December leftovers - 2

More leftover photos from December...

Owl Cigar ads on east wall of Tindall Storage building - downtown Fort Worth

Post office, Grocery & Market - Fort Worth Stockyards

Rominger & Co. Horses & Mules - Fort Worth Stockyards

L.L. Herring Tavern - Fort Worth Stockyards

A foggy day in Saginaw - December 14

Catching up with the Frankenford

I've seen this unique truck on the freeway a couple of times while driving to work. A few Saturdays ago, I caught up with it for a closer look, parked behind an oil change place near the corner of Western Center and Beach.

"the Frankenford"

A partial parts inventory is listed on the hood.

rear view of Frankenford

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nr: John Steinbeck - Grapes of Wrath

np: Scott Miller & Commonwealth - "Ciderville Saturday Night"

a different side of Ft Worth - IV

Uniquely Fort Worth


Not many things outside of a good train chase or a bike ride can even motivate me to leave the house, much less travel outside of my neighborhood "comfort zone". But I do like to travel and see different things, and after three and a half years of seeing the same stuff every day, sometimes it's good to just get out and experience a change of scenery. In our neighborhood -- one of those "master planned communities" -- the landscaping and buildings and homes all look clean and sterile and borderline artificial. It's not an unpleasant setting in which to live; it just feels a little too "generic". The strip shopping centers with their Subways and 7-Elevens and donut shops and nail salons could be ANYWHERE in suburban America. To look at them as I drive down the street numerous times each day, I see nothing that helps give the area an identity that sets it apart from, say... suburban Phoenix or suburban St Louis or suburban Atlanta or suburban Cleveland -- nothing that tells people, "this is Texas."

So it was the promise of finding some things uniquely "Fort Worth" -- red brick buildings displaying fading names of long-closed hotels; storefront signs shaped like boots and horses and stetson hats; brick streets; cattle barns; abandoned slaughterhouses; tacky gift shops; mysterious side-street saloons -- that lured me down to the Stockyards last Monday morning.

As you might have concluded from all the photos, I didn't come home disappointed.

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np: Mark Davis & Hal Jay - WBAP morning show

nr: Ayn Rand - the Fountainhead

a different side of Ft Worth - III

More stuff that caught my eye last Monday in the Fort Worth Stockyards...

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np: Mr. T Experience - "New Girlfriend"

nr: Ayn Rand - the Fountainhead

a different side of Ft Worth - II

More from the Fort Worth Stockyards last Monday, including the daily cattle drive...

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np: Mark Davis and Hal Jay - WBAP morning show

nr: Ayn Rand - the Fountainhead

a different side of Ft Worth - I

As mentioned previously, I spent some time in the Fort Worth Stockyards on Monday looking for fading ads and ghost signs. (See my entries from Sept. 25 and Sept. 26). But I found lots of other interesting stuff at which to point my camera.

The Stockyards is one of those places that is uniquely Texan... uniquely Fort Worth, in fact. Part tourist kitsch, part local hangout, the Stockyards offers something for almost everyone -- whether you're a first-time visitor to Texas or a lifelong resident. Its streets are lined with gift shops and western wear stores, with an ample number of bars ("saloons" in Stockyards parlance) and restaurants. In the Stockyards, you can buy a "Texas-sized" fly swatter or you can buy a saddle. You can mingle with conventioneers inside the cavernous Billy Bob's, or you can kick back and listen to Mark David Manders (or dozens of other "Texas" musicians) at the White Elephant or Rodeo Exchange. You can chow down on a sirloin at Cattlemen's Steak House, or sample Texas wild game at the Lonesome Dove.

Anytime I travel, I take notice of things that are unique to the places I'm visiting -- whether I'm halfway across the world or in a part of my hometown that I haven't seen in a year or two. Here are a few of the uniquely "Stockyards" things that caught my eye on Monday.

"Leave Britney Alone", Kimmel-style

Everyone on the internet was talking about the "Leave Britney Alone" guy, so I finally went on Youtube to see what all the buzz was about. It's a good thing I did, or I might have missed out on the humor of this Jimmy Kimmel monologue and skit. Here, take a look... great stuff! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZAr9E8i3ng

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np: Ray Wylie Hubbard - "Bones"

nr: Ayn Rand - The Fountainhead

Ghost signs - Fort Worth Stockyards II

More "ghost signs" / fading ads from the Fort Worth Stockyards on Monday...

A fading GM / AC Delco sign covers an older ghost sign

Stanford New & Second Hand Furniture

Kimmons Furniture Co.

"We have ???"

Hope you enjoyed 'em. Stay tuned for more images from the Fort Worth Stockyards, coming soon.

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np: Mark Davis & Hal Jay - WBAP morning show

nr: Ayn Rand - the Fountainhead

Ghost signs - Fort Worth Stockyards I

beverages, cigars, and hotels

On Monday, I took a trip down to the Fort Worth Stockyards and found a small gold-mine of "ghost signs" (fading ads, names of long-closed businesses, etc) on the exterior walls of the neighborhood's many brick buildings. Here is a sampling...

Miller ghost ad - North Main St. Fort Worth Stockyards

A Dr. Pepper ad lurks in the shadow of a fire escape beneath a crumbling stucco wall on North Main St.

Royal Crown ad on North Main St.

This Owl Cigar ad was among the more interesting of my discoveries on Monday. It's located on West Exchange St.

Llano Hotel

Stage Coach Hotel - 2408 1/2 N. Main St.

??? Hotel on North Main St.

Enjoy; I'll post a second batch of Stockyard "ghost ads" soon.

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np: Silversun Pickups - "Lazy Eye"

nr: Ayn Rand - The Fountainhead