Old Footage of Dallas


lakewoodhobo
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby lakewoodhobo » 30 May 2018 17:34

I love the Dallas of the late 60s and early 70s, before any of the "new" stuff was built that decade. Everything constructed in the 50s was starting to show its age and things just had a weathered/gritty look overall. First time that people talked about redeveloping downtown, in a modern sense, from what I gather.

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mdg109
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby mdg109 » 01 Jun 2018 12:17

I had no idea downtown was still this popular in the 60s/70s. These are awesome videos.

Tnexster
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby Tnexster » 02 Jun 2018 09:53

Those are fun, I wish I could walk into one of those videos and just take a look around.

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dallaz
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dallaz » 02 Jun 2018 17:53

mdg109 wrote:I had no idea downtown was still this popular in the 60s/70s. These are awesome videos.

Same here. I thought Downtown went into serve decline during that time.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dallaz » 02 Jun 2018 17:54

Tnexster wrote:Those are fun, I wish I could walk into one of those videos and just take a look around.

Oh how I wish...

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dallaz
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dallaz » 02 Jun 2018 18:22

In this video, you can see the ground level of the Old Sanger-Harris Dept. Store (now DART HQ)

**notice that the signage over the door says “Sanger-Harris Open tonight until 9:00”**

It would be awesome (today) if we could get any large retailer to stay open until 9 pm.

Skip to 0:13

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hsbDdMMft ... 0s&index=2

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby cowboyeagle05 » 04 Jun 2018 08:53

What is also great about that is you can see how much more open the building looked from the pedestrian level when it was a department store with the glass storefronts wrapped around the ground level with the beautiful mural above. DART really destroyed the beauty of the building in their conversion to an office building. Time will tell if some of that beauty can be restored once DART finally moves out to a better space for them. It won't be a department store again but it could be a cool building with a mixture of restoration and new use changes.
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dfwcre8tive » 04 Jun 2018 10:36

dallaz wrote:In this video, you can see the ground level of the Old Sanger-Harris Dept. Store (now DART HQ)

**notice that the signage over the door says “Sanger-Harris Open tonight until 9:00”**

It would be awesome (today) if we could get any large retailer to stay open until 9 pm.

Skip to 0:13

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hsbDdMMft ... 0s&index=2


Also, there are no doors at the entrance. Climate was controlled by an "air curtain" at the opening. Probably very inefficient and hard to secure, but unique.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby DPatel304 » 04 Jun 2018 10:50

dallaz wrote:
Tnexster wrote:Those are fun, I wish I could walk into one of those videos and just take a look around.

Oh how I wish...


That definitely would be an experience to see Dallas as such a vibrant and lively city. Although, I feel like in a decade or so, Dallas will be just as (or even more) lively than before. One cool way of looking at it, is that this might be one of the rare times where we all get to experience parts of Dallas while they are still a bit deserted.

I remember going to Deep Ellum on a Saturday night a couple years ago and the street was empty, and there were only a handful of people in some of the bars, and I also remember going to the Farmer's Market Food Hall when it just opened and it was also very barren at the time. I guess it's not really a good thing that parts of our city are so dead, but, it's kinda cool to think that 20 years from most of these sights will be jam-packed full of people but we can all remember a time when that definitely was not the case.

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mdg109
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby mdg109 » 04 Jun 2018 12:41

Going through all these videos, I'm still seeing all the surface lots that exist today (check out 0:20s on that last link). It looks like all the pedestrian activity and vibrancy was concentrated on EMC & Pacific.

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dallaz
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dallaz » 04 Jun 2018 14:52

dfwcre8tive wrote:
dallaz wrote:In this video, you can see the ground level of the Old Sanger-Harris Dept. Store (now DART HQ)

**notice that the signage over the door says “Sanger-Harris Open tonight until 9:00”**

It would be awesome (today) if we could get any large retailer to stay open until 9 pm.

Skip to 0:13

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hsbDdMMft ... 0s&index=2


Also, there are no doors at the entrance. Climate was controlled by an "air curtain" at the opening. Probably very inefficient and hard to secure, but unique.

Thanks for pointing that out. I totally forgot about that. I couldn’t imainge how much energy it took to maintain that air curtain...especially, during the summer.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby lakewoodhobo » 04 Jun 2018 16:44

One thing in this video that I can't figure out is seeing the "Copper Cow" restaurant on Commerce. The video is labeled March 1974 but according to at least two stories in D Magazine, that building burned down in 1960.

Screen Shot 2018-06-04 at 4.37.47 PM.jpg


https://www.dmagazine.com/food-drink/20 ... -pheasant/
https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/ ... t-inferno/

EDIT: Learned that the restaurant did catch fire in 1960 but reopened the same year, closing for good in 1980.
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby tamtagon » 04 Jun 2018 16:52

Sure would be nice if the city allowed normal signage again. "Cleaning up" the appearance of downtown street, decluttering and whatever sure seemed to make sense a couple decades ago, just like cutting into the sidewalks for additional traffic lanes.

I suppose for a generation or two, initiatives like that had some positive impact; mimicking the clean and safe suburban environment was the goal for many downtowns. Now it simply diminished excitement.

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dallaz
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dallaz » 04 Jun 2018 18:39

tamtagon wrote:Sure would be nice if the city allowed normal signage again. "Cleaning up" the appearance of downtown street, decluttering and whatever sure seemed to make sense a couple decades ago, just like cutting into the sidewalks for additional traffic lanes.

I suppose for a generation or two, initiatives like that had some positive impact; mimicking the clean and safe suburban environment was the goal for many downtowns. Now it simply diminished excitement.

So, that’s what happened to all the signage. To me signage, (when appropriate) makes a downtown seem more lively.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby cowboyeagle05 » 05 Jun 2018 09:29

Maybe its some stock footage they mixed into the bulk of new footage from that day?

The sheer number of steakhouses back then downtown is funny as well.
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby lakewoodhobo » 05 Jun 2018 14:43

One of the blade signs that stood out for me in that footage was the one for Piccadilly Cafeteria. In 1964 this was the site of a protest that lasted 28 days over the restaurant's refusal to desegregate its counter.

I found out that it was located at 1503 Commerce St, opened in 1955 and closed in 1977. The building was home to a Scholtzky's at one point and was still standing in 2008. It was purchased by Headington and torn down for the first Joule expansion.

Piccadilly Casfeteria.png
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby LongonBigD » 05 Jun 2018 16:27

cowboyeagle05 wrote:The sheer number of steakhouses back then downtown is funny as well.

Like the sheer number of steakhouses currently in Uptown?

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby tamtagon » 05 Jun 2018 17:04

lakewoodhobo wrote:One of the blade signs that stood out
Piccadilly Casfeteria.png


I love signs like that, Downtown absolutely needs re-regulation so business can announce themselves like this. Call it a wayfinder if that's the kind of lingo decision makers have become conditioned to recognize. Whatever.

I never knew Piccadilly was in Dallas/North Texas, not surprised by the Old South Segregationist hold-out.... I think there's still a few in The ATL, but it's been years since I've eaten at a place like that.

I'll be surprised if the contemporary food court branding trend (!!! Food Hall !!!) doesn't settle down into renewed interest in delicious cafeteria food.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby lakewoodhobo » 26 Sep 2018 10:49

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zn97VZ ... e=youtu.be

The quality of this footage form 1970 is pretty amazing. You can read more about it here: https://flashbackdallas.com/2018/09/26/ ... town-1970/

Image

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby exelone31 » 26 Sep 2018 11:29

lakewoodhobo wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zn97VZ5j9Y&feature=youtu.be

The quality of this footage form 1970 is pretty amazing. You can read more about it here: https://flashbackdallas.com/2018/09/26/a-drive-through-downtown-1970/

Image


Just came on here to post the link too! This footage is incredible and at the same time really, really depressing. Tragic how such a vibrant city was just picked apart over decades and is only now starting to show any glimpses of what's in this video.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby eburress » 26 Sep 2018 19:29

The people responsible for gutting Downtown really ought to be caught and shot.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby Tnexster » 26 Sep 2018 22:03

Some of those scenes look very much unchanged but there is obviously a lot missing too. Lots of nice cars tho.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dallaz » 27 Sep 2018 19:04

lakewoodhobo wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zn97VZ5j9Y&feature=youtu.be

The quality of this footage form 1970 is pretty amazing. You can read more about it here: https://flashbackdallas.com/2018/09/26/ ... town-1970/

Image

Wow! It’s amazing to see how many businesses were in Downtown at that time. Great post!

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joshua.dodd
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby joshua.dodd » 02 Oct 2018 02:47

Yeah, Downtown was a vibrant center back in those days. And it actually looked like a real city with real pedestrian activity and connectivity. No matter how developers try to rebuild, we will never be able to achieve the quality of that era.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby Matt777 » 02 Oct 2018 09:46

joshua.dodd wrote:Yeah, Downtown was a vibrant center back in those days. And it actually looked like a real city with real pedestrian activity and connectivity. No matter how developers try to rebuild, we will never be able to achieve the quality of that era.


I think we can rebuild that if we actually followed the Forward Dallas plan and reintroduced an intra-urban streetcar network like this city was designed for (and maybe getting rid of highway 345 and shielding the other highways more). It's not that hard, but the city would have to stop kowtowing to big developers and their parking garages and we have seen that the city leader's personal pocketbooks are not willing to do that.

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mdg109
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby mdg109 » 02 Oct 2018 17:53

I love looking at this footage. I wonder if the downtown activity was concentrated mainly at EMC. I'd love to see what West End, Farmers Market, Pacific, and Ross Ave looked like. I did notice some of the same surface lots we have today (Main/Griffin, Commerce/Harwood, behind City Hall). While the older downtown looks cool, I still think we have a chance to build a better downtown. I'm glad we have more parks, more residential, and we have a chance to get better retail. From the footage I see a lot of cool shops, but also jewelers, discount centers, and loan centers.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby joshua.dodd » 03 Oct 2018 00:06

If we have more independent retail and less corporate generic retail that would be great. But it seems the latter of the two is always inevitable when it comes to gentrification.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby tamtagon » 03 Oct 2018 06:42

^People have been conditioned to question small, independent retailers as possibly unreliable, lower quality, lower value for the money and favor corporate retail as stable, reliable and quality driven. Maybe it's ironic, independent retailers don't survive gentrification in part because they are associated with undesirability and inability to meet certain standards by new neighborhood residents craving the familiar, the brands they know will meet expectations; these expectations are the result of conditioning rather choice.

As it appears to be now, the basis of a thriving downtown have returned to Dallas. Well defined areas of intense street activity with buffered around and between areas of passive areas.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby lakewoodhobo » 03 Oct 2018 11:36

mdg109 wrote:I love looking at this footage. I wonder if the downtown activity was concentrated mainly at EMC. I'd love to see what West End, Farmers Market, Pacific, and Ross Ave looked like. I did notice some of the same surface lots we have today (Main/Griffin, Commerce/Harwood, behind City Hall). While the older downtown looks cool, I still think we have a chance to build a better downtown. I'm glad we have more parks, more residential, and we have a chance to get better retail. From the footage I see a lot of cool shops, but also jewelers, discount centers, and loan centers.


I've thought about this too. From early 1970s photos I've seen of Pacific Ave (the back side of the theaters in Theater Row) it was pretty barren, so I imagine everything north of here save for Republic Center, Medical Arts and Southland Center was parking lots and warehouses until you reached the churches and car dealerships on the pre-Arts District north side of downtown... not exactly a paradise of pedestrian activity. And south of Jackson St, since most of it was bulldozed for Main Center and Griffin Square, all you had was the cemetery and Memorial Auditorium so it's safe to assume that what people called downtown at the time was Elm-Main-Commerce.

Side note: Spaghetti Warehouse was the first restaurant to open in the West End in 1972, so it was probably only the county buildings there, plus the "new" Kennedy Memorial, at the time of this film.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby joshua.dodd » 14 Oct 2018 01:06

LongonBigD wrote:
cowboyeagle05 wrote:The sheer number of steakhouses back then downtown is funny as well.

Like the sheer number of steakhouses currently in Uptown?


Likely ten times better and less expensive.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dallaz » 18 Dec 2018 22:13

Found some old video clips of the Titche’s and Sanger-Harris stores in Downtown. Both videos show the stores in the process of being rebranded.

Titche’s

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531 ... /?q=Titche

Sanger-Harris

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531 ... r%20Harris

This is the original plan for Main Place. I’m glad this project wasn’t competed.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531 ... 20place%20

There was a plan for a mall in Downtown. Another horrible plan, which never got off the ground.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531 ... as#track/1

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby eburress » 20 Dec 2018 11:21

I remember those mall proposals. One was adjacent to the Crescent, one was across the street from BOA Center, and the other, my favorite because of all the towers it brought, was between Akard and St. Paul at Ross. The hope was that a Downtown mall would do for Dallas what Horton Plaza did for Downtown San Diego.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby exelone31 » 20 Dec 2018 12:02

It's interesting to me that the Downtown mall video talks about the huge success of Reunion Tower. Is that still considered a popular attraction? I haven't been to it in a while, so was curious.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dfwcre8tive » 20 Dec 2018 12:24

dallaz wrote:Found some old video clips of the Titche’s and Sanger-Harris stores in Downtown. Both videos show the stores in the process of being rebranded.

Titche’s

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531 ... /?q=Titche

Sanger-Harris

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531 ... r%20Harris

This is the original plan for Main Place. I’m glad this project wasn’t competed.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531 ... 20place%20

There was a plan for a mall in Downtown. Another horrible plan, which never got off the ground.

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531 ... as#track/1


Things were grim for downtown retail at that time. We're lucky Neiman Marcus didn't abandon their flagship store.

Here's a recent article about two of the local survivors and their challenges (JCPenney and Neiman Marcus). Link: https://www.dallasnews.com/business/ret ... challenges

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dallasbeatsaustin » 26 Mar 2019 09:14

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC_reaiwbIM

I don't remember this being posted before, but it's gold. It is a 70's Soviet documentary on life in Dallas that devolves into JFK conspiracy stuff by the end. I saw and translated this when I worked at the Dallas Historical Society years ago, but had completely forgotten about it until it showed up on Soviet history twitter. Great footage of everything from Deep Ellum to the Fair to following Stanley Marcus around the flagship store. They also visit Houston and plenty of rural Texas, and add in some non-Texas footage of urban decay/segregation. If I can find it, I might post up a translation for those interested. I can't remember if it was the Herald or News, but one of the papers did a critical "review" of it at the time. The filming style is also very "socialist realist," but of course at the heart of one of the cities that defines American capitalism.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby Jbarn » 26 Mar 2019 21:51

dallasbeatsaustin wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC_reaiwbIM

I don't remember this being posted before, but it's gold. It is a 70's Soviet documentary on life in Dallas that devolves into JFK conspiracy stuff by the end. I saw and translated this when I worked at the Dallas Historical Society years ago, but had completely forgotten about it until it showed up on Soviet history twitter. Great footage of everything from Deep Ellum to the Fair to following Stanley Marcus around the flagship store. They also visit Houston and plenty of rural Texas, and add in some non-Texas footage of urban decay/segregation. If I can find it, I might post up a translation for those interested. I can't remember if it was the Herald or News, but one of the papers did a critical "review" of it at the time. The filming style is also very "socialist realist," but of course at the heart of one of the cities that defines American capitalism.



It is sad to see videos like this that show how vibrant our downtown used to be before they decided to tear everything down and build 50 story fortresses surrounded by parking lots. At the time of this video, Dallas probably had half as many residents, but actually looked like a bigger and more vibrant city than it is today.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby Redblock » 28 Mar 2019 11:01

dallasbeatsaustin wrote:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nC_reaiwbIM

I don't remember this being posted before, but it's gold. It is a 70's Soviet documentary on life in Dallas that devolves into JFK conspiracy stuff by the end. I saw and translated this when I worked at the Dallas Historical Society years ago, but had completely forgotten about it until it showed up on Soviet history twitter. Great footage of everything from Deep Ellum to the Fair to following Stanley Marcus around the flagship store. They also visit Houston and plenty of rural Texas, and add in some non-Texas footage of urban decay/segregation. If I can find it, I might post up a translation for those interested. I can't remember if it was the Herald or News, but one of the papers did a critical "review" of it at the time. The filming style is also very "socialist realist," but of course at the heart of one of the cities that defines American capitalism.



I took Russian in college over 50 years ago and I could pick out a few words. The interviews of SMU Russian language students was interesting. The segment of H. L. Hunt is priceless. I would be interested in the translation if you find it.

Just guessing, this may have been a film version of a cultural exchange program like the one US and Russia used to distribute monthly magazines in each other's country. The Russian magazine was called Soviet Life and out of curiosity my junior high aged cousin subscribed.....and the family got a visit from the FBI.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby Tnexster » 29 Mar 2019 22:49

Great clips in that video and I'm not sure I had ever seen video of Reunion Tower under construction. This looks like it was 1977.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby Redblock » 30 Mar 2019 02:19

Here is another video of Reunion Tower under construction. The general fireman used his CB radio to schedule workers and supplies. The height of the tower also led him talk to people across the country and around the world.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6GrvoshJZ ... e=youtu.be

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby lakewoodhobo » 13 Jun 2019 11:35

I'm sure it's been shared before, but I was watching this footage again from the city's official U.S. Bicentennial celebration at Old City Park:

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc674009/m1/1/high_res/

My understanding is that a nonprofit, the Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Corporation, was formed to host this event and have Dallas recognized as an officially designated Bicentennial City.

I guess I'm just curious to know why this wasn't hosted at Fair Park instead. I know the State Fair of Texas was probably setting up for that year's fair, but why not just this one year host a U.S. Bicentennial Exposition that begins with this and ends with corny dogs and Big Tex, maybe incorporating the Texxas Jam festival in August. (The first Texxas Jam wasn't until 1978 but it would've been great for something similar at this made-up expo).

I can't imagine Old City Park can hold more than a thousand people, and forget about parking that many cars there. The Oak Cliff set location of "Born on the Fourth of July" must've been 100 times more exciting and patriotic.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby dfwcre8tive » 13 Jun 2019 12:41

lakewoodhobo wrote:I'm sure it's been shared before, but I was watching this footage again from the city's official U.S. Bicentennial celebration at Old City Park:

https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc674009/m1/1/high_res/

My understanding is that a nonprofit, the Dallas American Revolution Bicentennial Corporation, was formed to host this event and have Dallas recognized as an officially designated Bicentennial City.

I guess I'm just curious to know why this wasn't hosted at Fair Park instead. I know the State Fair of Texas was probably setting up for that year's fair, but why not just this one year host a U.S. Bicentennial Exposition that begins with this and ends with corny dogs and Big Tex, maybe incorporating the Texxas Jam festival in August. (The first Texxas Jam wasn't until 1978 but it would've been great for something similar at this made-up expo).

I can't imagine Old City Park can hold more than a thousand people, and forget about parking that many cars there. The Oak Cliff set location of "Born on the Fourth of July" must've been 100 times more exciting and patriotic.


Old City Park was one of the three designated Bicentennial projects for Dallas. The other two were Dallas City Hall and Thanks-Giving Square. Due to construction delays, Old City Park was the only one ready for dedication on July 4, 1976 -- Dallas City Hall's plaza hosted a few events with the building completed in 1977; Thanks-Giving Square opened its garden in November 1976 with the chapel opening in 1977. Each location hosted official public Bicentennial events. But there were a lot of other projects and celebrations throughout the region, as noted in the article below.

0FBB2EF17A7A27CD.gif


city-dallas-american-revolution_1_13f161cee7148f1c52f8d4ab439ca8f0.jpg
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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby lakewoodhobo » 13 Jun 2019 14:57

^Thanks for adding that context, Noah. I had forgotten about that commemorative coin showing the three sites.

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby adamlimbrent660 » 26 Jun 2019 01:43

Omg, not bad :)

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby lakewoodhobo » 16 Aug 2019 12:49

Interesting set of old First National Bank commercials: https://texasarchive-web.streamguys1.co ... 80x360.mp4

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Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby I45Tex » 28 Dec 2019 21:35

Speaking of First National Bank, I found a date on an index card in an undated UTA photograph from their Squire Haskins Photography collection archives:

https://library.uta.edu/digitalgallery- ... g/20004442

Using the Drever's renovation renderings and cross-sections that Towers.net linked last year, and counting upward from the podium, it is the 46th and 47th floors above ground that are being welded simultaneously on October 4, 1963.

https://dallas.towers.net/2018/09/13/th ... enovation/

Since there are 52 floors, we now know within a reasonable doubt that our 1965 tallest building had topped out and reached its final "tallest west of the Mississippi" height by the time 1964 began.* Thought that this would be of interest.

And because some enjoy this kind of speculation, too, I have read elsewhere that this is another one the FAA made them shorten 96' from the initial proposal (its height used to always be reported as 625'; in recent years listers have revised that to 628' -- so the proposal would either have been 721' or 724' if this is true).** I wonder if the FAA knowing then what they know now would have done so.

*
For that matter, we know thanks to a fire that the then-Republic National Bank Building was on its last couple of floors' framing by April 1953. Anybody have construction photos of its rocket spire?

https://dallaslibrary2.org/dallashistor ... ublic4.htm

**
https://revitalization.org/article/dall ... buildings/
But the building's wiki article cites a DMN article from 1961 for the same detail. Would a subscriber please look it up and inform us some more?

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Redblock
Posts: 244
Joined: 24 Nov 2016 11:15

Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby Redblock » 17 Jul 2020 09:28

This 16 minute film about traffic conditions and planning in 1955 Dallas popped up on my YouTube feed.

Interesting views of mid-50s Dallas and the thinking of the era.

https://youtu.be/leAKXcaLDd4

lakewoodhobo
Posts: 1326
Joined: 20 Oct 2016 13:49
Location: Elmwood, Oak Cliff

Re: Old Footage of Dallas

Postby lakewoodhobo » 21 Jul 2020 13:31

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F54zA-z ... dex=2&t=0s

Lots of good footage here of Cedar Springs in 1976 before any of the gay bars moved in. Union Jack opened in 1971 according to my notes, so it was already on its way to becoming what it is today. Some interesting observations:

-The building that became JR's is seen in a few shots, back when it was one level.
-Across the street from that is an Adult Cinema that later became the first Village Station and today is Roy G's.

The news story is about an assault on a prostitute. Interesting how the reporter casually refers to the area as a place for hookers.