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.

Monday, October 26, 2015

Comic Book Days

Comic Book Stand. Ah, remember the local kids setting up comic book trades and reading days? I used to swap my comic books after I read them, getting new stuff to read. Back then we didn’t have the money to buy new comic books all the time, so swaps worked great, though I did hate parting with some of mine.

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Superman by H. W. Ward

Superman by H. W. Ward.  Superman is the most popular fiction hero who has remained in the media since 1939. I first discovered him in comic books when we moved to Wichita Falls in 1947, then the Saturday Matinee serials in the 1948 Chapter Play at the Tower Theater, and Superman and The Mole men in the movies at the State Theater in 1951.