Flashback : Dallas

A Miscellany: History, Ads, Pop Culture
February 16, 2014

“Dallas Motor Cycle Cops” — 1910

dallas-police_motorcycles_1910_bReady and on the job…

by Paula Bosse

These photos of the Dallas Police Department’s “Motor Cycle Cops” appeared in a police publication from 1910.  We see them astride their machines, — one in a bowler hat — waiting for their call. Above, the “cops” are identified as B. G. Ford and A. W. Schulz; below, T. R. McSwain and S. R. Dean.

dallas-police_motorcycles_1910_a

I can’t vouch for the models of the bikes, but this ad for Indian Motorcycles appeared just pages away.

ad-indian-motorcycles_1910

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Sources & Notes

From a book with almost no publication info; it is presented simply as Dallas Police Department (Dallas, 1910). It’s got great photos and can be found on the Portal to Texas History site, here.

By 1951, the DPD’s allegiance had shifted to Harley-Davidson, as can be seen in the post “The Dallas Police Department & Their Fleet of Harleys — 1951.”

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Copyright © 2014 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

2 Comments
February 16, 2014

Red Bryan’s Smokehouse — BBQ, Oak Cliff-Style

red-bryans-smokehouse_bbq_postcard_ebay_ca-1950

by Paula Bosse

Everybody in Dallas knows about the Bryan family barbecue dynasty, which began when Elias Bryan and his wife Sadie arrived in Oak Cliff from Cincinnati in 1910 and opened a barbecue stand. Elias begat Red, and Red begat Sonny. And there was much trans-generational smoking of meat. The Bryans have been a BBQ fixture in Dallas for over 100 years.

Fun facts about William Jennings “Red” Bryan:

  • Red studied botany at SMU, which might explain his initial career as a florist until he was inevitably pulled back into the family business. He opened his first place in the early 1930s in a retired Interurban car, known affectionately as “The Tin Shack.”
  • In the late ’40s, now well established and wanting swankier digs, he commissioned the respected architect Charles Dilbeck to design the new restaurant. (Dilbeck designed some of the most beautiful homes in Dallas, several of which are in Lakewood, but this was probably his first — and only — barbecue joint.)

And the rest is, as they say, barbecue — and Oak Cliff — history.

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red_bryan_bbq_dth_0205561

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Red, 1951

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red-bryans-bbq_matchbook_ebay

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Sources & Notes

Postcard (circa 1950) at top from eBay. This is printed on the back:


red-bryans-smokehouse_bbq_postcard_caption_ebay

Ad from 1956.

Much more on Red Bryan’s Smokehouse, with lots of photos of its construction, can be found in the Oak Cliff Advocate article “The King of Oak Cliff Barbecue” by Gayla Brooks, here.

Even more cool stuff, including early photos of the family business, can be found in the Texas Monthly article “Bryan Family Artifacts and Mementos” by Daniel Vaughn, here.

Sonny Bryan’s website is here.

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Copyright © 2014 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.

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