The Majestic Theater

Here is another good shot of The Majestic Theater in Wichita Falls. During the three year period I lived on Ohio Street in Wichita Falls, I went to all the down town theaters, except the Majestic. The Majestic was kind of odd the beaten path on Scott Street, and I just never went there when looking for a good movie on the Saturday Matinees. I probably missed some good shows.

Kresses

Here's another good shot of S. H. Kresses, my favorite Five & Dime store in Wichita Falls, Texas. It was located on Indiana Street between 8th & 9th Streets, I believe.

1930 Mobile Library

Something a little different, here's a 1930 Mobile Library in the UK.

Pulp Rack, 1942

Pulp magazine rack from 1942. I love this one, as I’ve got 90% of the magazines showing on the rack. G-Men Detective, The Phantom Detective, The Ghost Detective, The Lone Eagle, and those Westerns. Rio Kid, Thrilling Ranch, Texas Rangers, Thrilling Novels. Great reading.

Parkway Theater

Parkway Theater. It just so happens, Elvis is playing on the bill. Sure would like to go back and see the movie at this theater that night.

Pinder Theater

The Pinder Theater, a military Post Theater in Germany.

Newsstand 1940

Newsstand from 1940, probably: The pulps on display are dated 1941, but likely released December 1940. So my guess is this was taken in the 1940/41 winter. Look at those old cars in the background. I wish I knew where this was taken, but I have no idea. Sorry I haven’t been around for a while. I’m still having a lot of medical issues, and not up to much activity.

The Isis Theater

The Isis Theater on Flood Street, Wichita Falls, Texas: Now closed, but was popular in the 1940s and ‘50s.

Short's Pig Stand

Short’s Pig Stand: For ten years my dad cooked at café’s in Wichita Falls, from 1947 to 1956. He was a cowboy and cook. He liked cooking in WF so he could be near the bars – because he was also a drunk. He was one of the first cook’s for the downtown Casa Manana when it opened in 1947. I don’t know how long he worked there, but was probably fired for showing up drunk. One of his last jobs was cooking at Short’s Pig Stand. When he left there we went back to the ranch, leaving WF and all my friends. It was a sad time for me, but I would soon join the Army and move away from the area for twenty years.

J. C. Penny Company

Here’s the J. C. Penny Company of Wichita Falls, Texas. One of the best down town stores in its day.

Lost Planet

The Lost Planet, a 15-chapter serial from Columbia in 1953, starring Judd Holdren and Vivian Mason. Flying saucers are reported over the city, then one supposedly crashed in the mountains nearby. Reporter Rex Barrow (Holdren) and his photographer, Ted Thorpe (Tim Johnson) locate the crash site, but meet a girl there, too. She claims to be Ella Dorn (Mason) the daughter of professor Dorn (Forest Taylor) who has been missing. The three are captured and sent to the planet Ergro as workers in mining a special mineral. The first half of the serial is jumping back and forth between Earth and Ergro in a space rocket or jet plane. With the serial going nowhere, at midway gangsters are brought to spice up the plot. Unfortunately, this is 1953, and serials are about finished. I was told that Lost Planet was supposed to be a sequel to Captain Video, but I don’t know that for a fact. In any case, as serials go, this one didn’t. This may have been Columbia’s final serial, if not it should have been. Not one of the best.