Pros at Cons

These days, if you wanted to, you could probably attend a scifi or pop culture convention just about every weekend.  Sure, you'd have to travel but probably not as far as you'd think.  The act of standing in line to get a $40 autograph from someone who did something you liked has gone completely mainstream as conventions are popping up everywhere, all the time.

But not so long ago these kind of cons were a lot rarer to find.  They were grass roots initiatives by and for hardcore fans that are now the stuff of legend.  One such convention was HoustonCon.  I stumbled across program for the 1974 HoustonCon and today we're going to check out some of the highlights.

Celebrities

If you found yourself cast in a scifi or superhero show today you'd probably have a clause in your contract necessitating a certain number of convention appearances per year (or at least an incentive for those appearances).  That's why you might find half the CW Network in Lexington, KY or Bozeman, MT on a particular weekend.

But in the good old days, actors had to make their own way to cons and it was usually well after their show was off the air.  And if they charged for autographs, it wasn't anywhere near today's prices.  There was a bit of a negative connotation to these appearances back then as it was sometimes seen as a desperate choice for someone whose acting work had dried up but we've thankfully gotten past that today.

HoustonCon '74 had two primary focuses:  old movie serials and Star Trek.   With those themes, these two were pretty good gets.  Kirk Alyn was the first ever live action Superman on film in the original serials and Walter Koenig served his tour of duty on the U.S.S. Enterprise on the original Star Trek TV series and movies.  There were other actors that were willing to brave the Houston humidity that year but these two are probably the best known today.

Artists

There were a couple of artists listed in the program but I picked Fred Fredericks to feature on the blog because of his contributions to the program itself.  You can see his two page spread above as well as his work on the cover.  At first I wasn't sure if that character was meant to be the Lone Ranger or not because of the weird netting on his mask, but after some quick research, it looks like it is.

Apparently that's the type of disguise the masked man wore in the first Lone Ranger movie serial.  With the convention's movie serial theme, it makes sense that Fredericks would use this design.  He also seemed to be known for his work on the comic strip for pulp hero Mandrake the Magician as well as several cartoon character comics.

Advertisements

First up is an ad for the "All American Book Store" in Hurst which features what I can only assume is a non-authorized appearance by Captain America.  I'm not sure which artist drew him but I'm gonna guess...the store's owner?  I can't find any confirmation that this place is still open but thankfully the ad includes a handy "map" if anyone wants to try and track it down.

The next ad is a great sign of the times.  This was well before the age of Netflix or video on demand, so if a fan wanted to catch their favorite episode of "I Dream of Jeannie" or 'The Flintstones" they'd have to wait until the rerun was rerun.  These bootlegs were presumably for sale on VHS but in 1974 I can't imagine too many people had VCRs.  Like any good page from a decades old convention program, this brings up more questions than answers. 

In addition to the gems I've posted, the program included con rules and schedules, with an emphasis on their screenings of Star Trek episodes and movie serials as well as bios of the other actors, writers and artists that were appearing.  It's a great window into a different time when fandom was a lot more work than it is today...but it looks like it was worth it.

Flashback: Vanishing Texas River Cruise 1986

It was 1986 and the entire state was gripped with Sesquicentennial fever.  But even though there were plenty of special events throughout the year, there were also plenty of non-anniversary adventures throughout the Lone Star State.

One of them was a road trip that my grandparents and great-aunt & uncle took down to Burnet, TX to take the Vanishing Texas River Cruise.  The cruise is still in business today but luckily the gang picked up some post cards and pamphlets that now qualify as vintage (yeah, stuff from the 80's is "vintage" now...feel old yet?)  Here's a look at some of the ephemera you could have grabbed if you had visited in '86, starting with a couple of postcards:

If you're curious about the absolute minutia of what it was like taking the tour a few decades ago then you're in luck!  The grandparents were also able to grab this flyer with details on pricing and meal options:

I'm fairly certain the prices have gone up through the years and possibly the menu has expanded.  According to their website, there are many different themed cruises currently available.  But if it's outdated information that you're looking for then, good news, I've got one more piece for you:

So the next time you're in the area and have a few hours to kill, it might be worth a stop to take a couple of hours and enjoy the river tour and check out the local scenery.  These guys sure seem to be satisfied customers:

Houston Heroes

Previously:

Peter & Frank Do Dallas    - -    The X-Men Visit the State Fair

Tom Landry: The Comic Book

We've seen Marvel Comics superheroes come to Texas before but so far they've been confined to Dallas.  Sure, it's an adventurous city but when out-of-towners want the "Everything's Bigger in Texas" experience they almost inevitably want to visit the biggest city in Texas.  And so it was only a matter of time before Spider-Man and the Hulk showed up in Houston:

What we have here is another newspaper freebie from Marvel Comics in the 80's.  It was given away in the Houston Chronicle and sponsored by Foley's Department Stores (and believe me, you'll get the hint throughout the story).

So what brings our heroes to town?  An emergency at NASA?  Nope, just the further frustrations of Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson:

After lamenting the lack of good NYC based news stories, JJJ is tipped off by Peter Parker about a Houston Chronicle article about rodeo superstar Rex Ryder and Jameson is immediately smitten.  So there's nothing left to do but hop on the first plane for the Lone Star State:

One of the disappointments of the comic is that other than the setting, there are just about no Houston area name-checks.  They head to the rodeo but don't actually say it's the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo.   We don't even get a decent shot of the city skyline.

So we must be content with generic cowboys and cowboy accoutrements at the parade and the stockyards.  And there are a few distinctly non-Houstonian elements at the festivities.  Peter's Spidey Sense kicks in almost immediately as he spots members of the criminal ne'er-do-well gang known as the Enforcers:

So now that Peter Parker is a "Spider-Man with a mission," we turn our attention to the nearby stables, and if you weren't satisfied with the amount of Marvel characters that inexplicably decided to converge on Houston this day, then you're in a for treat!

Yep, the Hulk's alter ego Bruce Banner is still trying to Bill Bixby his way across the country and picked Houston as a place to stop.  Apparently he pulled on his best pair of purple dungarees and got a job at the rodeo.  And it doesn't take long for him to also realize that there's troubling brewing.

So apparently the Enforcers have kidnapped Rex's best girl Annie and decided to use her for leverage to make him throw his Bull Riding event.  And if that wasn't enough, they let him know (for some reason) that they're also going to rob the box office.  That's a pretty ambitious scam for a rodeo caper.

Meanwhile, as Bruce Banner investigates, he makes an additional discovery.  If the triple decker coincidence sandwich that is this story hasn't satisfied you so far then get ready for the fourth heat!

 Yep, the Spider-Man villain "Rhino" has also decided to brave the humidity to rob what must be an amazing box office and he makes Mistake #1: he backhands Puny Banner!  Well, you can guess where this is going...

Yep, the manure hits the fan as two different sets of heroes and villains converge at the rodeo and the results include the Rhino punching a bull...

...Spider-Man "lasso-webbing" the kidnappers...

...the Hulk beating up the Rhino, which inadvertently leads to a van (which was unfortunately left in neutral) being pushed by the two warring brutes down a hill, straight for the runaway wagon that held the kidnapped Annie...

...leading to a daring "double rescue" and solidifying the notion that super heroes cause as many problems as they solve.

So when all was said and done there was nothing left to do but have a celebratory shopping spree...at Foley's, of course:

And with that, our action packed adventure in the Gulf has concluded.  Sure, there's a lot of unanswered questions and a lot of murky motivations but thanks to our heroes, the rodeo funds were saved and Rex and Annie get to ride off into the sunset.

If experience has told us anything it's that it won't be long before the Lone Star state ends up in the comics pages once again...

...to be continued?!?

Postcard From the Past

If you have lived in Dallas at any time in the last several decades then you are familiar with the local ABC affiliate WFAA.  One of the biggest and oldest stations in the area, it is well known for local programming including "gone but not forgotten" gems like Peppermint Place, 8 Country Reporter (A.K.A. 4 Country Reporter, A.K.A. Texas Country Reporter) and Dallas Bandstand.

I recently ran across this vintage postcard from the early 1960's:

It seems a little weird for a TV station to have their own postcard.  That's more of a thing for National Parks, vacation destinations and "World's Largest SuchAndSuch."  But I'm definitely cool with it.

On the back they boast about their top of the line technology:

I feel pretty confident that they've upgraded their equipment since the 60's. As an added bonus, here's an advertisement for the above mentioned Peppermint Place, which was required viewing for kids growing up in the 70's and 80's:

Junk Find Five: Gruene Antique Company

It's time to start a new recurring segment.  We'll go to flea markets, antique shops and swap meets in Texas and find five interesting things for sale.  They may provide some interesting insight into Texas Culture or they may not.  But they are the five items that caught my eye on that particular trip.

Today's stop was at the Gruene Antique Company in New Braunfels, TX.  They are located in the Gruene Historic District and is housed in the historic 1903 Henry D. Gruene building.  It's a huge building that is packed with interesting antique goodies.  So let's see what we found:

5.  Pillsbury Doughboy Teapot & Napkin Holder

Who doesn't love the Pillsbury Doughboy?  I'm always a sucker for advertising mascots.  These might not be too overly vintage but their ceramic nature gives them that potentially breakable and thus temporary lifespan that is a refreshing change of pace in a world of cheap plastic.

4.  Bugle Lamp

Recycling and re-purposing at its finest!  Think about it...what's your lamp at home made of?  Regular lamp stuff?  Wouldn't it be much better if it was made out of a musical instrument?  Yes, yes it would be.

3.  Fiesta San Antonio Dr Pepper Bottle

Full and unopened from 1977, this is a bottle of old school Dr Pepper from the biggest party in San Antonio and is just waiting for an adventurous soda historian to crack it open and give it a try.  (I would not recommend it though.)

2.  Weird Mask

Ok, what is going on here?  I want to assume that this was used historically in maybe the military or possibly in an industrial context but I think we all know that whoever buys it is probably not going to use it for those purposes.

1.  Rotary Pay Phone

If you have kids, a fun game you can play with them would be to give them a 100 guesses to figure out what this is.  It bears practically no resemblance to the sleek rectangles they stare at all day and was only used for talking.  It will blow their minds!

I Double Dairy You

Hey check it out!  It's an all new episode of East Texas Explorer!  If you ever wanted to visit the Southwest Dairy Museum in Sulphur Springs, TX (yes, you have) then check out this episode of the podcast:

Matchbook Memories: The Buckhorn Saloon

Sometimes coming across something as mundane as an old matchbook can bring back memories.  So a couple of old matchbooks from the Buckhorn Saloon are a flashback to one of San Antonio's most populous attractions.  These look like they were from the era of the saloon's original location:

The inside of the second one promotes Lone Star beer but there was a time when the Buckhorn proudly served their own custom branded brew:

All this reminiscing brings back memories of our trip there a few years back.  Here's some video we shot highlighting some of the more unusual things in their collection:

Long Lost Love

If you've had a hankering to lay your eyes on Love Field Airport in Dallas circa 1962 then your best bet is to take a look at the season 2 episode of Route 66 titled "Aren't You Surprised to See Me?"  The beginning of the episode starts with the episode's crazy antagonist arriving at the airport: