dallashistory

Cedar · by **Cedar** on Mon Apr 20, 2009 11:54 am

My mother called a little while ago to say that the Adolphus Hotel was burning ... but that the fire seems to be under control, now. She has many wonderful memories of this place, which I hope (finally!) to record on tape when visiting her this summer. One thing she did speak fondly of was the small ice-skating rink which was present at the Adolphus prior to the French Room's (?) being put in. Skaters would put on a performance for patrons on this rink (it was not one for public skating), and Mom celebrated one of her birthdays at a show there.

http://tinyurl.com/cqdsrj

Also, my grandmother worked for many years at the old Statler-Hilton.

I guess we could begin with the tavern lodgings (?) of John Neely Bryan's day, spend a night at Sarah Cockrell's Saint Nicholas and whiz forward to the lodging amenities of modern times ....

(that is, if anyone is interested in hotels)

http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/onli ... fco88.html

http://homepage.mac.com/james_keller/PS12/PS12_469.HTML

http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jequinn/dallas1.htm

Clyde Howard · by **Clyde Howard** on Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:51 pm

Oh Lord, I hate hearing that. The Adolphus is a gem and to think it may be lost...

The skating rink and ice show were in the Century Room unless memory is completely betraying me.

Sharon Marsalis · by **Sharon Marsalis** on Mon Apr 20, 2009 2:58 pm

Well, Clyde, I am not there but according to the article a dryer overheated and it sounds like there was more smoke than fire.

I agree about the Adolphus though. We stayed there in the mid 80s (I guess) after the remodeling and it was beautiful! Loved all the decorative painting in the dining room.

Clyde Howard · by **Clyde Howard** on Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:13 pm

Yeah, I jumped before looking and when i did pull up the article discovered it was "just" an overheated dryer, with about $6000 in "structural" damage. BUT - the story contains some somewhat troubling stuff - visible smoke and the smoke alarms didn't go off? Hotel staff didn't advise folks in a meeting there was a problem and a precautionary evacuation? Or even loud-speaker announcements? That, in a first-class hotel (or any other), is something that ought to be a bit of a concern.

We stopped one night last vacation back east (2005) at a motel a bit east of Nashville. It was a little cook, and we turned the heater on. It probably hadn't been cleaned since last used in the spring (this was in early October), and dust heated up and provided a smell of burning and set off the smoke alarm. It wasn't log (in fact as I was going to the phone to report it) that the phone rang, front desk asked if things were all right, they ahd a smoke alarm indication. Explained what was going on, they asked us to turn the heater off and would we mind being moved to another room, that they would be sure had a working heater and no problems. We did accept that, obviously, and noted that somebody from a security and alarms company was checking the original room when we came back from dinner. That is the way that sort of thing (smoke) ought to be handled.

Cedar · by **Cedar** on Mon Apr 20, 2009 4:44 pm

My mother tells a great tale about hanging around downtown with a chum during high-school days and happening to catch Kim Novak exiting the Adolphus. Mom's friend fancied that she resembled Miss Novak and just about came unglued when she found herself nearly face-to-face with the true likeness

Cedar · by **Cedar** on Sat May 16, 2009 5:33 pm

Here is a nice, Raphael-Tuck postcard view of the old Oriental Hotel, sent from Dallas, ca. 1908 ...

It currently is for sale on ebay, and the seller muses:

"A NICE SCENE FROM OUR PAST. THERE IS SOME DAMAGE UNDER THE STAMP THAT I ASSUME IS FROM BRUTAL STAMP APPLICATION. AFTER ALL IT COST AS MUCH AS THE CARD AND IT DANG-WELL BETTER STICK! ( THE DAMAGE IS SLIGHT, LIKE A WRINKLE, AND YOU FEEL IT MORE THAN SEE IT) I WONDER WHAT WAS IN THAT DOME, IF ANYTHING."

Jim Wheat's website hosts newspaper articles which provide some glimpses of the hotel's past, telling of the permit acquired for its building in 1889 and the near-completion of its foundations in 1890. Evidently, the hotel was sold in 1892, and eventually was replaced by the Baker?

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ances ... index.html

Along with the seller of the postcard, I wonder what the interior of the Oriental Hotel was like ~ how it may have been decorated.

Fred Ragsdale · by **Fred Ragsdale** on Sat May 16, 2009 8:01 pm

That's a really neat depiction of the Oriental Hotel and the old street cars! Thanks for finding and posting it, Holly! Interesting.

My paternal grandmother worked at the Oriental Laundry for many years, before and after her husband died in 1916, when my dad was 6 years old. The laundry apparently began as a support function for the hotel, but grew to being the laundry utilized by most of the hotels in downtown Dallas.

She was the billing clerk for the laundry and ended up re-marrying in 1925 to a guy who had been a friend of her and my grandfather (a fireman) for many years. Husband #2 was a driver for the laundry for many years, doing deliveries and pick ups. ....About 1951, they purchased the grocery and connected apartments next door to their house.

Fred

Cedar · by **Cedar** on Mon May 18, 2009 6:54 am

Yes ~ postcards are little time machines ... with the past being bent by them a wee bit and offered back through a prism.

Neat, too, about your grandmother's connection to the laundry, and to know that it continued in operation after the hotel closed; and your family's ties to that part of downtown. When did the laundry finally close, Fred?

I enjoyed reading this about the area prior to development, as recalled by a Mr. W. A. Burris ... from a 1924 article of the Dallas Times Herald, shared on Jim Wheat's website:

"There were little shacks just boarded up any way all along Ervay street, where the Wilson building now stands. Carter's stockyards, a fire station and a grocery store owned by Sam Dysterbach's father were about all 'deep Ellum' contained. A Mr. Newman had a corn field between Elm and Main street, in front of the stockyards. Cedar trees and briar patches were thick where the Oriental hotel now stands."

Oh, and:

"I was well acquainted with Belle Star, well known girl bandit, and several others I will not mention, for various reasons. I can truly say that every boy who grew up in old Scyene in those days, has made a good, law-abiding citizen."

http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ances ... llect.html

Rowdy :!:

Fred Ragsdale · by **Fred Ragsdale** on Tue May 19, 2009 1:38 am

Holly, I don't know for sure when the Oriental Laundry closed. I just know that my grandmother and step-granddad became store and apartment owners about 1950-51 and that they had been previously working at the laundry. At the time, they were in their mid-late 50s.

I spent a few weeks with them every Summer from age 10-14 and helped in the store. Some of my memories of those times are in the archived postings on the Dallas History Society message board that has resurfaced as a phorum.

My grands lived in the 4th house (where my dad was born) off of Lamar, on Sanger Ave., one block North of Grand Ave. (now renamed as MLK I think) and about a mile South of the old main (and huge) Sears-Roebuck store that has been turned into condos.

Teresa (where has she been?) also had folks that lived nearby and lived there for a bit when a child, only a few blocks away to the East. MC Toyer also lived in the area for awhile when a youngster.

Sorry to ramble on so much, when the topic was really about the Oriental Hotel, but my memories just got stirred up....

Fred

Cedar · by **Cedar** on Tue May 19, 2009 2:11 pm

Memories are where it's at ... so, thanks, Fred

I've mentioned (I think!) that my parents married when very young, had me, and divorced very young ~ then got married again being not-so-young (soul mates, they are

). Well, when Dad was single again and working toward his degree at UTA, he took a job at the old Sears store. There, he met a salesgirl named Nancy ... my sweet, late-step mom and Army wife extraordinaire. So, my bros Rob and John owe a lot to that beautiful building (and Rob DJ's in its shadows sometimes)!

Fred ~ Auntie T and Linda Sue are on Facebook. Where, Sir, are you :?:

Fred Ragsdale · by **Fred Ragsdale** on Wed May 20, 2009 12:30 am

Fred ~ Auntie T and Linda Sue are on Facebook. Where, Sir, are you
----------------------------
Sorry, Holly. I just can't get into the Facebook thing. I checked some out a couple of months ago and decided it just wasn't for me.

Cedar · by **Cedar** on Wed May 20, 2009 2:54 pm

Well, Linda Sue is on MySpace, too (as is your lovely daughter, I believe) ... so, I've put up my shack there as well :!:

Why not

MySpace has a more open feel than does FaceBook, which is nice

Fred Ragsdale · by **Fred Ragsdale** on Wed May 20, 2009 9:57 pm

Yep, Holly. ....Linda Sue and my daughter Ally are good friends, as are their kids. I'm glad I introduced them to one another, as they only live less than a mile from one another.

Bill Strouse · by **Bill Strouse** on Sat May 23, 2009 3:12 pm

My Mother use to tell me stories about going to the Adolphus for many functions and Dances. All the Big Name Bands use to play there including Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Phil Harris and others......I also remember her telling me about going to Dances at the Top of the Magnolia Building (Magnolia Petroleum Co. HQ's, later Mobil) who also had some of the Big Bands come thru.....This was from the mid 1920's thru about 1937...............Bill Strouse

Cedar · by **Cedar** on Tue May 26, 2009 11:50 pm

That's neat, Bill

When we were riding the train a while back, I snapped this photo of the old (relatively speaking) Cabana Motor Hotel. What's in store for it ~ does anyone know? Also, what is the ornamental 'grill-work' -- gracing the front of Cabana -- which was so popular on buildings of the 1960s, called ... if it indeed possesses a name? I've come to love it but never have known; my house in Denton bore a panel of the groovy stuff ~ better yet, it was quaint :wink:

When my daughter learned that the Beatles once had stayed at the Cabana, she wanted to disembark the train and run touch what they had touched. Star-struck kids :!:

Exactly when was this hotel built, by the way?

http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/weberman/11-18-07.html

survivingworldsteam · by **survivingworldsteam** on Wed May 27, 2009 9:43 am

Holly;

Good questions about the grill and the fate of the building; I have no idea about either one. Didn't the practice of using grills like that come about in the 1960s or 1970s? Don't think you see it much anymore.

Fred Ragsdale · by **Fred Ragsdale** on Wed May 27, 2009 8:46 pm

I was at the Cabana on Stemmons Fwy. about 1962-64. It was a hot place for celebs and big show acts, as it was fairly new then. The waitresses all wore very short white "togas" with one shoulder bare (see, my memory does still work on some topics

. ...Many of the performers from the downtown area would go to the Cabana after their performances just for the opportunity of being "seen" by the press and others. ...There was a fountain out front and at night there were floodlights that shown on the building, with it's torqouise accented facade.

I seem to recall that we had a thread on the old DHS msg. board about the Cabana and some of the personalities that frequented the place. Probably was about 5 years ago; maybe 6. ...I'm sure the old postings can be found archived at the new DHS Phorum site.

After it shut down as a hotel, the Cabana was turned into a jail for either the city or county of Dallas. That was probably in the 1980s, but that's just a guess.

Fred

Cedar · by **Cedar** on Wed May 27, 2009 9:30 pm

Bill Strouse wrote:My Mother use to tell me stories about going to the Adolphus for many functions and Dances. All the Big Name Bands use to play there including Glenn Miller, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, Phil Harris and others......I also remember her telling me about going to Dances at the Top of the Magnolia Building (Magnolia Petroleum Co. HQ's, later Mobil) who also had some of the Big Bands come thru.....This was from the mid 1920's thru about 1937...............Bill Strouse

This is all more than neat, Bill and Fred. Many of us out here don't even know what you mean when you speak of "Big Name Bands." Now, 'being seen' holds little substance for some ... but is the way of the world and in its microcosm, of Dallas. We have no memory, unless you share with us yours (and that is held precious). Thanks.

Cedar · by **Cedar** on Thu May 28, 2009 6:38 am

James ... I've been looking on the Web a bit to try to find more about this design/style; there are many photos but have found nothing descriptive as of yet. A Field Guide to American Houses (providing insights for commercial construction as well) by Virginia & Lee McAlester is a great resource, but kind of skips past this little episode in building history straight to mobile homes and McMansions :wink:

It does seem that by the early 1970s, the 'grill' ornamentation had passed from vogue.

But there's a lot of it still out there ... for Scott Dorn to capture with his camera

survivingworldsteam wrote:Holly;

Good questions about the grill and the fate of the building; I have no idea about either one. Didn't the practice of using grills like that come about in the 1960s or 1970s? Don't think you see it much anymore.

Sharon Marsalis · by **Sharon Marsalis** on Thu May 28, 2009 6:55 am

Holly, I remember the Cabana too. Very Las Vegas/Hollywoodish in its heyday. Thanks for the long link which I had read years ago and forgotten for the most part.

As for the "grid" style. It probably had its origin in "safety" and modern design aesthetics (influences). When motel type structures started going high many kept the outside room entrances when climates were suitable and/or central heat and air were in their infancy.

Just a guess. But some apartments still share this type of matter in various areas of the world, including here in the U.S. Florida for one example.

Clyde Howard · by **Clyde Howard** on Thu May 28, 2009 3:31 pm

Guess somebody will have to find an architect and ask them what it is called. There probably is a technical name used by the profession - but what it might be is sure enough unknown to me.

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