Texas History
January 20, 2013
Texas Primer: Barbed Wire
It spelled the end of the open range and the beginning of modern Texas.
Texas Primer
Arts & Entertainment
January 20, 2013
Texas Primer: The Drill Team
Good, clean sex, brought to you by high-kicking, rosy-cheeked Texas gals.
Being Texan
January 20, 2013
Texas Primer: The Hi Sign
The laid-back Texas way of saying howdy on the road.
Texas History
January 1, 1990
Texas Primer: The Windmill
But for this ever-so-practical invention, Texas history as we know it would be gone with the wind.
Sports
September 30, 1989
Texas Primer: The Herkie Jump
Three cheers for Lawrence Herkimer and his leap to fame.
Texas History
April 30, 1989
Texas Primer: The Runaway Scrape
In early 1836, after the fall of the Alamo, a small episode in Texas history revealed an aspect of our character we’d just as soon forget.
Being Texan
January 1, 1989
Texas Primer: King Ranch Casserole
What kind of dish would a Texas clubwoman invent? One that’s not too greasy, not too spicy, and, well, sort of tasteful.
Energy
November 1, 1988
Texas Primer: The Drill-Stem Fence
A lot stronger and more hospitable than barbed wire, this is one of those good fences that make good neighbors.
Sports
September 30, 1988
Texas Primer: Football Hand Signals
From “Hook ‘em, Horns” to “Peck ‘em, Owls,” the Southwest Conference is football’s most hospitable habitat for hand jive.
Politics & Policy
September 1, 1988
Texas Primer: Bush vs. Bentsen
Eighteen years after their Senate race determined the course of Texas politics, their rivalry may determine the course of national politics.
Being Texan
July 31, 1988
Texas Primer: The Dust Storm
Look out, Texas! If drought comes, can tons of blowing dirt be far behind?
Being Texan
June 30, 1988
Texas Primer: Forty-Two
Move over, Trivial Pursuit. Out of the way, Pictionary. Texas’ very own domino game is making a comeback at the age of 101.
Texas History
May 31, 1988
Texas Primer: Juneteenth
It began in 1865 as a joyous celebration of emancipation. Today young black Texans find the holiday overshadowed by more immediate concerns.
Texas History
May 1, 1988
Texas Primer: Texas Guinan
She started out as a wide-eyed Waco cowgirl and ended up a New York speakeasy queen.
Texas History
April 1, 1988
Texas Primer: The Bowie Knife
Whether a frontiersman needed to skin a bear, chop wood, or fight in a due, Jim Bowie’s weapon was the tool of choice.
Sports
January 1, 1988
Texas Primer: The Cotton Bowl
The ghosts of bowl games past recall an era when cotton and the Cotton Bowl were king in Texas.
Being Texan
December 1, 1987
Texas Primer: The Balcones Escarpment
The blackland prairie of the old South meets the wide-open spaces of the wild West at Texas’ great geologic divide.
Being Texan
November 1, 1987
Texas Primer: The Chilipiquin
Some like it hot; those who eat the national pepper of Texas like it hotter.
Being Texan
July 31, 1987
Texas Primer: The Tar Ball
There’s one place where you can still find plenty of oil in Texas: the beach.
Sports
June 1, 1987
Texas Primer: Clint Murchison, Jr.
He was one tycoon who enjoyed the hell out of his money.
Being Texan
April 1, 1987
The Flash Flood
In a land of contrasts, a few hours can mean the difference between drought and deluge.
Texas History
February 1, 1987
Texas Primer: The Rose Window
The secrets of love seen through a glass, clearly.
Health
January 1, 1987
The Coronary Bypass
In Texas, survivors of this life-and-death operation wear their scars like medals of honor.
Being Texan
November 1, 1986
Texas Primer: Frito Pie
A rhapsody of the perfection of corn chips, chili, cheese, and onions, mixed in a bag.
Books
October 1, 1986
Texas Primer: The Texas Institute of Letters
Belonging to this literary club is a lot like becoming a Texan; you can be a newcomer for only so long.
Politics & Policy
September 1, 1986
Texas Primer: Ma Ferguson
She unmasked the Klan and worried about the role of women, but she listened more to her husband than to the suffragettes.
Libations
July 31, 1986
Texas Primer: Big Red
Its passionately loyal following may make this drink the last Texan soda pop on the planet.
Being Texan
July 1, 1986
Texas Primer: The Native Texan
You don’t have to be born here to qualify. The mark of a true native is an undying passion to be one.
Critters
May 31, 1986
Texas Primer: The Fire Ant
Baby Calves, children, even the agriculture commissioner: no one is safe from this tiny deamon.
Being Texan
April 30, 1986
Texas Primer: The Stock Tank
Without these funky watering holes, where would we—much less our cattle and sheep—be today?
Energy
April 1, 1986
Texas Primer: The Rig Count
At first, Hughes Tool used the count to plan its own future. Now an entire industry uses it to plan theirs.
Health
March 1, 1986
Texas Primer: Cedar Fever
When cedars start to mate, Texans start to suffer.
Being Texan
February 1, 1986
Texas Primer: The Grand Champion Steer
Tastes in livestock are as whimsical as tastes in fashion. This year petite is in.
Style & Design
December 1, 1985
Texas Primer: The His and Her Gift
Once upon a time the His and Her Gift reflected a Texas that was extravagant and maybe a little gauche. Now the gift is no less extravagant, but it’s a lot less, well, innocent.
Sports
September 30, 1985
Texas Primer: The Wishbone Offense
Darrell Royal’s supremely simple invention took Texas teams to the top and kept them there.
Being Texan
July 31, 1985
Texas Primer: The Two-step
Forget about waltzing across Texas. Let’s two-step instead.
Being Texan
July 1, 1985
Texas Primer: “Tex”
It’s the best nickname you could have, even if you’ve never been to Texas.
Style & Design
April 30, 1985
Texas Primer: The Western Shirt
Today’s cowboy can thank Hollywood designers for the shirt on his back.
Travel & Outdoors
April 1, 1985
The Bluebonnet Snapshot
Okay, so photos of cute kids in fields of bluebonnets aren’t great art. That’s not the point at all.
Texas History
March 1, 1985
Texas Primer: The Trail Ride
It began in 1952 as a nostalgic recreation of the old cattle drive. Now it’s a grand annual party stretching across Texas.
Energy
February 1, 1985
Texas Primer: The Oil Depletion Allowance
Assailed by presidents, skewered by senators, decried by the New York Times, the oil depletion allowance has survived it all. It helps to have friends in high places.
Being Texan
January 1, 1985
Texas Primer: The Sticker Bur
After encountering this small brown barb, the wise Texas child learns to pick and choose his fights with the landscape.
Being Texan
December 1, 1984
Texas Primer: The Texas Brag
It’s not quite a lie and not quite the truth. It’s a patriotic duty.
Being Texan
October 1, 1984
Texas Primer: The Rich Girl
From lacquered debutante to fossilized ol’ gal, her greatest virtue is endurance.
Being Texan
July 31, 1984
Texas Primer: The Icehouse
There’s a world of difference between an icehouse and a convenience store.
Politics & Policy
July 1, 1984
Texas Primer: The Blue Law
On Sunday it is legal to buy beer but not baby bottles, screws but not screwdrivers, disposable diapers but not cloth ones. No place but Texas.
Being Texan
April 30, 1984
Texas Primer: The Cattle Guard
You may have played on one when you were a kid, but it’s no fun for cows.
Texas History
April 1, 1984
Texas Primer: The Yellow Rose of Texas
If it wasn’t for the song, no one would remember Emily Morgan, but she launched a nation by diverting Santa Anna at San Jacinto.
Style & Design
January 1, 1984
Texas Primer: The Collins Purse
In the sixties a small company in Medina produced a wooden box decorated with rhinestones. It became a Texas tradition.
Texas History
December 1, 1983
Texas Primer: Christmas on the Range
Yes, Virginia Sue, Texas really does have its own holiday traditions.