Brownsville Artist: Cande Aguilar

 2006 Browntown  oil on canvas 30 x 40 in

2007 Rio Grande Brownsville Matamoros oil on canvas 24 x 48 in

From Cande's Facebook Page with barrioPOP samples below

barrioPOP is an amalgamation sprung by characters, colors & street phenomena that is my life emerged in popular border town culture, expressed through multimedia such as painting, collage, photography, assemblage, digital collage, image transfer & music.

 2011 The P Monster multimedia painting on panel 60 x 40 in

 Multimedia digital

2012 Los Muertos Suite multimedia painting on diptych panel 72 x 96 in

Cande has  art posted on his webpage with multi-links to other media such as Facebook and all that.  Click on his link below:

CANDEart

Exploring Theaters & Drive-ins of Brownsville, Texas

Thanks to all who read article on the Queen Theater.  We'll take a look at another one of Brownsville's earliest theaters in a future post.  We don't have a full history of each theater but we've come a long way since 2005 this was created in an early version of CorelDraw.   

2005 Javier R. Garcia

 If you'd like to find more stories on Bronsbil Estacion blog you can point mouse to orange blogger "B" at top left and enter search term to find more vintage photos and articles posted here by various sources. 

Sometimes you can find the search term links at the bottom of a post which will show related articles on this blog.  

thanks

If you would like to share a south Texas related history with us contact Brownsvilletrain@yahoo.com.  

Remembering Joe Trevino ~ a KBRO Tribute

1947-48 Ticket-taker Joe Treviño in front of movie poster for Song of Scheherazade starring Yvonne De Carlo who we all remember as Lily on the Munsters.  Joe told me these were good times for him before the Majestic but added with a grin that "fun-time" was after work. 

 

The Brownsville Herald printed a special section for the opening of the Majestic Theater in 1949

Joe Treviño and daughter Sandra with character actor Don Stroud at Fort Brown Motor Hotel restaurant.  Movies:  Bloody Mama (1970), Joe Kidd (1971), The Buddy Holly Story (1978), Amityville Horror (1979), License to Kill (1989).  Ever the promotional man he enjoyed hosting guests for movie promotions.  Some of you might have caught Stroud recently in Quentin Tarantino's Django (2012).  He has a great cameo in the opening scene.

The Majestic celebrated its 14th Anniversary 1963:  (left to right)  Leo Martinez, Jr., Raul Davila, Joe Treviño, Carmen Abete, Reynaldo Alaniz during release of Flipper (1963)

With BruceCabot of King Kong (1933) fame.  Photo by Luis Garcia, Jr.  “Photographer” McAllen 

Left to right: Manager of the Palace in McAllen (whose name may be Truman Riley or Chester J. Medley), Manager of the Arcadia in Harlingen ( Maurice Agnew).  Mr Treviño had a great memory and spoke well of Brownsville and the people he remembered but these names the best he could remember at the time he shared these.

Mexico’s most famous movie star was named “Mr. Amigo.”Cantinflas:  Mr. Amigo (Feb. 1965) “Cantinflas” [Mario Moreno Reyes] (1911-1993) with Joe and Irma Treviño with Manuel Moreno, with Joe Cruz and wife of Cruz Shoes of the Majestic Building, unknown, woman married to state representative etc etc

You can't really mention the Majestic Theater without thinking of Carmen Abete and this photo many fell in love with when her son Eddie shared it with George Lopez who created Brownsville1965.com back in 2000 or so and while the site no longer exists her memory lives on and will continue when Bronsbil Estacion is long gone too I hope.  Share the history. 

 (Sept. 1965) Joe Trevino and President of the Chamber of Commerce Glenn Herman with Emilio "El Indio" Fernandez (1904-1986), legendary Mexican actor.  Treviño was on the board of directors.

Enthronization of The Most Reverend Bishop Adolph Marx in the Immaculate Conception Cathedral  Brownsville businesses place ads in a 16-page Brownsville Herald welcoming the Bishop.  However, Joe Trevino placed letters on one side of the Majestic marquee to spell, “Welcome Bishop Marx.”  As the Bishop’s car passed the sign, the Bishop Marx looked back at the other side of the marquee which announced “What’s New, Pussycat?” as the movie showing that night.  The Bishop was a little flushed with the surprise and he included the anecdote in a following sermon.

This photo appeared as a promotional gimmick in the Brownsville Herald.  It supposed that movies were placed in vault immediately upon being received to maintain secrecy of coming attractions.  Manager of local bank Noel Ramon  and Joe Trevino. 

 Promotion of Shenandoah (1965) with Katherine Ross and Glenn Corbett

 Here was another photo Joe threw in the stack of photos he let me copy.  Unknown school performance – stage was new addition to theatre.

His Obituary

Quick endnote.  When I first met Joe he was still directing Trevino Funeral Home down the street where I lived.  He and my grandfather were also neighbors.  Anyway I use to take the bus every morning for classes at Texas Southmost College.  One day I forgot my wallet and started rushing back home when I saw Mr Treviño walking out of the funeral home and I asked him if he would loan me a dollar and I was nervous because I still might be able to run home and not miss bus but anyway he saved the day and I paid back the dollar and years later as I started researching theaters and drive-ins of Brownsville I met Joe again and this is a piece of that history.   He was a great man and will be well remembered by a great many.  

1948 ~ Interstate Theater Circuit builds the Majestic Theater

Q. Who was known as Mr Brownsville? ~ A. Sam Perl

Excerpted from “Perl’s of Wisdom:” 'Rabbi' Sam Perl, New Models of Acculturation, and the 'In-Between' Jew"

by Allison Elizabeth Schottenstein

1949 October 21 KVAL with Sam Perl (Brownsville Historical Association photo)

Sam Perl’s son Ito Perl recalls how his father extended his colorblind policy to the very few African-American customers he had. Extending this business to this very small demographic was significant because the African-American community had lived in “segregated areas” after the infamous "Brownsville Affair of 1906.”  Those who remained in Brownsville throughout the 1930s and 1940s were consigned to menial positions — longshoremen at the port, Pullman conductors of the railroads, and domestic workers at places like the El Jardin hotel.  Despite its minimal size, the African American community was ostracized by Anglos and Mexicans in Brownsville, largely due to the violent legacy of the raids of the 19th to early 20th century. Brownsville’s Rancho Viejo Floodway Bridge was offensively referred to as “Nigger Bridge” because it was “where General Taylor [had] stationed his negro troops.” Even though small town Jewish businessmen were far more inclined than Anglo-Christian merchants to sell to African-American customers, these business relationships tended to occur in places where African-Americans constituted a significant part of the population.

[Editor's note:  If you're wondering if Taylor was ever in the vicinity of the Rancho Viejo area with colored-troops at the onset of the invasion of Mexico in 1846 the answer is "No."  Clink on this link to know truth about  "Legends and Myths ... from Puente de los Negroes" published on this blog Bronsbil Estacion. ]

This was certainly not the case in Brownsville, where African-Americans were marginalized and tended to be feared. Despite this racist reality, Perl regularly sold Stetson hats to African-American Pullman porters.  The general mistrust of African Americans did not extend to Perl, who had “good relations” with his African-American customers, according to Ito.  Because African-Americans were forced to live on the margins of Brownsville society, commercial exchanges may have been the only way he was able to build relations with them. Unlike the equally small Jewish population, African-Americans were never fully accepted by Brownsville because of perceptions of their historical legacy. The fact that no mention of them is made in relation to Charro Days makes one wonder why Perl did not fight to include them in his community building efforts. But African-Americans may have been reluctant to participate because of the manner in which they were alienated by the community. As Nousel points out, African-Americans in the Brownsville region had their own church, school, and socialization areas like the Union Café.  Perl reached out to them as best he could as a “loving” merchant unafraid to do business with them. This behavior demonstrates how Perl distinguished himself from his brother Leon in terms of risk-taking and community involvement.

In Brownsville, Perl distinguished himself from his brother Leon in the manner in which he seemed to prioritize relationship building in the community. According to Weiner, when Perl was asked at one point in his life if he would ever consider running for office, he declined because instead of political influence he preferred to have “friends, friends, friends” and as we have seen, Perl befriended people regardless of their cultural background. In contrast, Leon was a wallflower who did not invest himself as much with other people in the community. Weiner describes Leon as

reserved, quiet, formal, and immaculate . . . When customers entered, Leon talked quality, price, fabric, and design. When customers departed, he returned to his wife’s side, leaning against a counter, looking over her shoulders, chatting softly, closing his eyes, and catching a cat nap. Leon assumed that stance so often that the weight of his body wore a circular depression in the red-and-white checkered linoleum floor.

Clearly, Leon was more of a behind-the-scenes type as a clothing merchant and did not share his brother’s sociability. As Ben Edelstein claimed in his self-published memoir of his father’s life, “Sam Perl was . . . a colorful individual. He was [someone] . . . we addressed as Uncle Sam. Sam was one of the most active people in Brownsville, and a very dear friend of the Edelstein clan. There was nothing that happened in town without his knowledge . . . [He was] always doing something for his city.”  To Edelstein, Sam represented “Uncle Sam”; Leon was simply “Leon” or “Uncle Sam’s brother.” Metaphorically, Sam was also an “Uncle Sam” figure in that he was becoming the personification of small town America. In Brownsville, he was someone people considered close enough to be family. According to Weiner, Perl “was a scotch-on-the rocks man, an incurable storyteller.” Indeed, Perl epitomized the small town Jew who strives to be active and visible in the community in order to be seen as a positive “representative” of Jews, instead of as a marginalized outsider.  He joined groups like the Kiwanis Club of Brownsville, The Brownsville Chamber of Commerce, The Masons, the Shriners, and the Elks.  Perl’s dynamic personality inevitably enabled him to distinguish himself from Leon and began to take more of a central role in the Brownsville community. As local architect engineer Jim Hiester would later say, “I know of no one who has contributed more to Brownsville than Sam Perl.” The Fashion Perl Bros. may have been co-owned, but in time Perl owned more than the business — he owned a  glowing reputation. This was especially evident when Perl became the standard-bearer for the Jewish people of Brownsville.

CLICK THIS to read entire article. It will open in a new window

Google image of Sam Perl Blvd which stretches from downtown St Charles and 12th St paralleling  the Rio Grande until it reaches the Old Bridge to Mexico on Mexico Blvd.  It symbolically joins America with Mexico characteristic to Sam Perl's place in the border community.

Also Sam Perl info from --->  Texas State Historical Association - Handbook of Texas

Sample ads from Brownsville Herald.

 Bill King wrote this for his friend Sam.  Bill King also wrote "Rattling Yours..." about his father "Snake" King

This is good information to have next time you're asked who Sam Perl was and why a boulevard was named after him.

Majestic Theater lobby 1949  (BHA archives)

Here's where we delve into the unsure.  This photo was taken at the Majestic Theater lobby on December 11, 1949 is cropped to magnify details of prizes and signs alluding to contest and $3000 in prizes.  One internet source states Mr. Sam Perl was honored in the 1970s as "Mr. Brownsville" but that might have been in slight error.  It is possible that 1949 was the year and while being honored in the 1970s the public was reminded of Perl's long continuous service to his community and forgot to mention 1949 as year he was named Mr Brownsville?  Perl's name was always in the paper for many reasons such as those already described in the Schottenstein document.

1952 Perl Bros Botany Daroff window display contest photos for Men's Magazine (image courtesy of Nora Vasquez at Junk N Treasure)

Majestic Ladies

Lydia Paredes 1950s courtesy of Sergio Paredes

 Rose Hon 1947 Brownsville Herald news-clipping courtesy of Sylvia Ripley

1974 ~ North Park Cinema 1 & 2

Research compiled by Javier R Garcia and Rick Medina

 Box Office Magazine October 7, 1974

Raul Davila, Joe Trevino and Carmen Abete in 1963 for the 14th anniversary of the Majestic's opening in 1949.  Davila began as a projectionist since the earliest days of the Capitol and Carmen began at the Queen Theater.  We'll see more photos of them with another posting for the Capitol and Majestic sometime later..... By 1974 Mr Trevino had already moved into the funeral business. When ABC North Park Cinema opened Mrs Abete was an assistant manager and Mr Davila was the chief operator.  His son Mario was also a projectionist and continues working at  Cinemark Movies 10 as a manager there,  [photo courtesy of Joe Trevino; insets from Brownsville Herald archives]  

 Brownsville Herald pages and clippings May 2, 1974

Herald news-clip courtesy of Rick Medina

 Souvenir brochure for closing of Majestic and opening of North Park Cinema 1 & 2 courtesy of Carmen Abete.

 Concessions counter, walls and ceiling look same today 07/2015

 1974 Grand Opening newspaper clip - Rick Medina

1983 Fall Became 3-screen theater - Rick Medina

Stay tuned for interview with Mario Davila whose name you may not know but face you will recognize - Next on Bronsbil Estacion blog