Sammy's Westcliff

Sammy's was part of a small chain of restaurants in Dallas. Two brothers, Bennie and Carlo Messina, bought the original Sammy's on Greenville Avenue from its founder, Sam Lobello, in 1932. By 1945 there were two more restaurants - Sammy's Highland Park, and Sammy's Drive-In. Bennie, Carlo, and another brother, Victor, would eventually increase their holdings to five restaurants.

This Sammy's, as the name implies, was situated at Westcliff Mall, which was the "only air-conditioned mall in Oak Cliff" when it was built in 1963-64. (Big Town was still the biggest air conditioned mall in North Texas.) It opened in 1965 with a dining room serving steaks and Italian food, a coffee shop and a private club. I heard someone recall they particularly enjoyed lemon sherbet for dessert there. The restaurant's prime time of operation was probably about 1965-1970.

Helm Pontiac Co.

2 matchbook covers from 1955. Helm Pontiac, at 128 S. Lancaster (just south of Jefferson) opened in December 1953. The dealership was owned by Walter Helm, who ran it until 1956 when it was sold to L. O. Taylor and became Taylor Pontiac.  The building site on Lancaster is now an empty lot.

T&M Service Station

Located at 4001 West Jefferson, on the north side, at the corner of Redbud Lane near downtown Cockrell Hill. This matchbook is probably from the late 40’s or early 1950’s from the 6-digit phone number. In 1962 the name of the gas station had been changed to Monty’s Humble Service. (Maybe Monty was the “M” in T&M?) In February of 2010 the building no longer had gas pumps. It was home to Kino’s Body Shop.

Marsalis Sanitarium

Postcard circa 1910. The Marsalis Sanitarium  was located at 45 Marsalis, near Lake Cliff. It was advertised as “Cool, quiet, modern. Seven minutes’ ride from Dallas News office.” The sanitarium was was in operation as early as 1906, when Doctors Reuss & Smart advertised their availability for surgery there. By 1909 Dr. J.H. Reuss had an additional practice at the Wilson Building in downtown Dallas. After 1910 there is no mention of the sanitarium in the newspaper.