Flashback : Dallas

A Miscellany: History, Ads, Pop Culture

From the Vault: All You Could Possibly Need, On the Eagle Ford Road

medford_trinity-cafe_west-dallas_FB_dallas-historyFeast your eyes…

by Paula Bosse

I’ve been dealing with a bunch of family issues recently, but I hope to be back to posting regularly soon. In the meantime, here’s a favorite photo, from the 2018 Flashback Dallas post “The Eccentric Medford Compound on the Old Eagle Ford Road: 1945-1950.” R. E. Medford — the man who… um… assembled the buildings seen above — was the patriarch of a prodigiously violent West Dallas family. Check it out.

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

Uncle Scooter Reads the Funnies: 1940-41

radio_uncle-scooter_wfaa-wbap-kgko-combined-family-album_1941Little Man and Uncle Scooter…

by Paula Bosse

Several years ago, I was flipping through a promotional booklet for radio stations WFAA, WBAP, and KGKO, and I came across the photo above. I think about this photo a lot. It shows radio personality “Uncle Scooter” lying on the floor next to a KGKO microphone, reading the comics over the air to a vast audience of children and pointing out something pertinent to his trusty companion, a fox terrier named Little Man. I love this photograph. It makes me smile every time I see it. Wouldn’t it be great if this was how he actually conducted his broadcasts — on the floor with his doggie next to him? Here’s the caption:

uncle-scooter_dog_wfaa-wbap-kgko-combined-family-album_1941_caption

Clarence E. Tonahill (1904-1954) — known to everyone as “Scooter” — appears to have begun his radio career in Waco at the appropriately named station WACO. He then worked at KGKB in Tyler, then returned for a few years to WACO, and then to KTSA in San Antonio. Like most people in broadcasting in those days, he did a little bit of everything: he was an announcer, a newsreader, a sportscaster, and an entertainer. One of his most popular shows was just him reading the Sunday comics over the air for children. Below, a WACO ad from 1937 showing Uncle Scooter, again, lying on the studio floor (no dog, though).

uncle-scooter_waco-tribune-herald_010337Waco Tribune-Herald, Jan. 3, 1937

Around September 1939, he moved to Fort Worth to begin a busy stint at KGKO, a DFW station co-owned by The Dallas Morning News and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram (this was part of the very unusual WFAA-WBAP radio broadcasting partnership). He started as an “announcer” (which might well have included cleaning up the studio!), but he quickly graduated to doing a lot of sports-announcing and color commentary (football and boxing), man-on-the-street interviews, and personal appearances. He also hosted several shows, including a weekday morning show called “Sunrise Frolic.” But Sundays… Sunday mornings were set aside for his funnies-reading.

1940_radio_uncle-scooter_FWST_090840Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sept. 1940

1940_radio_uncle-scooter_FWST_091540FWST, Sept. 1940

1941_radio_uncle-scooter_FWST_031641FWST, March 1941

The Sunday lineup on KGKO, before and after the funnies:

1940_radio_uncle-scooter_bryan-tx-eagle_121440Bryan Eagle, Dec. 1940

I see listings for the show in 1940 and 1941 — and then, briefly, in 1947. His obituary says that Tonahill retired from his career as a broadcasting personality in 1946 and opened his own business in Fort Worth, Scooter’s Radio Supply (a supplier of broadcasting equipment to stations around the country).

He must have been a bright, friendly voice on the radio. I’d love to know the role Little Man played (Little Man was Scooter’s real-life pet and was described in a magazine profile as Scooter’s “favorite hobby”). I have fond (if somewhat vague) memories from my childhood of Bill Kelley reading the comics on The Children’s Hour on Channel 5 — but I can say without hesitation that things on The Children’s Hour would have been a whole lot more interesting if he’d just had a cute little dog with him!

1940_scooter-tonahill_FWST_042040_kgko-ad_det_photo1940_scooter-tonahill_FWST_100940_kgko-ad_det_photo1940

1954_tonahill-clarence-e_FWST_072654_obit_photo1954

kgko_19391939

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Sources & Notes

Top photo from “WFAA, WBAP, KGKO Combined Family Album” (Dallas-Fort Worth, 1941).

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

Dallas: “Outstanding Educational Center” — ca. 1943

education_so-this-is-dallas_lone-star-annex_ca-1943_photosFive education hotspots…

by Paula Bosse

From So This Is Dallas, a publication meant to lure new residents to the city by touting key aspects of what makes it worth your while to pack your bags and relocate NOW. This is the page that focused on education.

Dallas… Outstanding Educational Center

Early in its history, Dallas set a high standard for its schools, and so well has it maintained those standards, that it stands high among cities of the nation in the educational advantages it offers to the children of its people and to those of the surrounding states.

From kindergartens for tiny tots to great universities and colleges for those seeking the higher degrees of learning, Dallas can furnish any specialized or general training that the young citizen may require.

There are 62 elementary schools, 8 senior high schools, and 4 junior high schools in the public school system of Dallas and the surrounding residential cities. Several new junior high schools are planned, and new elementary schools are organized as rapidly as they are needed.

The public schools also offer evening classes for the training of adults, and vocational training for adults or those of school age who prefer the specialized fields.

In the field of higher learning, there is Southern Methodist University, the medical and dental schools of Baylor University, Miss Hockaday’s School for Girls, and the Terrill School for Boys. Several well-rated business schools offer training in business administration, and there are dozens of recognized schools of music, art, the dance, drama, trades, and professions. Only a few miles to the west, at Arlington, is the state’s great school, the North Texas Agricultural College.

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North Dallas High School:

education_so-this-is-dallas_ca-1943_lone-star-annex_photos_NDHS

Southern Methodist University:

education_so-this-is-dallas_ca-1943_lone-star-annex_photos_SMU

Woodrow Wilson High School:

education_so-this-is-dallas_ca-1943_lone-star-annex_photos_WWHS

The Terrill School for Boys:

education_so-this-is-dallas_ca-1943_lone-star-annex_photos_terrill-school

Miss Hockaday’s School for Girls:

education_so-this-is-dallas_ca-1943_lone-star-annex_photos_hockaday

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Why not post lists of schools from the 1943 Dallas directory? First, Dallas Public Schools (White):

schools_1943-directory_white

Dallas Public Schools (Black):

schools_1943-directory_black

Dallas Private Schools:

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Dallas Schools, Colleges, Academies, and Odd Stuff:

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And a lot of business schools….

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Sources & Notes

Photos and text from So This Is Dallas, published around 1943 by The Welcome Wagon, with photos by Parker-Griffith; courtesy of the Lone Star Library Annex Facebook page.

See other Flashback Dallas posts using bits from this booster publication (circa 1943 and 1946) here.

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

Black Women’s Equestrian Company K (American Woodmen) — 1920s

black-womens-equestrian-contingent_cook-coll_degolyer-lib_SMUGeorge W. Cook Collection, DeGolyer Library, SMU

by Paula Bosse

Above, a photograph of an African American woman holding a pennant which reads “Co. K — Dallas, Texas.” Company K was a women’s equestrian unit of Dallas Camp No. 86, consisting of at least 30 members — it was one of the various “uniformed ranks” of the American Woodmen, a Black fraternal organization. These groups competed in drills and marched in parades, and, from what I gather, they were meant to be seen as something of a symbol of strength, purpose, and resolve. Company K won many drilling contests and was active, from what I can tell, from at least 1922 to at least 1930.

The American Woodmen (not to be confused with the Woodmen of the World, an exclusively white organization) was a national fraternal benefit association which provided loans and insurance coverage to members. It was open to Black men and women. During the 1920s, the Woodmen offices were located at 714 N. Hawkins, at Central (the address was originally 718 N. Hawkins, as seen in the ad below). Members could join various extracurricular “uniform ranks” if they so chose.

american-woodmen_dallas-express_041720Dallas Express, Apr. 17, 1920

The American Woodmen Uniform Ranks were overseen by the national “Commander,” Maj. Gen. John L. Jones (many fraternal organizations borrowed liberally from the military, as seen in their fondness for uniforms, “officer” ranks, precision drilling, etc.). While in Dallas for the Woodmen’s District Encampment in August 1922, Jones told a reporter:

“The American Woodmen in establishing their uniform rank department intended to instill in those who joined it a higher appreciation for the value of the Negro soldier and hero. No other fraternity has thus established that branch of their organization.” (Dallas Express, Aug. 12, 1922)

When uniformed members of these various divisions drilled and paraded — hundreds at a time — it was an impressive, powerful sight. It was good PR, not only for the group selling insurance, but also for Black Americans who rarely had the opportunity to participate in this type of uniformed display of earnest, pillar-of-the-community solidarity. (See a typical group of the “Uniform Ranks” — which also included marching bands and nurses — in a 1924 photo showing the Louisville, Kentucky Camp, here.)

But back to Company K. I haven’t found any photos of them with horses, but I assume they really did ride horses. Below is an ad from January 1922, recruiting men for a Woodmen “cavalry.” I assume there was a similar version of this ad seeking female recruits.

woodmen_american-woodmen_cavalry_dallas-express_011422Dallas Express, Jan. 14, 1922

In an early competition at an “encampment” (a meeting of various American Woodmen companies, or “camps”), Company K tied for first place with another Dallas unit, Lone Star Company B. (Read coverage of this huge days-long encampment in the pages of the Black newspaper, The Dallas Express, hereThe Dallas Morning News did not mention the event.) The Dallas Encampment was at Riverside Park, a large open space where visitors set up military-style barracks/tents and competed in various military-like precision drills over the course of a few days. Riverside Park was the former Negro Play Park, at what is now Sabine and Denley in Oak Cliff, near the Trinity (it is now, I believe, Eloise Lundy Park). Not only was Riverside Park the site for several encampments and a place where Black families picnicked and gathered for special occasions, it was also the home of Negro League baseball games (these games were so popular among both Black and white Dallasites that a special section for white fans had to be installed during the Jim Crow era, when racial segregation was enforced by law). But back to Company K.

equestrian-co-k_dallas-express_081922_portal_detDallas Express, Aug. 19, 1922

The parade mentioned in the article below is described in the Express article “Woodmen Stage Big Parade” (Aug. 19, 1922). It sounds like it was a pretty big deal.

equestrian-co-k_black-dispatch_OKC_031523_headline_excerptBlack Dispatch (Oklahoma City, OK), Mar. 15, 1923

The incredibly low-resolution photo below was taken at the 1929 Encampment in Denver — it shows the scale of an encampment, with tents visible behind the posed participants. The caption says that Dallas’ Equestrian Co. K won the first prize for women in the drill contest — the prize (which, amazingly, was the same as the first prize for men) was $800, which, in today’s inflation-adjusted money would be about $15,000! 

equestrian-co-k_black-dispatch_OKC_090529_photoBlack Dispatch (OKC), Sept. 5, 1929

In an excerpt from a chatty overview of the women’s drilling groups, Company K spokeswomen say how happy they are to be back in Oklahoma City.

black-dispatch_OKC_071030_detBlack Dispatch (Oklahoma City), July 10, 1930

Most fraternal organizations are, as the name would imply, men-only. Yeah, they may have their female “auxiliary” organizations to give the women something to do, but the American Woodmen (Woodpeople?) included women in important roles. And it certainly paid off — the women of Equestrian Company K regularly won competitions and regularly brought the bacon home. 

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100% of what is contained in this post is information I didn’t know until I set out to discover what “Equestrian Co. K, Dallas, Texas” referred to. As always, it’s exciting to learn about something I had never known about.

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Sources & Notes

Top photo — “[Member of African American Women’s Equestrian Contingent, Company K, of Dallas, Texas]” — is from the George W. Cook Dallas/Texas Image Collection, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University; more information on this photo can be found on the SMU Libraries site, here.

There is very little information on the internet about these American Woodmen women’s companies, so I’ve collected the article “Echoes from the Forest — Uniform Rank Department, American Woodmen” (The Black Dispatch, Oklahoma City, July 10, 1930), which lists female personnel for several Dallas companies, including the equestrian company, drill companies, a hospital company, and a nurse company — read the PDF here.

Read about the American Woodmen Benevolent Society (not to be confused with the (white) Woodmen of the World organization) in two very informative and interesting blog posts, here and here.

Read about Black soldiers during World War I in the sort-of related Flashback Dallas post “Black Troops from Dallas, Off to the Great War,” here.

black-womens-equestrian-contingent_cook-coll_degolyer-lib_SMU_sm

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

A Few Photo Additions to Past Posts — #19

belmont-streetcar_1954_ebayOn the Belmont line…

by Paula Bosse

Time for another installment of this ongoing “series” in which I add newly found (to me) photos to old Flashback Dallas posts, in order to keep stuff together.

Above, this 1954 color photo of a Belmont streetcar trundling down an East Dallas street has been added to the 2018 post “Ghost Rails of the Belmont Streetcar Line.” Anyone recognize where this was taken? (Source: eBay)

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Below, a photo of a fire truck and firemen taken outside the still-standing fire station on Cedar Springs has been added to the 2014 post “No. 4 Hook and Ladder Company, Oak Lawn — 1909.” (Source: eBay)

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This photo of SMU’s Ownby Stadium has been added to the 2017 post “Ownby Stadium, With Room to Breathe.” (Source: Park Cities Bank postcard series)

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Speaking of Ownby Stadium and sports, this cropped screenshot shows Dallas resident and sports legend Babe Didrikson, after she’d competed in the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) track and field championships at SMU in July 1930 (and set two world records, including one in the javelin throw). I’m adding this photo of a teenaged Babe to the 2014 post “Babe Didrikson, Oak Cliff Typist.” (Image source: newsreel footage on the Critical Past website, where you can watch the minute-and-a-half clip here — it doesn’t look a lot like Ownby Stadium, but that’s where the meet happened.)

didrikson-babe_070730_track-meet_SMU_javelin_critical-past_screenshot-crop

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Just across from the SMU campus is Snider Plaza — here is a photo from 1940 showing part of the marquee of the Varsity Theater and adjoining businesses — I’ve added it to the 2021 post “Snider Plaza & The Varsity Theater — 1920s.” (Source: University Park Brown Books)

snider-plaza_brown-bks_university-park_varsity-theater_1940

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Another movie-house photo — this one of the Jefferson Theater — has been added to the 2019 post “Theaters at 1517 Elm: The Garden, The Jefferson, The Pantages, The Ritz, and The Mirror — 1912-1941.” What an unusual facade! I’m not sure how long that whimsical bit of design lasted (the Jefferson operated between 1915-1925). The marquee advertises appearances by Kasmir & Co. and vaudeville comedians Howard & Lewis. (Source: eBay)

theater_jefferson-theater_RPPC_ebay

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I’ve added this 1964 United Press International photo showing the proposed site of the JFK Memorial to the 2014 post “Where to Put That JFK Memorial? — 1964” (where it joins a similarly interesting Associated Press version). (Source: eBay)

jfk-memorial_proposed_apr-1964_UPI_ebay

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This Nov. 1955 aerial photo of the construction of South Central Expressway looking north toward downtown is joining a slightly earlier view looking toward the south in the 2016 post “South Central Expressway Under Construction — 1955.” (Source: Squire Haskins Photography, Inc. Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections — ID No. 10002950)

south-central-expwy_squire-haskins_nov-1955_UTA

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This “key” to identify landmarks (Dr Pepper plant in orange, Meadows Building in blue, etc.) in another Squire Haskins aerial photo has been added to the 2017 post “The Wide Open Spaces Northeast of Central and Lovers — 1957,” mainly because I was driving around there this afternoon and remembered this great photo — it’s one of my favorites, showing the general area I grew up in before it exploded with development. (Source: UTA Special Collections — ID No. 10002957)

meadows-bldg-from-mockingbird_squire-haskins-june-1957_UTA_annotated

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I stumbled across a photo which was a bit better in quality that the one I had used previously, so I’ve added this photo to the 2022 post “19th-Century Sign-Painting and Real-Estating.” (Source: American Petroleum Institute Photograph and Film Collection, National Museum of American History, Archives Center, via the Smithsonian Institution Online Virtual Archives)

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

Dallas, The City of Splendid Realities — 1905

dallas_city-of-splendid-realities_texas-and-pacific-quarterly_1905_det_b

by Paula Bosse

In 1905, a group of jaycees-like Dallas businessmen formed the Hundred and Fifty Thousand Club — their aim was to promote the city in hopes that it would achieve a population of 150,000 by 1910. Below is one of their impressive ads, which, of course, includes the favorite insistent claim of Dallas boosters that the Trinity River will ANY DAY NOW become a bustling “direct water route to the Gulf and the Panama Canal, that will put it in closest touch with the markets of the entire world.” The entire world! (Still waiting for that “navigable Trinity,” guys….) (Transcription is below the ad.)

dallas_city-of-splendid-realities_texas-and-pacific-quarterly_1905

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DALLAS: The City of Splendid Realities

  • Probably no community in the world offers larger opportunities for the investment of capital and intelligent effort than does the city of Dallas, Texas.
  • Dallas is the commercial and industrial center of the most rapidly developing state in the Union.
  • The country surrounding the City is wonderfully rich and fertile — the famous black waxy belt that has never known a crop failure.
  • Its railroad shipping facilities are unexcelled, and now that the improvement of the Trinity River is assured it will stand at the head of navigation with a direct water route to the Gulf and the Panama Canal, that will put it in closest touch with the markets of the entire world.
  • There are dozens of opportunities for money making right now in the supplying of distinctly felt needs.
  • Conservative investors who have capital to place safely and profitably in industrial or public service enterprises, wide-awake men who are looking for a profitable employment of personal effort and limited capital in fruit raising, truck farming, chicken raising or small canning industries, are invited to write for information that will be of distinct interest to them.

Hundred and Fifty Thousand Club
Dallas, Texas
Write for Booklet, Dallas 1905

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When the results of the 1910 Census were revealed, Dallas hadn’t reached its goal of a population of 150,000. But it had grown an impressive 116% in a decade, and, according to The Dallas Morning News, this meant that Dallas had the largest population in all of Texas and about the 50th largest in the United States. (Click article for larger image.)

population_1910-census_dmn_091710Dallas Morning News, Sept. 14, 1910

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Sources & Notes

Ad found in the pages of Texas and Pacific Quarterly, 1905.

dallas_city-of-splendid-realities_texas-and-pacific-quarterly_1905_det_b_sm

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

The Mercantile Bank Building — 1951

mercantile_squire-haskins_dec-1951_UTASquire Haskins Collection, UTA Special Collections

by Paula Bosse

Photo of one of my favorite downtown buildings, the Mercantile, taken by ace photographer Squire Haskins in December 1951. See a very large image of this at the UTA website, here. Zoom in and take a look around. Check out all the landmarks. You’ll probably find Waldo while you’re at it.

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Sources & Notes

“Downtown Dallas — Mercantile Building” by Squire Haskins, taken on Dec. 11, 1951; from the Squire Haskins Photography, Inc. Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, Special Collections — more information can be found here. (I have slightly cropped the image.)

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

Crescent Cafe: Warehouse District — 1944-1952

crescent-cafe_mckinney-and-lamar_ebay904 McKinney Avenue, at N. Lamar

by Paula Bosse

The Crescent Cafe once stood at 904 McKinney Avenue, at the corner of N. Lamar. Also seen in this photo is the national headquarters of the Oil Well Supply Company (2001 N. Lamar), a sign for Western Union (2026 N. Lamar), and part of the Binswanger glass company (2019-21 N. Lamar).

See this corner now, on Google Streete View, here.

About all I can tell you about this place is that it was in operation from about 1944 to 1952 (in the 1950 city directory, Mrs. Olive West was listed as the owner — by 1952, Mrs. Josephine Cashlon had taken over).

Mrs. West ran the cafe (breakfast and lunch only, closed on Sundays) for several years, but on Sept. 23, 1950, an ad appeared in the classifieds which read:

CAFE — OWNER
Industrial.
Wonderful location.
Bargain.
904 McKinney

Olive was ready to move on.

A week and a half after the ad appeared, Olive died in a car accident on her way to a nephew’s funeral in Sherman (the nephew had also died in a car accident). No word on whether Mrs. Cashlon (a former waitress who had probably long dreamed of running her own restaurant) had purchased the Crescent Cafe before Mrs. West’s unfortunate demise. 

crescent-cafe_olive-westOlive West (1890-1950)

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Sources & Notes

Photo found on eBay.

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

John W. Smothers’ Tin Shop, Hall & Floyd

smothers-tin-shop_ebaySmothers (in car) and employees, ca. 1913

by Paula Bosse

John W. Smothers (1869-1925) came to Dallas from Huntsville, Missouri around 1890 to begin his career as a “tinner” working for a family friend/in-law, Frank T. Payne. By 1905, Smothers had married a girl from back home, had a child, and had apparently done well enough in the trade to buy a lot on College Ave. (now N. Hall St., in Old East Dallas) where he built his own tin-manufacturing shop, specializing in various sheet metal work. 

smothers_ad_1909-directory
1909 city directory ad

It looks like this business lasted until about 1918, when Smothers retired and sold the building to his old friend, F. T. Payne. It became a grocery store in 1919. Smothers died in 1925 at the age of 56 — his death certificate lists the cause of death, somewhat alarmingly, as “exhaustion and malnutrition” following a long illness — an extreme case of St. Vitus Dance

smothers_tin-shop_photo_ancestryvia Ancestry.com

Originally 212 N. College Ave., the address of Smothers’ tin shop became 912 N. College Ave. in 1911 when new addresses were assigned around the city. (See the location of the shop on a 1921 Sanborn map here.) It sat diagonally across the street from Engine Company No. 3, seen below in a photo from about 1901:

fire-dept_engine-co-3_gaston-and-college_1901Fire station, Gaston & College, ca. 1901

College Avenue was renamed and became Hall Street around 1946, and the address of the old tin shop building changed again, to 912 N. Hall Street, which is in the area now swallowed up by Baylor Hospital (see what 912 N. Hall looks like now on Google Street View, here).

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Sources & Notes

Top photo found on eBay. A copy is also in the George W. Cook Dallas/Texas Image Collection, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University — it can be accessed here. The SMU photo (apparently from the collection of Ralph Smothers, John’s son) has a notation on the back which reads “912 College Ave. <now Hall St.> about 1913 or 14? John Smothers [in car], [James E.] Curly Wilson left, Bob Critcher right.”

Photo of the fire station with the ghostly horse is by Clifton Church and is from the Dallas Fire Department Annual, 1901, which can be viewed in its entirety on the Portal to Texas History, here. (I used this image in my 2016 post “Dallas Fire Stations — 1901.”)

(“Tinner” was not an unusual word to have come across in the early part of the 20th century, but in the 1910 census, the enumerator was either confused or did not understand what was being said, because Smothers’ trade is listed as “tuner” — it looks like the enumerator then just made a weird leap to attempt to explain this and added “piano” under “General Nature of Business,” which Ancestry.com then repeats in its OCR-generated records. That “piano tuner” profession caused me a lot of confusion! To add insult to injury, OCR tells us that his occupation in 1900 was “turner,” and an illegible entry in the 1920 census transforms him into a “retired farmer”! Always approach census record information with a grain of salt — for many, many reasons!)

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

Pig Stand No. 2, Oak Cliff

pig-stand-no-2_dallas_ebayWaiting in cars for pig sandwiches

by Paula Bosse

I’ve seen a cropped version of this photo, but not the full image. It’s great! I don’t mean to keep posting about restaurants, but seeing this photo was too good not to share. (As I type this, it’s available on eBay, here.)

It shows Pig Stand No. 2 at 1301 N. Zang in Oak Cliff, probably about 1928. It appears that this was the second “No. 2” — it was announced that this brand-new building had just begun construction in January 1928.

Work was started last week on the new Pig Stand, Zang’s Boulevard and Colorado Street, for the Pig Stands Company, a Dallas institution, now operating in 39 cities in 12 states. The ornamental building has been adopted as a standard design for the many future stands now contemplated over the country by this concern. In this building will be embodied modern sanitary features complying with all requirements and laws. It will be faced with brick and highly colored tile with ornamental stone trimmings and a clay tile sweeping roof in several shades. The exterior as well as the interior will be illuminated electrically with the cornice and ornaments decorated out in varied contrasting colors. The Pig Stands Co., starting less than five years ago with small capital, has developed into a national institution. Architects F. J. Woerner and Co. designed and will supervise this work, while M. W. McDade will have charge of the construction. (Dallas Morning News, Jan. 26, 1928)

At the right is the Oak Cliff/Tramway Auto Laundry at 1307 N. Zang.

pig-stand-no-2_dallas_ebay_det

I love the couple in the rumble seat!

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Sources & Notes

Photo currently available for sale on eBay, here.

Read a history of Dallas’ Pig Stand empire — long considered to be the first-ever drive-in restaurants, a revolutionary contribution to American social culture — in the Texas Monthly article “The History of the Pig Stands” by Daniel Vaughn (Feb. 2015).

Architect Frank Woerner designed many notable commercial and residential buildings in Dallas, including the Stoneleigh Hotel, the Couch Building across from SMU, the old Union Depot in Deep Ellum, and the beautiful home of Max Rosenfield on South Boulevard.

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Copyright © 2023 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

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