checker's at Voss and Woodway had $1 pitchers and free popcorn during Monday Night Football. McDonalds didn't exists. A short guy named Louis Welch was the mayor. The population wasn't even a million. People would drive friendly for no good reason.

Correction: Hofheinz was the mayor when Checker's opened. Checker's didn't last long but, what a deal!

[This message has been edited by HECUBUS (edited 7/25/2005 3:19p).]

Are you talking about the fact that the Humble building is shaped like an H???


I too remember Peppermint Park, the pony ride place, Farrell's (by that time I was a parent and took the kids there). I also had a lot of dates at the Gulgate Cinema. How about the Winkler Drive-in movie?????

Let's see how old you really are. Playland Park????????????


[This message has been edited by anaggiemom (edited 7/25/2005 3:04p).]

Wasn't Gulfgate the first enclosed, air conditioned shopping mall in the country or something like that? We registered at the Dillards there for our wedding in 1990.

Anybody remember buying Ice Cream/milk from the Borden Dairy in Downtown Houston, way back when?

I remember going with my Mom there once or twice a summer to buy a big bundle of the little ice cream cups with the wooden spoons, this would have been early 70's.

I grew up in the neighborhood behind Fame City. I used to go there all the time when I was in Middle School and High School.

Fame City was cool, I went to HS at Hastings, and we had our graduation party there. I spent alot of summertime at the Fame City Waterpark.

Dang it, I was reading this whole thread thing "I'm gonna post about Cal Worthington and his dod spot."

And then I got to the last posts on the first page

And yes, there are still some Cal dealerships on the west coast.

[This message has been edited by The Padz (edited 7/25/2005 8:10p).]

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Anyone remember Fame City?

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Remember that bungee spider web thing they had?

You are right about Gulfgate Mall - quite a big deal back then.

When we were first married we lived off of Kirby and the Southwest Freeway - back then a quick easy drive to the Borden's downtown - used to go get milkshakes knowing the drive would put our son to sleep.

I went to Elsik. What year did you graduate Hastings, George?

1992

dang!

The Dexter Freebish, talk about a blast from the past. I think they changed the name to Excaliber and it has since been torn down and is a new roller coaster.

I went to Louie Welch jr high, speaking of the former mayor

I used to go to the Pan Joes pizza on Braeswood and Hillcroft.

I loved Peppermint Park, went to the one at 59 and Beltway 8 back when beltway 8 was called west belt.

How about the Barrel of Fun at Astroworld!

or going to the zoo when it was free

"Games people play" at the corner of Beechnut & Fondren (I think) Had the go carts and batting cages and putt putt and of course the arcade.

Westwood mall when it used to be a mall.

going to the astrodome and watching the Astros in the old rainbow unis. then after the game was over they would play "celebration" by kool and the gang if the 'stros won.

alpine sleigh ride at astroworld

Gene Elston as the astros play by play guy. i liked him so much more than Milo.

Swensons ice cream on Hillcroft between braeswood and Bellfort. It's now a real estate office.


I definitely remember Farrels, they used to play that siren and the guys would run around the place carrying the ice cream above their heads.

Fame City was sweet during it's first couple of years.

Anyone remember Gooney Golf on W. Bellfort right by A.J. Foyt car dealership and Beldens Grocery store?

Good memories growing up in Houston.



[This message has been edited by Jay95 (edited 7/26/2005 3:34p).]

Anyone else with some fun memories?

My dad used to make us get our hair cut at the Fantastic Sam's in Fame City. Other than that it was pretty fun.

A little laser tag, putt-putt golf, haircut, and a movie.

What fun! I haven't thought of those places in years! Babies of the 80s, we took day care field trips to some of these spots

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I used to go to the Pan Joes pizza on Braeswood and Hillcroft.

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quote:

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"Games people play" at the corner of Beechnut & Fondren (I think) Had the go carts and batting cages and putt putt and of course the arcade.

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Heck yea.

I grew up off of N Braeswood near Hillcroft. Attended St. Thomas Episcopal for K-4 before I moved out to Pearland.

[This message has been edited by Keegan99 (edited 7/30/2005 1:29a).]

Resurrection.

Which Humble Building was the original post referring to? The newer version built in the late 50's was at the time the tallest building west of the Mississippi (mentioned on here in another post). Is this the answer you were looking for? It's the Exxon Building today. One Shell Plaza was also the tallest building west of the Mississippi when it opened in the late 60's and remained so for quite a few years.

Gulfgate was indeed the first enclosed, air conditioned shopping mall in the US.

The little loaves of bread at Astroworld were Rainbo in the 70's, not Mrs. Bairds.

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The little loaves of bread at Astroworld were Rainbo in the 70's, not Mrs. Bairds.

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They were Mrs. Bairds.

At my age, it's more like an opinion than a memory.

I do remember that was the best food for my money and ate them all the time. You had to know where the water fountains were.

does anyone remember hanna barbera land?

Yep. Very shortlived in the early to mid 80's. My memories of it are spotty at best.

Surely someone has a old Astroworld photo with one of the little loaves in it that they could scan and post so we can settle this Rainbo/Mrs. Baird's debate once and for all.

It was probably Wonder bread.

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At my age, it's more like an opinion than a memory.

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So true.

My mom worked in the old Fannin Bank Building near the Medical Center. My buddy and I used to get season passes to Astroworld and go once or twice a week all summer. My mom would drop us off across 610 on her way to work. We'd hang out a bit until the trams started running and we'd go until 5, 5:30 and my mom would pick us back up. I probably went to Astroworld at least 70 times in my life, perhaps more. Maybe my memory is spotty though.

As a side note, there were often days when we'd get on the Cyclone and ride it over and over again without getting off. The crowds were generally pretty low in July/August on weekdays.

70 times! I'd put my money on your memory.

You must have some pretty good pranks. My favorite was driving those cars into the tunnel, bailing and then watching the ensuing chaos.

Remember the cold A/C inside the tunnel of the Alpine Sleigh Ride.

I had a few birthday parties at Peppermint Park and then had our Pro-Grad thing at Fame City! Good times...ha ha

^
| Yep, that's why we didn't do anything to the abominable snowman. Okay, one time we got him but, it was at the end of the day.

I always had two older brothers that had most of the ideas and took most of the blame.

I remember a few fun things we used to do. We'd sneak mostly consumed cokes (or whatever would splatter nicely) onto Dexter Freebish and always try to hit that one pole that looked like it might take your head off. I recall some fun pranks with the old cars that usually involved attempts at a destruction derby, at least as much of one that we could muster given the situation. I also liked to stand on the outside of the car and use the accelerator the attendents used. Of course we always used to try to get things to stick to the wall in the Barrel-o-Fun or whatever that thing was called.

I forgot about the Alpine Sleigh Ride. Other rides from the old days:

Black Dragon
The Serpent
The Wagon Wheel
Wacky Shack (technically not a ride I guess)
Log Flume (whatever that was called, maybe that one is still there)
The swing ride (don't recall the name)

Anyone got any others from the old days?

I remember, the swing ride was called The Gunslinger.

sky tram
bamboo shoot, i mean chute

must be reading too many threads in the outdoors forum.

[This message has been edited by HECUBUS (edited 8/5/2005 4:09p).]

Greased Lightning.

That's right, the Bamboo Chute was the log flume ride. Maybe it was Mrs. Baird's after all.

Is Greased Lightning gone now?

I remember one named the Barrel of Laughs maybe, that was basically a giant human centrifuge, it would spin you around and then the bottom of the "barrel" would fall away.

Also there was a pokey river ride, river of no return or something, where they would have a teenager giving some scary narration of the animals and savages along the river.

thunder river