Posted: January 27th, 2009 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Childhood Memories, Fort Worth | Tags: leonards | No Comments »
Leonards was legendary, and their M&O Subway is perhaps my favorite memory of the store. I had to share this advertisement that appeared in a Casa Manana program from the mid-60s. What immediately caught my eye was the conductor. Is it me, or does he look remarkably like the work of Charles Schultz? The head has a certain Charlie Brown shape, and those sure look like Linus’ eyes. I really doubt that Schultz was the artist, but it’s clear that his style was being emulated. The subway graphic was a frequently used symbol of Leonards, and I clearly remember it from the paper covers that we had to wrap our school textbooks with. (remember those?!)
Posted: January 18th, 2009 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Childhood Memories, Fort Worth | 1 Comment »
[Note: I originally wrote this for one of my other sites, ClassicRotaryPhones.com, but felt that the Fort Worth subject-matter made it ideal for inclusion here.]
I get ideas for posts from a number of different sources, but often as not they’re based on something that’s been on my mind, maybe a project I’ve been working on. The inspiration for this post however, came to me after reading an unusual article about the “beep-beep line” on Dennis Markham’s VintageRotaryPhones.com. Something I was previously unaware of, the post describes a quirk of the telephone network that used to permit something akin to the chat capability of a party line. Initiated by calling ones own number, kids would talk over the busy signal to others who were likewise engaged… harmless childhood hijinks at their finest. (for a full description, read: The Beep-Beep Line) This apparently was very popular with those “in the know”, and wish I had been one of the privileged few who enjoyed partaking in that bit of silliness.
I may have missed out on the beep-beep line, but the story reminded me of my own childhood in Fort Worth, and a strange, secretive activity that was popular in my Bruce Shulkey Elementary School days: calling making phone calls to “The Man in the Moon”.
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Posted: January 13th, 2009 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Childhood Memories, Fort Worth, Vintage Postcards | Tags: leonards | 4 Comments »
Whereas mom favored shopping at department stores like Striplings, Cox’s or Monnigs, my father preferred Leonard’s or “Monkey Wards”. This made those two stores frequent destinations for father-and-son Saturday outings, particularly Leonard’s. To a boy age 7 or so, there was simply no comparison between going with mom to Striplings and with dad to Leonard’s. What made Leonard’s special? For one, it had a subway that shuttled customers to and from their remote parking lot. That would be the only selling point a kid would need, but there’s more: the store was great, with a dizzying array of merchandise. Things were presented in a much more cluttered fashion than was seen elsewhere. It wasn’t that you couldn’t find what you were after, but rather that you’d find things you didn’t expect, which was undoubtedly the plan. Shopping at Leonard’s was an adventure.
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Posted: January 5th, 2009 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Childhood Memories, Fort Worth, Vintage Postcards | Tags: christmas | No Comments »
I know, it’s a little late to be talking about Christmas, but I’ve just acquired this swell postcard and had to share it. The card, postmarked 1964, caught my attention because of the illuminated Santa, an image that sparked a long-dormant memory. It had been decades since I had thought of those Santas floating majestically over the downtown streets, and I was reminded of our annual pilgrimage to see the department store window displays.
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Posted: January 4th, 2009 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Fort Worth, Genealogy | No Comments »
My father wasn’t the type that spent a lot of time with friends, preferring to focus his attentions on family. A genuinely kind and generous person, dad had a small number of friends by choice, and at the top of that select list was L.S. “Stan” Orrick. It was Stan who had first come to Fort Worth to work at General Dynamics, calling dad (Doug Stevens) to tell him that the giant defense contractor was hiring. This lead prompted dad leave the family behind while he drove to Texas to look things over. This resulted in the family moving to Fort Worth in 1949.
Our family lived in two or three different homes during the first eleven years in Fort Worth, but in 1960 built a new home. This one was right down the street from Stan and his wife Marie, and where my mother and father would live the rest of their lives. I remember Stan walking down the street to visit Dad, and I recall them sometimes going to the library or a book store together. They didn’t socialize often, but always maintained contact. When my mother passed away on September 12, 2004 dad was devastated by the loss, and he was ill prepared for the death of his friend Stan little over a month later, on October 21st. Two years later Marie passed, on November 28, 2006. I knew that dad was beginning to feel as though he were the last of his group, the lone survivor from the old days.
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Posted: December 27th, 2008 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Childhood Memories, Fort Worth, Vintage Postcards | No Comments »
This postcard shows the sign that served as a beacon for the Fort Worth Zoo for decades. Located just off University Drive, the sign greeted southbound traffic as they crossed the Trinity River, just in time for them to take the next left on Colonial Parkway. I don’t know when the sign was first erected, but it was certainly in place prior to 1960. I’m also unclear as to when it was taken down. I want to say it was just removed only ten or fifteen years ago, but I can’t find a definitive answer. One thing I do know is that the sign was an important Fort Worth landmark, one of many that have disappeared over the past 25 years. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: December 1st, 2008 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Fort Worth, Vintage Postcards | Tags: downtown, theater | No Comments »
Once upon a time, before the development of suburban areas, the heart of any major city was “downtown”. It was the destination for both shopping and entertainment, and I’m fortunate to have been able to experience Fort Worth’s “old downtown” as a child. Seventh Street was the place to go for movies, with the Worth, Hollywood and Palace theaters all situated in close proximity to each other. I vaguely remember seeing Babes in Toyland (the 1961 Ray Bolger version) at one of the downtown theaters at the tender age of four, but the James Bond movies (Dr. No, Goldfinger) definitely made a bigger impression.
The view shown in this postcard is very similar to what I recall from when our family would go downtown, as we always approached from the west on Seventh Street. I have no idea when this photo was taken, but I’m guessing the late ’40s. This view clearly predates the addition of the neon “Reddy Kilowatt” sign at the corner of the Texas Electric building, Reddy being their cartoon mascot and spokesperson. That sign was a real landmark, one that has gone the way of much of historic downtown Fort Worth. I could be way off here, but I also seem to recall a Planter’s “Mr. Peanut” advertising sign somewhere in this vicinity as well.
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Posted: November 19th, 2008 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Fort Worth, Vintage Postcards | Tags: seminary south | 1 Comment »
Anyone who grew up in Fort Worth in the 1960s has great memories of the Seminary South Shopping Center. Built on a location previously occupied by Katy Lake, Seminary South opened in 1962, and offered a vastly superior shopping experience to the strip centers of the day. It was the first commercial venue in the area that encouraged shoppers to browse many stores, all in a beautiful open-air setting. While often described today as a “mall”, I don’t recall that name applied to it at the time. The first true mall, the fully-enclosed Southdale Center in Edina, Minnesota, opened in 1956.
One of the most appealing aspects of Seminary South was the diverse selection of stores, ranging from the large department stores like Striplings, Sears, J.C. Penny, Leonard’s and G.C. Murphy, to smaller establishments like Spencer’s Gifts, Chess King, Kinney Shoes, Hobby Hub and the Book Oasis. There was truly something for everyone.
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Posted: November 11th, 2008 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Childhood Memories, Fort Worth | Tags: carol, cordone, home movies | No Comments »
Yep, that’s me, taking a bite out of my sister Carol’s knee. I don’t recall this incident at all, but thanks to the miracle of 8mm home movies, the moment has been brought back to life and captured for posterity. This would have taken place at our house on Cordone St., shortly before moving to a new home in the nearby, and rapidly growing, Wedgwood neighborhood. This still image isn’t nearly as funny as the actual movie, so I’ll try to find the time to include the film clip here in the near future. (I’ll bet she had it coming)
Posted: October 20th, 2008 | Author: Mark | Filed under: Fort Worth | Tags: flood | 2 Comments »
My folks recounted more than once the story of their moving to Fort Worth just in time for the “great flood”. The city had experienced floods before, in 1908 and 1922, but the most devastating by far took place in May of 1949. The deluge began around 6 p.m. on Monday the 16th and lasted until almost 3 o’clock Tuesday morning, the intense, slow-moving storm dumping as much as 11 inches. On Tuesday the levees along the Clear Fork of the Trinity River began to fail, causing extensive residential and commercial property damage. The Fort Worth water treatment plant, located within the boundaries of the flood plane, was contaminated. Ten lives were lost in the flood, bringing further attention to the urgent need for preventive measures. Within a few years Benbrook Lake was created, primarily to avoid such flooding in the future. Read the rest of this entry »
Leonards was legendary, and their M&O Subway is perhaps my favorite memory of the store. I had to share this advertisement that appeared in a Casa Manana program from the mid-60s. What immediately caught my eye was the conductor. Is it me, or does he look remarkably like the work of Charles Schultz? The head has a certain Charlie Brown shape, and those sure look like Linus’ eyes. I really doubt that Schultz was the artist, but it’s clear that his style was being emulated. The subway graphic was a frequently used symbol of Leonards, and I clearly remember it from the paper covers that we had to wrap our school textbooks with. (remember those?!)
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