Southside OKC Memories....anyone?

[Tall Girl]

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Conley's was one of Veazey's first stores........Otasco was on the far end, then there was a Donut Shop, (going west) then the drug store.....then Humpty Dumpty,....then TG&Y with a breezeway between the two,.....Then C.R. Anthony's....Then there was a small store (can't remember there) then Beck's Jewelry ,....then The Chieftain Theater.....Then a store on the very end and there were a couple of other offices....One of them being a dentist office.....Mean guy ....Ice Cream or not....did not like him....

the Airline TG&Y was at one time one of the best TG&Y stores in the company until Reding (1956) Opened....Then the battle was between those two stores with Capitol Hill staying right with them....

I don't know how you remember all of that stuff. I forgot all about the breezeway. That Dentist - he was a chain smoker and cigarettes were always lit and as the years went by, his fingers were yellow with tobacco, and he didn't wear gloves back then and by the time I was a teenager, it burned my mouth when his fingers were in my mouth! But - I still have all of my own teeth.

[Generals64]

I don't know how you remember all of that stuff. I forgot all about the breezeway. That Dentist - he was a chain smoker and cigarettes were always lit and as the years went by, his fingers were yellow with tobacco, and he didn't wear gloves back then and by the time I was a teenager, it burned my mouth when his fingers were in my mouth! But - I still have all of my own teeth.

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I worked in that TG&Y for a LONG time....kinda my pride and joy...first real job was in that store. Now, about that dentist......In the third Grade a bunch of us kids were playing hide 'n seek and I was running to home base and slipped hit the bumper of a car ....Knocking my front almost out...Broke the two front ones...that dentist tied me the chair and ground the front teeth down (No deadening).......I still get mad I'll quit....That was still my favorite Shopping Center.

Do you remember when they would have the Carnivals there on the West end of the Center?????There was one of those swings that went around and around and as we were walking by it my sister said it's starting to rain....Not a cloud anywhere......Some kid on the ride was throwing up..... Laughed so hard at her I thought she was going to kill me..... Can tell lots of stories about that center.....Bought an engagement ring from Mr. Beck...traded it in on my wife's (best buddy also) first wedding set...be 44 years this June...She's had more than her fair share of wedding bands.....she said that I promised her different size diamonds on certain anniversaries....(don't remember that).....but, she's not lied to me yet.....(I don't think)....

[Tall Girl]

I would take my old Studebaker to the Drive-in "all by myself." Once I got in and got as far out of view as possible, I would pull down the back of the back seat and out would come 4-6 of my friends. It is shocking how many teenaged boys could fit in there.

At the Airline Drive-In one night my hubby and one other guy was in the trunk of his own car a '57 Pontiac and the car was loaded too. After they got in the drive-in, the driver didn't have the trunk key. It was in my hubby's pocket because his key chain had broke and the keys were seperated. He finally managed to squirm around and get ahold of that single key in his pocket with just 2 fingers and dragged it out of his pocket and got it in his fist and punched through the package tray to give them the key. He doesn't know why he let somebody else drive that night - talk about sweatin' - He never got in any trunk again.

[Tall Girl]

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I worked in that TG&Y for a LONG time....kinda my pride and joy...first real job was in that store. Now, about that dentist......In the third Grade a bunch of us kids were playing hide 'n seek and I was running to home base and slipped hit the bumper of a car ....Knocking my front almost out...Broke the two front ones...that dentist tied me the chair and ground the front teeth down (No deadening).......I still get mad I'll quit....That was still my favorite Shopping Center.

Do you remember when they would have the Carnivals there on the West end of the Center?????There was one of those swings that went around and around and as we were walking by it my sister said it's starting to rain....Not a cloud anywhere......Some kid on the ride was throwing up..... Laughed so hard at her I thought she was going to kill me..... Can tell lots of stories about that center.....Bought an engagement ring from Mr. Beck...traded it in on my wife's (best buddy also) first wedding set...be 44 years this June...She's had more than her fair share of wedding bands.....she said that I promised her different size diamonds on certain anniversaries....(don't remember that).....but, she's not lied to me yet.....(I don't think)....

I don't remember getting to go to the carnivals. I think I would be cured of ever going if I got "rained" on. I would be "raining" too.

I remember that dentists name.

[papaOU]

[QUOTE=Tall Girl;293534]I don't remember getting to go to the carnivals. I think I would be cured of ever going if I got "rained" on. I would be "raining" too.

On the final day Springlake was open I could not wait to go. Other than the Big Dipper my favorite ride was those airplane looking things suspended by steel cables. There was like a rudder on the front that would allow you to fly high and wide or down and tight. Was not long into the ride that the adult I had become surfaced. It was all I could do to keep from yelling, "Get me of this %#*@ing thing!!!?

[SoonerGirl26]

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ +++++++++++++++++
I worked at the TG&Y in that Center for a long time.....That Motel you were talking about has had quite a few "Murders" or deaths which ever came first....it did though have a good name for a while.....

I just read the article about one of the deaths at the Airline Motel. In Nov. 1983 a robber took the motel clerk into the restroom, shot him and left him behind the restroom door. It was quite a while before anyone discovered the clerk missing. One guest had come in and turned in a key, a boy watched TV in the motel lobby, and someone had started a pot of coffee. The killer was caught because his cousin who was with him at the time of the robbery turned him in. The killer once worked at the motel and had been accused by the motel clerk of stealing $97. He got the death penalty and was excuted in 1999.

~~~

[SoonerGirl26]

If I am not mistaken (hardly ever) the okc airport was at 29th and may originally.
Wish I could remember where the article was, but I asked my dad about it he concurred. That man has made one mistake in his entire life:me

PapaOU, your dad was right.........

The airport was on 70 acres in Woodson Park, near SW 29 and May. It had north and south runways, each about a half-mile long. Air mail came to the Woodson Park airport in 1926, when National Air Transport was given the air mail contract from Chicago to Fort Worth, with one stop per day in Oklahoma City. In 1929, the city used bond money to purchase 640 acres of land, which in 1933 became the infant Will Rogers World Airport .

AND SOME MORE AIRPLANE TRIVIA....

On March 18, 1910, Charles F. Willard, was the first man to fly an airplane in Oklahoma. He landed in a wheat field (which was the 300 block of SW 26... where the Capital Hill Library is now.)

~~~

[SoonerGirl26]

At the December meeting at Coit's, the conversation came up again about when Prairie Queen school was originally at SW 59 & Western. I found this write-up by a lady who attended that school.....

"Years ago, I attended Oklahoma City's last two-room schoolhouse, on the northeast corner of SW 59 and Western. A lovely lawn and large shade trees surrounded the clean, neat schoolhouse. One room held first, second and third grades, taught by a Ms. Black, who looked like her name - tall, straight, dark hair, black clothing and black shoes. The other room held fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grades, taught by a gentleman who was also the principal. I remember crisp, white walls, inside and out, a potbellied wood-burning stove for warmth in the winter; and being taught the Pledge of Allegiance, little songs and manners. The toilet was down the path; large, multiholed, whitewashed inside and out; divided by a wall for use by both boys and girls. Lunch was brought from home and stored in the cloakroom. Often times it consisted of sausage and biscuits left from breakfast. I was in the first grade (around 1949-51) and this was my first exposure to the world outside my family. I well remember Prairie Queen School with warmth and pleasure. The following summer the school was torn down to be rebuilt in a new location with all the modern conveniences - heat, electricity and indoor plumbing."

~~~

[TOWNHERO]

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Conley's was one of Veazey's first stores........Otasco was on the far end, then there was a Donut Shop, (going west) then the drug store.....then Humpty Dumpty,....then TG&Y with a breezeway between the two,.....Then C.R. Anthony's....Then there was a small store (can't remember there) then Beck's Jewelry ,....then The Chieftain Theater.....Then a store on the very end and there were a couple of other offices....One of them being a dentist office.....Mean guy ....Ice Cream or not....did not like him....

the Airline TG&Y was at one time one of the best TG&Y stores in the company until Reding (1956) Opened....Then the battle was between those two stores with Capitol Hill staying right with them....

This is so funny, I remember all those places. My mother worked at that Humpty Dumpty for several years. On Sat, I would walk down there go to the movies at the Chieftain, then stop at the TG&Y and spend the rest of my allowance.
First place I remember living at was a little white house located on an oil field equipment yard. My Dad was the superintendent. It was locate at the corner of S. MacArthur & S.W 29th (Newcastle) down from the FAA center. I remember Pres Esisenhower driving by in his bubble top car. Then we moved to Boeking Acres. I remember starting school at a 2 room school house on Reno and Meridian. I didn't go there long, we moved to Odessa Tx. Then we moved back to OKC at a little house on S. Liberty behind the Airline Shopping Center. That is when I really became familar with the shopping center. Then we moved to the house where I grew in on 37th. Behind Woodson Park. So the memories of Airline Shopping Center really bring back memories. And yes I remember the dentist and the carnivals.
I can remember when May Ave was only 2 lanes. I had a much older cousin that was a fireman at the fire station on 29 and Independence. I use to visit him a lot. I got my first speeding ticket on Independence. I had a crush on a blond headed girl that I went to school with at Roosevelt. She live a couple of streets west of Independence across from Woodson Park. A lot of memories from that part of town. Sad thing I have adult children and I don't think they have had those type of memories.
One thing I can't remember is where the Airlne Drive-In was located.

[gen70]

At the December meeting at Coit's, the conversation came up again about when Prairie Queen school was originally at SW 59 & Western. I found this write-up by a lady who attended that school.....

"Years ago, I attended Oklahoma City's last two-room schoolhouse, on the northeast corner of SW 59 and Western. A lovely lawn and large shade trees surrounded the clean, neat schoolhouse. One room held first, second and third grades, taught by a Ms. Black, who looked like her name - tall, straight, dark hair, black clothing and black shoes. The other room held fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grades, taught by a gentleman who was also the principal. I remember crisp, white walls, inside and out, a potbellied wood-burning stove for warmth in the winter; and being taught the Pledge of Allegiance, little songs and manners. The toilet was down the path; large, multiholed, whitewashed inside and out; divided by a wall for use by both boys and girls. Lunch was brought from home and stored in the cloakroom. Often times it consisted of sausage and biscuits left from breakfast. I was in the first grade (around 1949-51) and this was my first exposure to the world outside my family. I well remember Prairie Queen School with warmth and pleasure. The following summer the school was torn down to be rebuilt in a new location with all the modern conveniences - heat, electricity and indoor plumbing."

~~~

Thanks..Very interesting. I went to the "new" Prairie Queen.

[sam greenroyd]

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Hey Sam, are you not a U.S. Grant Graduate????Around 67??????Hmmmmm

U.S. Grant Graduate,I'm a 1968 model.

[Generals64]

U.S. Grant Graduate,I'm a 1968 model.

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Yep, you graduated with my wife's younger sister.....and if my memory serves me right, you were in the Body Shop business????

[Tall Girl]

This is so funny, I remember all those places. My mother worked at that Humpty Dumpty for several years. On Sat, I would walk down there go to the movies at the Chieftain, then stop at the TG&Y and spend the rest of my allowance.
First place I remember living at was a little white house located on an oil field equipment yard. My Dad was the superintendent. It was locate at the corner of S. MacArthur & S.W 29th (Newcastle) down from the FAA center. I remember Pres Esisenhower driving by in his bubble top car. Then we moved to Boeking Acres. I remember starting school at a 2 room school house on Reno and Meridian. I didn't go there long, we moved to Odessa Tx. Then we moved back to OKC at a little house on S. Liberty behind the Airline Shopping Center. That is when I really became familar with the shopping center. Then we moved to the house where I grew in on 37th. Behind Woodson Park. So the memories of Airline Shopping Center really bring back memories. And yes I remember the dentist and the carnivals.
I can remember when May Ave was only 2 lanes. I had a much older cousin that was a fireman at the fire station on 29 and Independence. I use to visit him a lot. I got my first speeding ticket on Independence. I had a crush on a blond headed girl that I went to school with at Roosevelt. She live a couple of streets west of Independence across from Woodson Park. A lot of memories from that part of town. Sad thing I have adult children and I don't think they have had those type of memories.
One thing I can't remember is where the Airlne Drive-In was located.

The Airline Drive-In was located on Newcastle Road (hy152) just East of Meridian. Did you also go to John Adams Elementary?

[Prunepicker]

Did anyone on this thread attend Rockwood elementary? Does anyone know
anyone who did?

[SoonerGirl26]

Did anyone on this thread attend Rockwood elementary? Does anyone know
anyone who did?

Not me..... I was a Lee, John Adams, Jefferson Davis girl.

~~~

[papaOU]

Not me..... I was a Lee, John Adams, Jefferson Davis girl.

~~~

2 out of 3 ain't bad.......

[Prunepicker]

Not me... I was a Lee, John Adams, Jefferson Davis girl. ~~~

You always did stick out in the crowd.

Hey! What are you doing up so late?

[USG '60]

Did anyone on this thread attend Rockwood elementary? Does anyone know
anyone who did?

I didn't but I knew Birdie Word who taught there. Her daughter Gayla graduated from Grant in '62. Birdie Word, for heaven's sake...I mean REALLY. Too perfect.

[Tall Girl]

Did anyone on this thread attend Rockwood elementary? Does anyone know
anyone who did?

I went to Rockwood in Kindergarten and part of 1st grade. Rockwood kids went to Jackson Jr. High, then CHHS. Due to my 45th class reunion, I talked to a lot of people that went to Rockwood and that I was in K with.

[Tall Girl]

I didn't but I knew Birdie Word who taught there. Her daughter Gayla graduated from Grant in '62. Birdie Word, for heaven's sake...I mean REALLY. Too perfect.

Mrs. Word was mentioned a lot as being a favorite teacher at Rockwood. There are elementary pictures of her class on the CHHS Class '64 website.

[Generals64]

I didn't but I knew Birdie Word who taught there. Her daughter Gayla graduated from Grant in '62. Birdie Word, for heaven's sake...I mean REALLY. Too perfect.

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I haven't thought of Gayle Word in forever.....Do you remember Gayla Peevey???She would be your age maybe a year younger.....All she ever wanted for Christmas was a HIPPO....

[smooth]

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I haven't thought of Gayle Word in forever.....Do you remember Gayla Peevey???She would be your age maybe a year younger.....All she ever wanted for Christmas was a HIPPO....

As I remember it, the song "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" was recorded as a fund raiser for the purchase of a Hippo to live at the Oklahoma City Zoo (then known as Lincoln Park Zoo). To the amazement of many, the song charted and has become a traditionally played novelty song during Christmas season. Ms. Peevey is currently retired from the entertainment industry and living in California, where she has been residing since shortly after recording the song. Side note: The song was recorded a couple of years or so before I was born... Reading internet sites does wonders.

[USG '60]

Mrs. Word was mentioned a lot as being a favorite teacher at Rockwood. There are elementary pictures of her class on the CHHS Class '64 website.

Birdie seemed like such a total sweety but I was afraid someone would say Yeah, but she was an ol' biddy in the class room. I'm glad that was wrong.

Yes I remember Gayla Peevey but I never met her personally. And yes, Smooth, the story is correct. BTW, I would imagine that it was recorded in Gene Sullivan's studio. Does anyone know for sure?

[CarltonsKeeper]

As I remember it, the song "I want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" was recorded as a fund raiser for the purchase of a Hippo to live at the Oklahoma City Zoo (then known as Lincoln Park Zoo). To the amazement of many, the song charted and has become a traditionally played novelty song during Christmas season. Ms. Peevey is currently retired from the entertainment industry and living in California, where she has been residing since shortly after recording the song. Side note: The song was recorded a couple of years or so before I was born... Reading internet sites does wonders.

She also recorded under the name of Jamie Horton. "Kitty in Basket" "My Little Marine" were big for her. I actually have every song she recorded under both names!! I must be sick!! LOL At one time she owned her own Real Estate Co. I think I have too much time on my hands............

[Generals64]

She also recorded under the name of Jamie Horton. "Kitty in Basket" "My Little Marine" were big for her. I actually have every song she recorded under both names!! I must be sick!! LOL At one time she owned her own Real Estate Co. I think I have too much time on my hands............

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She (Gayla Peevey) was one of my sisters best buddies....in elementary school. She went to John Adams and was a protege' of Danny Williams. She moved to L.A. during the summer before the seventh grade. My sister and she lost contact of each other.