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[quote=John911;28758471]Back then you had to have an RF choke or filter to be able to see the premium channels. A set was mounted on the outside cable drop, the corresponding filter mounted on the back of the set-top converter. They looked like oversized CO2 cartridges.[/quote
If I remember right you needed a Garbage can lid (Galvanized) and a one pound coffee can. Any brand. With just a few Hi Frequency components you could see SHOWBIZ with Hard core porno. I still have my Hard core porno version of HOT DALLAS NIGHTS on VHS that was broadcast on Showbiz. I don't know if it still works.
Hi, Thanks for the compliment and the invitation, but I don't do Facebook. If you think I can help with southside info I'm here at least once a week, or you can email me through my profile. Been a proud Southie since 1948 and Mom still lives there.
The drive in on Austin Highway was called the Alamo Drive In. There was the old San Pedro at Rampart and San Pedro. It closed in 1965, and Globe Shopping City was built on the site. The "new" San Pedro was built at Bitters Rd, and 281. It was built as a twin, but eventually grew to a five screen complex. The El Charro Drive in was at Merida and Hamilton. The Valley Hi Drive In was at Medina Base Road and Loop 410.
There was also the Olmos Theatre on San Pedro. The Highland Theatre was right across the street from The Little Red Barn.
Let's not forget the Wonder at Wonderland Mall, and the North Star Cinema, and the Fox Twin at Central Park Mall. These were built in the 60s, as was Century South.
The 70s brought a LOT of theatres and screens. None of which were anything special in my opinion except the final single screen theatre built in town; the Cinematex Colonies Theatre, aka Colonies North Theatre built in Colonies North Mall in 1970.
Does anyone remember the twin theatre Bonanza Steak House owned and operated on Naco-Perrin? They had an idea that dinner and a movie would be popular with Bonanza customers, and the theatre on Naco Perrin was one of a few bult nationwide. It was a failure, and that little theatre changed hands quite a few times before it closed for good.
You are absolutely right about the Alamo Drive-in Theater. I somehow got it in my mind that it was called the Austin Hwy. drive-in. And I do remember the El Charro, Valley-Hi, and the San Pedro Drive-in on 281 and Bitters. I don't remember the earlier San Pedro down at Rampart though. I also don't remember the Highland but absolutely remember the Olmos. I remember the Bonanza Steak House chain, but was never aware of the twin-theater on Naco Perrin. I very seldom went to the "mall" type theaters, but I did go to Century South a few times and also went to the theater (forgot the name) at McCrelles Mall a few times. To this day, I've never been to any of the IMAX theaters. So, thank you for jarring my memory on those that I previously missed and informing me of those I never even heard of.
And here's something that is somewhat by a long stretch related. Do you remember a house along Loop 410 somewhere around Cherry Ridge or Vance Jackson? This house was located on the inside of the loop and used to have advertisements projected on the side of the building like a billboard.
You know, the memories that we have (those of us pushing 60 now) are SO VERY SPECIAL....sleeping out in the tent in the back yard....no A/C in your house and taking a shower and ensuring you got your hair wet before you went to bed in the summer to cool off with the breeze thru your window...S&H Green stamp and Sears "Wish Books"....Koolaid popycycles and aluminum tumblers full of ice tea...rolling in the grass until you itched so bad you were all fighting for the ONE bathroom in the house to shower off....3 cent milk money and WISHING your parents could afford for you to buy the school lunch (Wed was ALWAYS a killer because it was mexican food!!!) but because 25 cents was NOT an option it was "special" when you got to and you ALWAYS planned it for the PERFECT day (and NEVER "Fish Friday for this gal!!!), watching shooting stars, making prank phone calls (Do you have Prince Albert in a can??? Well let him OUT!) and having our version of "America's got Talent" where you stood up on the picnic table and sang "Moon River" when it was your turn....those WERE such special, special times. So sad that kids these days have NO idea how WONDERFUL it was to grow up in those days!!! On of my all time FAV shows was "The Wonder Years"....soooooooo true to what we lived, how we lived, and all we enjoyed. NO ONE ever knew we were poor...we were all happy, healthy and so very content.
Paka, what a wonderful, nostalgic trip you just put me through. Your descriptive writing just made me lean back in my chair, close my eyes, and "go there" again. Some things you mentioned really struck home with me. I remember the S&H Green Stamps, and that reminded me of the Top Value Stamps from Handy Andy, and the Texas Gold Stamps from HEB. My grandmother used to save Top Value, and would let me put them in the books for her. She would insist that I not lick them, "germs, you know", so she would give me a wet sponge to press them down on before sticking them in the books. Grandmama would always praise me when I put the stamps in her books, really made me feel like I was important. And, just like the Sears "Wish Books", so too were the Texas Gold, Top Value, and S&H catalogs.
And I too was from the "poor" side of town, Harlandale. I know what you mean about bringing your lunch from home and the "high priced" 25 cent school cafeteria meals. I had mixed feelings about the lunches. School cafeteria lunches were good. As I recall, Monday was always different, Tuesday was hamburger day, Wednesday was Mexican food day, Thursday was hot dog day, and Friday was fish day. All of the food was good. But, on the other hand, taking your own lunch was pretty neat. First, if you were lucky enough, you could have your very own Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, or Howdy Doody lunch box with the glass-lined thermos inside. Wax paper wrapped boloney or salami sandwiches, or peanut butter and jelly, Hostess Cupcakes, Twinkies, or Snowballs, an apple, orange, or banana, Fritos, Cheetos, or Tatoes (pre Lays). The best part about bringing your own lunch was that you could swap with your friends. "I'll give you my boloney sandwich for your peanut butter and jelly" "Whataya mean No? I'll throw in my banana too." Every now and then, (I know this sounds crazy) I will make me a couple of sandwiches, wrap them in wax paper, and put 'em in a brown paper bag. After a few hours I'll dig into it and imagine I'm still that sweet little brat that I was back in 1955. The only thing missing was the 3 cent half pint bottle of milk or chocolate milk. Those half pint milk bottles also reminded me of a game we kids used to play, called bottle tops. We would save the flat inner caps (the one with the little pull tag inside the rim after removing the outside top). Then at recess we would gather around on the schoolyard and take turns throwing the bottle caps down on the ground. The first one to land his on top of another cap got to keep all of the caps. It was a prestige thing to see who had the biggest paper bag of bottle caps. I wonder if you recall this game, or anyone else for that matter. Today's children, with all their fancy electronic devices, sure missed out on the "real" fun. Ya just ain't lived till you had your bag of bottle caps, your jar of lightning bugs, and your good ole horny toad! Another crazy thing I remember was crouching under your school desk and clamping your hands together over your head in case of nuclear attack. Now THAT was really crazy - like that would save you when the Russians sent that bomb over. Those were indeed the good old days.
Just one more thing. I have found on the web, and thoroughly enjoy a site called E-TV. It is operated by a baby-boomer named Cat. The whole thing is a wonderful nostalgia site featuring old music, old television, old movies, several interactive nostalgic trivia games, and the members are like family. Look it up and try it out, it's great fun for us grown-up kids.
You are absolutely right about the Alamo Drive-in Theater. I somehow got it in my mind that it was called the Austin Hwy. drive-in. And I do remember the El Charro, Valley-Hi, and the San Pedro Drive-in on 281 and Bitters. I don't remember the earlier San Pedro down at Rampart though. I also don't remember the Highland but absolutely remember the Olmos. I remember the Bonanza Steak House chain, but was never aware of the twin-theater on Naco Perrin. I very seldom went to the "mall" type theaters, but I did go to Century South a few times and also went to the theater (forgot the name) at McCrelles Mall a few times. To this day, I've never been to any of the IMAX theaters. So, thank you for jarring my memory on those that I previously missed and informing me of those I never even heard of.
And here's something that is somewhat by a long stretch related. Do you remember a house along Loop 410 somewhere around Cherry Ridge or Vance Jackson? This house was located on the inside of the loop and used to have advertisements projected on the side of the building like a billboard.
I knew the guy who installed the slide projector and xenon lamphouse to project those advertisement slides on the side of that house! They paid the homeowner a monthly fee to use the side of his house as a billboard. Thankfully the idea never caught on.
The theatre inside McCreless Mall was called the McCreless Cinema I & II. It opened in 1971. The opening featurees were "The Andromeda Strain" in Cinema I, and "Red Sky At Morning" in Cinema II. "Red Sky" is one of my favorite movies.
A few "mini twin" theatres appeared in the early 70s. Besides the Bonanza Perrin Beitel Twin, there was the Callaghan Twin, the Westwood Twin, and the Universal Cinema Twin in Universal City. The Universal City theatre was by far the nicest of the bunch. It never did a good business, though.
In the early 90s, a few people from the Indian community reopened the Perrin Twin. They ran Indian films on one of the screens, and if successful, they were going to run them on the other screen as well. I installed the projection equipment on the one auditorium, and then removed it when it closed a few weeks later.
Reading this thread about all the things from the past I went & checked.
I found some stuff I used to play with as a kid growing up on the
south side . Except for Las Palmas...downtown was where all the shops
movie theaters & Coney Island hotdogs were located.
Also the Kelly ,El Charro & other drive-ins. Anybody remembers $1.00 carload ?
Reading this thread about all the things from the past I went & checked.
I found some stuff I used to play with as a kid growing up on the
south side . Except for Las Palmas...downtown was where all the shops
movie theaters & Coney Island hotdogs were located.
Also the Kelly ,El Charro & other drive-ins. Anybody remembers $1.00 carload ?
We called those yellow and black marbles Bumble Bees. Those Tops were the expensive ones. Ten Cents! The nickel ones were smaller and didn't come with string. We had a name for that shooter that is not polite to use anymore. The strap was made from old inner tubes. The Balcones cop saw us shooting a red ant bed and told us if he ever saw us doing that again he would confiscate our weapons. Some things about Balcones Heights never changes!
Bading Bing!!!! LOL Captn Gus was one CRAZY old dude!!!! How about the old "Rifleman" with Chuck Conners???!!!?!?!?! EVERY night at 6pm, the rifleman was my GOAL to get my homework done after dinner so I could watch it!!!
Paka, if you like the old TV shows, the old movies, and the old Rock & Roll songs, I highly encourage you and any other members to join us at E-TV. It's free, and it's fun. I really enjoy E-TV and all of the family of members. Here's the address: etv50s.ning.com, I think you will enjoy it and you are always welcome.
Last edited by Fumblefingers O'Mel; 03-21-2013 at 07:52 PM..
Sounds great...thanks Boss Rider. I'm kind of lost on here being brand new. Is there a way to link replies on this thread to one's email...so I don't go off and forget this amazing discovery?
Sounds great...thanks Boss Rider. I'm kind of lost on here being brand new. Is there a way to link replies on this thread to one's email...so I don't go off and forget this amazing discovery?
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Kids treasure
Captn Gus was one CRAZY old dude!!!! How about the old "Rifleman" with Chuck Conners???!!!?!?!?! EVERY night at 6pm, the rifleman was my GOAL to get my homework done after dinner so I could watch it!!!
