Flashback : Dallas

A blinding celebration of the Texas Centennial…

by Paula Bosse

Time again for a round-up of photos and various images I’ve come across recently and have added to old posts.

First, a photo I was really excited to stumble across — one I’ve never seen (above): a view of the blindingly bright bank of searchlights set up as part of the 1936 Texas Centennial celebration at Fair Park — this photo shows the lights (which were multi-colored and visible for at least 20 miles away) as seen from downtown Dallas. This is a fantastic photo, and one can understand why many visitors to the spectacular no-expense-spared Centennial cited the lights as the most impressive thing on display. I’ve added this photo (and the postcard image below) to a post all about electricity and the Pan-American Exposition (the extravaganza held the year following the Centennial, which used many of the same features): “Albert Einstein ‘Threw the Switch’ in New Jersey to Open the Pan-American Exposition in Dallas — 1937” (a post which features several other images of this amazing fan-shaped array of lights set up behind the Hall of State, as seen from the Esplanade and as seen from White Rock Lake). (Source of top photo, “New skyline at night, at Dallas, Texas,” from the GE Photo Collection, Museum of Innovation and Science — more information on this photo is here; color image found on eBay)

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This postcard of the Lake Cliff amusement park’s cafe and “circle swing” have been added to “Beautiful Lake Cliff — ca. 1906.” (Source: eBay)

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This photo of the Knepfly Building (Main and Poydras) has been added to the post “Labor Day Parade — 1911,” replacing a less interesting view of this building (in the post, I recount a story of young men jumping from the third floor to escape a fire — one of them survived, even though he landed on his feet!). (Source: DeGolyer Library, SMU)

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This 1908 photograph of a group of students standing outside the Dallas Telegraph College building has been added to the post “Start Your Brilliant Career at Dallas Telegraph College — c. 1900.” (Source: George W. Cook Dallas/Texas Image Collection, DeGolyer Library, SMU)

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This circa-1920 photo (sadly, not the greatest resolution) shows road construction to straighten Maple Avenue (which immediately followed construction of the MKT bridge); that and a more recent view of the same spot have been added to the post “The Gill Well.” (Sources: Dallas Public Library, I think, and Google Street View, 2014)

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This 1963 photo of a billboard which instructed motorists which frequency WFAA was at that moment broadcasting on (it varied, depending on the time of day…) has been added to the post “WFAA & WBAP’s Unusual Broadcasting Alliance,” one of my favorite weird bits of trivia in Dallas radio history. (Source: Broadcasting magazine, April 22, 1963)

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This super-blurry screenshot shows the hopping nightlife which was once a staple of the two blocks immediately south of the Adolphus Hotel on South Akard. Those two blocks were really interesting and a mecca for bars, seedy and otherwise. It’s been added to the post “Gene’s Music Bar, The Lasso Bar, and The Zoo Bar.” (Source: WFAA-Channel 8 coverage of the… um… boisterous activity downtown during the 1969 Texas-OU weekend, as seen at the 6:16 and 9:13 marks in the video here; from the WFAA Newsfilm Collection, G. William Jones Collection, Hamon Arts Library, SMU)

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Another screenshot (watermarked, sadly) is this one, which show the wife of Santa Fe Railroad president Fred G. Gurley christening the new Texas Chief streamliner at Union Station — the train made its inaugural Dallas-to-Chicago run on Dec. 5, 1955. The reason I chose this screenshot (which I’m adding, along with the YouTube video below to the continually popular post “White Rock Station”) is because Mrs. Gurley is christening the engine with a bottle of — no, not champagne… — water from White Rock Lake. (Source: Huntley Film Archives, YouTube)

Check out the very short color film this comes from below, with footage of the new station along Jupiter Road near Kingsley, and ceremonies at Union Station (or for those who always write in to correct me, “Union Terminal“) — there might be some shots from ceremonies at Denton. The shot of the train passing in front of the Dallas skyline is pretty cool.

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And, lastly, a 1963 photo of George Senator, a man often referred to as Jack Ruby’s roommate, but it seems he was more a sort of good-natured sponger, who was frequently out of money and frequently out of a job — Ruby helped him out with cash and let him stay at his apartment. I’m adding this photo (which has been cropped and flipped) to the post “Newly Discovered Footage of Jack Ruby — 1960,” in which a man who may be Senator is seen in B-roll film footage shot by Channel 8, showing Ruby standing in a crowd at a musical performance on Elm Street at Ervay. (Source: Photo titled “George Senator at Dallas police station at time of Jack Ruby arrest,” Nov. 24, 1963, Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries, UTA)

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