dallashistory

Hi folks,

Under this topic I would like everyone to help me fill out the names and descriptions of Oak Cliff stores, strip malls, and shopping spots. I apologize in advance for the shoddy descriptions below. I am writing this almost entirely from my faulty memory, which is not very good on details. I need your help to fill out and sharpen the descriptions. I will start close to my childhood home, which was in the 1200 block of Harlendale, which is just west of Ewing at the top of the hill past the zoo in the Trinity Heights section of Oak Cliff during the 1940s and 1950s.

Convenience stores near my home: The closest store to me was a tiny, tiny mom-and-pop store at about the 1000 block of Ewing Ave. This store had ice cold soda, ice cream, bread, milk, and most of the staples stocked by more conventional convenience stores. There was a convenience store of the seven-eleven type about three blocks down the hill on Ewing Ave. near 15th street just this side of the railroad tracks and south of Clarendon Drive near Thomas Hill park. Two more convenience stores were on Denley at Morrell and Stella. The last was a 7-11 store. I don't think the others were.

Trinity Heights Shopping Center is or was on Ewing about the 1600 block. I can remember an A&P store, a post office, two drug stores, a five-and-dime store, a Cabell's ice cream or convenience store, a Pig Stand, a movie theater, a barber shop, and a service station/machine shop. Going south on Ewing, I can't recall much commercial activity until the street dead ends at Saner (where there is or was a Catholic School).

In the 1950s the first stores I can remember on Marsalis going south from my home were at the intersection of Marsalis and Illinois. There was a shopping center past that near Ledbetter where the Department of Public Safety gave tests for Drivers Licenses.

At the corner of Illinois and Denley was a Dairy Queen that was a popular hangout for kids from South Oak Cliff and Adamson.

Cedar Crest Shopping Center is or was a kind of strip mall that extended for a couple of blocks on the West side of Lancaster (Rd?) just south of Illinois in the vicinity of Ohio, Missouri and Elmore(?) streets. The shopping center itself was just south of the first McDonald's Hamburger Stand to be built in Texas, which was built about 1956. The end of the shopping strip was anchored by the Crest Theater. I can also remember a cafeteria, a barber shop and a Western Auto store. Just past the shopping center there was a Root Beer stand, some pawn shops, and other commercial enterprises. On down Lancaster in the Lisbon shopping strip there was the Lisbon Theater and some additional stores, which I can visualize but not name.

I can picture the stores and shops on Beckley south of my house, but can't recall any names just now.

There were lots of commercial enterprises on or near Zang or Zang's south of Clarendon. The one I will mention here is Wynnewood Shopping Center, at Zangs and Illinois. I worked at the 7-11 Convenience Store there in the early 1960s. I can't recall all the store names, so I hope y'all will help me with them. I think one was Titche's or Montgomery Ward. I do remember the Bar-B-Q joint next door. Good food. I didn't really appreciate the beauty of that shopping center at the time, but I think this little outdoor shopping mall was really a nice touch for that neighborhood. Farther out was a Sanger-Harris that was a precursor to more recent shopping centers.

At Hampton Road and Illinois was Austin's Bar-B-Q, and much more. Like most kids back then, I hung out at the Dairy Queen on Hampton during the late 1950s, when I wasn't polishing my car in Keist Park or racing it at the Bean Plant, Yellow Belly, Cedar Hill, Kennedale, or Green Valley.

I worked at the 7-11 in the Westmoreland Shopping center in the early 1960s, but can't remember much about the other stores in that center, other than the restaurant across from the 7-11, which had good chicken as I recall.

North of my house was Jefferson Ave. On the east end, just off Jefferson I remember a drug store with sit-down fountain service. I remember the Bowling Alley. I remember Bernie's Hobby Shop, the Texas Theater, an Army/Navy Surplus store, several good places to eat, a Western Auto store, a jewelry store, a furniture store, and Sears Roebuck. I remember other stores, but can't recall the names. On down towards Sunset High School, I remember the Yamaha dealer who was the first to sponsor my racing. Near Jefferson I remember the banks on Zang(s). I remember the 7-11 store where I worked relief several times in the early 1960s.

On Davis Ave I can recall an auto parts store, a bowling alley, a slot-car track that used to sponsor my drag racing efforts. Farther out was a 7-11 store.

On Northwest Hwy I remember Sivill's Drive In, Semo's Restaurant, and about a dozen taverns where my used to go with my dad (when I was still too young to drink).

I know I haven't done this topic well. My memory is imperfect and I haven't consulted a single source in writing this up (except a brief look at a map). I'm putting this out there on this forum now so people with good memories will fill in the blanks, make corrections, and get the ball rolling on the history of Oak Cliff in a way that is similar to the rich history that existed on the old board. But, I need your help. Come on, Cliffies. Help me out.

Respectfully submitted,
Adam

Interspersed (and snipped) infra

adam wrote:Hi folks,


There were lots of commercial enterprises on or near Zang or Zang's south of Clarendon. The one I will mention here is Wynnewood Shopping Center, at Zangs and Illinois. I worked at the 7-11 Convenience Store there in the early 1960s. I can't recall all the store names, so I hope y'all will help me with them. I think one was Titche's or Montgomery Ward. I do remember the Bar-B-Q joint next door. Good food. I didn't really appreciate the beauty of that shopping center at the time, but I think this little outdoor shopping mall was really a nice touch for that neighborhood. Farther out was a Sanger-Harris that was a precursor to more recent shopping centers."

[color=cyan]Wynnewood had a Titches (later something else, can't recall what now) and a Montgomery_Ward (I worked in the M-W store in 1970). also a Radio Shak, an E.M.KAhn, a Skillern drug store (with a great fountain), a very nice theater (the Wynnewood), physician's offices in a professional building, and a lot of other businesses. I also recall the Bar-B-Q place, but the name is escaping me.[/color]"At Hampton Road and Illinois was Austin's Bar-B-Q, and much more. Like most kids back then, I hung out at the Dairy Queen on Hampton during the late 1950s, when I wasn't polishing my car in Keist Park or racing it at the Bean Plant, Yellow Belly, Cedar Hill, Kennedale, or Green Valley."
[color=green][color=cyan]
Across the street from Austin's BBQ, the little shopping center had a Motts, a drug store, a barber shop, a hobby shop and a hardware store. Also a cleaners, i think.[/color][/color]
"I worked at the 7-11 in the Westmoreland Shopping center in the early 1960s, but can't remember much about the other stores in that center, other than the restaurant across from the 7-11, which had good chicken as I recall."

[color=cyan]I think the eatery you mention in Westmoreland Heights was a Naylor's. It was in a building that at differnt times housed other things, including a Spudnut shop. Also in that center wasa Western Auto, a barber shop, an A&P grocery, a Page's Rexall Drug Store, a ahrdware store, a cleaners, at one time a BBQ place (at the east end of the parking lot). Other things too, but those are the ones I recall at first troll though the memory.[/color]
"On Northwest Hwy I remember Sivill's Drive In, Semo's Restaurant, and about a dozen taverns where my used to go with my dad (when I was still too young to drink)."

[color=cyan]I think Sivils was on Fort Worth Pike(where it and West Davis come together a bit west of Westmoreland). A bit further west was the Torch, whichw as owned by the Semos family. There was another Semos restaurant (owned by a different branch of the family) that did good seafood where West Commerce and Fort Worth Ave make a triangle. In the area around the West Davis/Westmoreland intersection, the Beverly Hills theater was located (corner of Davis and North Jester), and in the block to the east (toward downtown) there was a ahrdware store and a cleaners and another store of some sort on the north side of the street. [/color]
"I know I haven't done this topic well. My memory is imperfect and I haven't consulted a single source in writing this up (except a brief look at a map). I'm putting this out there on this forum now so people with good memories will fill in the blanks, make corrections, and get the ball rolling on the history of Oak Cliff in a way that is similar to the rich history that existed on the old board. But, I need your help. Come on, Cliffies. Help me out."
[color=cyan]
Looks to me like you are doing pretty well, Adam. My own memories of Oak Cliff are from the 1950s and sixties, mainly (I was born in 1943) and we lived in Oak CLiff until late 1949 and then came back in 1959. Visited relatives who lived in OC while we were living on the Coast.[/color]
Respectfully submitted,
Adam

Clyde when responding as you did to Adam's post consider changing the font that you use for your response so that we can distinguish more easily who wrote what.

the quotation marks help some but not much

pak

I believe the one on Marsalis going towards Ledbetter would have been Glendale Shopping Center. I recall a 7-11 and a small ice cream store on the southeast corner of the intersection with an L-shaped strip mall taking the remainder of the southeast section. It consisted of a grocery store, drug store (Rexall?), appliance store with go-carts, Anderson's record store, and Ernie's or Bernie's Waffle or Coffee Shop. There were a few other stores which I can't recall as to their name or product. This area was just north of what I believe was Five Mile Creek. Throughout the 50s and 60s the creek would have a major flood problem once every year or so. Looking at mapquest, it looks like the shopping center was at Ann Arbor and Marsalis. In regards to the BBQ place at Wynnewood, it was Fred's Barbecue. I always thought it was far superior to Austin's or any other that I recall.

Adam, Well, you covered it pretty good, my memory probably goes back as far as 1943 or 44 and into the 1960's and of course the first Area's I think of are "The Boundry" (Coghill's 5 & 10 Store/Bison/Vogue Theatre, Barber Shop, Bicycle Shop, Hobby Shop, Army-Navy Store, 7-11, Rockyfellers, etc.)at Jefferson and Marlborough and then of course back in my earlier days there were many, many stores & Restaurants along Jefferson Blvd. (Sears/Red Bryan's/Texas Theatre/Rosewin Theatre and many other stores). There was a little Drug Store at the NW corner of Hampton & Brooklyn Ave. that we used quite a bit and of course the little strip on Hampton Rd. at the corner of Hampton and Clarendon (Skillern's/Sunset Theatre/Tavern/Bicycle Shop, others). You mentioned "The Heights" and "Wynnewood" which I hung out at from the mid 50's into the 60's. There was a little strip with a Drug Store & Grocery Store if I remember right at the site of the old "Clearview Airport", SE corner of Illinois and Hampton across the street from Austin's BBQ. I remember another old Drug Store being behind Greiner Jr. Hi. which I use to stop at quite a bit. There were several neat stores in the "Kessler Shopping Center" on Davis which included the Kessler Theatre. When I lived in Cockrell Hill on Gilpin there were several Businesse's on Jefferson (Drug Store, Hill Theatre (I was at grand opening with Gene Autry), and several other Businesses including Min. Golf Course). I do not remember what year it was but the first Poncho's Mexican Restaurant was in Cockrell Hill on the N. side of Jefferson. There were a few businesses in the Beverly Hills Section where the Movie Theatre was there on Davis, were also a few businesses near the Steven's Theatre on the Ft. Worth Pike. I could go on and on but guess I have made this long enough..............Bill Strouse

The stores at Clearview Shopping Center were - Facing Hampton, Bill Barnes Barber Shop, Donut Shop - Facing Illinois-Wards Drugs, ? ,Motts 5&10, Wyatts Food Store, Hardware store, ?

On Illinois going East from Hampton-North side of the street--Convenience store?, Austins BBQ, gas station ( Cabell's Store behind station )

At Brooklyn and Hampton, West side going North- Drug Store, Parts store? , Owl Tavern, Praline Shop(factory)

At Brooklyn and Hampton, West side going South- Sims Grocery, ?, barber shop. Across Hampton-Hardin Theater Supply, one block North-Edd Orman's Grocery

Sivil's was on Fort Worth Ave., just West of Westmoreland.

The place directly across from the 7-11 in the Westmoreland Heights SC was the Snack Bar. I don't recall there ever being a Naylor's in that SC. One of our posters on the DHS board is the son of the couple who owned and operated the Snack Bar. They had the very best griddle-cooked, old fashioned hamburgers and fantastic chocolate malts. That's where I ate lunch on Saturdays when I worked at the A&P.

Fred

Peterk wrote:Clyde when responding as you did to Adam's post consider changing the font that you use for your response so that we can distinguish more easily who wrote what.

the quotation marks help some but not much

pak

Sorry - used to a different forum where it works a bit differently when you do what I did.

Hi Clyde. Would you please change those colors before people go blind? They're a tad much. Thanks

i agree

Re: Glendale Shopping Center, at Ann Arbor and Marsalis. This was the shopping center nearest our home when I was a little girl, and we used to walk there in the summer, and also stopped there sometimes after school (Clara Oliver Elementary.) The ice cream parlor was Webb's; it was the first place I ever saw frozen candy bars. He just stuck them in the case with the ice cream -- a big hit with the after-school crowd. This was in the 60's. He also had vanilla and cherry cokes. Webb's was on the NW corner of the center. Next door was the 7-11, where we cashed in the bottles we collected on summer days. On the south side of the center was a Dougherty's Pharmacy, a Duke and Ayers 5 & 10 Cent Store, an S&H Green Stamp Redemption Center, and other things that didn't interest me. Along the east side was the waffle house, which I believe was also Webb's, and a Piggly Wiggly, where my mother often shopped for groceries.

The Bookmobile stopped at this shopping center, once a week?, during the summers. I remember it with almost as much affection as I do the old library at Jefferson and Marsalis. It was so cool inside!

We usually walked barefooted to the shopping center. It wasn't too bad until we needed to cross the asphalt parking lot.

iceman wrote:Hi Clyde. Would you please change those colors before people go blind? They're a tad much. Thanks

Me too - I'll fix them, they didn't come out the way I expocted. LEarning curve (for me) may not be as steep as I'd 9and others) prefer.

Clyde,

How about an alternating or flashing red, white, and blue scheme?

adam

Nah, I think the switch to blue works OK. But I don't think I'll be doing any more of that soon.

My grandmother was credit manager for Colbert's in the late 40's through the mid-60's (she was credit manager for Jas. K Wilson before that) and she hired me to work for the store in the 50's - I was the kid with the sign saying, "Free Parking Courtesy of Colbert's" and would feed nickels into the meters along the front of the store all day Saturday. After a few weeks of this, I was brought inside to vacuum the dressing rooms before the store opened. My vacuuming career was curtailed when one morning, thinking that I still had a half hour or so before the store opened, I walked in on a teenage girl who was trying on a prom formal (it was a strapless formal, and she apparently needed to try the thing on sans bra.)

I worked in the credit office, learning the credit business from my grandmother (Colbert's also had locations in Wynnewood, South Oak Cliff, Garland, Casa Linda and Preston Center and the Oak Cliff location was where the general offices were). Eventually I learned to operate a Burroughs posting machine. (Interestingly, I worked for Burroughs Corporation in the 80's!) By the time I entered college in 1963, I was approving credit, and when the store sold their accounts receivables to Texas Bank & Trust, I was hired as a liaison between the bank and Colbert's. I became a credit supervisor for the bank, until I finally left to work for Univac when I graduated from college.

Like most larger stores, Colbert's handled their own charge accounts. It wasn't at all unusual for my grandmother to go "downstairs" to counsel a customer who was wanting to buy an expensive dress for a party, knowing that the customer would probably be slow paying for the merchandise. We had salesladies who would hover around customers, "helping" them with their purchases - that's just the way it worked.

Some of the stores along Jefferson Ave that I remember:

* Margo La Mode (it's hard to believe that Jefferson Ave was once a hotbed of haute fashion!)
* Vogue Theatre - the only establishment I was ever evicted from
* Shoemaker's BBQ - the best BBQ sandwich I've ever tasted
* Zale's
* Oak Cliff Bank & Trust (I would pick up the store's bad checks every day and bring them back for collection)
* Top 10 Records - run by a sweet little man who really, really seemed to like young boys (?)
* Kress's - I vividly remember going to their lunch counter on a Saturday, for a grilled pimento cheese sandwich on whole wheat, and seeing our "colored" porter waiting to pick up his 'to go' order - blacks weren't allowed to sit at the counter. I also remember that Kress's had two water fountains - one for 'whites' and the other for 'colored.' It never occurred to any of us that this was something that wasn't right, it was just the way it was.
* Texas Theatre - what a treat to go into the air conditioned theatre on a hot summer day!
* Raven's Drugs - they had a huge metal sign with a raven on it, that rotated
* Ford's - seems like it was a furniture store?
* Red Bryan's BBQ - seems like this was a sort of upscale BBQ place. There was a large, circular couch in the middle of the waiting area, and it and the ropes that were used to guide the crowds into the dining room were both covered with rawhide. The fragrance of that BBQ was incredible! Not as good as Shoemaker's, but excellent nevertheless.

I've looked for the elusive Shoemaker's BBQ sandwich for the past 40 years, and have never found anything even close. I think they must have put crack in those sandwiches!

Nearly two years back Fred wrote:

The place directly across from the 7-11 in the Westmoreland Heights SC was the Snack Bar. I don't recall there ever being a Naylor's in that SC. One of our posters on the DHS board is the son of the couple who owned and operated the Snack Bar. They had the very best griddle-cooked, old fashioned hamburgers and fantastic chocolate malts. That's where I ate lunch on Saturdays when I worked at the A&P.

I am that son of the Snack Bar owners. And they did serve a good burger. Burgers were .25 or six for a dollar. Cheese burgers were .35. My job was peeling and slicing French fries, stocking, cleaning ash trays and sweeping and mopping. I also helped my mother serve breakfast before school.
They sold the building to Naylor's in the early sixties. Later it became a Chinese restaurant

jsm555....

Welcome to the forum!! Another Cliffie!!

Your first posting was excellent and reflects a great memory of Jefferson Ave. in the 1950s. I remember all of the places you mentioned, except Shoemaker's BBQ.

I hope you become a regular here and stir up more memories for many of us that grew up in OC during that time frame.

Fred

Ronnie!

I don't recall you mentioning the Snack Bar was your parent's place, or else I've forgotten.

Did you use a different screen name on the old DHS message board? It seems to me that that was where we discussed the Snack Bar and other shops in the Westmoreland-Heights SC.

In my memory, the burgers and chocolate malts at the Snack Bar were the best I've ever had. I also recall winning KC steak dinners there by racking up high scores on the pinball machine (the monster that gobbled up many of my tips from the customers at the A&P where I worked).

Fred

Fred
On the old DHS forum I used the screen name Ron.

When my folks bought the Snack Bar in the late 50s they were told by the city that giving prizes for high pinball scores was gambling and discouraged to continue the practice.

On Sundays after church my family would to go to the Snack Bar (which was closed Sundays), lower the blinds, fire up the griddle and spend the day playing pinball and listening to the jukebox and eating burgers. We had keys to the pinball and jukebox so it didn't cost us a thing.
What a way to grow up, huh.

Ronnie... you must have been good. I can just see ya standing there with burger smells wafting across the room. Your comment brought these lyrics to mind... the highlighted were always my favorite

He's a pinball wizard
There has to be a twist.
A pin ball wizard,
S'got such a supple wrist.

How do you think he does it?
I don't know!
What makes him so good?

ain't got no distractions
Can't hear no buzz and bells,
Don't see no lights a flashin'
Plays by sense of smell.
Always gets the replay,
Never seen him fall,
That deaf, dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball.

WELCOME JSM!!

I am not a Cliffie but do recall eating at Shoemaker's in downtown Dallas (I think)---yuuuuummm, lip smacking good.

Just found this :
http://www.texasmonthly.com/1974-05-01/lowtalk.php

… According to a recent issue of Esquire, Dallas’ best shoeshine was given by Richard Bell at 706 Commerce. This month, Bell’s building falls to progress as does Shoemaker’s Barbecue, one of the city’s historic barbecue places located right next door at 708 Commerce. Say it isn’t so

and

http://thebarbecuepitrestaurant.com/about.php

Joe came from Texas where he learned the barbecue business from his step-father, R.T. Shoemaker. R.T. owned several barbecue restaurants in the Dallas area called “Shoemaker’s Famous Barbecue”. After the war it took just one hot summer in Texas to convince Joe and his new bride, Lila, that San Diego was the place for them.

Joe and his brother-in-law, Ed Jenson, pooled their resources and opened the first two “The Barbecue Pit” restaurants in San Diego.