January 16 2006 at 13:58:13
Name: Webmaster
Comments: It's time for Accountability...Burns, that is.

This hardy perennial candidate is on the ballot for mayor once again. Show your support on this poll at Tulsa Today. I believe he's our hoss in this race.

January 16 2006 at 11:38:01
Name: P. Casey Morgan
Email: p-casey-morgan@utulsa.edu
Location: Public Radio Tulsa
Comments: The subject of Tulsa roller skating rinks comes up every now and then in the Edison chatroom, so I'm fairly accurate on this. I think. The skating rink at 37th and Peoria, across the street from Trinity Methodist Church, was the Coliseum, owned (or maybe just run) by one of the Hucketts, who also owned a couple of bowling alleys. The rink near 11th and Peoria was the Continental. The one out on I-44 was the Glider. And the tiniest rink I ever saw, much less skated on, was at Mohawk park. You pretty much just turned all the time.

January 15 2006 at 14:04:15
Name: Scott Linder
Location: Hollywood-land
Comments: Yes the deli in Brookside was indeed Tex Meyer's. I was a frequent patron. The food was simply the best kosher food west of N.Y. The corned beef and pastrami were first-rate, and the potato salad was just wonderful. I moved to NYC soon after and found a similar salad at the Wilgold Deli on 33rd, just west of Madison Square Garden where I was employed at the time. They delivered to our offices each day....ummmm. So are there any good kosher delis in T-Town now?

January 15 2006 at 13:58:21
Name: Jim Reid
Location: Dallas
Comments: I remember Tex Meyer and his deli. I think it now a liquor store or a frame shop. Can't remember.

There was a roller rink on the west side of Peoria at about 37th or 38th. It's now a very nice resturant where I had a nice prime rib last time I was in Tulsa.

January 15 2006 at 11:59:51
Name: David Bagsby
Email: dcbatsunflower.com
Location: Lawrence KS
Comments: According to my in-laws who lived in the Brook area, the deli was Tex Meyer's...brother of bookseller Lewis Meyer. The only rink they recall was at 11th and Peoria but don't remember the name.

Also said in-law, Sandy Sterling, used to work at Ch. 23 and was an occasional on the Creature Feature. She has tapes of the show but they are on Beta...anyone know where to get those transfered?

January 15 2006 at 10:00:20
Name: Terri
Email: ru4osu2@msn.com
Location: over here
Comments: Can anyone tell me the name of the Kosher Deli and the skating rink, situated in the Brook Theater vicinity, early 60's ?

January 14 2006 at 14:29:36
Name: Charles
Location: Fargo, ND
Comments: Put me down as another member of FHC and former student of Weird Ward! Hail Elom!

January 14 2006 at 11:13:46
Name: Weird Ward
Email: oleweirdward@yahoo.com
Location: FHC Cavern
Comments: I Broke Ole Clyde's Head For Nothing

HAIL ELOM!

Greetings to ol' Hansom Ransom (a.k.a. Rancid)!

Well, hello again! Great to see you here.

Mr. Pat Ward was my Chemistry teacher at East Central H.S. in 1969-70. He is one of the best ever, and his class was highly entertaining to boot. Mr. LeMoine was also a student of his.

January 13 2006 at 20:44:04
Name: Dana LeMoine
Email: d4wdw@valornet.com
Location: 11th Street Drive-In
Comments: I saw where David Hasselhoff filed for divorce from his wife Pamela Bach. I knew Pamela as Pam Weisenbach in high school at good ole East Central. Used to give her rides home from school. A really sweet girl.

January 13 2006 at 15:10:41
Name: Erick
Email: ericktul@yahoo.com
Location: Tulsa
Comments: The stenciling of inspirational words you see along Riverside that now adorns manhole covers, etc was at least partially done by KRMG's Rick Couri for his annual Operation Aware fundraiser a couple of years ago.

McClain High School...isn't it now TSST (Tulsa School of Science and Technology)?

January 13 2006 at 12:20:44
Name: Stephen Spees
Location: Texas
Comments: Tulsa Spots from the 70's.

I just got back from T-town, driving the Restless Ribbon of Peoria. I also took a picture of the Northside, which has not changed in some respects but has in others.

The Riverside drive has some concrete deco with pictures painted on them. Some modern art and others are words that are intangible personal values like "compassion", "committment" and such. Also, the drive has some bronze work of eagles and other "modern" artwork that dots the many miles of drive there. Anyone know the stories on those?

The mansion on Riverside that I believe is owned by B.B. Bell is still looking good...that still owned by the family?

The "Sandys" on the northside is now gone. It was across from the McLain HS, (now, not a school at all). Generally my old stomping grounds are fairly run down. I guess that is progress for some and regress for others.

January 13 2006 at 09:24:07
Name: Lowell Burch
Email: lburch3atcoxdotnet
Location: Third person on the left in the chorus line -
Comments: I remember all of those old eating places and have a lot of stories for each one of them. In high school, I worked at the Burger Chef on north Peoria. It was almost brand new. They paid me fifty cents an hour (which was very low pay even way back then) but they promised me all the hamburgers I could eat. Well, that arrangement didn't last long. After two days, I had eaten up all of their profits and that put an end to that agreement! And I sure wasn't going to put in six hours a night scrubbing grills for 3 bucks!

End of story: The job wouldn't have lasted long anyway since the place folded, along with the rest of the Northside, within a few months, anyway.

January 13 2006 at 03:14:21
Name: Larry Dombski
Email: Brsfan47@aol.com
Location: Burger Chef
Comments: I almost forgot about Burger Chef! Used to eat there during lunch hour at about 23rd and Sheridan when going to Nathan Hale high school around 1972-1975. Does anybody remember Griff's Hamburgers which used to be across the street from where McDonald's is right now? My family used to eat there about twice a week when I was young.

January 13 2006 at 01:07:01
Name: edwin (itself)
Email: yup
Location: There's a hard place on one side.......
Comments: I think we can surely find the site Master another 3/4" machine? I'll give you another if we can't find one soon....But...Let me come clean those dirty heads first?

January 12 2006 at 23:49:44
Name: John Young
Email: johnk662561atyahoodotcom
Location: Lookin' For a Burger Chef
Comments: Mike...

Those restaurant pics reminded me of something. Out on North Peoria, between 36th and 46th street north, there are the ruins of an old Burger Chef restaurant. There's a lot of junk in front of it, but the metal frame of the original restaurant is still there. It's kinda cool but sad at the same time.

January 12 2006 at 23:10:19
Name: Webmaster
Comments: Here's a photo of fast food signs of the past (e.g., Sambo's, Minnie Pearl's Fried Chicken, Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips), with commentary.

Tulsa motel/restaurant pix in the Photo Briefcase.

1/13: Check out the restoration at Casa Viva (formerly Casa Bonita).

January 12 2006 at 20:34:18
Name: roy lee
Email: beerdrunk@msn.com
Location: the open door!
Comments: Hey Dave, thanks for reminding us about the Open Door coffee house. I was a regular there in the last year or so of high school. I had forgotten the name of the place though. the thing I do remember is that 20 years later I was talking with the great Rocky Frisco and he remembered ME from the open door. I guess I must have made some kind of impression!

As for Christina's Introductions, I worked for a guy a few years ago who had gone down to Peru with them to git him a woman. She's a pediatrician, and he doesn't work. I guess it worked for some people...

January 12 2006 at 19:49:15
Name: greg
Email: gagray@rogersandbell.com
Location: 8th floor, NBT Building, Tulsa,3, Oklahoma
Comments: Mike,

What ever happened to the tapes of Christina's International Introductions that fell into your hands an couple of years ago? Any chance we might see some footage of "marriage-minded Jungle Girls" anytime in the near future?

Well, Edwin passed along an old recorder capable of playing these professional tape cartridges, but it petered out almost immediately. Maybe we can get that going this year. I know there are lots of "jungle girl" fans out there.

To tide you over, here is the 1996 version of Christina's web site, by way of the Wayback Machine. Sorry, most of the pictures seem to be gone. In addition, I can do a mean Wayne Ford impersonation (Christina's dad, who did the voiceovers).

January 12 2006 at 17:02:59
Name: David Bagsby
Email: dcbatsunflower.com
Location: Lawrence KS
Comments: A couple of coffee house type places I don't think were mentioned: Atlantis Rising and the Open Door Arts Co-op. Actually I think these would be more in the health food joint catagory.

January 12 2006 at 15:51:44
Name: roy lee
Email: beerdrunk@msn.com
Location: snortin' whiskey
Comments: I hadn't thought about that one in awhile. The singer for "38 Special" was cuffed and taken from stage to jail for toasting the Tulsa assembly center crowd with a bottle of Jack Daniels. Why didn't someone say something to him when he carried that bottle out onto the stage?

January 12 2006 at 15:13:27
Name: Dana LeMoine
Email: d4wdw@valornet.com
Location: Walter Reed Elementary
Comments: To Jerry, I believe it was David Lee Roth of Van Halen and it was a bottle of Jack Daniels. I could be wrong though as that happened a long time ago in a concert hall far, far away...

January 12 2006 at 14:48:35
Name: Jerry
Email: j_l_crew@msn.com
Location: Tulsa
Comments: Sorry to interrupt the current thread, but before I interrupt, let me also say yes, Lee we are glad to hear the rumors of your demise were greatly exaggerated -- you, along with your KOTV colleagues of the 50’s, 60’s & 70’s are truly a Tulsa treasure.

Back to the interruption, I am still amazed at the memories contained on this site. And I haven't seen this topic discussed in my brief time here, but it would be interesting to put together a list of some of the concert hi-lights that have occurred in Tulsa over the years, especially with pictures and accounts by any who may have been there.

Some nominees that immediately that come to mind: Elvis at the Mabee Center on what was perhaps his last tour (savagely reviewed, as I recall, in the Tulsa World), the BeeGees at the Mabee Center at the height of their popularity, the infamous Willie family picnic at the fairgrounds race track (I’m sure there are some stories there), U2 and the Sex Pistols playing Cain's (separately) early in their careers, and oh yes, let's not forget 38 Special, or was it Lynyrd Skynyrd, who got busted by the TPD for toasting with an open bottle on stage!

How about George Harrison with Leon Russell in Tulsa, 1974, or Leon, Oiler Park, 1971? Or Eric Clapton arrested at the Tulsa airport for throwing suitcases down the bannister?

January 12 2006 at 10:41:20
Name: John Young
Email: johnk662561atyahoodotcom
Location: Still at Bill's T
Comments: To Mike Miller...

Mike, you know how folks in this part of the country feel about stuff like that! "You can slap my sister and kick my dog, but don't ya DARE "interrumpt" my football/baseball/golf/NASCAR for ANYTHING!"

I've lived here all my life and I STILL can't figure those folks out. They'd rather let themselves be blown away than have their "show" interrupted. Of course, if they DID get blown away, they'd also be the first ones to complain about not being warned. Go figure...sigh.

January 12 2006 at 10:34:14
Name: John Young
Email: johnk662561atyahoodotcom
Location: Bill's-T Records
Comments: Glad to see that the Mr. Woodward mentioned in the Tulsa World wasn't OUR Mr. Woodward!

And Lee, don't feel bad about having to get a voucher from the wife. I'm almost 9 years into marriage number three and I sometimes have to get a voucher (and a swift kick in the bee-hind) from the wife just get to the breakfast table!

January 11 2006 at 22:06:16
Name: Dick Loftin
Email: dloftin1@cox.net
Location: Broken Arrow
Comments: I just want to say, since Lee Woodward reads this site often, Thanks Lee for the great letter you wrote to me a good 35 years ago.

I wrote to Lee at Channel 6 expressing my interest in broadcasting - I must have been 10 or 12 - and he wrote back. I was just a kid, hooked on radio and broadcasting, and he took my youthful letter seriously. He wrote back and it was the nicest letter and I always remembered it.

I saw Lee having dinner one night in a restaurant in Tulsa and was tempted to say something, but I didn't want to bother him. What a legend!!

I left radio in November after all these years, but I never forgot Lee's kindness. You're a champ, Lee. And Lionel remains my hero! (PS: God Bless Mr. Zing and Tuffy)

Best to All,
Dick Loftin

January 11 2006 at 18:25:12
Name: Randy Kindy
Email: rkindy@mac-dot-com
Location: Tulsa
Comments: I, for one, am certainly glad you're still with us, Lee. Tulsa wouldn't be the same without you. Neither would Lionel, now that I think about it.

I just remembered one of my favorite "brushes with greatness." Very early in my broadcast career (1973, I think), King Lionel mentioned me on the air, sort of. During some back and forth banter between Lee and Lionel - no doubt to fill a newscast segment that was running short - Lionel poked fun at my odd name. He said, "Hey, there's a guy doing nighttime news on KRMG who has a randy kidney."

January 11 2006 at 16:53:38
Name: Lee Woodward
Location: Earth bound
Comments:

The Web Meister informed me that I was no longer alive, according to a mention in the Tulsa World Obits: It seems that a Robert L. Woodward was announced at the departure gate and too, he had been in the Automobile business. So I checked myself out to make sure it was not me. I asked for voucher from my bride who seemed unsure. We finally agreed however, that I am still here and I extend sympathies to my distant relative's family.

January 11 2006 at 16:11:27
Name: Mike Miller
Location: Houston
Comments: Back in the 70s when I was doing weekend news at Channel 8, I interrupted a taped replay of the Indy 500 to warn of a very serious storm causing heavy flooding in various parts of Tulsa. Joe and Mingo Creek were the culprits as usual.

You would not believe the calls of complaint! The flood warning was NOT appreciated. Wow, what cuss words they used on me. And it wasn't even a live event.

January 11 2006 at 15:17:54
Name: Jerry
Email: j_l_crew@msn.com
Location: Tulsa
Comments: Ain't the web great?!?! For several years now I've been wishing I could get some info about or old recordings of the Johnny Martin Show on KRMG, and bingo, here it is complete with actual snippets of his show. The closest things to time travel one can imagine, as it transports me back to my childhood in the 60s, riding in the back seat of my parents' Fairlane 500 as we head to Oertles for some shopping, Sipes for groceries or Shakeys for some pizza.

Having seen the Tulsa Memories documentaries that were broadcast on KOTV (I believe) several years back and are still available on VHS, I've often wondered if something similar couldn't be done if someone has any recordings of classic Tulsa radio, be it live broadcasts of the Wills from Cain's, Tulsa [baseball] Oilers play-by-play, or my personal favorite, the Johnny Martin Show. I won't even ask for any royalties on the idea, just the opportunity to be the first to buy the CD box set!

January 11 2006 at 01:18:10
Name: roy lee
Email: beerdrunk@msn.com
Location: watchin' the game
Comments: Well that shows that football is more important. He could have been reporting the second coming of Christ, or a plague of locusts. He interrupted the game, and in Oklahoma that's unforgivable!

January 10 2006 at 14:27:02
Name: Erick
Email: ericktul@yahoo.com
Location: Tulsa
Comments: This is just for public consumption...

The Tulsa World has an article today reporting that Fox 23 weekend meteorologist George Flickinger was fired for breaking into an NFL game to warn residents of an evacuation ordered due to grass fires.

This is just my opinion, but this doesn't look good for Fox 23. Would they have fired him for breaking into the game to report a tornado?? Yikes.

January 10 2006 at 13:55:55
Name: Erick
Email: ericktul@yahoo.com
Location: Tulsa
Comments: Yes, Megan Mullally is from OKC. In fact, she once proudly sang the B.C. Clark Jewelers jingle on the Tonight Show a few years back.

January 10 2006 at 08:17:38
Name: Mike Downing
Email: mike@grouchyoldbastard.com
Location: just west of the middle of the night
Comments: I really enjoy reading through the archives here. I am curious to see if anyone has an old picture of the old KELI "Flying Saucer" studios that sat in between Bell's and the midway on the county fairgrounds?

January 10 2006 at 08:09:52
Name: Jim Ruddle
Email: jruddle@earthlink.net
Location: Rye, NY
Comments: After using the search in the TTM archives, I was surprised not to find one important Tulsa TV name: Hugh Franklin. Perhaps I simply missed it.

Franklin was one of Isabelle Ronan's students at Tulsa Central who went on to a career on the stage, a few movies, and a very successful stint as a soap opera actor. He was on "Dark Shadows," "As the World Turns," and for thirteen years as a leading player on "All My Children."

He was born in Muskogee, but at some point the family moved to Tulsa. I don't know exactly which Central class he belonged to, but I imagine it was in the thirties.

Another fellow who came from the area was Gar Moore. He is listed as having been born in Chelsea, but I recall that friends in Tulsa said that his family, or at least his mother, lived in Tulsa. Moore was discovered in Italy by Roberto Rossellini, while with the American occupation forces at the end of World War II, and had a featured part in the classic movie "Paisan." He returned to the states, acted in a couple of movies, married Nancy Walker for a few months, then pretty much disappeared.

Perhaps someone has more about him.

Hugh Franklin was married to Madeleine L'Engle, author of award-winning sci-fi/fantasy novel for young people, A Wrinkle in Time. She wrote a book about their married life, Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage.

January 09 2006 at 22:29:14
Name: Dave
Location: approach for landing
Comments: About the airport restaurant -- I recall in the 60s when the terminal opened it was the Sky Chef restaurant, a white-tablecloth elegant place with a high class menu. It was not a place to eat on the run before a flight. It was a destination restaurant where after dark you could view the blue lights by the runway.

And on a completely unrelated note, I just saw on CMT a program on the 40 greatest men of country music (Number 1: Johnny Cash) hosted by Will and Grace's Megan Mullally. That led me to wonder, "Huh?" She was quite good, so I wondered if there was some country music connection in her past life. The Google search turned up none, but it did reveal that she grew up in Oklahoma City and graduated from Casady High School in the 1970s before moving on to Northwestern University. She also sang with Ballet Oklahoma in OKC while in high school.

Who knew? And why not? If Tulsa could produce Tony Randall, it wouldn't be that far a stretch to find Megan from OKC.

January 09 2006 at 20:47:45
Name: Alison
Email: zarrowmail-abandonedtulsa@yahoo.com
Location: Tulsa
Comments: Abandoned Tulsa will be released by New York's Furnace Press in early February. The mid-town Borders will stock the book. Other Tulsa locations where the book can be purchased will be listed on AbandonedTulsa.com The book can also be purchased on the Furnace Press website.

Abandoned Tulsa, a photographic journey through the city's abandoned historic structures, takes the reader inside the birthplace of televangelism, the Camelot Hotel, a deserted bowling alley, and other obsolete structures. Foreword by Julia Solis, author of New York Underground: Anatomy of a City (Routledge).

January 09 2006 at 19:14:00
Name: Jeannie Dickens
Email: dije812@yahoo.com
Location: Clarksville, Indiana
Comments: Jesse Bewley was suppose to have been in "Wild Boys of the Road" (1933). The family always spelled his name as Jesse, but in the 1930 Central High School Year Book it is spelled as Jessie.

We have heard that he changed his name to Markham. As an actor we heard he used the name "Sambo Brown". We have not been able to verify any of this at all.

January 09 2006 at 09:28:38
Name: Mike Bruchas
Location: at work but maybe not for long
Comments: I was thinking last night about Tulsa International Airport in the pre-9-11 days. Recalling that Scott Blaker and wife, Cherry, had turned me on to dining at the airport in the 70's. The food was a tad higher than off airport grounds but you could still snag metered cheap parking then.

Whomever ran the restaurant had a good chef and menu and it was a medium-priced date joint. Watching planes take off and land may sound very boring in this digital age to most of you. But on a night with no good movies in town - it was a destination with a view. You have to remember that the airport was a showplace in Tulsey. Back then on weekdays the new American Airlines mini-museum was open - but you could peek in on weekends. And walking down the then open "wings" - you could start to walk off dinner. Being a small town - often you ran into friends out there just arriving back in Tulsey. I am sure it is all mini-kiosks or food courts now and bet the "sit-down" restaurant is gone.

What made me mull this over was having traversed thru Harrisburg PA's new great little airport at Xmas-time. Their major restaurant - outside of security, the Varsity Grill, is a draw to folks not flying but has great view of 1 leg of the Y-shaped terminal. It was very busy when the airport was dead quiet!

In the distance: the "west wing" of Tulsa Int'l Airport in the 60s. The airport as seen in "UHF"

January 08 2006 at 19:11:16
Name: Stephen
Location: Texas
Comments: Frank Morrow's Burma-Shave notes are still seen in some parts of the USA highway, usually the lone country roads that have not been driven too much.. Still timely and true even today...

Frank Morrow (not the author of the doggerel on the signs, by the way), Don Norton, David Bagsby, Jim Ruddle, Lowell Burch and others have quoted the signs on this site. Put "Burma-Shave" in this site's Search Engine to find their comments.

Here's a book from the TTM Gift Shop: The Verse by the Side of the Road: The Story of the Burma-Shave Signs and Jingles by Frank Rowsome Jr.

January 08 2006 at 13:04:21
Name: David Bagsby
Email: dcbatsunflower.com
Location: Lawrence KS
Comments: Another tack in locating lost people is to check the city directories from the time period. You could try calling the Tulsa Public Library Reference Desk but it may involve actually looking at the directories yourself. Any clue as to the movies in which he appeared?

The Tulsa Library also offers Ask A Librarian online. I've used it several times and they are good. In fact, I just sent the query...the library wrote back that they are on the case.

And we have a possible answer:

The only thing we are able to find is the following record of Jesse Davis Bewley. This is the only individual listed by the Social Security Death Index who had the first name Jesse and last name Bewley, and was born in Oklahoma and was in California as well. The birth date fits as well.

Social Security Death Index

Name: Jesse D. Bewley
SSN: 524-09-0734
Last Residence: 93292 Visalia, Tulare, California, United States of America
Born: 16 Nov 1913
Died: 17 Jan 1994
State (Year) SSN issued: Colorado (Before 1951 )

You might try the library in Visalia, CA or continue your research in that area, if there is a possibility this could be the right individual.

Hope this is helpful.

Martha
Research Center, Tulsa City-County Library

January 08 2006 at 10:55:44
Name: Jeannie Dickens
Email: dije812@yahoo.com
Location: Clarksville, Indiana
Comments: I am trying to locate information on my uncle, Jesse Bowyer Bewley, who graduated from Central High School in the 1920s. He went to Hollywood and had small parts in some movies and then disappeared. No one ever heard from him again. I'm trying to find an exact date of birth for him and what movies he had parts in. If anyone can be of any help I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you.

I tried IMDb with "Bowyer" and "Bewley"; none of the credits dated far enough back. He could have changed his name, too. No luck with Google, either. The library might have the 1920s "Tom Toms" for Central High. Anyone else have an idea?

January 08 2006 at 10:54:06
Name: Webmaster
Comments: Archived Guestbook 201...