1940s | Flashback : Dallas

February 20, 2014

Speaking of the Arcadia and Its “Rustic Simplicity”…

Arcadia Theater, 1927…

by Paula Bosse

Above is a rendering of architect W. Scott Dunne’s design for the Arcadia Theater on Greenville Avenue, at Sears Street, between Ross Avenue and Belmont. (The low-flying bi-plane is a nice touch.) Among the many Dallas theaters designed by Dunne were the Esquire in Oak Lawn and the Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff (as well as another entertainment mecca, the Fair Park Band Shell).

The Dallas Morning News had this to say about Dunne’s concept for the new “suburban theater” in 1927:

W. Scott Dunne, architect of Arcadia, is working out an interior design that should prove in harmony with the theater’s name — an atmospheric design of as near rustic simplicity as is possible in a theater.

“Rustic”!

A photo of the not-particularly-rustic exterior in 1930:

1930

The fabulous giant tree marquee, posted previously (link to post below), from about this time can be seen here.

All went well for many years until 1940 or ’41 when the original 1927 building was badly damaged in a fire; it had to be gutted and completely overhauled by architects Pettigrew & Worley. John A. Worley wrote an article for Box Office magazine about the rebuilding process (link below), including the hard-to-believe tidbit that the firm had been “vigorously instructed to studiously avoid any pretense of ‘super-colossal’ — or, more thoroughly defined, we were told to steer clear of that ‘regal’ air, which had been known to impel theater patrons to take off their shoes before daring to walk across the foyer.”

The article even has a photo of the lopped-off, now-sadly diminished tree sign. (The author — in something of a reach — explains that the “stump” was there as a symbol of the “Arcadian” nature of the theater.) (You just know that both Pettigrew and Worley were praying for the go-ahead to just get rid of it already.)

1941

There was another bad fire in 1958, which led to further renovation. By then, that tree was loooooong gone and but a dim memory.

There sure were a lot of fires at the ol’ Arcadia. Including the final, fatal one, in 2006. R.I.P. And from the ashes sprang the present-day Trader Joe’s.

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Sources & Notes

Photo showing “The Vagabond King” (1930), from the Hardin-Simmons University Library via the Portal to Texas History, here.

Photo showing “stump” is from the June 21, 1941 issue of Boxoffice.

An interesting article on the Arcadia — and life along Lowest Greenville — can be found in a Lakewood Advocate article “The Rise and Fall of the Arcadia,” here.

The original post that spurred a further look into the early days of the Arcadia — and the one with the crazy huge electric tree marquee — can be found in the Flashback Dallas post “The Arcadia Theater Sign You’ve Never Seen,” here.

3 Comments

February 17, 2014

Jerry Scoggins, From WFAA Staff Musician to Pop Culture Icon

Jerry Scoggins in the WFAA studios, 1941

by Paula Bosse

You know Jerry Scoggins. You DO. You can sing along with his most famous recording. But you might not know his name — even if you do know it, you’re not sure why you know it. And you’ve almost certainly never seen a picture of him. But there he is in the photo above, in 1941, at the studios of WFAA radio where he was a staff musician and occasional on-air personality. The caption reads: “Guitarist Jerry Scoggins arrives for a rehearsal in shiny cowboy boots.”

During his time at WFAA (he was there almost a decade — he started when the station still had studios in the Baker Hotel), Jerry was in countless bands — in fact, he often had several going at the same time. Some of his bands were: The Bumblebees, the Tune Tumblers (with a then-unknown Dale Evans as the group’s “girl singer”), Three Cats & a Canary, The Baboleers, and The Cowhands.

His main group, though, was the Cass County Kids, a popular trio that performed western music and who claimed to have a repertoire of over 500 songs (!).

In 1945, after years of working as mostly anonymous radio musicians, the Kids finally hit the big time. Gene Autry asked them to join him, and they left Dallas for Hollywood, changing their name in the process — at Autry’s request — to the (slightly) more age-appropriate Cass County Boys. They appeared in movies, on television, and on record with Autry for several years, and from all accounts, the Cass County Boys had a long and happy career.

cass-county-kids_wfaa-postcard_det_ebay

By 1962, Jerry was still in California, but at that point he was working as a stockbroker, singing only on weekends. I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but — seemingly out of the blue — he was asked by TV producers to sing the theme song for a new CBS television show called The Beverly Hillbillies. Backed by the great Flatt & Scruggs, Jerry sang “The Ballad of Jed Clampett,” and his voice became known to millions of people, overnight. And here it is more than fifty years later, and I bet you know all the words to the song. It has become a permanent fixture in American pop culture.

And that’s why you know Jerry Scoggins.

ADDED, Sept. 2023: A reader just sent me this clip showing Scoggins (with Earl Scruggs, Roy Clark, and others) performing the song in 1993 as Buddy Ebsen dances along. This is so great!!

scoggins-jerry_1993_youtube Jerry Scoggins, 1993 (from YouTube video)

And here’s Jerry with the Cass County Boys, singing a novelty song called “Which Way’d They Go?” (Jerry’s the good-looking one on the right):

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Sources & Notes

The top photo of Jerry Scoggins and the large photo of the Cass County Kids are from the WFAA-KGKO-WBAP Combined Family Album (Dallas, 1941). The small photo of the Cass County Kids is from eBay.

Jerry Scoggins was born in 1911 in Mount Pleasant, Texas (in Titus County, right next door to Cass County). He died in 2004 at the age of 93. His obituary in the Los Angeles Times is here. More on Jerry from Wikipedia, here.

A nice overview of the Cass County Kids/Boys is here.

2 Comments

February 16, 2014

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

by Paula Bosse

Everybody in Dallas knows about Sonny Bryan, and some remember Red Bryan, but I didn’t know there was another Bryan forebear, who started the family barbecue dynasty: Elias Bryan. Elias 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.

Red, 1951

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Sources & Notes

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

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.

16 Comments

February 11, 2014

Dallas Venetian Blind Company — 1619 Hall Street

by Paula Bosse

This is the sort of old postcard I love. It shows an impossibly idealized version of the past. This lovely house, with its impeccably manicured lawn and bright, shiny awnings is not a home, but the location of a business. It’s the Dallas Venetian Blind Company, at 1619 Hall Street, a few steps from Ross Avenue. When I see old postcards and photographs of places like this, I always wonder about the people who lived and worked there. So who went to work every day in that cute little house, living and breathing all-things Venetian blinds?

The owner of the Dallas Venetian Blind Company was J.S. “Joe” Herold. He was born in Austin in 1905 and moved to Dallas when he was a teenager. He started out in the floor finishing business and didn’t open his “Venetian blind concern” until many years later, in 1942. He was married, had a daughter, lived on Reiger near Fitzhugh, and enjoyed hunting and fishing. He was a “Square Deal” candidate for an East Dallas seat on the City Council in 1951, running against candidates representing the equally quaintly-named “Nonpartisan Association” and “Citizens’ Charter Association.” By 1960 he seems to have moved to Quitman, still fighting the good fight in the blinds game. But, sadly, far away from this wonderful little house which MUST have had Venetian blinds in those windows, even though I can’t see any! And now, Joe Herold — sit back — this is your life!

The showroom, at 3230 Ross Avenue, right around the corner from the cute little house. This expansion had happened by at least 1947.

Business must have been good in those post-war years, because Joe had ads in 1950 boasting three telephone numbers: the main shop, the showroom, and, yes, Joe’s own car phone (which seems very early for car phones)!

dallas-venetian-blind-company_wagonload_postcard

Dallas Morning News, April 19, 1950 1950 ad

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Postcards from the absolutely fantastic Boston Public Library Tichnor Brothers Postcard Collection on Flickr, here.

Click postcards for larger images.

February 10, 2014

Earl’s Continental Buffet Has Got it ALL — 1947

earls-continental-buffet_shuffleboard_dmn_1947

by Paula Bosse

Earl’s Continental Buffet Announces the Opening of
Dallas’ First Shuffleboard Parlor
Serving Buffet Lunches and Sandwiches in Our Taproom
Also Announcing the Opening of
Dallas’ Finest Chili Parlor and Barbecue Bar
Serving Straight Chili — Chili with Spaghetti –
Chili with Beans — Chili with Tamales
Open Evenings, 1515 Commerce

This place has EVERYTHING!

3 Comments

February 9, 2014

Roscoe-Land: Roscoe White’s Corral & Easy Way

roscoe-whites-corral_1951

by Paula Bosse

My family had two favorite neighborhood restaurants: Kirby’s Charcoal Steakhouse on Lower Greenville for birthdays and special occasions, and Roscoe White’s Corral on Mockingbird for every other occasion. Conveniently, both were only a short walk from our house. When I came across this ad, I was surprised to see that the Corral had started out as a drive-in, with car-hops. My memories of the place are from the 1970s after it had been rebuilt. in the same block, in a new-ish shopping strip (about where Premiere Video is now), facing the old Dr Pepper plant. It had a diner-like, fairly utilitarian decor, with a slightly fancier banquet room at the back. There was an attached (very dark) bar with a separate entrance. I remember the gleaming cigarette machine. Roscoe must have loved the place, because he was there all the time.

My mother and I always had the chicken-fried steak and a salad with blue cheese dressing. My father and brother tended to go for the still-bubbling cheese enchiladas on a hot metal dish, swimming in a healthy amount of grease (my father’s favorite part). I swear we always had the same waitress — I can’t remember her name, but it was one of those perfect names for a waitress. “Maxine” maybe? (I think my parents had both been customers since their days at SMU in the ’50s, and for all I know, she had been there back then and had been serving them for over twenty years.)

When the Corral closed in the late-’70s or early-’80s, my family was distraught. Loyal patrons that we were, we began making the trek through the Park Cities to Roscoe’s other restaurant, The Easy Way, over on Lovers Lane, by the toll road — the atmosphere was different (it was darker, for one thing), but the food was EXACTLY THE SAME! And, as I recall, even our regular waitress was there — she had also made the move across town. It was almost as if nothing had changed. …Almost.

I loved the Corral My family had so many nice times there. And I miss it. I especially miss that wonderful chicken-fried steak, the yardstick by which I continue to judge all others.

Roscoe White died in 1995 and was remembered in D Magazine:

He moved around, but Roscoe White always had a place for Dallas to eat. He opened his first restaurant in 1939, the Kings Way Grill on Knox and Travis streets. It had an upstairs casino, and the beer was stored in the icehouse next door. Later he opened the Corral on Mockingbird Lane, a drive-in that became a haven for SMU law students. White also owned the Easy Way Grill on Lovers Lane and then Roscoe’s Easy Way on Lemmon Avenue. He died of a stroke at 88.

Thanks for all the great meals, Roscoe!

roscoe-white_d-mag_oct-1985 Roscoe White at the Easy Way (D Magazine, Oct. 1985)

An early ad from 1947. Fried chicken gizzards, only 55 cents — “It’s a Pleasure”!

rosecoe-whites_corral_carhop_ad_dmn_091448

roscoe-whites-corral_lady-cashier_dmn_091948

A couple of help-wanted ads for waitresses and a “lady cashier” (Dallas Morning News, 1948). I can only hope that Roscoe’s car-hops were referred to as “White Girls.”

roscoe-whites-corral_reopening_dmn_100850

There had been a fire in the summer of 1950 that caused $4,500 worth of damage, the reason, I’m assuming, for the redecoration and re-opening. I’m not sure when the Corral moved into the location I was familiar with, but by mid-1969, ads were appearing with the new address of 5422 Mockingbird.

A matchbook from the Easy Way Grill, sadly, with the wrong address on it! The Easy Way was at 5806 Lovers Lane, part of the Miracle Mile, where Dr. Delphinium is now.

A 1951 ad for the Kings Way Grill and Easy Way Grill.

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The top ad touting “SMU’s Favorite Drive-In” is from a 1951 SMU-Rice football game souvenir program.

A fond farewell to the Easy Way — “It’s Hard To Say Goodbye to The Easy Way Cafe” — from D Magazine is here. (Above photo of Roscoe accompanied the print article.)

Red matchbook covers from Flickr.

14 Comments

February 7, 2014

The Triple Underpass — Elm, Main, and Commerce Never Looked Better

triple_underpass_1936

by Paula Bosse

Sometimes a noisy, bustling metropolis really hits the spot, but there are times I long to have completely empty streets all to myself. Which is one reason I love this serene and peaceful (or perhaps “post-apocalyptic,” depending on your half-full/half-empty world-view) scene of Dallas, totally deserted save for a partial view of a single car in the distance. The brand new “triple underpass” was unveiled in 1936, the year Dallas was obsessed with showing off what a fantastically modern city it was to the throngs of visitors flooding in for the Texas Centennial celebrations. G.B. Dealey himself rode the first car through the underpass. Perhaps that’s his little car heading up Main Street.

Above, the “Business District, from the West.” Note the absence of Dealey Plaza, which wouldn’t be completed until 1941 and not officially named “Dealey Plaza” until 1946. …After that, the place wasn’t thought about in any especially significant way until 1963.

triple-underpass_gateway-to-dallas_1940s

“The Gateway to Dallas, Texas,” with beautiful Dealey Plaza now set in place, one day to become the most-visited historic site in the city. Despite its grim connection to the assassination, every time I drive through that underpass I always get a little thrill. Almost 80 years after it became a landmark, the triple underpass is still a remarkably cool piece of Dallas architecture and engineering.

February 4, 2014

Dallas Skyline by Alfred Eisenstaedt — 1940s

(click for very large image)

by Paula Bosse

The Dallas skyline, photographed by Alfred Eisenstaedt in the 1940s for Life magazine (as far as I can tell, it was not published). One of my favorite views of downtown, from the Cedars, back when Pegasus was still visible.

6 Comments

Category: 1940s

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