Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Alamo: movie theater, high schools)

[OzzyRules]

I went to the Rodeo grounds one year. One of the rides had hard rock music playing over the speakers, rather than typical carnival music you would hear in movies.

[OzzyRules]

What I really miss are all the little "mini malls" I suppose they were called. Many were redone into strip centers but they used to have mall fronts or else some other kind of indoor common area. They seem to have died out about 15 years ago.

[940]

Originally Posted by irnag

940, are you talking about the homes on Beverly Mae St.? The ones behind Cha-Chas?

I was thinking last night that I had an older cousin that lived in Glenoaks and did attend Marshall. He would have been there @ 1970. I remember going to Marshall as a small child to see him in 'Lil Abner' play at Marshall. But his younger brothers and sisters all attended Holmes. So if I had to guess, I would say in the early 70's they must have changed the boundaries at least in respect to Glenoaks.

That's the area, irnag. Beverly Mae St, Dorothy Louise St, Betty Lou St...LOL.. someone maybe had a thing for those women back in the 50s! And I guess back in the early 70s, many of the newer areas then were zoned to the newer high schools at that time(Holmes and Jay) while Marshall had all the rural areas to the north and west with less population.

By the way, it's snowing up here in the DFW area right now with these huge half dollar flakes. Not expecting accumulation but it's pretty. When it's not flurrying, it seems to be sleeting lightly also! Just thought I'd add that...

[Trivet The Fool]

irnag ~ The DMZ was on Cupples Rd, about a mile from the exit from 90 east on the left side. Was painted black and had a large bullseye/vortex design on the front with 'DMZ' on it. There used to be mirrors on the walls when you walked in until about '90/'91, when my brother & some friends crashed into them after spinning out of the pit during a show. *sighs* The last show I went to there was GG Allin's last tour.

If it was the Bone I went to, it was in May '83..had a blue mohawk & wore a sparkly blue crash helmet in the pit *shakes head*.

Image, iirc, closed about 1992, Wacky's about '93 or '94; October 31 of '93 my 1970 Maverick was trashed during a show; long story behind that. Never going to forget it, either. I used to park it right next to the club, between the orange road cones.

Catriona ~ I remember Rick, lol! I also remember when KISS had 'Metal Shop-The Show With Teeth'. I recall when Y100 replaced KLLS with the countdown beeping. Wasn't there a 92.8 or 93.8 FM during the late '80s/early '90s that played Cure songs so much that KSYM refused to play them?

Ozzy ~ Yes! That's where it was! I've been wracking my brain, trying to picture where the heck it was; didn't have much to go on other than the hill. Now I just have to track down some newspaper articles.

The last true 'mini mall' that sort-of still exists that I know of is on W.W. White Rd, a bit down from Rigsby. In it's heyday it boasted La Feria and Winn's, a woman's clothing boutique, a record store, and a very nice Handy Andy. Gods, but I miss Winn's; Alco-Duckwall in Devine is a pale comparison...Shopper's City Mall on SW Military used to be a mini-mall, but they've all but done away with the interior portions, sectioning them off to the existing businesses.

Also, wasn't that Ramada touted as the 'Airport Convention Center' at one point? I remember when they tore it down. Went to quite a few comic book conventions there.

[googie2525]

Originally Posted by 940

I'm still not sure about that name. I'm still trying to find some info on it. If I get desperate enough, I can always check with my parents. Their minds are like steel traps..LOL

I remember the Baskin-Robbins ice cream store at Wonderland. And my sister worked at Baker's Shoes during high school. I remember the Piccadilly Cafeteria as well. Wasn't there also a small US Post Office inside the mall? And irnag, I had completely forgotten about Northwest Center. Where exactly was that located again? It's still a bit fuzzy...

And you said you lived off Babcock and Callaghan but you went to Holmes? You must have been right on the boundary then b/c at one time, Dreamland Oaks, which was near that intersection, was zoned to Marshall..then it was switched to Holmes. It's now back at Marshall..go figure.

Yes, it was the Quadrangle without a doubt - a family friend built it in the 70's (Jim Dement), he also built the apartment complex next to it (named The Quadrangle as well, now called something else, I forget what though), and the old Tesoro building, as well as a ton of other stuff in the general area. The mini-mall building is still there. Maybe you could sneak in and see if the skating rink is still around? BTW, that mall was a dud from day one, he lost a fortune on it.

Weird this, but I randomly met the ol' fella that owned the Baskin Robbins (well both actually, they had 2 in Wonderland at one time, which I found pretty odd) in Wonderland the other day, nice guy - looked just like Colonal Sanders!

[Trojanlrey]

Crazy memories stirred up. Lots written about Playland but not much on the tiny little KiddiePark up the street. We used to call it Kiddie Land. They used to have the coolest ride where little kids would ride these little train cars and pump a circular hand crank to propel around the track.

Then there was the assortment of prom date restaurants. Earl Abels, Naples, Paisano's, etc. Then for after hours, Los Apaches or Jim's Frontier.

Tommy Nobis (Falcons), Warren McVae (Chiefs) and later Tommy Kramer (Vikings) first put SA on the sports map.

High School football was king and especially the bands. There used to be some huge bands with 200 plus members. I always looked forward to the Battle of the Bands at the Alamo Stadium during Fiesta Week.

The Pearl Brewery tour, Jax Beer, and late night drinking at Pecan Valley.

Every cool high school kid I new from the neighborhood worked at the Handy Andy. And then there were the festivals at Pablo's Grove off Hwy 90. And Wednesday night and weekend night dances in the summer at Plaza Nueva in La Villita.

Anybody remember the Pepsi Pena show? It was the Alamo city's answer to American Bandstand. Henry Pena was the host and he later worked on radio at KUKA-AM 1250. He and Adam Najera and Roy Paniagua did a teen dedication show. Featured lots of local bands like Monsanto, Latin Breed, Sunny and the Sunliners, the Royal Jesters, Machismo, and Little Joe.

And THE hot radio stations were KTSA and KONO. Both AM powerhouses with amazing events at Sunken Gardens, Brackenridge Park, etc. Bruce Hathaway and other deejays really knew what they were doing.

Somebody else mentioned Joske's, Woolco, Solo Serve and Frost Bros but does anyone recall Ben Franklin stores? Bought a lot of styrofoam balls there for countless science projects.

Oh, and what about those super cheap Griff's burger stands. We used to buy a bag and eat in the car while listening to music.

And the San Antonio Toros were the local football heroes. I think the big stud quarterback was Larry Mata, maybe?

Still can't believe that they ended up raising the roof to the old Hemisfair Arena when they needed more seats for the Spurs rather than build a new stadium. Crazy days...

[spurs210]

Originally Posted by OzzyRules

I remember Joe Anthony. Supposedly he discovered some major bands and gave them their first airplay.

I liked the Worst Show and another one called the Hondo Show, which may still be on the air believe it or not.

The Hondo Show was cool too! But I wonder what ever happened to that Worst Show? I would love to get tapes of those old shows!

[catriona]

Originally Posted by Trojanlrey

Then there was the assortment of prom date restaurants. Earl Abels, Naples, Paisano's, etc. Then for after hours, Los Apaches or Jim's Frontier.

Other prom date restaurants were The Magic Time and La Lousianne (really expensive!)

And THE hot radio stations were KTSA and KONO. Both AM powerhouses with amazing events at Sunken Gardens, Brackenridge Park, etc. Bruce Hathaway and other deejays really knew what they were doing.

KONO ran a contest one year to put a sign in your yard with "KONO" on it, call and tell them about it and if they drove by and saw it, you would win a prize. I and the kid across the street did it and we both got nice AM/FM clock radios! That was cool!

Somebody else mentioned Joske's, Woolco, Solo Serve and Frost Bros but does anyone recall Ben Franklin stores? Bought a lot of styrofoam balls there for countless science projects.

I'd forgotten about Ben Franklins. Too bad those little 5&10 stores had to close.

Oh, and what about those super cheap Griff's burger stands. We used to buy a bag and eat in the car while listening to music.

There was a place called Floyd's Burgers near Goliad and Clark that had burgers cheap. We used to devour those burgers and fries.

Still can't believe that they ended up raising the roof to the old Hemisfair Arena when they needed more seats for the Spurs rather than build a new stadium. Crazy days...

And then they ended up tearing it down!

[OzzyRules]

Can someone please tell me where the Quadrangle was located? I had a friend whose parents owned something there, or near there. I never knew where it was. The name fascinated me at the time.

[OzzyRules]

Now that you mention Handy Andy, they seemed to be located at some of the "larger" mini-malls. The shopping center next to Solo Serve on San Pedro and Oblate used to have a Handy Andy which opened into a side strip of shops with a mall front. In 1990 they rebuilt it and the mall part was gone. That's when Apple Records (used records) opened up there for a while.

There was also a Handy Andy at the Colonies North center on I10/Wurzbach where Big Lots is located now. The mall there included a cinema, but I didn't go there often.

I notice a lot of the Big Lots today look similar - a very large ranch roof with high front window. I wonder if they all used to be Handy Andy stores with a "not-so-mini-mall".