A Little Nostalgia

I’ve always been a fan of the past, and have been one ever since looking in the encyclopedia one day as an eleven year-old and finding out that my surname meant something. In fact, I still remember thinking as a kid one time about television, “How did they get the cameras back in time to film the western shows?” lol. Ah, the wonderings of a kid. But it was my initiation into realizing that The World existed long before I was born, and getting to know that part of time, can be worth your while. I used to get frustrated at not knowing that song that is on the tip of your tongue, and now they have an app for that on your desktop computer. For some reason, I have to constantly accumulate knowledge, and even when I’m sleeping, I have an iPad at my bedside, reading a book, or playing a documentary while I sleep. The sounds of course drown out my tinnitus, but I feel that my brain is listening even when I’m at rest; and the theory is comparable to expectant mothers playing classical music through headphones placed on their belly.

The Home of the Montgomery Historical Society, the Davis Law Office, left, and the Davis Cottage on the right, from the late 80s to early 90s. 20th Century, not 19th Century

I love finding things out about the past. I occasionally look up someone in a yearbook just to see what they’ve been up to. One time, I searched for a girl I dated in high school, and found that she had passed away in an auto accident. It took me for a little loop in reference to mortality, and the fact we will all pass on one day, was a bit unsettling. Laura was her name. And I was glad she married and had several children, and had traveled to South America, Patagonia, when she was younger. I know I’ve had my close calls, but to see it with people that you would expect to still be with us, alive. That can take a little out of you.
I love to watch videos on YouTube on occasion, with channels of various names, like Retro Reflections, or Vintage Visions, which show photos of people or celebrities from different times, generally from the 1920’s to 1990’s. Still other channels focus on historical photos from even earlier to generally the 1990’s. It’s a great way to refresh my brain after writing a story or Op-Ed, and the instrumental music is relaxing and for the most part enjoyable. For me, it’s living a history that I haven’t lived. The photos of Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Grace Kelly, Barbara Bouchet, we know how they looked later in life, but to see them when they were young and in their prime is absolutely remarkable. And occasionally, if I see a celebrity or historical person that I don’t recognize, I’ll stop and do a quick internet search on them. For instance, Barbara Eden, from ‘I Dream of Genie,’ was shown in one photo. I hadn’t heard from her, and thought she might have already passed away; but no, she is 93, and still kicking.

To see photos of regular people getting in the car or picnicking in the 1930’s, 40’s, 50’s etc, is again, remarkable, and a reminder that anyone who has ever lived, has taken their own memories with them when they passed. And a way to capture those memories with the invention of photography, which is almost 200 years ago, is but a hundredth of a millisecond in human history. And no doubt there are a centrillion more memories of humans than any billions of photos that have been taken in the last two centuries.

Technology allows us a lot of memories to relive that we probably remember from back in the day. If you want to watch the 1977 World Series, Game 6, between the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers, just type it in; and you can see Reggie Jackson running off the field after the final out, bowling down fans as he ran to the locker room. Of course, Jackson hit three home runs off of three pitches in that game.

Just last week, with the anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission to The Moon, one YouTube Channel ran the epic journey in real time from start to finish. Now for someone that was born in the 21st Century, I find it remarkable for them to be able to relive on the internet on an anniversary date from the past. And it doesn’t stop there. There are channels that are dedicated to the recordings of old books, which can be beneficial to students and adults alike, who need help in reading, by reading along with the recording. And it may seem like I’m digressing, but there are memories in there from the old books we read as kids.
For baseball fans, the Astros have already been a generation in Daikin Park (formerly Minute Maid), but they go back to the Astrodome, and old Colt Stadium prior to that. But the really old timers may remember Buffalo, or Busch Stadium, which was near the University of Houston, The old Houston Buffaloes were a St. Louis Cardinals farm team, but there are tons of pictures of the old stadiums out there, where MLB teams of the past played that are but fading memories, but to see the old days of baseball, its glory days, just knowing is worth it. It’s possible to relive the early years of baseball, to see in World Series games, where fans were lined in the outfield, acting as the wall. You can see the really weird dimensions of the fields, where flag poles were posted in the field of play, and the left field fence was a real monster, while to the right field was short. It gives us good memories, when we went to the Astrodome for an Astros or Oilers game ourselves.
If you are a student reading about history, there are chances that there is a documentary somewhere on the subject. And even for us adults, who are tired of Adolf Hitler hogging the historian’s attention. There are histories of every subject that can be studied. Even locally, there are YT Channels that focus on Texas History, and even some on Montgomery County, et al. But that does not stop us from other avenues of history. You can learn of the early Japanese Emperors, and how the Western powers carved their way into influence of not only the Japanese, but China, and Indo-China.

The FM 1097 bridge, official “The Rotary Friendship Bridge,” built in 1972, just in time for the filling of the lake in 1973

There are tons of pictures to see what the Alamo looked like from the 1850’s on, what Conroe and Montgomery looked like back in the past, even what Lake Conroe looked like as the dam was being built. Did you know the 1097 bridge across Lake Conroe was built in 1972, before the lake filled in 1973? It’s amazing how Historic Montgomery has changed over the years. Up until 1920, there was a line of shops along the south side of College Street, generally where the Rancher’s Daughter shop is now, which burned. The Homewood estate is shown in the photo, which was built in 1887, so the photo is estimated to have been taken in the 1890s.

Of course not all of us were born in Montgomery, in fact very few of us were. But as we grow with the county, over time it becomes part of us. What happened in Montgomery in 1837 to today becomes my history, your history, and we take pride in that. The same goes for Conroe, Willis, Magnolia, The Woodlands, Dobbin, Tamina, Cut-N-Shoot, from Stagecoach, Grangerland, to New Caney. We are all proud citizens of a stand-out county in Texas that means something. Our Reverence for Veterans, Our History in the Founding of the State, the little nooks and crannies of history, entertainment, dining, recreation, which allows for the creation of memories, that one day we will consider nostalgic. Remembering when?

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net