Patricia Bissonnet (Bissonnet)

i doubt my dad knew in the 1950's that Percy Foreman had such a bad reputation.He only knoew what he read in the papers. Daddy was a working stiff who was simply eating his hot dog next to a famous man who at that time didn't distance himself from the little guy. No name dropping intended.  Just a tale from the past.  

Robert (Ben) Carbo

Lindy Clarke (Hall)

Percy was a cousin (2nd cousin or something) of my ex-mother-in-law.... her maiden name was Foreman, and she either was born or grew up in Lovelady TX. Percy had a bunch of cars in a garage on Milam.. Most were in lieu of payment or partial payment. Wish I'd made an offer on one of them... it never occured to me.
Percy was also a dirty old man... I never met him, but heard stories...

Roger Felton

See, it just goes to show ya that, if you want your kid to grow up with all their synapses firing in the right order, don't name your kid "Percy"!!  No wonder he had loose screws between his ears.  Might as well have named him "Heather".  It sounds like "purse-eee".  That name set him up for a life of pure hell, I'd imagine.

Johnny Carson came up with a great name...Big Jim Sledge.  Nobody in their right mind would even think of picking on a guy with that name.  But Percy...OMG...he had to have been kicked and punched by bullies clear on into Law School.  Goofy names make goofy people....

If I had another boy I'd have named him "Sharky" or "Gunner".  If it were a girl I'd have named her "Big Bertha".  She'd have had her first date at around 40, I'd guess, and I wouldn't have had to wait up late till some biker dude dropped her off.  Raising a girl named Big Bertha would have been a snap, too, cause most of her childhood would have been spent in therapy and she'd end up making a lot of money driving a truck.

Take your time, plan ahead and choose those names carefully.

Robert (Ben) Carbo

Robert (Ben) Carbo

Sandy Spears (Koslosky-Siddall)

So, Benny, do you get to say What were you thinking driving into an underpass in a downpour! Or do you have to be politically correct? Hmmm. And I thought I needed a lot of patience to deal with 8th graders. :-)

Loved those Saturday mornings at the theater. A whole heater full of kids having a good time. Seems we could stay for the regular movie for, what, .25cents? And remember they had special days/activities like the yo-yo company came and there were contests.

Roger Felton

Ah, Sandy, the yo yo contests!  Every time I tried to "walk the dog" my yo yo would hike a leg.  Hey, do you remember your popcorn cups and getting a free somethingorother if you got a star at the bottom.  I think there was a different prize for multiple stars.  Guys with flashlights would help you find a seat.

Nowadays the only thing at the bottom of your popcorn cup is a quarter inch of that sludge they call canola oil.  I want my butter back!!!

Sandy Spears (Koslosky-Siddall)

I'd forgottten about the ushers. We thought that would be such a cool job, except for trying to stop the necking in the back of the theater. ;-)

Roger Felton

Sandy, do you remember the time the usher went to the back and shined his light on a young couple.  The kid told him, "Ah, sir, we're just necking".  "Well", the usher said, "put your neck back in your pants and watch the movie!".

I think ushers had a tuff job...be like trying to herd cats I suppose.

Roger Felton

I remember when we moved into our new house in Mangum Manor on October 9th, 1956.  Most beautiful home we ever lived in.  We didn't mind that it didn't have air conditioning cause we didn't know what A/C was back then.  But we did know that we were out in the boonies.  I could sit in my backyard and watch real cowboys rope and brand cattle in that big pasture right across the gully.

For some reason, one of the memories that stands out was the elememtary school bus.  The bus stop was right in front of your house, Sandy, but I don't remember if you were living there yet.  But I remember that bus was really old.  It had wooden bench seats and rattled like a toolbox in a tornado.  What I vividly recall was the lady driver we had and having to drive that tin can of a bus.  It was a 4-speed standard shift and the gearbox was a health hazard. 

Every so often that big tall gearshift with that big black knob at the top would pop out of gear with a big banging thud sound and nearly break her hand.  She'd take a bunch of old folded up rags and use it for a gearknob pad but it didn't help much.  Many days when we got to school the lady bus driver would have tears in her eyes from the pain in her hand. 

Looking back, as I'd get off that rolling deathtrap, I wish I'd have hugged that lady and thanked her for putting up with that pain so that her kids could get to school.  Never knew her name but she was one fine lady.

James King

Mrs. Herridge was the bus driver's name at Cooley.

Roger Felton

Thanks James!  There is no way I could have ever remembered her name.  Did you ever ride on that bus?  If I had to name it I'd have called it "Christine" since it put our lives in jeopardy twice a day.

James King

Roger, 

I rode the bus to Cooley from 1st grade to 6th.  The bus you wrote about with the continuous wooden bench seats along the sides was the substitute bus.  When I went to Hamilton Jr. High the bus driver was Red Mitchel who allowed us to board and exit the bus via the back emergency door.  The Waltrip bus driver, Mr. West, didn't go for that.

Roger Felton

Are we talking about the same bus that wouldn't stay in gear and would break a wrist if you had your hand on the shift knob when it decided to pop?  I don't remember much about the others...just the ones with the excitement.  Coulda been a "back up" bus that wouldn't back up, I suppose.  I don't think the HISD would allow anything like that to carry kids in these days.

James King

Yes, we are talking about the same bus probably built in the late '30s.  It was a substitute that was used when the main bus was out of service.

Roger Felton

Well, it did get us to Cooley and back without ever breaking down that I can remember.  With antique vehicles selling for fortunes these days, I wonder what that old rust-rattler would sell for now if it were still around.

Funny, ain't it...wine, cars, guns, darn near everything gets more valuable as it ages except me. 

Teddie Jordan ' 64

James and Roger, I think I saw your old Cooley school bus at a Niftee Fiftee's car show out in Spring a few years ago. It was said to be a late 30's vintage body and had been slightly updated to include a plush limo type interior with leather couches and  carpet and with a blown big block Chevrolet engine. It is safe to say the trip to Cooley would now be quicker, but much more memorable!

Roger Felton

It sure would have been nice to get on a school bus and not have to cross your fingers...

James King

Teddie, that's the wrong bus, our bus didn't have fender skirts.

Eileen Elizabeth Waller (Sidlo)

I'm amazed to see talk about Cooley!  I had completely forgotten that anyone who went to Waltrip could have gone to Cooley as well.  I was in Miss Warren's third grade class, and Ithink Mr. Stead's 5th grade.  Does anyone remember the restrooms in the basements?  

Roger Felton

Yep, no fender skirts...but I think the bus did have a blown engine a few times.....

Eileen, I remember those restrooms.  I think the cafeteria was down in that hole, too.  I think if the Alamo had a basement, the walls would have looked like that dungeon.

I never realized that the school was named after some relative of Dr. Denton Cooley.

Stephen Ray Puckett

Daniel Cooley Elementary 1894-1961.  It was the 1st elementary school in the Houston Heights.

1951:

1954:

An older photo:

Article about the big fire of Feb 11, 1961, with photos: http://blog.chron.com/bayoucityhistory/2011/11/daniel-cooley-elementary-school/#photo-28486

James King

Eileen, I was in Mr. Steed's 5th grade class.  Mr. Steed would doze off at his desk then Terry Seelhurst, Roger Dyer and I would sneek out of class and go to the basement rest room and goof off.  When Mr. Steed awoke and realized we were missing he would go to the basement to find us.  We could hear his wooden heals on the concrete floor and take off out the back door and go back to class.  When he returned to class the beatings would begin. 

Joyce Barta (Bayersdorfer)

Yes, I remember Mr. Steed's 5th grade class, and Mrs. Wilson's 6th grade class at Cooley.  I also remember the cement dungeon of a basement with bathrooms.  Those were the days!   BTW, Cooley Elementary was named after the father of Denton A. Cooley MD, a dentist in the Heights.  Coincidentally, I worked for Dr. Cooley at the Texas Heart Institute (medical writing and editing, and PR) for 20 years.  Dr Cooley will be 96 in August.