dallashistory

A topic that will warm the cockles of Ronnies heart

http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink ... print.html

http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink ... print.html

Where is Ronnie? We need his wit and wisdom on this topic.

Mike was just wondering the same about Ronnie.
His last posts on the Obama sticky say:

"That's it.
I've gone to see the elephant.
Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to throw the hoolihand and I won't be back for a while.
I'm sure that when I come back my opinion will have been pretty well plucked and fricasseed"

What DO he mean???

Wow, you can find anything on the internet--I googled the phrase below and voila!
Dear Word Detective: I've frequently heard a phrase referring to soldiers who have been in combat, or police officers who've been in gun fights and had their lives endangered. Such people are said to have "seen the elephant." Do you know the origin of that phrase? -- Joe Torre, via the internet.

Yes I do, but I can't tell you the answer until you step up and buy a ticket. But you'll also get to see The Bearded Lady and the Human Fly, not to mention Wolf Boy and The Invisible Man, formerly known as Dick Cheney.

As you might infer from that somewhat strange paragraph, the whole story begins with the classic American traveling carnival. Back in the early 19th century, the arrival of such a carnival in a small town was a major occasion,........ The big draw at many of these shows was an elephant, a far bigger and stranger critter than any animal native to North America, and to go to the carnival without "seeing the elephant" would be like going to the Ohio State Fair without seeing the Butter Cow. (Yes, it's a life-size cow sculpted from butter, sort of a giant advertisement for bypass surgery.)

So ritualized was this small-town pachyderm-mania that by about 1835 "to see the elephant" had become a catch phrase meaning "to experience all that there is to see, to see all that can be endured," with the sense that after having "seen the elephant" there was nothing left to see. A related, more general sense arose a few years later, in which "to have seen the elephant" meant "to be worldly, no longer innocent, to have learned a hard lesson." Many young people of the day who left the country for the big city with stars in their eyes only to experience hardship and disappointment were wryly said to have "seen the elephant" in this sense. And by about 1840, "see the elephant" had acquired the specialized military sense you have heard, meaning "to experience combat for the first time," with the brutal loss of innocence that ordeal conveys. "


So has Ronnie joined the circus? the military (again!)? or --and he better not be without telling us--in the hospital?

Where ever you are Ronnie we miss you.

Actually I had no doubt that he had several examples of more than one of the labels of beer name in the lead article and did not intend for them to age further.

Sharon

The elephant.

Peter

A topic that will warm the cockles of Ronnies heart
Must be PBR week. I just got this from a cousin reminding me of all the times we took Pabst to the movies with us.
If one buys Pabst or Lone Star or any label owned by Pabst one is actually drinking Miller Highlife or Miller Genuine Draft.
I don't care for either one of those so I drink a PBR or Lone Star and I lie to myself and remember better days.

Welcome back Ronnie.... Great Elephant picture. Gotta love the gingerbread around the top of the building.

Monday night, I wrote a long, perhaps rambling, reply to this thread. It dealt with the beers I remembered from my early childhood from the 1940s until today.

I thanked Peter for the links and related some stories of my past regarding cheap beers; their brands and prices. Told some tales on myself, I did. .....Examples: Cold Brau, $2.98/case; 3 qts. Grand Prize = $1, etc., etc., etc.

When I hit the "submit", my long personal history of cheap beer was GONE! I just didn't feel like trying to resurrect that posting then, but I may do so later. ......The whole thread about beer should stimulate many stories from the folks here, and mine were all related to Dallas. ....I'll come back later and post some of those.

Fred

Yep = Grand Prize was 3/1.00 at Tony's on Speedway right off 21st Street in Austin (Tony didn't care how old you were either) Any more UT folks on here? That was in 1962. Falstaf had two brewerys - one in Galveston and one in ElPaso - 2.75 a case in long necks-plus deposit on the bottels. None of the dumpy Beer Joints on Lamar asked for ID - neither did the fancy bars downtown. Jiffy on Industral ( opps-commie Blvd ) usually didnt either. Its still there-different building tho and no on site drinking. Guess there isn't any ICE HOUSE'S left in Dallas. Enough Confessions for today.

Fred said:

The whole thread about beer should stimulate many stories from the folks here, and mine were all related to Dallas. ....I'll come back later and post some of those.

Be careful what you ask for Fred. I started researching beers at an early age and have had lots of beerventures along the way up to and including last weekend when my son-in-law and I played IBYABYBMAB (I buy You A Beer You Buy Me A Beer) in Fredericksburg.
If you want the rules I can send them to you.
As I tell folks I've drank enough beer to float a battleship and emptied enough cans and bottles to sink one.
I remember Grand Prize. My uncles drank a lot of it. But they also drank a lot of Jax, Pearl and Black Label. Tough man brands. These uncles were tough men that worked with dynamite for a living and noodled catfish for fun.
As teens in Oak Cliff we'd "go across" and get what we could afford and that included brands like Red Top, Mile High, and gallon jugs simply labeled "BEER".
The Falstaff brewery in El Paso was originally Harry Mitchell's beer. The brewery still stands. I pilgramaged to it once.
In Galveston Falstaff bought Southern Select. That brewery is still there albeit in ruins.
Remeber a place in Dallas called Gino's? They used to have ten cent beer happy hours. We'd buy eight beers for a dollar thus leaving the waitress a twenty cent tip.
Here's a terrific link about Texas Beer. Everything you ever wanted to know, etc.
http://www.texasbreweries.com/

I noticed that there was not a special topic posted for wine .... but we'll leave it at that.

What I'd like to know relates to beer: a place called Beer Bottle World, which served both heart-warming foods, and spirits, about 1970. Its home-base was New Braunfels, and as a child, it was the colored glass of many beer bottles from around the world -- incorporated into the restaurant's bounding decor -- which captured my attention and memory. Ring a bell (or, a glass) with anyone?

Maybe, then, the Bavarian Grill ... in Plano?

Yet, if (visual) memory serves, Beer Bottle World (correct name?) in New Braunfels made the Texas Department of Transportation's annual travel guide at some near point. The waitresses there were most friendly, and one of these ladies was shown in the act of serving.

I noticed that there was not a special topic posted for wine

all you need do is start one

Peterk wrote:

I noticed that there was not a special topic posted for wine

all you need do is start one

Surely, I could do. But, as mentioned, this thread led to the resurrection of a memory -- and to a question -- about Beer Bottle World.

So, I remain right here: at beer.

Cheers

Will get back on the Bavarian Grill. The folks there came out on the Fourth of July with a hopped-up float. Previously unknown to many Plano-ites -- their hued glass may be lacking, but I trust that the boasted fare is above-board.

How else can prairie-exiles partake .... if not by faith?

I was just wondering whether anyone might have sampled a 'Poor Man's Black Velvet' ~ which consists of a combination of Guinness and cider. According to Cynthia Lennon in her autobiography/ biography of John, this is what the students at the Liverpool College of Art used to drink back in the day .... at a pub called Ye Cracke.

No offense to Ireland, but I've given Harp Guinness a try on a couple of occasions and .... well, it just must demand an acquired fondness. I bought some years ago for the harps on the labels and proceeded to drink ~ but ended up emptying their contents on the asphalt of some parking lot on Greenville Avenue (can't remember which). The stuff looked like axle grease once it hit.

But, I'm willing to give a cider-based Black Velvet a try. Can't imagine the horror of mixing it with champagne, though ('Rich Man's Black Velvet') Maybe this would be something festive for the Holidays?

http://www.ivo.se/guinness/serve.html

http://www.esquire.com/drinks/black-velvet-drink-recipe

Neat recipes using Guinness:

http://www.karott.com/guinness_recipes.htm

Thanks for the links to the recipes for Guinness. I've sent them on to Arkansas, where my former b-i-l lives. He's a native Scot and twisted my arm a couple of times to try his Guinness!

It was like drinking a tonic that had almost as many solids as liquid. Had to quickly brush my teeth to get rid of the debris from the sludge.

The things we do to keep up family relations...

Fred

Light and water-like ~ decided upon this one:

http://www.stpauligirl.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Pauli_Girl

'Tis quite nice But the thing about beer is that it seems to settle in the head region rather than warmly hugging the heart (like wine). Or, maybe I should drink another bottle

I was kind of hoping for a German beer, but next time ~ Harp Guinness. In honor of Saint Patrick's Day (if I'm brave)

I'm a big believer in Guinness. Not that I'm a expert or experienced in these matters but to me Guinness is the smoothest creamiest beer I've had.
I drink it now more than Shiner but that will change when warm weather gets here to stay.

Oh, you are too an expert, Ronnie ... and we all know it

Luckily for me, I own a double-ended cork screw (tab-popper?).

Will remember Guinness for next time, but as I recall ... it is awfully sweet. Me ~ got a dry taste

Ronnie wrote:I'm a big believer in Guinness. Not that I'm a expert or experienced in these matters but to me Guinness is the smoothest creamiest beer I've had.
I drink it now more than Shiner but that will change when warm weather gets here to stay.

Holly
I really don't know much but I've share what little I know.
There are ales and there are beers, the difference being in the brewing methods.
Ales, like their cousins porters and stouts, are more bitter than beer.
Beers are lagers. Lagers are not as bitter as ales.
My wife drinks Blue Moon brand beers. They are served with an orange wedge shoved in the glass.
Leinenkugel's brand makes many beers with fruit or wheat. She likes those too.
Harp Lager is made by Guinness and very good. Red Stripe is also a Guinness beer with a strong beer flavor.

You can mix beer with other things like Sprite or tomato juice or other beers.
That's the sum total of my knowledge about beers and ales.

I tried this at OktoberFest in Fredricksburg last fall . . . I enjoy it year round now.