Introduction

Downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, in the mid 1940’s was a bustling metropolis for a boy of 7 just away from the farm and ranch community where he was born. My father, a cook and cowboy by trade, had just started as one of the first cooks for the Casa Manana restaurant in 1947. He moved us to an apartment on Ohio Street, right across from the Gem Theater, between 7th and 8th Streets. It’s here that we would stay for the next three years. The Gem Theater became a magic palace for a young mind. But it had to share that distinction with the rest of the magic that was Wichita Falls. I attended San Jacinto and Carrigan elementary schools, as well as Reagan Junior High, and belonged to the Boys Club on 6th Street. Please join, and share your stories and pictures through a Guest Blog, of early Wichita Falls - or your home town. Contact me at fadingshadows40@gmail.com or leave a comment. We could use old pictures of movie houses, drive-in theaters, and other nostalgic pictures related to our youths.

Friday, October 6, 2017

Jungle Jim: Killer Ape


Jungle Jim: Killer Ape. I recently watched this one again. I have all the Jungle Jim movies on VHS and still enjoy them. I’m sure I originally saw this at the Gem Theater in Wichita Falls. Johnny Weissmuller moved over to the Jungle Jim series after his stint as Tarzan, which the Gem Theater was also showing back in the 1940s. It was a wonderful time to be a kid. I’ll always remember paying nine cents for the Saturday Matinee double feature.

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