Texas History
February 1, 1985
The Big Country
The great Texas ranches and how they got that way.
Business
Reporting and commentary on Texas businesses and the trends and innovation happening in our state
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Business
February 1, 1985
The Last Roundup
“When the cowboys on the 06 ranch talked about losing a way of life, they often pointed to their neighbor, Clayton Williams, as an example of what they meant. He was a millionaire and an oilman, and he represented everything they hated.”
Business
February 1, 1985
When Grandma Talks…
Rich old ladies who hoard their securities set the best example for managing your stocks.
Business
November 1, 1984
Trashy Business
When Houston’s rich and powerful join forces with environmentalists to battle big corporations, they can be fighting over only one thing. Garbage.
Energy
October 1, 1984
Feasting on the Oil Glut
So you think that OPEC controls the price of oil and that the glut is hurting everybody in the oil business? Wrong. Traders on the international spot market are pulling the strings and getting rich in the process.
Business
September 1, 1984
The Night Crew
There are a hundred of them, and their job is invisibility. They come into giant office buildings after everyone has gone home and, if they do the job right, make the evidence of the day’s work disappear.
Business
August 31, 1984
How Do You Spell Real Estate?
Roger Staubach finds happiness by swapping Rolaids for real estate.
Politics & Policy
June 30, 1984
The Man in the Black Hat, Part Two
With the help of a friendly banker and some friendlier politicians, Clinton Manges conquered might Mobil Oil and saved his empire. But not for long—it’s in jeopardy again.
Politics & Policy
May 31, 1984
The Man in the Black Hat, Part One
Clinton Manges built his empire on brushland and oil wells, political contributions and lawsuits. His influence extends to the state capitol and oil company boardrooms. To get where he is, he studied under three masters of South Texas.
Business
May 1, 1984
Lenôtre: Shameless Pastries, Mythical Chocolates, Shocking Sorbets
Bearing Gallic sophistication and outrageously delicious desserts, the Lenôtre family has taken Dallas and Houston by storm.
Business
May 1, 1984
High Noon at the Circle C
Gary Bradley, a hot young land speculator in Austin, was in the middle of a $50 million deal when he ran into an outraged environmental movement and a lobbyist with some powerful clients. The fight was on.
Business
April 30, 1984
Honk If You Love Elephants
With the Republican convention only three months away, Dallas’ sales forces are frantically gearing up for a merchandising bonanza.
Business
April 1, 1984
Look, Ma, My Computer Did It!
See the future on your computer: software on stocks, football, and astrology.
Business
April 1, 1984
Birth of a New Frontier
Hundreds of new computer companies have made Texas the likely successor to California’s Silicon Valley, and it all started with two firms in Dallas.
Business
March 1, 1984
“I Beat Ben Barnes and John Connally in a Fair Fight”
When Bames-Connally Investments announced plans to build apartments in a South Austin neighborhood, the residents banded together to try to stop them. They won the battle but lost the war.
Business
November 1, 1983
Twofers
They are the quirky enterprises that offer two things under one roof—like shrimp and guns, steaks and loans, or eggrolls and gasoline.
Politics & Policy
October 1, 1983
Mayor of the Unfinished City
To become more than a perpetual boom town, Dallas needs a foresighted leader and astute politician. Is Starke Taylor the man?
Business
October 1, 1983
Taking Over
It’s a bank-eat-bank world out there.
Business
September 30, 1983
Wal-Marts Across Texas
An Arkansas chain has refused to discount small-town buying power. Now it’s ousting local mom-and-pop operations throughout Texas and even giving K Mart a run for its money.
Business
August 31, 1983
The Big Con
From his early days in Big Spring, Eugene Anderson wasn’t what he seemed; neither was the mysterious element he later claimed turned water into fuel.
Business
August 1, 1983
Hi! I’m Jimmy Dean and I’d Like You to Try My Pure Pork Sausage
The meat products business is no bed of top hogs.
Business
July 31, 1983
Anyplace But Texas
Texans may secretly yearn to live east of the Mississippi or across the Atlantic, but the next best thing is a subdivision named Yorktown, Nottingham County, or village Green West.
Energy
June 30, 1983
The Journeyman
Ed Jones rode the oil boom to a white-collar job. It was a short trip.
Energy
June 30, 1983
And Yet the Dream Endures
Don’t give up! There’s still money to be made finding oil. Up in Graham the Creswells are striking it rich with the help of Jesus and, er, creekology.
Energy
June 30, 1983
The Gambler
Jack Young was the eighties’ oil boom in the flesh. Unfortunately, he also personifies the aftermath of the bust.
Business
April 30, 1983
A Monument to Making It
It’s a Xanadu of condos, restaurants, gardens, and gyms, a high-tech haven that can outritz nearby Dallas. It’s Las Colinas, a home for corporations that appreciate the finer things in life.
Business
February 1, 1983
The Cassandra of Crude
Dale Steffes can predict the future of the oil business. So why do the majors turn a deaf ear? Because, says Steffes, the news is all bad.
Energy
October 1, 1982
“It’s Time To Make a Deal”
The inside story of Boone Pickens’ adventures in the Wall Street merger game, featuring action, suspense, drama, a few laughs, and a special guest appearance by President Ronald Reagan.
Style & Design
September 1, 1982
The Empress’s New Clothes
What you won’t see from Dallas designers is lots of froufrou. What you will see is a look tailored for the working woman.
Business
July 1, 1982
The Man Who Killed Braniff
Harding Lawrence was obsessed with making Braniff great. Maybe too obsessed.
Business
April 1, 1982
Meanwhile, Back In Giddings
Texas’ hottest oil patch is cooling down.
Business
February 1, 1982
The Beer That Made Armadillos Famous
For years no one would drink Lone Star beer because rednecks did; then one enterprising man figured out that if it was marketed right, everyone would want to drink Lone Star precisely because rednecks did.
Business
January 1, 1982
Trust Me. Just Sign Here.
Whenever you buy or sell a house, hundreds of dollars of your money goes for something called title insurance. Title insurance is a great deal—for the title company.
Business
December 1, 1981
Let’s Get Serious About Toys
They used to be virtuous and wooden and they were good. Now they’re commercial and plastic and they’re great.
Business
December 1, 1981
Oscar’s Follie
Coastal Corporation’s mastermind, Oscar Wyatt, keeps everyone guessing these days—from the IRS to society columnists to stock analysts.
Business
November 1, 1981
The Truth About Carnivals
A carny’s life is an endless ramble from one small town to the next—and that’s why he likes it.
Business
October 1, 1981
Losing Big
Everybody knows the story about the young Texan who goes into business, works hard, and makes millions. But what happens when his luck runs out?
Business
September 30, 1981
A Little Bit of Heaven
Once the Hill Country meant small towns and Spartan values; now it’s ranchettes and easy living.
Business
June 30, 1981
Driving a Soft Bargain
Take the “Art of Negotiating” seminar, and you too can learn to wheel and deal with a smile.
Hunting & Fishing
April 1, 1981
Shrimpers
Someone endured weeks of hard work, loneliness, and seasickness to land that lovely pink delicacy on your plate.
Business
February 1, 1981
Old Oil: The Ranger Revival
Ranger was the most romantic field in the early oil boom. Now a major company is risking its future to prove that romance still lives.
Business
July 31, 1980
Why I wish I Didn’t Have $137 Million
Those luck Arabs, with all that oil! The only problem, as a Saudi finance minister points out, is that oil is all they have.
Energy
July 1, 1980
Profits? What Profits?
Reading Big Oil’s annual reports for the truth about profits is a little like drilling for oil in the Baltimore Canyon: you know it’s there, but how deep will you have to go to find it?
Business
June 1, 1980
Who Owns Texas?
The biggest landholders in the state, acre by acre.
Business
May 1, 1980
Three Gentlemen, One Ghost, and a Skyscraper
The intrigue behind the building of Houston’s Texas Commerce Tower was almost as monumental as the 75-story structure itself.
Business
March 1, 1980
Hustlers and Fortune Hunters Beware!
When the cable TV salesman comes calling, you should fully expect your city council to sell you down the river. Not that they mean to do it. It’s simply that history shows most city councils don’t know the first thing about cable. People who can barely figure out the briefs
Business
March 1, 1980
Invasion of the Cable Snatchers
In Texas the best way to get rich in cable television is to know just a little about TV and everything about politics.
Health
January 1, 1980
Life Got You Down? Getting Nowhere? Wishing for Wealth? For Success? For Happiness?
My friend, you have come to the right place.
Business
December 1, 1979
Picking Up the Pieces
You load sixteen tons, and what do you get? Ask your garbageman.
Business
October 1, 1979
Talking Money/The Heavy Hitters
What’s what and who’s who in Texas real estate.