Brownsville Station

Monday, July 20, 2015

Charro Days late 1930s scrapbook photos

Scrapbook photos purchased from Mel Trevino of Mel's Antiques & Collectibles in Olmito, Texas to be donated to the Brownsville Historical Association archives.

Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot and Chamber of Commerce Park off E Levee St. late 1930s

Missouri Pacific Railroad Depot (MoPac) passenger station at left and behind these two couples with Traveler's Hotel rising in distance.

Missouri Pacific RR Depot photo (Erik Sunde)

These two young men are in oark area between depot and Chamber of Commerce building.

postcard of MoPac depot park copied from Ebay

postcard of Chamber of Commerce building copied from Ebay

An ancient steamboat anchor be Chamber of Commerce Park is the spot where many visitors enjoyed the local history of our culture on the Rio Grande and there was also a 1877 Baldwin 2-4-2 locomotive parked there which now sits at the Historic Brownsville Museum on E Madison and 7th St. No one seems to know what happened to the anchor so please give us a holler at (956) 555-KBRO if you know what happened to it.

At the right is the Moody Hotel and Texaco gas station garage corner seen elsewhere on this blog.

Dressed for any occasion

Late 1930's young adults enjoying Boca Chica beach on a large piece of driftwood and what appears to be a "camion" which is a vehicle modified to transport people for a hop on hop off ride.

This was probably one of the earliest Charro Days carnival held at Fort Brown or Lions baseball field / fairgounds.

Photos purchased from Mel's Antiques & Collectibles in Olmito, Texas. If you have any info of the people in these photos please contact us and we will be glad to update this post with the information.

Sunday, July 19, 2015

1976 ~ There's nothing but action at the "Drive-In"

KBROnson

late 1930's Brownsville High School Twirlers

Being in a Charro Days parade is one's shining moment in Brownsville history. We have four for you here.

These photos were purchased from Mel and Delia Trevino at Mel's Antiques & Collectibles in Olmito, Texas. Names of persons unknown.

2015 0718 Border Take Over

Thanks to the folks at Brownsville Arts and Music ("B.A.M.") for posting the announcement for this show. If you missed out on seeing these artists create their art, you can still stop by and enjoy the work as long as it lasts.

In graffiti-speak a burner is an elaborate piece that takes time and space. The artist is "Cease" and our subject is fellow Texan "Leatherface"

This artist is from Mexico and he is called D - U - E - B.

Erupting like a cataclysmic explosion through the wall is "EL ES" from Houston, Tx. He writes the Spanish "EL" for "he" and ES" for "is" in English to make for his tagger name. This side of the wall would probably be better photographed in the morning around 9 or 10 am while other pieces on the other side shine brightly as the sun hits them completely well before 5 pm. (Courtesy photo)

Here is the same piece with letters outlined and tagged below it for us to "read" it easier.

"Toste" is from the San Antone / Corpus area and has been spray painting since he was a 6th grader. He's 21 years old now and enjoys using from 2 to 9 colors at a time. For this particular piece he threw in some spikes and shadowing using a simple block lettering style.

Ace 530 is the Brownsville native who invited all these other writers from parts of Texas to decorate these walls around the building. This is his 7th year doing this. It's amazing to see artists of this kind who are mostly accustomed to working secretively and alone. Sometimes writers compete for space or against each other which leads to rivalries but "Ace" makes sure all writers squash their beef before participating in the show which is FREE.

I am unsure but think this artists is "Bleh" Mid July is no heat-stroke joke and these guys were at it all day. This would have been a great opportunity for anyone to actually see this once "invisible enemy" who are today more widely accepted for the talented artists they are. As the event announcement emphasized: "Get used 2 it"

Another before / after photo. These are just a few samples of what was done out there this weekend.

Artists rely on old techniques passed down from one writer to the next but newer innovations such as specialized paint tips can be used to apply a range of widths or spray pattern to achieve desired results in less time.

This artist used a more complex form of"stencil graffiti" we're use to seeing but he was gone before I had a chance to ask him any questions about it but what he was doing. An artist can "go over" an old section of wall art which has been "slashed" to indicate it is once again free space. Some artists chose to "buff" their walls with a flat color to prepare the surface with a clean slate to paint on.

Ace has this outline book opened to the "Raver" name design. Artists make marker renderings of their pieces and use the drawing as a hand held guide when throwing up a piece (that means 'creating a work of graffiti art in shortest possible time'). These artists actually had the luxury of unlimited free space and all day to do their work but it was blazing hot out there.

21 year old "Raver" has been doing this since he was 14 and considers his style to be "simple with funk." He went into this with 8 or 9 colors in mind. He later added "Yo Kim" as a shout out to his girlfriend and "TABS" for his buddy who couldn't make it to Brownsville for this event.

Writers usually have short deliberately misspelled names that may reflect their character, other interest or simply contain letters they enjoy designing. A tribute piece usually has a face of someone with a halo but I think "Serkit" as he is called just likes skull heads. He and Ace have known each other since elementary. Serkit also did a mural for Mercedes High School and lives in Edinburg.

How often have you seen graffiti art and wondered how long it took to make or wonder if it was done at night under moonlight or with a friend holding a flashlight or what the artist looks like when he or she is painting or maybe you just see vandalism?... but "Sezer" from Houston takes his "freestyle" anywhere he wants to roam for these graffiti art shows. He began painting twelve years ago.

Does that "E" in "Enso" on top remind kind of you of Boogie Man in Nightmare Before Christmas? Enso did his piece primarily in 3 colors and has been painting for ten years. "Soler" from Corpus Christi went through about twelve cans for his piece blow Enso's.

Way in the back corner from Corpus Christi are "Symbl" and "Cazu" in yellow-n-green split between the Dark Crystal castle and in case you're wondering, the "TWSK" can stand for two things: (1) Top Wanted Serial Killer" and (2) "The World is So Kold". I borrowed this photo from the Instagram @00SYMBOLS00 and @Cazu_99 so you can "go follow" them but you just make sure you come back to Bronsbil Estacion for more later, ok?

There was art all around the building and although I posted many photos these are just samples. I highly recommend you scroll down and get the address and grab a camera before you go.

It all went down at Tony's Body Shop at 3407 Burton St out by Four Corners close to Burton Auto Supply. All you Browntowners can find this place easy. Enjoy the show!