1970s | Flashback : Dallas

March 14, 2024

Oak Lawn Ave. — Keep on Truckin’ (1971)

by Paula Bosse

This is a great little ad, which includes a bunch of notable Oak Lawn landmarks in the neighborhood’s hippie-fabulous days. I love this artwork — it’s almost as good as a photograph!

The 3500 block of Oak Lawn — between Lemmon and Bowser — is depicted in super-groovy, early-’70s, patchouli-scented artwork (inspired by R. Crumb). Starting at the left, here’s what we see:

A tiny portion of the sorely missed diner mainstay, LUCAS B & B, 3520 Oak Lawn
Next, NAME BRAND SHOES (men’s shoes), 3516 Oak Lawn
Next, R.F.D. No. 1 COUNTRY STORE (clothing), 3514 Oak Lawn, subject of the ad (formerly El Chico, which you can see in the second and third photos here)
Next, THE FOG (rock club), 3508 Oak Lawn
Next, SUPERIOR BAKERY, 3502 Oak Lawn
Next, NATIONAL AUTO SOUND OF DALLAS (car stereos), 3500 Oak Lawn (at Lemmon)

iconoclast_oak-lawn-avenue_aug-1971_1972-directory 1972 city directory

Watch silent home movie footage shot in this block around this same time at the Portal to Texas History, here (unfortunately, there are only glancing images of The Fog, which I would have liked to have seen more of). The Oak Lawn footage begins at 10:34 and continues until the end, with scenes shot at Lee Park. (There’s a guy who looks like he should be someone important — he looks a bit like Harry Nilsson — at 10:59.)

The illustration is by Steve Brooks, a 1967 graduate of Sunset High School who has had quite the career in illustration, commercial art, and rock posters. He’s worked extensively with Willie Nelson and Buddy magazine, and… yes, if you saw that drawing above and thought “head shop,” he’s the guy (THE guy) behind all the artwork connected to The Gas Pipe (which deserves a post of its own as a truly iconic Dallas success story!). Read an interesting biography about Brooks here. See some of his work in the collection of his alma mater, UNT, here.

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Sources & Notes

Ad from the August 1971 issue of the underground newspaper, The Iconoclast.

7 Comments

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

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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

December 28, 2023

Some-Context Channel 8 Screenshots: 1971

WFAA Collection/Jones Film Collection/SMU

by Paula Bosse

I have been working as part of a 3-person team (led by Jeremy Spracklen and Scott Martin) on the WFAA archive of news film, housed in the G. William Jones Film and Video Collection at the Hamon Arts Library at SMU. I have been working on 1970 and 1971, going through daily footage shot for Channel 8 News. I get a bit bogged down by all the sports and car crashes, but at this point, I am so all-consumed by these two specific years that I feel I would do well on Jeopardy if the categories were things like “Minor League DFW Hockey Teams of the Early ’70s,” “Internecine Squabbles of the Dallas City Council, the Dallas School Board, and the Dallas County Commissioners Court,” and “So What’s the Deal with the Sharpstown Scandal?” My 2023 has been spent immersed in 1971, where the chaos of the implementation of court-ordered school busing, the huge securities fraud scandal that involved some very powerful Texas politicians (Sharpstown), and the battle between Craig Morton and Roger Staubach to become the Cowboys’ #1 quarterback were some of the stories that dominated the headlines. And, lordy, there were some pretty exotic hairstyles, fashions, and interior design trends hammering away relentlessly throughout this post-hippie (it might really still have been current-hippie), pre-disco period.

Here are a few of my favorite moments from this 1971 DFW-centric news footage from the WFAA archives. Links to the pertinent clips on YouTube are included at the end of the descriptions. These clips are rarely the full reports that would have been seen on the nightly news — they are often just silent footage or B-roll, without any identification of people or clues as to where they were filmed or even why they were newsworthy. It’s (mostly) a lot of fun to dig through and watch the unfolding of history from more than 50 years in the future.

Above, from JUNE 1971

One of my favorite human-interest stories from the past year (meaning 1971!) was the profile of one of the few “lady mailmen” in Dallas at the time. She’s utterly, utterly charming, has a supportive and interesting husband and family, and loves her job. The Channel 8 cameraman shows her as she sorts her mail in the Beverly Hills Station post office in Oak Cliff and follows her as she walks along her route on West Davis. The only problem with this 7 minutes of interesting footage is that the woman is never identified. I dove in, really wanting to identify her. I thought I had cracked the mystery of her identity, only to find myself at a dead end again. If only her children could see this wonderful profile of their mother. If you know who this woman is, please let me know, and we’ll add her name to the YouTube description and try to track down any family members. I would LOVE her children to be able to see this.

The “lady mailman” is interviewed here (this first bit is in three short segments, totaling 4 minutes); a later clip shows her on her route, here (about 3 minutes). The old post office building still stands at 509 N. Barnett.

JANUARY 1971

So, yeah, fashion and interior design trends were pretty… in-your-face in 1971. In the three screenshots below, you’ll see some retina-abusing images of with-it decor. The first features the always beautiful Phyllis George, the Denton native who was in the midst of her Miss America reign. In this clip, she has come back home to DFW for an appearance at an event in which a room designed with her in mind is unveiled (by decorators C. John Megna and William Farrington). She is wearing a dress designed by Carlo Bitetto specifically for her to wear IN THAT ROOM (!). You don’t often see sparkles and plaid cheek-by-jowl.

The clip with the super-color-saturated room and its battling patterns is here.

FEBRUARY 25, 1971

Before Lion Country Safari, Mesquite had World of Animals, a drive-thru safari park. World of Animals had a wild-animal veterinarian who visited regularly from California: Dr. Martin Dinnes. Below, Dinnes is seen providing dental care to popular attraction Harold the Chimp. This is not really something I expected to see, but there you are. (Dinnes was later engaged to actress and wildlife preservation activist Tippi Hedren for several years.)

The clips of Dinnes being interviewed and preparing Harold for a tooth extraction (and I grimaced a bit, because the camera keeps rolling during the procedure, so be warned!) are here and here. (The last clip has a shot of Harold’s hand, which, understandably, appears to be gripping the chair.) That is one well-behaved, chill chimp!

MAY 18, 1971

In 1971, there was an ongoing battle between old quarterback Craig Morton and NKOTB Roger Staubach over who would be named the team’s official starting QB. Coach Tom Landry worked for months with a two-quarterback system, alternating them from game to game — he was fine with this, but everyone else hated it. Below are screenshots of Morton and Staubach at the Cowboys practice field. I know virtually nothing about sports training, but this, um, extremely low-tech gadget struck me as weird. And funny. I mean, okay, it was 1971, but surely there was something more technologically advanced than this? It’s a football on a string, tied to a post. And maybe there’s a spring or something in there. This must have been effective. Rog looks like he’s straining. I don’t know. But I love it.

See Craig in an interview with Verne Lundquist from May 18, 1971 about his elbow and shoulder injuries here, and then using the football-on-a-string thing (and then training with Staubach) here; and see Roger interviewed on the same day about really, really wanting to be the starting QB here, and then he hits the string thing here before working out with Morton in what must have been a fairly tense period of both of their careers.

JUNE 1971

Medical examiners used to be on the news a lot. One who popped up frequently was Tarrant County M.E. Dr. Feliks Gwozdz. I was amused more than I should have been when I saw the skull-and-crossbones coffee mug on his desk. I hope it said “World’s Greatest Coroner!” on the back.

The silent footage of Dr. Gwozdz at his desk is here.

JULY 14, 1971

Back in 1971 there was what seemed like the threat of a union strike every 10 minutes. I enjoyed the footage of a bunch of Southwestern Bell employees who look like they were probably a lot of fun to hang out with. Their t-shirts read “Ma Bell Is a Cheap Mother,” which is just great.

Strike footage is here (about 2½ minutes) and here.

JULY 1971

One of the top stories of 1971 was the endless furor set off by court-mandated school busing in attempts to desegregate schools. It was a mess. The man seen below is attorney Bill Brice, a leader of one of the many anti-busing groups. …Surely the cameraman noticed the monkey.

Man with monkey can be seen here.

AUGUST 29, 1971

When the Dallas School Board and Supt. Nolan Estes weren’t pulling their hair out over desegregation, they tackled other issues. One of which was so overshadowed by anti-busing demonstrations that it barely got any play, but I find it really interesting. It concerned Crozier Tech High School downtown. At the end of the 1970-71 school year, the landmark school was closed, and there was lots of discussion on what the DISD should do with the building/land, which they owned (2218 Bryan). This press conference was supposed to be about Estes’ vision of a 40-story school-office complex, which he suggested be built on the land — the first 10 floors would be for school use, and the top 30 floors would be leased to businesses as office space, with leases, theoretically, paying for construction and maintenance of the building. The building was never built (and thankfully, old Tech still stands). School board president John Plath Green and Supt. Estes sit in front of an architectural drawing of the envisioned DISD skyscraper. Too bad no one wanted to talk about it.

Footage from the press conference where reporters only want to ask about busing, is here.

SEPTEMBER 23, 1971

The Sharpstown Scandal was a bigger story than busing, but, even though political scandals are juicy, it just didn’t get everyday people mobilizing, marching in the streets, and shouting each other down in public forums the way busing did. But it was a massive story, and several political careers bit the dust because of it. The sprawling and confusing securities-fraud scandal mostly involved drab politicians and business executives. But one part of it involved, bizarrely, six celebrated — if not beloved — NASA astronauts and an insurance company pension fund.

In this Channel 8 footage, you can see something you don’t see every day: five NASA astronauts walking together down the street (a sixth one was nearby, on his own). James Lovell, Pete Conrad, Fred Haise, Ken Mattingly, Richard Gordon, and Alan Bean were in Dallas on Sept. 23, 1971 to testify as witnesses before a federal grand jury that was investigating the activities surrounding the Sharpstown Scandal. These are screenshots of the five (minus Lovell), carrying briefcases through grubby downtown Dallas, and of Lovell on his own, exiting the Federal Court House. When I first watched this footage, it just seemed really odd: five internationally (galactically!) famous astronauts — heroes! — walking together down the street, without any kind of security or entourage. If you were a NASA freak (and there were a lot back then, at the height of the Apollo-Gemini programs) and you just happened to have walked past this group, your head would have exploded.

See Lovell exiting the sterile- and dystopian-looking courthouse on his own (that woman he holds the door open for has no idea who he is), and the others walking somewhat playfully down the street here (I love this footage!); a confusing wrap-up of the day’s events is here.

OCTOBER 14, 1971

In footage from the State Fair of Texas, I was really taken by this building, which I swore I had never seen. It was the home of the “lost children” center during the fair, in the Dallas police HQ in Fair Park. It looks different to me now, but it’s still there, near the Aquarium. It looked better in 1971!

Lots of footage of crying children and harried parents, here and here.

OCTOBER 1971

This young dandy is named John Ott (I’m not 100% sure about the spelling). He was a real estate developer in Euless. He couldn’t have been more on top of the 1971 fashion wave. Represent, Euless!

It’s a story about replanting trees (with, admittedly, interesting footage of trees being uprooted and replanted). Here and here.

OCTOBER 31, 1971

In the screenshots below, Channel 8 reporter Judi Hanna (who had recently debuted an unfortunate hairdo) interviews Dallas City Councilman Garry Weber about City Council things. I don’t know where this was filmed, but I only hope it wasn’t his home. It’s hard to focus on what anyone is saying, because of the tidal wave of stuff coming at you. (Ironically, he was being interviewed about sponsoring a change to the city charter in order to crack down on the “visual pollution” of unenforced sign ordinances.) I was so overwhelmed by this vista, that I somehow assumed I was seeing cupid-studded wallpaper. But no. Check out the second screenshot, which also includes a peek at the room’s drapes. I can’t tell where the wallpaper ends and the drapes begin.

Appropriately shown on Halloween night, clips from this report are here (followed by footage of signs-galore along Lemmon Avenue) and here.

OCTOBER 1971

Lastly, a shot of Mingus, Texas, a small West Texas town near Thurber. I just love this image. I think I found the location — here’s what it looks like now.

Why was the tiny town of MIngus being featured on a Dallas news report? The Greater Mingus-Thurber Metropolitan Area was in the news because it was the location of a commune of the controversial Children of God (i.e. “cult”). Actually, the “Children” were in the process of being evicted by the landowner, who, interestingly, was a TV preacher in Los Angeles (I guess even TV evangelists have a breaking point). Members of this group splintered, and a few moved to Big D for a while, where they continued to be newsworthy until they moved elsewhere.

The shot of Mingus is from one of the many clips contained in this Oct. 7 package, here (it is specifically at the 1:08 mark). Below that is a shot from a week later, after some of the self-described “Jesus Freaks” had landed in Dallas — a group member is seen walking through Exposition Park to their new HQ, at 639½ Exposition — it and other CoG footage from Oct. 14, 1971 is here (this specific shot is seen at the 17:18 mark). (If you are considering a documentary on the Children of God, there’s lots of footage for you in the WFAA archives at SMU.)

AUGUST 1971

This is a bonus.

As I worked my way through 1971, there was one truly amazing story. It involved the kidnapping of a toddler in Fort Worth. On Aug. 25, 1971, 21-month-old Melissa Suzanne Highsmith disappeared. Her 22-year-old mother, Alta, had hired a new babysitter, who was supposed to watch her for the day while Alta was at work. The babysitter picked Melissa up in the morning as planned, but she never returned the child. The babysitter and Melissa disappeared without a trace. There were no leads in the case for years. …And YEARS.

In 2022, the Highsmith family learned of an online DNA match, which would indicate they had found Melissa. Eventually, it was determined that a 50-something-year-old woman named “Melanie” was actually the long-missing Melissa. The woman who kidnapped her raised her as her own daughter, and Melissa never suspected she wasn’t the woman’s child (although she says she never felt really “connected” to her).

Melissa (she now uses “Melissa” again) was reunited with her family at the end of 2022. One report I read said that she grew up only 10 minutes from the Fort Worth apartment her mother lived in. Despite the Highsmith family’s 51 years of loss, grief, worry, and suffering, there has ultimately been a happy ending!

In the screenshot below from an Aug. 26, 1971 Channel 8 story, Alta Highsmith shows a photo of her missing daughter to the camera. The report is here.

If you managed to get all the way through this, you deserve an award! This might be the longest thing I’ve written all year! I’m more than ready for my 1971 Jeopardy challenge (Dallas edition)!

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Sources & Notes

All screenshots are from news film in the WFAA Collection, held by the G. William Jones Film & Video Collection, Hamon Arts Library, SMU. Clips are posted regularly from this Channel 8 collection on YouTube, here.

My previous collection of WFAA screenshots can be found in the post “No-Context Channel 8 Screenshots: 1970-1971.”

lady mailman june 1971 WFAA_sm

7 Comments

July 24, 2023

Santos Rodriguez, 50th Anniversary

david-and-santos-rodriguez_austin-american-statesman Brothers David and Santos Rodriguez

by Paula Bosse

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the murder of 12-year-old Santos Rodriguez by a Dallas policeman, a tragedy which outraged Dallasites and which was a turning point for Dallas’ Mexican American community.

Read what happened on July 24, 1973 in the Flashback Dallas post “Santos Rodriguez, 1960-1973.”

Read about the aftermath of the murder and the resulting protest march in “Santos Rodriguez: The March of Justice — 1973.”

Tonight the documentary “SANTOS VIVE” will be shown on KERA-Channel 13 at 9:00 PM.

RIP, Santos.

2 Comments

June 13, 2023

The Texettes, The Elite Corps of Texas Stadium Usherettes — 1971

Become a fabulous Texette… (July 1971)

by Paula Bosse

I will never be accused of knowing anything about sports — or even about things that are sports-adjacent — but I’m fairly literate in pop culture, and I am genuinely surprised that, until yesterday, I had never heard of the “Texettes.” I have no idea how long they lasted (for all I know, they’re still around!), but it was from 1971 until at least 1984 (I say 1984 only because there was a classified ad in the The Dallas Morning News announcing Texette auditions in June of that year — but Blackie Sherrod mentions them in what I think is the present tense in a 1989 column, so they might have been around into the ’90s). Seriously, how have I never heard of them? There’s almost nothing about them online, which is weird, because they were around for a significant amount of time.

The ad above, announcing the first-ever Texette auditions, appeared in the Dallas and Fort Worth newspapers on July 21, 1971. The opening of the brand-new Texas Stadium was on the horizon (the first Dallas Cowboys game to be played there was on Oct. 24, 1971), and the huge stadium was going to be 100% unfamiliar to Cowboys fans — they were going to need people to help them find stuff. Here’s where the Texettes came in. They were described as “hostesses” and “usherettes” who wore mini-skirts and go-go boots. Open auditions were held to find 125 Texettes. Hopefuls were advised to wear hotpants or mini-skirts and heels. The only qualifications appear to have been that the “girls” be between the ages of 18 and 30, at least 5’1″, DFW residents, and attractive.

BECOME A FABULOUS ‘TEXETTE’ AT THE NEW TEXAS STADIUM
and other Dallas/Ft. Worth entertainment events.

An elite usherette corps of 125 attractive girls to hostess Dallas Cowboys games as well as pop concerts, conventions, etc.
In addition to compensation, you will be custom fitted in a “Texette” outfit and become eligible for many other benefits.

Texettes were “hostesses” who smiled and welcomed people to the stadium, helped fans find their seats, and gave tours. (They also seem to have functioned as something not far removed from cocktail waitresses in the press box.) The first year (1971) they were paid $8 a game (equivalent in today’s money of about $60). They also appeared at various DFW events as sort of all-purpose Chamber-of-Commerce-like greeters with toothy smiles and toned thighs.

Their outfits consisted of white knee-high go-go boots, blue mini-skirts, white blouses, vests, yellow neckerchiefs, and white cowboy hats. They pre-dated the “sexy”-era of Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders (before the famous cheerleaders we know today, high school students cheered the team on at the Cotton Bowl), but the Texettes’ Western-inspired, drill-team-inspired costumes might have served as a kernel of the inspiration for those of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. It’s interesting (to me, anyway) that the Texettes and the Cheerleaders existed at the same time for a few years — for quite a while, in fact. Seems like they might cancel each other out. But I guess the Texettes were more cute-girl-next-door cowgirls in the stands, and the cheerleaders were sexy-girl-you’ll-never-be-able-to-talk-to-in-real-life cowgirls on the field.

As I said, I’d never heard of this “elite usherette corps” before yesterday. If anyone knows how long they were a thing, please comment below.

I’ve found two bits of film of Texette auditions (both are in the indispensable WFAA archives held by the Jones Film Collection at SMU). The first is from July 1971 (the same audition advertised in the top ad) — it can be seen in Channel 8 footage below (there are two separate clips — at the 19:44 mark and at the 24:26 mark). The report is delivered by a frightened man giving off “Tim Calhoun” vibes.

A later report — from 1975 — shows another try-out. The reporter notes that the job has unique perks, like maybe finding a football-player husband or catching the eye of a talent scout. By then, the pay had jumped to $10 an appearance, and there were a lot more applicants.

Below, a new Texette (Madonna Moore) on the field at Texas Stadium. This might have been taken on Oct. 15, 1971, the day the very first football game was played there (local team Bishop College lost to Texas Southern University, 34-21).

Bradenton (FL) Herald, Oct. 16, 1971

Showing off their new outfits are Texettes Cheri Mitchell, Claudia Garza, and Joyce Zodin. (The caption was incorrect about the date the Cowboys would take the field — that wasn’t until Oct. 24, 1971, in a game against the New England Patriots, which they won 44-21.)

Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Sept. 16, 1971

Texette June Copeland stands in front of Mike Ditka’s locker, which appears to have been rifled through.

Irving Daily News, Apr. 5, 1972

The Texettes were still going strong in 1982 as they entered their 11th year. I think the skirt has gotten shorter.

June 1982

This has nothing to do with the Texettes, but I love this photo of Dave Arey, director of operations at Texas Stadium. He’s seen here holding a replica of the stadium, which seems like it would have been perfect as a doggie bed.

Irving Daily News, Aug. 22, 1976

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Sources & Notes

This originally appeared in a slightly different form this morning as a post on my Patreon page (where I post daily Dallas-history tidbits for subscribers who are generously supporting me for as little as $5 a month).

1971_texettes_ad_072171_sm

2 Comments

December 27, 2022

No-Context Channel 8 Screenshots: 1970-1971

sols-turf-bar_commerce-st_apr-1971_WFAA SMU Slip into Sol’s for a quick one on a rainy afternoon

by Paula Bosse

I’ve mentioned that I have been working in the WFAA Newsfilm Collection, which is part of the G. William Jones Film and Video Collection at SMU’s Hamon Library. It’s a lot of fun going through all this footage (even though I have to grin and bear it a bit through all the sports and Commissioners Court meetings!). I thought I’d compile a bunch of random screenshots I’ve collected over the past few months of images I’ve found interesting. They are all from 1970 and 1971. (The link to the YouTube video the screenshot comes from is at the end of the paragraph. Each of these YouTube videos has a description of what’s going on in the clips — click “Show More” to see the full description.)

Above, a rainy day on Commerce Street, looking east toward Ervay. Sol’s Turf Bar (great sign!) is seen at 1515 Commerce, next to The Copper Cow. (Apr. 17, 1971)

Below, Medallion Center, at Northwest Highway and Abrams. I posted this on the Flashback Dallas Facebook page and on Instagram and was surprised by how enthusiastically people responded to it. I was really happy to see this brief shot show up in news footage. Instant nostalgia. I remember being in that store a LOT. (Dec. 20-21, 1970)

medallion_dec-22-23-1970_WFAA_SMU

Texas Autorama. Pink car! (I wrote a bit about this fab powderpuff of a car, customized by Arlington’s Bill Meador, here.) A short “curated” clip of cars from this show is here. (The footage is also part of the full collection of that day’s clips here: Jan. 18-19, 1971)

pink-car_TX-autorama_jan-1971_WFAA_SMU

And speaking of pink, while slogging through footage of a boxing match, I really enjoyed this glimpse of the fashionably dressed crowd, especially the guy wearing the pink suit. It takes a secure man to wear a pink suit to a boxing match in Texas. (Feb. 23, 1971)

pink-suit_boxing_feb-23-1971_WFAA_SMU

And, on the topic of fashion, there were few other Dallasites who were as strikingly put-together as community activist Al Lipscomb, frequently seen looking cool and wearing shades. Here are a few shots from a 1971 press conference during the time he was running for mayor (Lipscomb was Dallas’ first Black mayoral candidate). Lipscomb lost the mayor’s race in 1971 but later served for several years on the Dallas City Council. (March 3-4, 1971)

panthers-2_lipscomb_WFAA_030371

panthers-1_lipscomb-gaines-johnson_WFAA_030371

panthers-3_WFAA_030371

Far beyond what should have been aesthetically acceptable can be seen in this shot of FBI and police investigating a robbery at the downtown Main Street National Bank. As I watched the footage, all I could think about was the WALL-TO-WALL GREEN SHAG CARPETING. …In a bank. Oh dear. The 1970s was not a good decade for interior design. (Dec. 15-16, 1970)

main-st-natl-bank_dec-1970_WFAA_SMU

I love this very “400 Blows” shot of a boy at the scene of traffic fatality on Collett near Reiger in Old East Dallas. (Nov. 3, 1970)

boy_collett-nr-reiger_1970_WFAA_SMU

Another child, this is 13-year-old Cecile Richards (daughter of future governor Ann Richards), who had recently moved from Dallas to Austin. She had been named an “honorary girl page,” and in the clip, she is seen being led across the floor of the Texas Senate by State Sen. Mike McKool (her sponsor and a close friend of the Richards family). Cecile was the first girl in the history of the Texas legislature to be named an “honorary” legislative page at a time when all pages were boys. Cecile grew up to be a firebrand of a women’s rights activist, much like her mother. (Jan. 12, 1971)

richards-cecile_jan-1971_WFAA_SMU

Skillern’s drug store in Lakewood (which I wrote about here). Streets have been rerouted over the years, but this is now near-ish to the site of the Lakewood Whole Foods parking lot. (Nov. 26-28, 1970)

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A quick hop over to Lower Greenville, where the Wilson Food Store stood at the corner of Greenville and Goodwin (in the Terilli’s block, seen here several years before the terrible fire hit that block — see a then-and-now comparison here — they did a really good job reconstructing that building). (Dec. 3-4, 1970)

wilson-food-store_lower-greenville_WFAA_SMU

Brock’s produce stand, 2803 S. Lancaster, a former 7-Eleven. (Mar. 10-11, 1971)

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Northlake Center sign, E. Northwest Highway and Ferndale. (Sept. 3-4, 1970)

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The Palace Theater’s last movie. (Nov. 20-21, 1970)

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Occasionally on the Flashback Dallas page I will post images of locations I don’t recognize to see if anyone can help — and they usually can. I posted this image of row houses, not even completely sure it showed a place in Dallas. I didn’t really expect anyone to know this, but very, very quickly, Don A. replied that it showed apartments in the 1500 block of Holly, in Old East Dallas (a street I’d never even heard of). Not only did he recognize the location, he actually lived there at one point — it was across the street from his grandparents’ house. And the cars seen in this screenshot belonged to family members! That’s pretty amazing. I found the comments in the Facebook thread very entertaining — you can read them on my public Facebook page here. Thanks, Don! (Mar. 3-4, 1971)

1500-block-holly_old-east-dallas_march-1971

I posted another mystery image just yesterday, and it was identified in minutes by Jim P. This shows the Southwestern Bell Telephone Federal Exchange Office at 2400 S. Westmoreland. Thank you, Jim! (Apr. 18-19, 1971)

swb-federal-exchange-bldg_westmoreland_1971_041871_WFAA

This could go on for days. And it DOES! Check out the SMU Jones Film YouTube page. There’s a lot of stuff there, and new stuff is posted daily. I personally have dealt with only about a year and a half of this collection (so far, 1970 and the first few months of 1971). There’s so much that I haven’t seen yet, and I look forward to finding out what’s there (…except for all the sports and Commissioners Court meetings…).

wfaa_skyline_march-1971 The WFAA antenna, downtown Dallas, Mar. 1971

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Souces & Notes

All images are screenshots from footage available on YouTube from the WFAA Newsfilm Collection, G. William Jones Film and Video Collection, Hamon Arts Library, Southern Methodist University.

sols-turf-bar_commerce-st_apr-1971_WFAA SMU_sm

5 Comments

December 24, 2022

Santa Claus Visits Fair Park — 1969 and 1970

The list is ready…

by Paula Bosse

Check out two charming film clips of Santa visiting kids in Fair Park on Dec. 20, 1969 and Dec. 23, 1970 (the links to the clips are below). He arrives, of course, in a helicopter. These events were sponsored by the Negro Chamber of Commerce.

From this clip’s YouTube description:

A Black Santa Claus lands via helicopter in Fair Park as a large crowd of predominantly African American children rush to meet him; children are seen on Santa’s lap as parents stand by; a box of wrapped apples is seen. (A “Black Santa” was an unusual sight in the 1960s, and the concept was much in the news in the 1969 Christmas season as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had issued a demand that department stores in Cincinnati hire African American Santas or face a boycott, and the story was widely covered around the country.) (Silent)

Watch the full 38-second (silent) clip on YouTube here. Below are some screenshots.

Santa made a return visit the next year — again via chopper — on Dec. 23, 1970. An article appeared in The Dallas Morning News revealing Santa’s helper to be Issac Debois who was quoted as saying with a chuckle, “I’m the only black Santa Claus from the South Pole.” Watch the full 38-second (silent) clip here.

Merry Christmas!!

***

Sources & Notes

All images are screenshots from WFAA-Channel 8 news stories — from the WFAA Newsfilm Collection, G. William Jones Collection, Southern Methodist University.

The first clip (from 1969) is contained in the larger video on YouTube here — the specific short clip is here.

The second clip (from 1970) is contained in the larger video on YouTube here — the specific clip is here.

Read the Dallas Morning News story about the second visit in the DMN archives: “Santa Enjoys Happy Visit, With Gifts” (DMN, Dec. 24, 1970).

Find more Flashback Dallas posts on Christmas here and Hanukkah here,

santa_4_WFAA_SMU_122069_sm

2 Comments

December 15, 2022

Wes Wise, 1929-2022

Wes Wise and family campaigning for Mayor, April 1971

by Paula Bosse

Wes Wise, former 3-term Dallas mayor (1971-1976), has died. He was 94. Read his obituary in The Dallas Morning News, here. Also, a tribute to Wise from the Dallas Municipal Archives is here.

In the piece linked above, the Dallas Municipal Archives mentions this: “Wise is noted for being the first mayor since the 1930s not endorsed by the Citizens Charter Association.” The CCA was a powerful political organization I’ve only become aware of recently. It wasn’t really until I began working in the WFAA-Channel 8 News archives that I saw Dallas political history up close, and it was full of all these powerful groups I had never heard of which, for decades, could make or break candidates simply by deeming them endorsable. If you were running for mayor or City Council, you really wanted the support of the Citizens Charter Association. And you absolutely wouldn’t have dared poke at them with sharp sticks. …Wes Wise poked at them with sharp sticks.

I’ve been going through old Channel 8 News footage, chronologically, for a while now. I am, at present, making my way through April 1971, when Wise and his opponent — the establishment-backed (i.e. CCA-backed) Avery Mays — were in the midst of a runoff for Dallas mayor. Mays, a businessman and civic leader, was the hand-picked candidate of the Citizens Charter Association and, as such, was expected to win. Wise, a City Councilman and former sportscaster, was the self-assured maverick who loudly proclaimed that he was an independent candidate who would not have accepted CCA backing had it been offered. He was young, good-looking, and — with a background in broadcasting — was comfortable and confident in the limelight.

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There was a “debate” of sorts between the two on Channel 8, with each man given a minute to make a statement. It’s not on the level of Nixon and JFK, but there is a stark, generational contrast in the two men. I don’t see perspiration on Mays’ upper lip, but I’m getting a rattled, sweaty vibe from him. Wise, on the other hand, is all casual bravado.

Two clips of the candidates during this runoff campaign show the difference in styles of the two men: it’s Old Dallas vs. New Dallas.

Watch Avery Mays accuse his opponent Wise of being all talk and no action and being nothing more than a professional “TV and radio talker” (even though Wise had just finished serving a 2-year term on the City Council) — the clip is here.
Watch Wes Wise deliver his stinging rebuttal here.

Old Guard vs. New Blood. New Blood won, and Wes Wise led Dallas through the 1970s, a decade of huge change for the city.

***

Sources & Notes

Top image is a screenshot showing Wes Wise campaigning for mayor during the runoff race against Avery Mays on April 8, 1971. Wise is seen with his wife, Sally, and his son, Wyn. The clip is from the WFAA Newsfilm Collection, G. William Jones Collection, Southern Methodist University — it can be viewed on YouTube here (Wise is seen in the segments at 14:20 and 17:21).

An informative mini-biography on Wes Wise can be found here. (It’s interesting to see that, while in the army, Wise was an instructor in psychological warfare, the perfect training for both a broadcaster and a politician!)

November 24, 2022

Thanks-Giving Square — 1976

by Paula Bosse

Happy Thanksgiving! It seems like a good day to look back at Thanks-Giving Square, the triangular one-acre park in downtown Dallas bounded by Pacific, Bryan, and Ervay. It was originally envisioned in 1961 by Dallas businessman Peter Stewart as a needed quiet refuge and chapel in the middle of a busy city — a calm space set aside for “spiritual gratitude.” It took several years before architect Philip Johnson was brought on to the project in 1971. After more than 15 years from its original conception, its official public dedication was on Nov. 28, 1976, three days after Thanksgiving.

Check out some of the progress reports on the project which appeared over the years on WFAA-Channel 8 News:

Architect Philip Johnson (whose other Dallas projects include the Kennedy Memorial, The Crescent, and the Cathedral of Hope, etc.) talks briefly about Thanks-Giving Square and its underground component, and also shows off a 3-D model (from July 1971):

Business owners whose shops were in buildings on the land which was about to be leveled were forced to move out, and many were not happy (from April 1972):

Construction is underway (November 1976):

And, lastly, Channel 8 weatherman Troy Dungan checks out the progress as the dedication day approaches (November 1976):

For a bit of street-level context, here’s a photo showing some of the buildings that were razed (at the right, directly across from the Republic Bank Building) in order to make way for Thanks-Giving Square:

via Shorpy.com

Below is a detail from a newspaper ad for MetroBank which appeared in August, 1976, with a nice little stylized illustration of the triangular TGS and its swirly chapel (click for larger image).

Speaking of the “swirly” design, in a 1982 article about TGS, Dallas Morning News architect deity David Dillon described this structure as “Philip Johnson’s Dairy Queen chapel,” which, presumably, might not have been met with amusement by internationally acclaimed architect Johnson, who probably wouldn’t have appreciated the comparison of his work to an ice cream cone. Interestingly, that description appeared in a 1982 article about Stewart’s dismay that the tall buildings which loomed over TGS (including Thanksgiving Tower) were, basically, blotting out the sun — little TGS was more often in shadow than in sunlight:

Stewart urged the city to pass a sun and shadow ordinance that would preserve the remaining downtown view corridors from high-rise development […] but the [preliminary] ordinance got such a cool reception from downtown developers that it was dropped quickly. (“Computer Study Sheds Light On Thanks-Giving Square Problem” by David Dillon, Dallas Morning News, July 4, 1982)

I bet it got a cool reception!

***

Sources & Notes

Postcard found on eBay.

Videos from SMU’s WFAA News Film Collection, which can be found on the SMU Jones Film Collection YouTube channel.

Thanks to Noah Jeppson for passing along a link to the huge Thanks-Giving Foundation Collection of photos and documents, viewable on the University of North Texas’ Portal to Texas History, here.

Read about the history of Thanks-Giving Square (or as it’s often written, Thanksgiving Square) on Wikipedia, here.

Read the D Magazine article “The Park That Peter Built” (which seems to end abruptly) about the history of Thanks-Giving Square by Jane Sumner from Nov. 1, 1977 here.

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7 Comments

November 15, 2022

Highland Park High School Rodeo Club — 1973

by Paula Bosse

HPHS had a rodeo team? It was apparently a thing, at least in 1973 — they even participated in the Fat Stock Show in Fort Worth.

Seeing as these are Highland Park students, I can only imagine the guys seen above ultimately became partners in a law firm called Barton, O’Connor, Rohlfs, Goss, Bibby & Fitch.

There were other “rodeo” mentions in the yearbook, including this double-page ad which read “The Original Highland Park Rodeo Club.” I mean, kids are wearing t-shirts. I don’t know whether this was an elaborate “ironic” put-on, or whether it was real, but, I have to say, either way, I’m a fan!