Traces of Texas
@tracesoftexas.bsky.social
Purveyor of Texas history and culture. Cowboy boots junkie and advocate of all things Lone Star. 100% organic, free-range Texas content. A politics-free feed. DON'T get political! Buy me a coffee? Click here: https://buymeacoffee.com/tracesoftexas
Traces of Texas reader David Strickland kindly shared this 1963 photo of himself and his sister Cindy at Foleys in downtown Houston. Cindy was six years old and David was just shy of 3 years old --- and apparently not having a real good time. A documentary about longtime Santas would be fascinating.
December 16, 2025 at 12:35 AM
Traces of Texas reader David Strickland kindly shared this 1963 photo of himself and his sister Cindy at Foleys in downtown Houston. Cindy was six years old and David was just shy of 3 years old --- and apparently not having a real good time. A documentary about longtime Santas would be fascinating.
A boy with his new Christmas present in Austin, 1946. Don't you just know that, about 17 minutes later, somebody REALLY regretted giving this lad a drum with a cymbal? 😀
Taken by well-known Austin photographer Neil Douglass.
Taken by well-known Austin photographer Neil Douglass.
December 15, 2025 at 11:45 PM
A boy with his new Christmas present in Austin, 1946. Don't you just know that, about 17 minutes later, somebody REALLY regretted giving this lad a drum with a cymbal? 😀
Taken by well-known Austin photographer Neil Douglass.
Taken by well-known Austin photographer Neil Douglass.
Dewey Mears took this moody, atmospheric photo of Austin's Congress Avenue in 1947. It's almost film-noirish, isn't it? I wonder what it was like to walk down the sidewalk when Austin was a normal, quiet town. 😉
From the Austin History Center, a great place to visit if you're in downtown Austin.
From the Austin History Center, a great place to visit if you're in downtown Austin.
December 15, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Dewey Mears took this moody, atmospheric photo of Austin's Congress Avenue in 1947. It's almost film-noirish, isn't it? I wonder what it was like to walk down the sidewalk when Austin was a normal, quiet town. 😉
From the Austin History Center, a great place to visit if you're in downtown Austin.
From the Austin History Center, a great place to visit if you're in downtown Austin.
Traces of Texas reader Bill Fish was so kind as to send in this wonderful photo of himself taken in Texas City on Christmas Day, 1960. As you can see, Bill was very proud of his new bike. He's already thinking of the adventures upon which he's about to embark. 😉
Thank you, Bill. I love it!
Thank you, Bill. I love it!
December 15, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Traces of Texas reader Bill Fish was so kind as to send in this wonderful photo of himself taken in Texas City on Christmas Day, 1960. As you can see, Bill was very proud of his new bike. He's already thinking of the adventures upon which he's about to embark. 😉
Thank you, Bill. I love it!
Thank you, Bill. I love it!
Women going to a Christmas party in Austin, 1961. They've got the Falstaff beer and the Lone Star Beer and it looks like they're ready for a good time. I want to hang out with these women! 😃
Courtesy Miatamaniac92.
Courtesy Miatamaniac92.
December 14, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Women going to a Christmas party in Austin, 1961. They've got the Falstaff beer and the Lone Star Beer and it looks like they're ready for a good time. I want to hang out with these women! 😃
Courtesy Miatamaniac92.
Courtesy Miatamaniac92.
Robert Hancock Hunter and his grandchildren circa 1895. Robert was born in 1813 and only nine years old when he and his family moved to Texas in 1822. He served in the Texas revolution, leaving a very important and memorable first-person account of his experience then.
December 14, 2025 at 6:53 PM
Robert Hancock Hunter and his grandchildren circa 1895. Robert was born in 1813 and only nine years old when he and his family moved to Texas in 1822. He served in the Texas revolution, leaving a very important and memorable first-person account of his experience then.
Teenagers strolling at sunset along the seawall in Galveston circa 1980. This is such a nostalgic scene for me. Who remembers Hill's? I think there's a Joe's Crab Shack there now. If you close your eyes and listen REAL closely, you'll hear "Call Me" by Blondie playing in the background. 😜
December 14, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Teenagers strolling at sunset along the seawall in Galveston circa 1980. This is such a nostalgic scene for me. Who remembers Hill's? I think there's a Joe's Crab Shack there now. If you close your eyes and listen REAL closely, you'll hear "Call Me" by Blondie playing in the background. 😜
The Blackland Prairie here in Texas covers roughly 18,750 square miles, or 12 million acres. It’s a surprisingly narrow but very consequential slice of Texas, once among the most fertile grasslands in North America, and now one of the most heavily altered by farming and urban growth.
December 13, 2025 at 5:38 PM
The Blackland Prairie here in Texas covers roughly 18,750 square miles, or 12 million acres. It’s a surprisingly narrow but very consequential slice of Texas, once among the most fertile grasslands in North America, and now one of the most heavily altered by farming and urban growth.
Vaqueros branding calves on a ranch near Marfa, 1939. A tremendous image from Russell Lee, who took a lot of photos of the entire process, from the building of the fire to heat the brands to the branding to the cowboys eating lunch.
December 12, 2025 at 8:35 PM
Vaqueros branding calves on a ranch near Marfa, 1939. A tremendous image from Russell Lee, who took a lot of photos of the entire process, from the building of the fire to heat the brands to the branding to the cowboys eating lunch.
How I knew I was in Texas.
December 12, 2025 at 7:35 PM
How I knew I was in Texas.
I just learned that Paul McCartney owns the bass in this photo.
December 12, 2025 at 3:24 AM
I just learned that Paul McCartney owns the bass in this photo.
Elvis Presley entertains the audience on the Big D Jamboree at the Sportatorium in Dallas. He made a series of appearances on the program in 1955.
Courtesy Dragon Street Records, Inc., but it was TOT reader Reed Markham who spotted this and sent it in to me.
Courtesy Dragon Street Records, Inc., but it was TOT reader Reed Markham who spotted this and sent it in to me.
December 12, 2025 at 12:22 AM
Elvis Presley entertains the audience on the Big D Jamboree at the Sportatorium in Dallas. He made a series of appearances on the program in 1955.
Courtesy Dragon Street Records, Inc., but it was TOT reader Reed Markham who spotted this and sent it in to me.
Courtesy Dragon Street Records, Inc., but it was TOT reader Reed Markham who spotted this and sent it in to me.
A man tries on new boots in Alpine, Texas, 1939. I am pretty sure this was at the Big Bend Saddlery, which is still in business.
Photo by Russell Lee.
Photo by Russell Lee.
December 11, 2025 at 8:55 PM
A man tries on new boots in Alpine, Texas, 1939. I am pretty sure this was at the Big Bend Saddlery, which is still in business.
Photo by Russell Lee.
Photo by Russell Lee.
Flood at the "entrance to Texas" in Orange, Texas back in 1953.
December 11, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Flood at the "entrance to Texas" in Orange, Texas back in 1953.
Kris Kristofferson (a Texan) in the 1998 film "Two for Texas." This was sent in to me by a reader and I have to confess that I've never seen this. Have any of y'all? Reviews?
Thanks, oh reader! Kris was something else!
Thanks, oh reader! Kris was something else!
December 11, 2025 at 1:37 AM
Kris Kristofferson (a Texan) in the 1998 film "Two for Texas." This was sent in to me by a reader and I have to confess that I've never seen this. Have any of y'all? Reviews?
Thanks, oh reader! Kris was something else!
Thanks, oh reader! Kris was something else!
The reason tamales are traditionally served around Christmas hereabouts in Texas is because that's when it's cold enough to butcher hogs. Before refrigeration, you wanted cold weather to butcher hogs for food-safety reasons: cold temperatures slowed bacterial growth and kept meat from spoiling.
December 10, 2025 at 10:48 PM
The reason tamales are traditionally served around Christmas hereabouts in Texas is because that's when it's cold enough to butcher hogs. Before refrigeration, you wanted cold weather to butcher hogs for food-safety reasons: cold temperatures slowed bacterial growth and kept meat from spoiling.
Cattlemen conversing in the livestock barn at the San Angelo Fat Stock show in March, 1940. Words don't exist that can reflect how good I think this is. These gentlemen, each one of them, are archetypes, like if Hollywood put out the call for "Texas cattlemen from the 1940s." Taken by Russell Lee
December 10, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Cattlemen conversing in the livestock barn at the San Angelo Fat Stock show in March, 1940. Words don't exist that can reflect how good I think this is. These gentlemen, each one of them, are archetypes, like if Hollywood put out the call for "Texas cattlemen from the 1940s." Taken by Russell Lee
An adobe outhouse with an adobe windbreak on the old "Walking X" Ranch near Marfa, 1939. Pretty fancy!
Taken by Russell Lee.
Taken by Russell Lee.
December 10, 2025 at 1:25 AM
An adobe outhouse with an adobe windbreak on the old "Walking X" Ranch near Marfa, 1939. Pretty fancy!
Taken by Russell Lee.
Taken by Russell Lee.
This afternoon the universe smiled upon me in a glorious way when the fickle fates of the used book Gods and the capricious officials of the U.S. Post Office conspired to deliver THREE used books. Any day is Christmas when you buy used books that will arrive in ... 17 months, I think it is.
December 9, 2025 at 10:13 PM
This afternoon the universe smiled upon me in a glorious way when the fickle fates of the used book Gods and the capricious officials of the U.S. Post Office conspired to deliver THREE used books. Any day is Christmas when you buy used books that will arrive in ... 17 months, I think it is.
One of my own photos, taken in Grapeland, Texas on a hot summer Saturday night years ago. It's a 10 second time exposure. I put my camera on a tripod, focused on Chapman's Hardware, waited until the train approached, and took the photo. The streaks that you see are the lights of the train passing.
December 9, 2025 at 8:01 PM
One of my own photos, taken in Grapeland, Texas on a hot summer Saturday night years ago. It's a 10 second time exposure. I put my camera on a tripod, focused on Chapman's Hardware, waited until the train approached, and took the photo. The streaks that you see are the lights of the train passing.
Traces of Texas reader Daisy Scheske graciously shared this fine photo of Lady Bird Johnson speaking in Gonzales, Texas, in 1968. That's Mayor Fred Scheske second from left, wearing glasses. People have strong opinions about LBJ, but I've never heard anybody say a bad word about Lady Bird.
December 9, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Traces of Texas reader Daisy Scheske graciously shared this fine photo of Lady Bird Johnson speaking in Gonzales, Texas, in 1968. That's Mayor Fred Scheske second from left, wearing glasses. People have strong opinions about LBJ, but I've never heard anybody say a bad word about Lady Bird.
If you know, you know.
Wichita Falls, Texas.
Wichita Falls, Texas.
December 9, 2025 at 5:57 PM
If you know, you know.
Wichita Falls, Texas.
Wichita Falls, Texas.
One of the most beautiful Christmas photos of them all: Christmas time in Thorndale, Texas circa 1956. At first I thought that perhaps it had snowed but now I think that what I thought was snow is just the bright lights being reflected off the pavement. A dreamlike photo, don't you agree?
December 9, 2025 at 7:17 AM
One of the most beautiful Christmas photos of them all: Christmas time in Thorndale, Texas circa 1956. At first I thought that perhaps it had snowed but now I think that what I thought was snow is just the bright lights being reflected off the pavement. A dreamlike photo, don't you agree?
A scene on the San Antonio River circa 1890. One of many awesome photos taken by the renowned Jacobson studio there. A beautiful shot, don't y'all think?
December 9, 2025 at 2:56 AM
A scene on the San Antonio River circa 1890. One of many awesome photos taken by the renowned Jacobson studio there. A beautiful shot, don't y'all think?
Oh my goodness ... how classic is this photo of Mrs. Rushing, the wife of the mayor of San Augustine, Texas, washing dishes at home in 1943? Her wallpaper, her mixing bowls, her apron, her enamel pans ... a dream of a photo. And doesn't she have a kind face?
Taken by John Vachon.
Taken by John Vachon.
December 8, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Oh my goodness ... how classic is this photo of Mrs. Rushing, the wife of the mayor of San Augustine, Texas, washing dishes at home in 1943? Her wallpaper, her mixing bowls, her apron, her enamel pans ... a dream of a photo. And doesn't she have a kind face?
Taken by John Vachon.
Taken by John Vachon.