1960s | Flashback : Dallas

May 7, 2024

On the Line at Coca-Cola — 1964

Gleaming!

by Paula Bosse

The photo above shows the sunniest factory floor I’ve ever seen. You don’t think of factories filled with sunlight, but this is what it looked like inside the new Coca-Cola bottling works at Lemmon and Mockingbird in 1964. It’s gone now (as is that UNBELIEVABLY FANTASTIC ANIMATED NEON SIGN that made me look forward to nighttime drives to Love Field). All that remains is the small syrup plant (from 1948?). (…I think it’s a syrup plant. Or a warehouse. Or something syrup-related.)

The new plant opened in June 1964. The building had floor-to-ceiling glass — I’ve read reminiscences of people who remember driving by and seeing the work going on through those huge windows. I don’t know if there was bottling work going on after dark, but here’s a grainy photo from a Dallas Power & Light ad that shows the building at night, lit up like a stage.

Dallas Power & Light ad (det), June 1964

Speaking of which, The Dallas Morning News wrote this:

The bottling room, which fronts on Lemmon, has a glass front 254 feet long and 26 feet high to provide a view of the bottling process to the passing public. (DMN, June 9, 1964)

Free show!

The woman featured in an Employers National Life Group Insurance Company ad (below), might be the same woman seen in the photo at the top. Manning her station.

Employers National Life ad (det), June 1964

And what was rolling off the automated line? Coke, Sprite, and Tab. And something called Mission (grape and orange drinks). 1,860 bottles a minute (!).

Back to the sign for a second. I haven’t invested a LOT of time in a search (but *kind of* a lot…), but I have been unable to find footage of that truly wonderful, mesmerizing neon Coca-Cola sign. Living in an age of Instagram and YouTube, we just expect to find this sort of thing quickly, without having to set aside large chunks of time to devote to searching. If YOU know where film/video of that sign might be hiding… SPEAK UP!

A couple of shots of the exterior:

***

Sources & Notes

Top photo and last two photos are all by John Rogers and were probably taken around the time the plant began operation in mid-1964; all are from the John Rogers and Georgette de Bruchard Collection, UNT Libraries Special Collections, via the Portal to Texas History, here, here, and here.

A shorter version of this post previously appeared on the Flashback Dallas Patreon page in November 2023.

patreon_coca-cola-bottling-plant_john-rogers_portal_ca-circa-1964

3 Comments

April 20, 2024

Jimi Hendrix in Dallas, 4/20/69

Doug, Mitch, Noel, and Jimi

by Paula Bosse

Today is 4/20 Day. An alternate (or parallel) way to celebrate the already alternative “holiday” is to mark the anniversary of one of Jimi Hendrix’s best interviews, on the Love Field tarmac on April 20, 1969, given to Dallas reporter Doug Terry (still a college student when he was at WFAA-Channel 8). The band was in Dallas for a show at Memorial Auditorium. It’s just a fantastic, laid-back, cool interview.

I had tried contacting Doug several years ago to let him know this clip was racking up the hits on YouTube, in case he wasn’t aware it was there, but I didn’t hear back from him until this week! He had seen the post I had written about this interview and wrote a bit about that momentous occasion in the email. He also adds some interesting behind-the-scenes tidbits I always find interesting (the following is used with Doug’s permission):

I was still a college student most of the time I worked at WFAA. I handed in my resignation after covering the north Texas pop festival in that same year. [Watch one of Doug’s reports from the Texas International Pop Festival here.] Your comment about being in a large city and its advantages was something that I did not fully grasp until years later. The access was wonderful, I saw Hendrix at least three times, on one occasion being in the dressing room with a camera when he warmed up for a show (that footage is nowhere to be found).

There are two aspects to mention about that interview. First, I was a weekend reporter and late night news anchor at Ch. 8 and I assigned myself to go interview him. In those days, one could call up the airlines when a notable person was coming in and they would give the flight number and arrival time. Amazing. Most of the people at the station at that time probably had no idea who Jimi was and wouldn’t have cared if they did know.

The other interesting point is the work of the photographer. Ordinarily, we did over the shoulder interviews, the camera to the back and side of the reporter. The fact that this was shot from the side made all the difference. As a shooter, he was not otherwise outstanding but this interview would be much less interesting if it had been shot in the traditional line-up sort of way. The two bandmates goofing around was distracting but great.

Thank you so much for getting in touch, Doug!

My original 2017 post about this interview (with the film clip of Jimi, Mitch Mitchell, and Noel Redding at Love Field) — which includes additional info about Jimi’s other performances in Dallas — is here: “Jimi Hendrix, Glen Campbell, Tiny Tim — In Dallas (…Separately), 1969.”

jimi_WFAA_042069_SMU_b

***

Sources & Notes

Screenshots from the WFAA Collection, G. WIlliam Jones Film and Video Collection, Hamon Arts Library, SMU.

Excerpt from Doug Terry’s email to me (April 16, 2024), used with permission.

jimi_WFAA_042069_SMU_a

February 27, 2024

Salih’s, Preston Center: 1953-1977

1968, Preston Center (W. T. White yearbook)

by Paula Bosse

If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that you have fond memories of Salih’s Barbecue in Preston Center (or its later incarnation in Addison as “Solly’s”). I have to admit, I had never heard of Salih’s until I started this blog in 2014 (I completely forgot to note the landmark of 10 full years of Flashback Dallas a couple of weeks ago!). But, from what I’ve read, this was an incredibly popular place, and people still rhapsodize about the BBQ, the po’ boys, the fries, the cole slaw, and the potato salad.

So, I’ve read all these memories… but I can find no good photos of the place! There’s the cropped shot of the exterior above and a lot of not-very-helpful shots which appeared in high school yearbooks over the years, taken inside — but they don’t actually show the restaurant! And I understand there was quite a mural in there. I’d love to see a photo of that! Do YOU have any photos of Salih’s in Preston Center? Exterior? Interior? Mural? Please send me whatever images you have. I really want to see them!

Salih’s Barbecue was opened by George and Jack Salih on March 20, 1953. The brothers had previously owned a small drive-in and later worked in or managed locations of Lobello’s in Lakewood (2005 Abrams) and Casa Linda (328 Casa Linda Plaza) — either before, during, or after these locations became “Fred’s” BBQ stands (owned by Fred Bell, founder of Kip’s).

That first business, Salih’s Drive-In, was located across from Fair Park at 912 S. Haskell — it opened around 1945. Read George Salih’s memories of serving the “circus people” there in a Feb. 11, 1987 article from the Farmers Branch Times here.

salihs-drive-in_haskell_DMN_081849 Aug. 18, 1949

After a few years of working for the Lobello family, George and Jack opened their own place at 8309 Westchester, in Preston Center, not far from the original Lobello’s on Northwest Highway. Eventually, Jack moved to East Texas and opened another barbecue place (the Angus Inn in Longview), and George ran the Dallas restaurant. (Click ad to see a larger image.)

March 20, 1953 — opening day

An article in the Dallas Morning News describes the new Dallas restaurant thusly:

The restaurant features unique styling in both interior and exterior design. Relief murals decorate the walls inside, while small wooden shutters afford a rustic flavor. The exterior incorporates Roman brick construction, with tall red columns decorated with glass paneling added as a decorative feature. (DMN, March 20, 1953)

It also notes that the Salih brothers were the restaurant’s chefs.

I mentioned this Park Cities landmark in a recent Patreon post, and a kind member described the mural (designed, I believe, by artist Frank J. Boerder):

It was a 3-dimensional cut-out depiction of a cowboy scene, back-lit by a set of red-orange lamps. It ran the length of the south wall of the interior. When you looked at it the scene was in black, back-lit by the lamps. Very striking for a BBQ place. (Plus, the food was very, very good.)

Salih’s is described in the ad above as “a dining area which provides an inviting atmosphere with ultramodern ranch-style design.” I would really like to see this!

Salih’s left Preston Center around 1977, leaving for the then-sparsely populated wilderness of Addison. The restaurant’s name was changed to “Solly’s” (which was either a new name for a new location, a guide for new customers on how to pronounce the Lebanese name, or a sad concession to deal with possible Middle Eastern biases). Solly’s closed in 2004.

Below are a lot of ads that appeared in the yearbooks of Highland Park High School and W. T. White High School. I was hoping to see more of the interior but, instead, got lots of photos of kids in paper hats (which I still enjoy!). So here they are!

salihs_smu-campus_081656 SMU Daily Campus, 1956
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salihs_HPHS_1960-yrbk HPHS, 1960
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salihs_HPHS_1961-yrbk HPHS, 1961
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salihs_HPHS_1962-yrbk HPHS, 1962
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salihs_HPHS_1963-yrbk HPHS, 1963
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salihs_HPHS_1964-yearbook HPHS, 1964
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salihs_w-t-white_1966-yearbook WTW, 1966
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salihs_HPHS_1967-yrbk HPHS, 1967
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Part of the mural over their heads?

salihs_w-t-white_1967-yrbk WTW, 1967
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salihs_HPHS_1968-yearbook HPHS, 1968
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salihs_HPHS_1969-yrbk HPHS, 1969
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More of the carved mural?

salihs_w-t-white_1969-yrbk WTW, 1969
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salihs_HPHS_1970-yrbk HPHS, 1970
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salihs_HPHS_1971-yrbk HPHS, 1971
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salihs_HPHS_1972-yrbk HPHS, 1972
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salihs_HPHS_1973-yrbk HPHS, 1973
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salihs_HPHS_1974-yrbk HPHS, 1974
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salihs_HPHS_1975-yrbk HPHS, 1975
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salihs_HPHS_1976-yrbk HPHS, 1976
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And, the last one, from 1977 — could that be a another very, very dark part of the mural at the right?

salihs_HPHS_1977-yrbk HPHS, 1977

***

Sources and Notes

All sources as noted.

Read the obituary of George Salih here. Read a longer, more colorful obituary in the Dallas Morning News archives (“George Salih — Operated Barbecue Restaurant in Dallas” by Joe Simnacher, DMN, Aug. 14, 2009).

Jack Salih died in Gilmer in Jan. 1991.

10 Comments

February 14, 2024

The Hilltop Is for Lovers — 1963

Love is in the air…

by Paula Bosse

Happy Valentine’s Day!

This seems like a timely image. Sort of a half-photo, half-illustration depiction of dreamy campus life, in which SMU appears to be populated entirely by smiling paired-off couples, as a soft-focus Dallas Hall rests serenely in the background.

***

Sources & Notes

Cover of the 1963 Greater Dallas Yellow Pages, which popped up sometime last year on eBay.

valentines-day_yellow-pages-cover_may-1963_HILLTOP IS FOR LOVERS_sm

6 Comments

January 23, 2024

The Three Witches of Stemmons Tower

Convening…

by Paula Bosse

I have to admit, I had never heard of “the Stemmons witches” until a few years ago. They seem to have made quite the impression on teenagers of the ’60s and ’70s (and ’80s?), who would frequently take uninitiated fellow teens to visit the mysterious/sinister cloaked figures, after having told them elaborate scary stories about the figures that stood solemnly and forebodingly on the grounds of the 4-building Stemmons Towers complex.

I gather they could be seen from the freeway, and I can understand how they’d look pretty creepy, especially at night, from a distance (and up close). What a perfect teenage ritual for kids with cars: wait until dark, then take your friends to the Towers, pumping them full of spooky urban legends on the drive over, then watch their faces as you introduce them to witches 1-3. If there were night watchmen on overnight duty at Stemmons Towers, they must have had their hands full.

The reminiscences I’ve read all say the three figures disappeared at some point (late ’80s or early ’90s?) — and no one seems to know what happened to them. Do YOU know what happened to them? Where are they today?

The three figures are by artist Pedro Coronel, a Mexican sculptor and painter aligned with Rufino Tamayo — he was influenced by Diego Rivera and worked with Constantine Brancusi. He often used onyx and sandstone (from the photo, it looks like the “witches” were made of a black stone). The name of this work was “Hooded Figures.” From The Dallas Morning News:

These strange figures are permanent sidewalk superintendents at the new Stemmons Tower North, fourth and final building being erected in the complex on Stemmons Freeway. The three stone “Hooded Figures,” by sculptor Pedro Coronel, are among several works on the Towers’ landscaped plaza. (DMN, July 31, 1966)

(“Stemmons witches” has a much better ring to it than “sidewalk superintendents.”)

Read memories of teenage visits to these “witches” on the Dallas Historical Society “Phorum,” here.

Where have these “Figuras Encapuchadas” scurried off to?

***

Sources & Notes

Thank you SO MUCH to Fred Goodwin, who sent me this photo. He says he came across it years ago somewhere on the internet and does not know the original source. Thank you, Fred!

I’ve seen only one other photo of this work by Coronel — it accompanies the caption quoted above, in The Dallas Morning News (July 31, 1966, p. 1C). Sadly, it’s not a good scan.

A story by Steve Brown appeared in the DMN on Dec. 14, 2023, reporting that the four towers are to be converted to a residential community (“Dallas’ Landmark Stemmons Towers Sell for Conversion to Apartments”). Um, okay.

See a cool night-time photo of Stemmons Tower #1 in the 2018 Flashback Dallas post “Stemmons Tower, Downtown Skyline — 1963.”

stemmons_three-witches_hooded-figures_pedro-coronel_sm

6 Comments

December 18, 2023

“This Month In Dallas” — Aug./Sept. 1962: The Clubs

Club Dallas, Browder Street

by Paula Bosse

Downtown Dallas was a cool place for entertainment and dining in the early 1960s, from high-class clubs and lounges to famous and infamous strip joints (some of which were higher-class than others). A few months ago on eBay, someone scanned a bunch of pages of a magazine called This Month in Dallas (“Where to Go, What to Do”), which seems to have been aimed at the conventioneer or out-of-town visitor. (I’ve never heard of this publication, but I would LOVE to see more!)

this-month-in-dallas_aug-sept-1962_cover_ebay

As far as image quality, I’m at the mercy of the person doing the scanning, but here are several of the ads featured in the eBay listing. All appeared in the Aug./Sept. 1962 issue of This Month in Dallas. (At the top, a detail from an ad for Club Dallas — the full ad is below.)

Let’s just do them alphabetically.

ARAGON BALLROOM, 1011 S. Industrial Blvd. (now S. Riverfront). Featuring the Aragon Red Jackets Western Swing Band, the “Over 30” Club Dance, and Chuck Arlington and His Orchestra.

CAROUSEL CLUB (or “New” Carousel Club), 1312½ Commerce, at Field. Jack Ruby, proprietor. “Dallas’ Newest and Most Intimate Burlesque Nite Club.” This ad (the first of several) features stripper Peggy Steele, “America’s Suzie Wong.”

More CAROUSEL. “Dallas’ only burlesque nite club with a continuous girl and comedy show. No stopping, 9:00 PM ’til 2:00 AM.” “America’s Suzie Wong” is back, now spelled Peggy Steel. MC’d by comic Wally Weston.

More CAROUSEL. Here’s Mili Perele, “the Little French Miss.”

More CAROUSEL. Heck, let’s throw in another Peggy Steel/e mention.

More CAROUSEL (Jack’s advertising budget was impressive). Tammi True, then in the midst of a pinching brouhaha.

Pat Morgan’s CLUB DALLAS, 206½ Browder (just south of Commerce). I love this ad, but I’m not familiar with the establishment or Mr. Morgan. Looks like it opened in the summer of 1962 (“Owner Pat Morgan has eliminated the semi-nude waitresses and aims for the family trade” — Dallas Morning News, July 27, 1962), changed its name in September 1962 to simply “Pat Morgan’s,” and finally closed in February 1963. I bet he rued the day he dumped those semi-nude waitresses….

CLUB VEGAS, 3505 Oak Lawn. Yes, there was swinging nightlife beyond downtown. Club Vegas was famously owned by Jack Ruby’s sister, Eva Rubenstein. This club booked a lot of Black and Hispanic bands (for mixed audiences), including Joe Johnson and Trini Lopez. (I’ve been meaning to write about this place for the past 10 years!)

CLUB VILLAGE / ITALIAN VILLAGE RESTAURANT, 3211 Oak Lawn. Another happening place in Oak Lawn. I wrote and wrote and wrote about Sam Ventura’s Italian Village here.

COLONY CLUB, 1322½ Commerce. Abe Weinstein, proprietor. The “high-class” strip joint. Also featured acts like Deacon & Co., King and Queen of the Limbo.

More COLONY CLUB. An unnamed exotic.

GUTHREY’S CLUB, 214 Corinth, at Industrial (now Riverfront). Very popular back in the day. “Girls! Girls! Girls! Set-ups, beer, wine.” This ad features Dave Martin’s Tom Toms (James McCleeng, Glenn Keener, Gene Summers — vocalist, Charlie Mendian, Melvin Robinson, and Dave Martin).

THE SPOT, 4906 Military Parkway. This ad features Joe Wilson & The Sabers.

THE SPOT, the “other” location, 10635 Harry Hines. House band The Spotters.

THEATER LOUNGE, 1326 Jackson, at Akard. Barney Weinstein, proprietor. “Glamour Girls Galore.”

TOWN PUMP, 5021 Lovers Lane. “Dallas’ Original and Largest ‘Sing Along’ Piano Bar.” That is one scary sentence.

***

Sources & Notes

All ads from the Aug./Sept. 1962 issue of This Month in Dallas.

club-dallas_this-month-in-dallas_aug-sept-1962_ebay_det_sm

4 Comments

November 23, 2023

Colony Club Billboard in Beautiful Kodachrome — Early 1960s

Downtown Dallas has it all…

by Paula Bosse

This. Is. A. Fantastic. Photo.

If only for the great, great, great Colony Club (“the best of the undressed”) billboard featuring Chris Colt (“the girl with the 45s”).

See this same view of the (one-time) intersection of Elm, Ervay, and Live Oak here and here. (The dazzling animated neon Coca-Cola sign was once where Chris Colt is showing off her 45s.)

I almost never post images with watermarks, but this photo is pretty spectacular. Look around the watermark!

I don’t know the seller of this color slide. I have no affiliation with the person. I get no cut in any sale. But I want someone reading this to BUY IT! Let’s keep this with someone who loves Dallas history! (And if you DO buy it and would like to send me a digital copy… well, I wouldn’t say no!) See this slide currently on eBay HERE. (HURRY!)

To see a naughty photo of Chris Colt, you can click on an antique collectors’ website here.

Colony Club ad, Nov. 22, 1962

And below is a photo of Colony Club owner Abe Weinstein in his younger years counting his moolah.

photo: Dallas Jewish Historical Society

***

Sources & Notes

Top image is from a color slide in a current eBay listing here. (Seller’s title: “Original Slide Dallas St Scene Colony Club Coca Cola Billboards Southland Life.”) There is no date, but Golden Steer Barbecue opened at 1713 Live Oak sometime in 1961.

Abe Weinstein photo — from his days as the co-owner of Abe’s and Pappy’s — is from the Facebook page of the Dallas Jewish Historical Society.

kodachrome_elm-ervay-live-oak_chris-colt_colony-club-billboard_ebay_WATERMARK_sm

7 Comments

November 21, 2023

JFK & Dallas — 60th Anniversary

by Paula Bosse

What more can be said about this subject? The city of Dallas and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy will, sadly, be tied together forever. I wonder how the city’s evolution would have been different had this horrible event never happened?

A few related Flashback Dallas posts from the past decade:

“Kennedy Memorial and the County Courthouses — Early 1970s” (2020)
“Jack Ruby, Boxing Fan — 1958” (2019)
“The JFK Assassination and Television Firsts — 1963” (2018)
“Newly Discovered Footage of Jack Ruby — 1960” (2017)
“Aerial View of the JFK Memorial — 1970” (2017)
“November 22, 1963: Will Fritz and the JFK Investigation” (2016)
“The Official Government Reenactment of the Kennedy Assassination — Nov. 27, 1963” (2016)
“HR Meeting at the Carousel Club” (2015)
“The First JFK Assassination Reenactment — 1963” (2015)
“Dealey Plaza, From Above — 1960s” (2015)
“The Southern Rock Island Plow Company” (AKA the Texas Schoolbook Depository) (2015)
“Old Red Goes Hollywood (sort of…) — 1964” (2014) (includes a link to “The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald,” the full made-in-Dallas film by Larry Buchanan)
“JFK Aftermath: Chaos at the City Desk — 1963” (2014)
“JFK’s ‘Last Hour In Dallas’ — 1963” (2014)
“The Sexton Foods Building and the Former Life of the School Book Depository” (2014)
“Nardis of Dallas: The Fashion Connection Between ‘The Dick Van Dyke Show’ and the Kennedy Assassination” (2014)
“Dear JFK: Welcome to Big “D” — Love, DP” (2014)
“Where to Put That JFK Memorial? — 1964” (2014)

***

Sources & Notes

Postcard sent to me many years ago by someone known only as “Amy from Dallas.” (Thank you, Amy!) The text from the back of the card is here.

This postcard — which carries the title “President Kennedy’s Assassination and Memorial Site, Dallas, Texas/Collector’s Photo,” ©1964, Joe C. Melton, Publisher, Dallas — comes in more than one version. A later version has the same image, but with a couple of exceptions: the later version has an inset of a Kennedy half-dollar coin in the upper left corner, and the three guys standing behind the “Men of St. Bernard’s Church” memorial wreath have been completely erased from postcard history (as have the words “Men of St. Bernard’s Church”). Unless I’ve stumbled upon new conspiracy fodder, the photographer probably failed to get the men to sign a release form.

Side note: regarding that wreath, this sentence appeared in a Dallas Morning News article the day after Oswald was killed (“‘Oh, My God — He’s Dead'” by Joe Thornton, Nov. 25, 1963): “People took pictures of their families standing behind the white-flowered cross erected in memory of President Kennedy by the Men of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church.” St. Bernard of Clairvaux Catholic Church is in East Dallas, at 1404 Old Gate Lane.

JFK_postcard_memorial_flowers_melton_sm

3 Comments

September 11, 2023

The Stagecoach Ride at Six Flags: 1961-1967

What could possibly go wrong?

by Paula Bosse

Did you ride the stagecoach at Six Flags?

The stagecoach at Six Flags? What? This:

And this (with grazing buffalo for added Old West atmosphere):

When I first saw Six Flags postcards touting stagecoach rides, my first thought was, “How did they ever manage to get insurance for that?”

six-flags_stagecoach_buffalo_ebay_reverse

The “Butterfield Overland” ride debuted in the “Confederate” section when the park opened in 1961 and lasted until about 1967. It was very, very popular.

1965, via UTA Libraries Special Collections (det)

Why did I never know about this when I was a kid? I never saw a stagecoach. I would have LOVED to ride a stagecoach. What happened? Well, here’s what happened: in May 1967, one of the stage’s wheels came off mid-ride, and the stage overturned, injuring 11 of the 14 people on board, most of them children. A 4-year-old Haltom City girl — who was riding on the top — was pinned beneath the overturned stagecoach. When she was freed, she was rushed to the hospital and underwent emergency surgery on both feet. One of the news stories about this unfortunate incident ended with, “Saturday’s accident was the first involving the stagecoach since the park opened in 1961,” adding that more than 4 million persons had ridden this ride between 1961 and 1967. (Four million!) (Granted, I think there were four stagecoaches and four teams of horses, but… four million!!)

One month after the accident, it was reported that the girl’s father had sued Six Flags for $531,000, contending that park officials were guilty of 30 counts of negligence. ($531,000 would be the equivalent in today’s money of about $5 million.) I can’t find anything about what happened with this lawsuit, but I assume there was probably a quiet settlement. Coincidentally or not, that spelled the end of the Butterfield Overland stagecoach ride at Six Flags Over Texas.

And that’s why I never heard of — or got to experience — a stagecoach ride at Six Flags.

(I don’t know what happened to the buffalo.)

***

Sources & Notes

Top photo of a Six Flags stagecoach jam-packed with kids from Fort Worth magazine.

The 1965 image is a detail of a larger photo from the Jack White Photograph Collection, UTA Libraries Special Collections — see the full photo and more details here.

Read more about this Butterfield Overland stagecoach ride at Parktimes.com.

The whole “Confederate” and “Texas” sections of SFOT were kind of weird, including a several-times-a-day lynching (!), as can be seen in one of the postcards in the 2014 Flashback Dallas post “Angus Wynne Jr.’s ‘Texas Disneyland’ — 1961.”

For real, non-amusement-park stagecoach tidbits, check out the post (also from 2014) “Dallas to Austin by Stagecoach: Only Three Days! (1854).”

A slightly different version of this post originally appeared on the Flashback Dallas Patreon page in August 2023. If you’d like to see daily Flashback Dallas posts, please consider supporting me on Patreon, for as little as $5 a month.

six-flags_stagecoach_fort-worth-magazine_sm

3 Comments

September 4, 2023

Aunt Stelle’s Sno Cone

aunt-stelles_sign_google An Oak Cliff oasis…

by Paula Bosse

This has been a brutally hot summer. The kind of summer when a snow cone would really hit the spot at just about any sweltering hour of the day. One place that was famous for its snow cones (they were described as being like “fine snow”) was Aunt Stelle’s Sno Cone, at 2002 W. Clarendon (at Marlborough) in Oak Cliff. Established by Estelle Williams in 1962, the little stand was hugely popular until it officially closed in 2018. Her snow cones were flying out of there every summer season for more than 55 years! To generations of customers. Not many businesses can boast that kind of longevity and patron loyalty. (One of those loyal patrons was Oak Cliff homeboy Stevie Ray Vaughan.)

Having not grown up in Oak Cliff, I wasn’t familiar with Aunt Stelle’s until I saw the photos below which appeared as ads in editions of the Sunset High School yearbook. You can see Estelle in the window. She looks exactly like the kind of person I’d want serving me a delicious, refreshing, messy treat.

aunt-stelle_sunset-high-school-yrbk_1967-det

Speaking of the treats, check out that menu board! I understand the “Beatle” tasted like a grape SweeTart, the “Zorro” tasted like licorice (and it was black!), the “Pink Lady” tasted like vanilla ice cream, and the “Popeye”… I really wanted it to be green and taste like spinach, but apparently it tasted like gumballs (what a missed opportunity!).

1967 Sunset High School yearbook

1967 Sunset yearbook

1968 Sunset yearbook

1969 Sunset yearbook

***

Sources & Notes

Top image of the Aunt Stelle’s sign is from Google — the photographer is listed simply as “Scott.”

A great story about Aunt Stelle’s can be found in the Dallas Morning News archives in the story “Sno Days: Aunt Stelle’s Has Been Keeping Oak Cliff Cool for 40 Seasons” by Dave Tarrant (DMN, June 22, 2001).

Consider supporting me on Patreon! Five bucks a month gets you daily morsels of Dallas history!

4 Comments

Category: 1960s

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