Flashback : Dallas

Rue de Ervay

by Paula Bosse

It’s time again to insert recently-found stuff into old posts.

The first one, above, is great: it shows the facade which covered the exterior of Neiman-Marcus during the French Fortnight of 1957 — the very first Neiman’s “Fortnight” celebration. I had used a black-and-white version of this photo in the post “Neiman-Marcus Brings France to Big D — 1957,” but I’ve replaced it with this wonderful original color version. (Source: Stanley Marcus Papers, DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University — more info on this photo can be found here)

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The next image comes from a postcard showing a path and a footbridge in Sullivan Park — it has been added to “City Park Construction Work — 1941.” The reason it’s been added there is because it’s the only post which mentions “Sullivan Park,” the blink-and-it-and-you’ll-miss-it period when City Park changed its name (it changed back to “City Park” in 1941 after only about 5 years)  — the main photo of that post shows construction work in (let’s call it) Sullivan Park. I’m pretty sure this is the bridge I wrote about in the post “Iola Bridge.” (Source: eBay)

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And since we’re in the neighborhood — in fact right next door — here are a couple of images I’ve come across showing what most of us probably knew as the Ambassador Hotel (RIP). Below are postcards from its second incarnation as the Park Hotel, and a “now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t” view of S. Ervay, before and after the 2019 fire that destroyed the 115-year-old building. They’ve been added to the post “The Majestic Hotel/The Park Hotel/The Ambassador Hotel: R.I.P. — 1904-2019.” (Sources: the postcards are from eBay, and the 2018 and 2021 images are from Google Street View)

2018

2021

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And speaking of hotels, here’s a grainy Dallas Morning News photo of the Stoneleigh under construction in 1923 with a caption offering some tidbits about the swanky new “eleven-story affair” — they’ve been added to “The Stoneleigh Court Apartment Hotel — 1923/1924.” (Source: Dallas Morning News, April 22, 1923)

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I really enjoyed writing about the Brown Cracker Co. which occupied an imposing building in the West End. I’ve added the picture below to the post “Brown Cracker Co. Cracker Wrappers.” (Source: eBay)

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Here’s a very thin image of a railroad spike commemorating the opening of the new Santa Fe passenger line to Chicago in 1955 — it has been squeezed almost imperceptibly into the already-jam-packed post “White Rock Station.“ (Source: a nice man in Oklahoma named Joe)

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I’ve added the two postcards below to the post “Beautiful Lake Cliff — ca. 1906” — the first one replaced an inferior example I had used previously, and the other was a new addition. (Source: eBay)

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This 1914 photo of the Wells Fargo office on Main Street has been added to “Start Your Brilliant Career at Dallas Telegraph College — c. 1900.” (Source: Dallas Public Library, Van Orden Western Union Telegraph collection, DPL Dallas History and Archives Division, Call Number PA2007-2/2)

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And, lastly, really wishing I had some barbecue, a matchbook from Red Bryan’s which has been added to “Red Bryan’s Smokehouse — BBQ, Oak Cliff-Style.” (Source: eBay)

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