The SMU “Drag” — 1965
by Paula Bosse
Hillcrest, looking south, just north of McFarlin (click for larger image)
by Paula Bosse
Hillcrest, north of Mockingbird, up to Snider Plaza, and maybe all the way up to Lovers Lane. The Drag. Might as well be an unofficial SMU annex. Over the past several decades, some students may have spent more time in the businesses across the street from the western edge of the campus than they did in some of their classes. The look of the area has changed quite a bit recently, but views from the 1965 SMU yearbook are not drastically different from what it looked like up until just a few years ago — and in some stretches, some of the same buildings seen in these photos still stand. Unless something has gone terribly wrong, businesses along the SMU drag that cater primarily to an ever-replenishing SMU student body should never have a lack of customers.
The yearbook caption for the photo above: “Give me your tired, your poor … just give me your money.” (See this view from recent months, with traffic cones, here.)
Below, a few more photos from the 1965 Rotunda tribute to The Drag.
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Looking north.
At Binkley, current site of Hotel Lumen.
Smoking welcomed. Preppy look, circa 1965.
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All photos from the 1965 Southern Methodist University Rotunda yearbook.
To take a look at a map of the SMU campus from 1964, click here (DeGolyer Library collection, Southern Methodist University).
Click pictures for larger images.
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Copyright © 2015 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
The Toddle House-looking place seems to have “Toddle House” on its sign out front, but the Wikipedia claims that by 1962 the chain had become Dobbs Houses. Do we have a mystery on our hands? For what it’s worth, I did find on the web a recipe claimed to duplicate the Toddle House hash browns.
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I never went to the Toddle House, but my mother (an SMU grad) has mentioned it enough over the years that I feel I’ve been in one!
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Still a mystery but if you search the Dallas Morning News archives you will find that the 6423 Hillcrest location is referred to as “Dobbs Toddle House” in 62 and 63 help wanted ads and then reverts back to just “Toddle House” in 64 and 65. Also it looks like the restaurant was involved in a bit of a controversy in 1961: http://imgur.com/XFiiAuv
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My mother was telling me about a sit-in/protest at the drug store, but she remembered an incident when she was at SMU in the ’50s. Maybe there were several. From her description of what went on, I would guess it was an ongoing problem.
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Terrific Story! And thanks for the link to the SMU Daily Campus!
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Thanks, Joan!
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Another interesting post! The 1964 SMU campus map reminded me of this 1971 Karl Hoefle Yellow Pages cover: https://www.flickr.com/photos/10525708@N05/7245903788
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These photos bring back a lot of memories, especially Luby’s and the Varsity Shop. Seems like we could eat at Luby’s for a $1 in the early 1960’s and listen to Miss Inez as a bonus. I’m not sure about the legal ownership of the Toddle House in 1965, but I remember it as the Toddle House and I know we had some late night visits to the Toddle House on Lemmon Avenue near the old Nightbeat and the one on Cedar Springs near the original Adair’s. In any event, those were good days on The Drag. Thanks for the great write-up Paula.
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Thanks, Danny! I really wish these photos were larger and sharper!.
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[…] The University House Motel ad appeared in the 1965 Southern Methodist University Rotunda yearbook. That same yearbook also contained the Holiday Inn ad and the photograph of the University House Motel. (The photo appeared over the yearbook’s cheeky “Why be discreet?” caption and was featured in the previous Flashback Dallas post, “The SMU ‘Drag’ — 1965,” here.) […]
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[…] of a dreamlike downtown skyline, as seen from the SMU campus. Hillcrest Avenue — the SMU drag — can be seen in the upper center; the large building on the west side of Hillcrest is the […]
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Only one memory of the Toddle House left: chocolate cream pie.
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