Paseo Plunge?

[capt_john_97]

I thought I had known a lot of the old swimming holes but this one got by me. Where was it? what was it? My understanding is that it (at least a pool) still exists in a John Belt Property over in the Paseo area. Not in operatino or anything just in a building.

[USG'60]

It still exists in the "basement" of the building that John has totally remodeled into something that fits the architecture of the street. It is still unoccupied as he is still making decisions about the interior.

[capt_john_97]

So was it an old municipal pool then?

[T-rex]

i don't know if this is the same location, but remember back in the mid~late 70s there was a bar there in paseo, it was called filthy mcnasties <sp>
i only went there a couple of times and wasn't much for dancing but i remember the dance floor had a very "spongy" fell to it
i was told that the building used to be a health spa and the dance floor was built over the pool location
it's been decades since i have been down that way and can't recollect the location

[Double Edge]

My understanding is it was a public pool that was closed in the midst of issues about polio being spread though public swimming pools. I don't know for sure if that is true, if the pool was ever thought to have been a source or if it was actually closed back when for other reasons but it's what I heard from another old Paseo resident.

[Double Edge]

Yep, reported to have been closed due to the polio scare in the '50s. News story http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n53647495/

[Doug Loudenback]

Information, pics and history of Paseo Plunge are at http://dougdawg.blogspot.com/2007/05/paseo.html

[skyrick]

i don't know if this is the same location, but remember back in the mid~late 70s there was a bar there in paseo, it was called filthy mcnasties <sp>
i only went there a couple of times and wasn't much for dancing but i remember the dance floor had a very "spongy" fell to it
i was told that the building used to be a health spa and the dance floor was built over the pool location
it's been decades since i have been down that way and can't recollect the location

I don't think Filthy's was ever in Paseo. I always got it and Dirty John's confused. One was east of Western on Britton, the other was out southeast somewhere.

[Jim Kyle]

Yep, reported to have been closed due to the polio scare in the '50s. News story http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n53647495/

It was open in 1958; while I never went to it, I did meet a friend there one afternoon. The friend, a good kid who had a penchant for getting in trouble, had called me to borrow my .45; I met him there to talk him out of what he had in mind (and did get him calmed down). He later was drafted, spent a tour in VietNam, came home, and one fine evening lost a game of Russian roulette...

I remember the date well because I got rid of all my handguns not long afterward; handguns and rambunctions baby boys just didn't seem to mix very well!

[Prunepicker]

i don't know if this is the same location, but remember back in the
mid~late 70s there was a bar there in paseo, it was called filthy
mcnasties <sp>

That brings back memories. I thought it was Filthy's in the early
70's and later became the Jail. Maybe it was vice versa. The
Blue Goose and the Red Dog were on the circuit for us as well.

I'm trying to remember what it was before Filthy's. The Yellow
Submarine?

[skyrick]

That brings back memories. I thought it was Filthy's in the early
70's and later became the Jail. Maybe it was vice versa. The
Blue Goose and the Red Dog were on the circuit for us as well.

I'm trying to remember what it was before Filthy's. The Yellow
Submarine?

So Filthy's WAS on the Paseo at one time? I don't remember it. I do remember the Yellow Sub, before that it was the White Light.

[bornhere]

It was a public pool, but not a municipal pool. It was always privately owned. A lot of people also remember it as Jack Sussy's Spaghetti Factory.

[Prunepicker]

So Filthy's WAS on the Paseo at one time? I don't remember it. I do
remember the Yellow Sub, before that it was the White Light.

Was the Yellow Sub on the east side of Paseo about the middle of
the block?

[ctchandler]

Was it Jack Sussy's on the name or Jake's? I didn't think it had the Sussy name attached to it. Of course it was started, owned, and managed by Jake Samara.
C. T.

It was a public pool, but not a municipal pool. It was always privately owned. A lot of people also remember it as Jack Sussy's Spaghetti Factory.

[Prunepicker]

Was it Jack Sussy's on the name or Jake's? I didn't think it had the
Sussy name attached to it. Of course it was started, owned, and
managed by Jake Samara.
C. T.

The post you used in the reply didn't mention a restaurant.
Sussy's name was on some of Jake's restaurants. Sussy was a
schmoozer and Jake had the personality of a shark. I don't
remember Jake having his name on anything. Cecil and Carroll
probably told him not to.

[Jim Kyle]

Jake had the personality of a shark. I don't remember Jake having his name on anything. Cecil and Carroll probably told him not to.

As I recall, there was a rather general belief in those days that Jake had some rather close connections with "families" from the east, so it behooved him to keep a comparatively low profile. However he DID put his name on the CowShed way back when. I don't think anyone ever made a direct accusation, though, and I seriously doubt that the belief had any foundation in fact -- rather that it came from his connection to the sleazier side of the entertainment industry.

I do remember quite well when we at the Covered Wagon brought "Cat Girl" Lilly Christine to the OU campus as a publicity stunt. I later sold photos of her with a couple members of the football team to one of the men's magazines. The incident caused the Wagon (the campus humor magazine) to be shut down, and editor Ross Cummings got a job as her press agent, and eloped to New Orleans with Joy Phillips. (Ross later came back to OKC and for a time was a newscaster for WKY-TV, using the air name Reed Connelly. He subsequently founded a PR firm.)

[Prunepicker]

Cool story, Jim.

[ctchandler]

Prunepicker,
Actually, I responded with the quote and in the quote bornhere said Jack Sussy's Spaghetti Factory. I guess that's where the confusion is. Anyway, I thought it was Jakes Spaghetti Factory. Thanks.
C. T.

The post you used in the reply didn't mention a restaurant.
Sussy's name was on some of Jake's restaurants. Sussy was a
schmoozer and Jake had the personality of a shark. I don't
remember Jake having his name on anything. Cecil and Carroll
probably told him not to.

[USG '60]

It was Jake's heirs from whom John Belt bought the building.

[skyrick]

Was the Yellow Sub on the east side of Paseo about the middle of
the block?

It was across the street from the Psyche-Deli sandwich shop and the Electric Chair clothes store. I never carried a compass down there. I lived around the corner at NW 32nd and Walker.

[phinzup]

I used to go swimming there in the 50's....as has been said, it was a public pool but not a municipal one. Good memories there.