Flashback : Dallas

by Paula Bosse

Another year is coming to a close. Time for an inevitable year-end “best of” list! Or actually three lists. The first is a list containing some of my personal favorite photos I’ve come across over the past year. I’m sure I’ve left out some, but these are still pretty great. They are in no particular order. Click the highlighted title of the 2016 Flashback Dallas post in which the photo appeared for more info; click the photo itself to see a larger image.

The photo at the top appeared in the post “Melons On Ice — 1890s” (the title comes from a sign advertising melons for sale at Wiley’s Cash Grocery). I’d never seen this photo and was initially a little confused trying to figure out exactly where it had been taken. The Old Red Courthouse is a pretty big hint. The strip of businesses was on Commerce, on land now occupied by the Kennedy Memorial block.

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From the post “Tomatoes, Cokes, Dominoes: Cadiz Street — 1959.” I love seeing old photos of the Farmers Market area. Like this one. What I wouldn’t give to have the old gritty, grimy, worn, and real Farmers Market back.

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“4th of July, White Rock Lake — 1946.” The war is over, and everyone looks happy and relaxed. This was the most-viewed photo I posted this year. I love it. From the Seurat-like composition (see the post for explanation) to the fact that a reader commented that she recognized her aunt and cousins in this photo (the five women sitting in a row, behind the two women with their legs propped up). So much is going on here — it was a great photo to zoom in on.

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“Parasols on the SMU Campus — 1917.” I love this photo.

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“Preston and Valley View: The Calm Before the Storm — 1958.” The second  most-viewed Flashback Dallas picture posted in 2016. In just a few short years this bucolic vista would be replaced by LBJ Freeway.

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This photo is just so fantastic. It shows Madison High School’s ROTC “Sweeethearts,” and it may be my favorite school yearbook photo ever. From the post “The Esquire Club, The Charm Club, and The Riflettes: James Madison High School — 1970.”

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“On the Grounds of Ursuline Academy and Convent.” Back when Old East Dallas was really old.

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“Pacific Avenue: Watch for Trains! — ca. 1917.” Pacific looking east from Akard. I wish the quality of this image were better, but even washed-out, this Frank Rogers photo of a train whooshing along Pacific is cool.

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“Gene’s Music Bar, The Lasso Bar, and The Zoo Bar.” I love this — Akard looking north toward the Adolphus. This post also has another photo fave in it: the Zoo Bar on Commerce.

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“Bob-O-Links Golf Course — 1924-1973.” I grew up not too far from this area, and I can’t believe that it ever looked like this. The street on the left is Abrams; the view is to the southeast. The East Dallas golf course for those who couldn’t afford to join the Lakewood Country Club.

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“Dallas Midway, Night Illumination — 1936.” A moody midway during the Texas Centennial.

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“Home Sweet Home at Commerce & Harwood.” Yep, houses downtown.

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Desperate for a corny dog out of season? Luckily there was a place to get them. “Fletcher’s State Fair Drive-In — 1960-1963.”

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“The Skyline Beyond — 1950.” The haves and the have-nots.

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Sometimes photos of houses just call to me. Like this still-standing home of former mayor W. C. Connor in Highland Park. “The House at Crescent & Byron, Highland Park.”

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And, well, you have to have runners-up.

“North Dallas High School, The Pre-Beatles Era” had so many great photos from the 1960, ’62, and ’63 yearbooks. The two below were my favorites.

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And, finally, a personal favorite, a photo I stumbled across which I’m pretty sure shows the back of my father’s head when he was a grad student at SMU in 1956 (he’s in the white shirt in the foreground). I also love the photo of my mother at SMU from the same year (she’s the third from the left on the top row). From the post “The Digital Collections of SMU’s Central University Libraries: The Gold Standard.”

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Copyright © 2016 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved