Effie Leona Henson Oldham The things we find on the internet, while searching for other things. :-) Memories from Effie Oldham: Dear Linda, I was raised on the west side in Red Fork, and remember riding the bus to Tulsa on Saturday mornings to attend one of the theaters downtown. It seemed every kid in Tulsa went there. The leaders divided us up into teams and we had all kinds of contests on stage. I remember the bubble gum blowing contests, spelling, just questions about movies and movie heroes. Our heroes then were Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, Wild Bill Elliot, Zorro, Superman, and on and on. They showed Serials for us (progressive episodes each week with a cliffhanger at the end, so you would come back and see what happened.) Oh, yes, anyone remember waiting for the bus at Skaggs, 5th & Main? When the weather was bad the owner allowed people to wait inside and watch out the window for the bus to come. I remember the black people always sitting on the back row of the bus and wondering why. Then I remember when they were able to sit anywhere on the bus, like the rest of us, use the public bathrooms and go to the same restaurants, etc.. That made me happy. I remember DWHS (Daniel Webster High School) being one of 10 schools in the nation being chosen as a pilot school for de-segregation. Soon after, Jackie Robinson visited our school and spoke in assembly. Remember the Mezanine in (I think) Vandevers? That is where the bathrooms were and you could look out over the wall and see downstairs. Remember Seidenbachs (The ritzy store) and Lerners, just down from them for us poor folks? I remember loving to ride the elevator at the National Bank of Tulsa. My aunt was an elevator operator there and she would let me ride up and down several times when I went there to see her. It went soooo fast and my tummy seemed to jump right up into my chest. Anyone remember skating at the Arena? We would ride the bus to downtown and transfer to another bus to get there. Or, sometimes we would just walk from 5th & Main to 11th & close to Lewis where the Arena was located. It was near the Warehouse Market. If anyone offered us a ride, we would take if we wanted to, with no fear of danger. How about the Cove Theater in Red Fork, the Crown Drug Store and Dooleys Drug Store, Kempers and Beards Restaurants, the Belair drive in. Does anyone remember the cafe across the railroad tracks and Sapulpa Rd (now SW Blvd) from Webster High School? They had the best chili on the west side and Shine, the owner was so good to all the kids. It was off limits, but we went anyway. How about Albertys, across from the DWHS auditorium, and her hot meat sandwiches? Does anyone remember the road out south of Red Fork that was famous for having tarantula spiders? Anyone remember Rock Crusher Road out by Berryhill and Sand Springs? Oh, the name of the park on Sapulpa Road by West Tulsa is or was Reed Park. That is where impetigo broke out one year and all the pools in town closed. Anyone remember Jimmies Delicatessen next to the Cove Theater. Paula and Jimmy ran it. It had a juke box, sandwiches and burgers and a dance floor. Also Crows, across from Clinton Jr. High. It was just a store, then they built on to the back and put in a juke box and started making lunches there. We could also dance. And, yes, we thought nothing of walking long distances in those days. Many times we kids walked from Red Ford, down through West Tulsa, across the 11th street bridge, and then down the railroad tracks to Newblock swimming pool. Then come back the same way after a full day of swimming. We also walked the railroad tracks in Red Fork over to the Crystal City swimming pool. anyone remember the kids programs at Howard Park by Pleasant Porter Elementary school? We played horseshoes, played in the wading pool, had swings and a merry go round, even did crafts. Remember the amusement park out North and the watermelon stand on the corner of, I think Admiral and Apache? Effie Henson Oldham Many of the older readers may remember some of the hot spots of the 40s. How about the Casa Del at 11th st & Yale ( I think). Or the Casa Loma ball room at Crystal City. This is the same Crystal City that also was an amusement park. During WWII the servicemen on furlough enjoyed dancing to Glenn Miller style music until the wee hours. If open air was more your style you would go to the Blue Moon on a hill on North Cincinnati at about 56th street North. The Mills Brothers appeared there from time to time. Great in the summer time. The dance floor was totally in the open as was the band stand. Downtown you could always find a lot of action at the Music Box. I remember it being on south main in about the 1000 block. The St Moritz was another good downtowner that developed a bad reputation. Of course if you wanted to go to the edge of town on east Admiral you would find the Band Box. Going a long way back the Buck Horn at Admiral & Yale was a good spot. It was a drive in that had a large outdoor stage. Singers would perform using a megaphone since P.A. systems were not yet available. You just drove up to the stage, with car windows down, and enjoyed. Another little gem was the Night Spot at about Admiral & Harvard. Small but very friendly. Of course we cant forget Cains Ballroom the home of Bob & Johnny Lee Wills. Still in operation but nothing like it was in the 40s. tulsaokhistory/bitsnpieces/memorylane_2.html
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 02:22:07 +0000
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