dallashistory

This is kind of neat Today was my dad's 70th birthday and as a treat, he and my mom drove out to Oak Cliff for the afternoon. They ate at El Fenix Restaurant and as Dad needed a haircut, then pulled into Westmoreland Heights Shopping Center with its barbershop ... which has been in continuous operation for some sixty-odd years. This was the place where Dad went as a boy and Tom -- who is the owner -- still mans the shears there ... although he had already gone home by the time my parents arrived. This also was the place to go for the coolest flat-top haircut in the '50s ~ according to Dad. The Heights Barbershop apparently had quite a reputation in that regard among the hipsters and cruisers of that era.

And it's an era which is recalled by fewer of those who grew up in pre- and just-post World-War-II Dallas each day. We need to catch those memories.

That is where I got my haircuts after we moved back to Dallas from Texas City, in 1959. Including summers after I went off to college. And a couple when I was home on leave in Army days and needed to get "high and tight" before I returned to my assigned unit...

Before the W-H SC opened, I got my haircuts at Strickland's Barber Shop across from the Sunset theater. ....I'll bet your dad did too, Holly.

After the shop opened in W-H, I began getting my haircuts there (5 blocks from my house) because there were so many different stores and shops to browse. The barber there did give great flattops and did a great job on duck tails, too! I went there all through my school years after it opened. ....Later, after getting out of the Navy, my wife, daughter and I moved into a rent house in the same block where I grew up. *(Holly, your dad may have known the owner of that house; Ridinger - another Bison) I again started using the W-H barber shop until I moved a couple of years later.

Congrats to your dad on his 70th!

Fred

That's neat you went there too, Clyde And Fred, Dad told me the age when he began frequenting this shop, but my mind is foggy so ... will forward your posting to him and see what he says I wish that he were more of a 'forums' guy, as he has so many stories to tell ....

And thanks for the congrats (will pass along from a fellow Bison)

I also got my hair cut at that barber shop but after the folks sold their cafe I started using a barber located behind the Cabel convenience store on the north east corner of Westmoreland and Clarendon across from Skillerns.

If my memory serves me well that Cabels was about the only store open on Christmas Day in OC. My understanding was it was owned by Jewish Family.

Wayne, may be a different name altogether but because of some business associations of my dad I recall he told me that

The world's first convenience store opened in Dallas in 1927 when the Southland Ice Company began selling eggs and milk from their store at 12th and Edgewood in the Oak Cliff neighborhood. This company eventually became 7-Eleven which is still based in Dallas.

and I recall:

Earle Cabell (1906 – 1975) was a dairyman, food merchant, Dallas mayor, and United States Congressman. One of the founders of Cabell's, Inc., a dairy and early convenience store, Cabell served as the company's president from 1952 until it was sold to Southland Corporation in 1959. Cabell served as mayor of Dallas, just as his father and grandfather had done. His term was from 1961 to 1964, during which time he guided the city after the John F. Kennedy assassination. Cabell served four consecutive terms as Texas' Fifth District Congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1964 to 1972.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/taro/smu/00050/smu-00050.html

SO I wonder if this was your Cabels??

Yes it was. Many of the Cabels were franchise stores. There are a few stores still open that have the cabell sign on the front. A kind of rainbow looking sign.

Thanks! I had forgotten entirely about the Earl Cabell connection and and that Oak Cliff gave birth to the world's first "convenience store" though I did recall the 7/11 connection.

(Funny thing is my dad moved from Texas to Atlanta to head a (no longer around) huge ice and cold storage company which had a line of convenience stores around the South modeled after the Cabell/7/11 ---and I never dreamed that some 55 years later I would be posting with a Cliffie on the INTERNET from my own laptop Computer about ANYTHING because I can google.)

I remember Cabells milk & ice cream. Their ice cream was first (that I ever saw) with specks of ground up vanilla beans in it. First time I saw it, I was sure it was pepper.

Didn't the dairy portion of the original icehouse go on to become Oak Farms Dairy; the dairy/icehouse later absorbing the Oak Cliff Pumping Station? According to Brad Patten, HR Manager at Oak Farms Dairy; the pumping station was purchased by two brothers in 1936, who then founded what is now Oak Farms Dairy.



The smokestack is from the original pumping station; and is kept intact by request of the city. The original pumping station building is under the Oak Farms Dairy sign. Not visible is the round storage tank from the original pumping station that is also still there.

ernie5823 wrote:

I remember Cabells milk & ice cream. Their ice cream was first (that I ever saw) with specks of ground up vanilla beans in it. First time I saw it, I was sure it was pepper.

My father loved icecream but was always put off by the Cabell's vanilla. He knew waht it was but remembered seeing flyspecks on unrefrigerated food when he was a child.

Amazing that the Heights Barber Shop is still going strong, I also use to get my Hair cut there, late 1950's into the mid 1960's, I lived on Elmwood Blvd. back then, two houses off Hampton Rd., just crossed the tracks there on Hampton and turned left on Falls Drive and you were there...............Talking about 7-11s and Cabells, does anyone recall the old Ice House on Hampton Road (near Lida Hooe and the Fire Station), when they closed it down (probably around 1950 or so) we use to play in the old deserted Building, was pretty neat place to get lost in (pretty sure that is where they later built the old Underwoods BBQ Restaurant and the Funeral Home that use to be there.............If I remember right it was an old Southland Ice Co. icehouse..........Bill Strouse

Bill... Good to hear from you! You should post more often with your memories.

I don't recall an ice house up that way, Bill. May have been gone before I was able to become familiar with that area. My dad sold his new Ford convertible about 1941-43, so we walked to neighborhood corner stores, walked 4 blocks to the streetcar line on Brandon, walked to the Jimtown area on Hampton where the Sunset theater was, etc., until around 1952 when my step-granddad gave us a 1937 Plymouth.

We may have run into each other at the barber shop, as that was where I went from the time the shopping center opened until probably about 1969.

...hmmm... Just thinking about the W-H shopping center makes me think of the Spudnut Shop just East of the A&P and how we kids would troll the shopping center the way kids have done the malls in recent years. It was great to get a fresh, hot spudnut on cold days. Page's Drugs had a great soda fountain, with ice cream sodas for 9 cents when I was about 12 (my Summer morning breakfast, after riding my bike 5 blocks). The Snack Bar, operated by Ronnie's parents, was a favorite for my lunch breaks when I worked at the A&P and they served the best burgers and chocolate shakes around.

I think there was someone else that frequented the old DHS message board that lived in your neighborhood. Can't exactly recall right now, but it may have been MC Toyer. .....I have fond memories of the Bull Pen (later named Austin's BBQ) and the Cabell's store that was located just East of it on Illinois. Of course the DQ a little further South on Hampton was a major hangout during my Stockard and Sunset years.

Sorry folks. Guess my memory replay button was punched and I started rambling, again. ....Good things to think about for me, though.

Fred

Fred, Good to hear from you again, as you may remember my earlier (childhood years) I lived behind Sunset High School so my stomping grounds was at that time was "The Boundry" (Bison/Vogue Theatre & Coghills Dime Store, etc.), Hampton Rd. from about Davis to Clarendon and of course up and down Jefferson Blvd. (Rosewin and Texas Theatres). I also usually went to the Sunset Theatre in early years on Saturday mornings where they always had some good Serials and lots of good Westerns (do you remember when they use to pass out Photos of one of the Cowboy stars), I went to Lida Hooe and Greiner back then........I started hanging around some of the places at the Heights in about 1955 or 56 thru around 63 or 64 after I started living with my Father on Elmwood Blvd. and I was out of High School. Yeah, MC lived a block or two from me there on Elmwood but I did not know him back then, he and I have discussed that before.......I also remember Pages Soda Fountain, was very good....also use to spend time at the DQ on Hampton Rd. and of course the Bull Pen/Austin's BBQ. I spent many an hour at Austins, morning, day and night, sometimes when I got off work at Central Freight on Inwood Rd., I would stop by Austins at 1 or 2 in the morning, were some really great folks who worked there. Were usually a lot of Dallas Policemen hanging around there also, including Officer Tippett untill his tragic death in 1963........The Ice House on Hampton probably closed around 49 or 50 so maybe you would not remember that, I remember going with my Family to the Ice House over near Tyler St. and getting blocks of Ice but do not remember ever going to the one on Hampton untill of course we use to play there after it closed, it may have been where they made the ice at as it was really large place.......Mostly good memories........Bill Strouse

Bill-Fred, My Grandparents lived a block west of Lida Hoe on 12th and I spent a lot of my early life in that part of OC. We lived on Brighton right off Clarendon then on Mc Adams near Hampton from '49 to '58. Then close to Kimball where I Graduated in '61. My Granddad and I would walk to The Boundry and would 'shortcut" behind the old ice house. The old wooden cooling towers were still there but falling down. Later the brick building was converted into Poole Funeral Home. I do remember getting ice off the dock which was in the front of the building facing Hampton. Freds BBQ was built just South of the Ice House and the building is still extent. The field we cut across is now the Sunset HS Football Practice Field. When I was in HS I worked at the small Grocery Store next door to Poole Funeral Home (Sims Grocery).
We also hung out at BullPit/Austins and Dairy Queen. Also the Dairy Mart a block from The DQ. That is the only Drive In that area that survives today - but as Joyce Florist.
The theaters I went to were The Texas,Rosewin,Bison/Vogue,Sunset,and Heights.
The first haircut I remember was at a Barber Shop in the block South of Brooklyn on Hampton. After Clearview Shopping Center was built I got my haircuts at the Barber Shop owned by Bill Barns in that shopping center. In the late '50s I worked at the Mott's 5&10 in the same Shopping Center.

I could go on and on

Wayne

WayneP and Bill...

Thanks for adding even more memories of places in Oak Cliff. I could visualize almost all that you two were referring to in your last postings here!

It's amazing how just the mention of a place or event from over 50 years ago can bring back a flood of memories! And, those memories are mostly good ones from a safer and more peaceful time in our lives.

Wayne, The first haircut I remember getting was at the barbershop that was at the Boundry. The Fred's BBQ you mentioned later turned into an Underwoods BBQ. The little Grocery Store you are talking about use to be called Mr. Neal's Grocery and he and his wife lived on Sunset St. 3 or 4 blocks North off of Hampton. Our Household bought most all our Groceries there, he ran a ticket and was paid weekly. When I went to Lida Hooe I sometimes would buy a school tablet or a ice cream and charge it to our tab, I thought that was pretty cool. I did not do that unless I had permission as I would be in deep you know what if I made a habit of it........I was standing in front of Mr. Neal's Grocery when I saw the Army Air Corp's B-17 with the engine on fire in 1943 that crashed down the road at old Clearview Airport.........Do you or Fred remember the name of the Drive Inn that was on Clarendon, probably about 3 blocks East of Hampton Rd. on Clarendon (North side of St. on the Corner). I use to go there quite a bit, especially in the mid to late 50s........I also could go on and on but maybe some other time....Bill Strouse

My father cut hair at the Heights Barber Shop from about 1951 until 1958 when he left to work at the Medical Arts Barber Shop. The owner then was Mr. "Mack" McKinney but I don't remember any of the other barber's names. As far as flat top haircut was concerned, the barbers just hated doing them because they took longer to get right and were the cause of most of the customer complaints due to the difficulty of getting them just right.

Dad used to take my brothers and I to the shop every third Sunday afternoon when it was closed and much to our dissatisfaction, cut our hair the way he thought it should look. As soon as I had the means, he never was allowed to cut my hair again. My two brothers, one due to disability and the other being just cheap , let him cut their hair until shortly before he died at 93 years old in 2007.

The Heights shop was one of the busiest shops he ever worked in and had a very sizeable small children clientel. After seven years of that atmosphere and being "involved" in raising three kids of his own, he'd had all the crying and screaming of little kids in the barber chair he could take and left for the more refined, bussinessman oriented atmosphere of Medical Arts.

Jerry said... "The Heights shop was one of the busiest shops he ever worked in and had a very sizeable small children clientel. After seven years of that atmosphere and being "involved" in raising three kids of his own, he'd had all the crying and screaming of little kids in the barber chair he could take and left for the more refined, bussinessman oriented atmosphere of Medical Arts."
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Thanks for adding some more flavor to this thread, Jerry!

I can understand that your dad would have 'had his fill' of the crying and screaming kids back then. There were MANY kids in that area of Oak Cliff during his years there.

Even when I was still at Cowart, I used to occasionally get my dress shoes and scout shoes shined at that barber shop. The older black guy that gave the shines was always nice and would joke with us. It was fun just watching how he went about his routine of giving a great shine.

Fred, IIRC, the shine guy's name was Willie but I don't think I ever knew his last name. He was real good at what he did and pretty entertaining while he did it. I would often duck in the shop and get a shine before going to the Friday night movies at the Heights Theatre in case I happened to meet a girl while there.

"Willie" could really move his hands fast when slapping on the polish and he kept the shine rag POPPING! With his hand speed he could have been a magician or a card shark!

My 1st "date" was in 4th grade, when I asked a girl in my class to meet me at the Heights. I even managed to put my arm around her shoulders. ............We attended the same schools through HS graduation at Sunset, but never dated.

She and her husband came up from the Houston area for our 40th reunion. We gave each other a big hug and then I told her husband how she had been my 1st date. ....A good time was had by all.

Fred, Yep, Willie could keep the rag Popping........I was too shy in the 4th Grade to ask a girl out but more than likely would have liked too............talking about Grade School do you or any of you remember that upon completing Grade School some of the Elementary Schools had a Graduation Party (dancing, eats, fun things) at Kiest Park...........Our School (Lida Hooe) had a really fun party which I still remember out there at Kiest (was the first time I was at a party where there was dancing)..........We would all be at Greiner the next school year (Stockard had not opened yet) with many more adventures to come........Pretty sure that Party was in Spring of 1951..........Bill Strouse

My elementary school (Roger Q. Mills) had a graduation party. I can't remember where they held it, but I remember that my mother made me walk rather than take my bike (our family didn't own a car). Near as I can figure it might have been held at Cedar Crest Golf Course. We did dance, as well. I didn't think anything about it at the time, but some kids belonged to churches that didn't approve of dancing. I also remember doing the bunny hop where we lined up boy, girl, boy, so that we had our hands on the hips of someone of the opposite sex. I think I wore a dress suit and necktie. I thought I was grown. We might have also done square dancing, which had been taught to us in fourth or fifth grade, I think. Our teachers were great. They did a great job teaching us about America and the world. I wish I could remember more of their names. I do remember the names of a half dozen of the kids from my class, mostly the girls. I thought all were beautiful. I assumed we would go all the way through school together, but some of us drifted away in junior high and others in high school. Only two or three of my class graduated with me from high school.

I used to eat lunch with the shoeshine guy.
When my folks owned the Snack Bar in the Heights Shopping center segregation was still the rule so they had a table in the back for black customers. And me. So I ate with that guy, a couple of mechanics from the service stations and a couple from Page's. We kept a stack of comic books back there and we'd read and eat and occasionally comment on our literature.

It was one of those guys that clued me that Mickey Mouse was black.

The best thing about the Westmoreland Heights barber shop was the was it smelled. So clean and so barber shoppy.
The place I get my hair cut now smells like Vietnam cooking.