See  entry at new blogspot. Comments about this post have also been moved.

Go to the new blogsite for more on Walter’s Beer

Little by little I will be moving old posts to Blogspot and deleting them from this site.

New posts will also be appearing there as I have time to research.

Our newest local lake is named for the last elected Democrat Representative of the Third Congressional District. Joe Pool (1911-1968) graduated from Adamson (then Oak Cliff High School) and attended SMU before embarking on a political career that eventually resulted in his election to Congress in 1962. This sign is likely from 1967 when Pool was re-elected. He died mid-term in 1968.

This topic has moved to http://oakcliffyesterday.blogspot.com/2012/04/winnetka-congregational-church.html

Way before Chick-fil-A’s fiberglass cows there was the giant brown cow atop Charco Broil. In the late 1950s the address at 413 W. Jefferson was home to R L Watson Co., “Dallas’ Home of Fabulous Bargains”, an appliance store where you could buy an automatic portable(!) dishwasher or a TV set. Advertisements in the spring of 1962 announced the closing of the Jefferson store (there was a 2nd store on Lovers Lane). Sometime between 1962 and 1968 the site became Charco Broil, the home of Famous Sizzling Steaks. In 1975 one advertised bargain was a Rib Eye Steak Special for $15.9, which included Texas Toast, Salad, and a Baked Potato. Take that, fiberglass cows!

I seem to remember that cow used to be on another taller building, and that it was moved to the present location in the 1980s, but my memory’s not so good. Can anyone confirm or dispute it?

Located at 4001 West Jefferson, on the north side, a corner site off Redbud Lane near downtown Cockrell Hill. Hard to know the date – probably from the late 40′s or 1950′s from the 6-digit phone number. In 1962 the name had been changed to Monty’s Humble Service. (Maybe Monty was the “M” in T&M?) The site is now home to Kino’s Body Shop.

Postcard dated 1938 looking east on the 300 block of East Fifth Street, across from Lake Cliff Park. Most of the houses on this block were built 1925-1930. Below is the red-roofed house with the stone wall surround as it appears today. Hard to imagine the treeless street of old.

photo by Steve Bonner

Dontcha wish you were here? During these cold rainy winter-like days I know I do…..

1015 Fort Worth Avenue, about a block west of the Belmont. It was open as early as 1954, and was the site of at least one suspicious death, a parking lot murder, and an odd tenant who persisted in smashing thermostats.

I couldn’t find any evidence the Avalon hadn’t been razed, but Steve Bonner tells me the place is alive and well after some rehab work.