Editor’s note: This content originally appeared in a 2020 e-newsletter.
Fairgoers in mid-20th century Dallas had few better options than arriving by streetcar. The old Dallas streetcar system began with mule-drawn cars in 1872 and ended when the Oak Cliff line went out of service in 1956. At its peak in the 1930s, the system had more than 300 cars in service. Watch this footage of the streetcar pulling into Fair Park in 1953. (More)
THE BACK STORY
Cang! Clang! Clang! Here’s a deeper look into the 84-year history of the bygone Dallas streetcar. (More)
Watch this rare seven-second clip that shows the old streetcar moving across the Trinity River. (More)
Lucky’s Hot Chicken turned a former laundromat in Old East Dallas into a restaurant. Before it was a laundromat, it was a restaurant, Brink’s Coffee Shop, one of legendary Dallas restaurateur Norman Brinker’s early ventures.
DEEP ELLUM BLUES
Jazz appreciation: Fort Worth native Ornette Coleman played and composed jazz like no one before him. A new biography about the saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist and bandleader, born in 1930, starts with the church music of his Jim Crow-era childhood. It touches on his Dallas-centric influences, such as Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker, and “The Shape of Jazz to Come.” (New York Times)
Maybe free jazz isn’t for everyone, but if you like Ornette, then get to know Oklahoma native Don Cherry, too. (Blue Note)
