Waco’s sporting history is colorful and diverse, not least due to the various minor league baseball teams that have called the city their home. One of the longest standing and most successful of these teams was the Waco Navigators, who played in Katy Park from 1906-1919.

Although the state of Texas did not boast a major league baseball team until 1962, Texans had been playing baseball since the 1860s. Initially, Texas baseball consisted only of a few amateur clubs, but by the 1880s, these teams began to pay some of their players, usually the pitcher, catcher, and shortstop. By 1887, there were at least six professional leagues in the United States, and Texas was not far behind. Spearheaded by John McCloskey, player and manager for the Joplin Independents, the Texas League came into a shaky existence in 1888, teams from Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Galveston, Houston, and San Antonio making up its ranks. The first few years were a rollercoaster for the fledgling league, with some teams sporadically running out of cash for their players’ salaries, others folding in the middle of the season, and the league sometimes terminating seasons ahead of schedule.

Waco’s baseball history began years before the founding of its first minor league clubs. Along with a few amateur teams, Waco was the home of several semi-professional black baseball teams beginning in the 1870s. It was not until 1889 that Waco’s first minor league baseball team began play. Between 1889 and 1906, Waco was the home of several minor league baseball teams, including the Waco Babies, Texans, Tigers, and Steers. Each of these teams belonged to the Texas League. In 1906, during the league’s early turmoil, Waco embraced yet another new baseball team. A public contest decided the team’s name, with the winners, Mrs. W. Sparks and Miss Mattie May Wilkes, selecting the name of “Navigators,” reflecting the efforts of Texans to navigate the Brazos River. The Navigators’ first season was less than impressive, resulting in a final record of thirty-two wins and ninety-six losses. These abysmal numbers earned the Navigators the last-place spot in that year’s Texas League standings. The next four years were equally unimpressive, possibly due to frequent turnover in the manager’s position. Between 1906 and 1911, the Navigators went through eight different managers. Finally, the team hired Ellis Hardy. Formerly the head baseball coach for Texas Christian University, Hardy became the most successful and longest tenured of the Navigator’s managers, and he led the team to its first winning season in 1911. From there the team began to climb, with its record improving steadily until 1914, when the Navigators tied seven-time league champions Houston Buffaloes for first place.

The end of the 1914 season would go down in Texas League history as one of the wildest and most contested finishes the league had ever seen. Going into the last series of the season, the Houston Buffaloes led the Navigators by a single game. Waco easily won both of its slated games against the Dallas Giants, giving them a winning percentage of .670 for the season. Houston, in its turn, came away victorious over the Galveston Pirates in its first game, but their second game remained unfinished, called due to darkness in the fifth inning. They had been losing badly. With the unfinished contest, Houston finished at .673, seemingly earning themselves the pennant. Indignant, Waco contested the unfinished game, saying it had been bright and sunny when the umpires stopped the game. Texas League historian William Ruggles, who attended the game, states that it was indeed dark when the fifth inning began, but by the time Galveston had finished batting the sky had cleared. On top of this, Waco then found out that, earlier that season, Houston had broken a league rule stating that the first game of a doubleheader had to be nine innings long, stopping at seven innings in the first game of a doubleheader against Austin. Texas League President W.R. Davidson threw out the result of the shortened game, ignoring the rule that stated the teams had to replay the contest. However, he had also learned that Waco had played a game with a player acquired after intraleague trades had ended. Unfortunately for Waco, Davidson threw out that game as well. Eventually, league administration credited both teams with records of 102-50, and the pennant race ended in a tie.

The Waco Navigators won the pennant for the next two seasons, making them back-to-back-to-back champions, an impressive feat. The Navigators continued playing until 1919. The 1919 season was a dismal one, with the team posting a 59-88 record, their only losing record since 1910. At the same time, the growing city of Wichita Falls, Texas, was experiencing an oil boom. Suddenly flush with cash, a Wichita Falls group bought the Navigators and moved the team, renaming them the Spudders after the oilfield slang for starting an oil well (not potatoes).

That same year, the newly organized Texas Colored League began to play. Among its founding teams was Waco’s newest minor league team: the Waco Black Navigators. The Black Navigators would go on to spend 1919 and 1920 in Waco, before moving to San Antonio as the Black Aces. The Black Navigators were not the last professional baseball team Waco would see in the twentieth century. Between 1920 and the demolition of Katy Park in the 1960s, Waco was the home of the Cubs, the Black Cardinals, the Dons, and the Pirates. Although Katy Park no longer stands, and Waco has not boasted a professional team since the 1950s, Wacoans have retained their love of the national pastime and recall their old clubs fondly.

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Until the 1990s, hockey teams in the South were few and far between. The heat prevalent in the southern states did not exactly lend itself to ice-based sports, leading locals to favor warm-weather sports such as baseball and football. However, the National Hockey League’s (NHL’s) expansion teams began to gradually make their way further south throughout the 1990s, spreading a new interest in the sport. In 1993, the expansion reached Texas when the Minnesota North Stars moved to Dallas, becoming the beloved Dallas Stars.

With these new NHL teams came their minor league counterparts. The majority of these new minor league teams belonged to the Western Professional Hockey League (WPHL), which operated from 1996-2001 and stretched from New Mexico to Mississippi. In 1996, Waco became home to one of Texas’ five (soon to become eleven) WPHL teams, the Wizards. The Waco Wizards played in the WPHL’s first ever game on October 16, 1996, against the Central Texas Stampede from Belton. The game resulted in an unfortunate 5-4 loss for Waco.

The Wizards played their home games in Waco’s Heart of Texas Coliseum, now called the Extraco Events Center. Their first home game exemplified both the struggles and the vibrancy of minor league play in the South. Waco’s humidity caused a thick fog to gather over the ice, and the Wizards’ administration had to send for dehumidifiers from Dallas to dry out the building. They were able to clear some of the fog, but the glass around the rink remained foggy throughout the game, blocking the enthusiastic but somewhat confused fans. On top of that, a creative and well-intentioned mascot stunt went awry. During the pre-game ceremonies, the Waco mascot was lowered from the Coliseum’s ceiling in full Wizard costume. Unfortunately, the bulky costume got in the way of the mascot attempting to release himself from the straps after the stunt, resulting in him hanging for a while over the ice.

In their first season, the Wizards averaged 3,161 fans in attendance (about one third of the Coliseum’s capacity) and finished with a 30-34 record. The team experienced a sophomore slump the next year, averaging 2,048 fans in attendance each game and finishing 18-51, a WPHL record for a team’s worst season. However, new head coach Todd Lalonde turned the team around in its third season and brought the Wizards to the playoffs after achieving the Wizards’ first ever winning record with 40 wins and 29 losses. Despite the Wizards’ success, attendance stayed low, with an average of 2,137 fans a game.

In their three and a half seasons, the Wizards replaced their manager four times and never had a player advance to the National Hockey League (NHL). Their overall record came to 99 wins and 114 losses. During the first three seasons of operation, the team reportedly lost three million dollars. In 1999, the Wizard’s owner, Ohio businessman Joe Milano, sold the team to Rick Dames, a radio station owner from Corpus Christi. Dames in turn partnered with baseball executives Stu and Sue Kehoe in an attempt to revitalize the dying franchise. Their attempts were unsuccessful, and when they were unable to make their lease payment to the Coliseum, the team folded after only having played 27 games in the 1999-2000 season. The Wizards went out the same way they began: with a loss, this time to the Corpus Christi IceRays.

The WPHL lasted another year after the Wizards folded before merging with the Central Hockey League, which in turn lasted until 2013. The WPHL saw a resurrection in 2024, when a group of minor league teams in California came together to revive the once-beloved league. Although the Wizards only existed for a few years, they sparked a love for hockey in the people of Waco.

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“Tumbleweed Smith,” born Bob Lewis in Waco in 1935, has made a name for himself in broadcasting throughout the state of Texas. Inspired by a tumbleweed that rolled across his West Texas lawn and his mother’s maiden name, he adopted the persona of “Tumbleweed Smith” as a radio host in 1970. Lewis’s big break came in August 1969, when he started his own radio show, The Sound of Texas. Amassing a collection of over 14,000 interviews during his long career, Lewis became the owner of the largest private collection of oral histories in the United States.

In 1944, the Lewis family moved from Waco to Fort Worth, where he spent the rest of his adolescence. He returned to Waco in 1953 to attend Baylor University, graduating in 1957 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. During his time at Baylor, Lewis joined the theater department and performed in a stage play of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, which later won an award for cinematography at the Brussels World’s Fair in 1958.

After receiving his BA, Lewis joined the United States Army as an Army Security Agent and was stationed in Germany from 1958–1960. While in Germany, Lewis listened to the American Forces Network with his fellow soldiers. Noticing how nostalgic listening to the American radio made him and other soldiers feel inspired Lewis to find a career in broadcasting. Upon returning from Germany, Lewis settled in Waco and started his career in radio and advertising. Early on, he worked as an ad agent for William George “Dub” King, Baylor’s Sports Information Director, and worked on advertising the Heart O’Texas Fair and Rodeo. In the fall of 1960, Lewis picked up and moved to Big Spring and joined the KBST Radio team. Then in 1962 Lewis would start working for KPRC Radio and Television. 

Smith married his wife Susan Zack in August of 1963 and had his first son, Robert Kevin Lewis in August of 1964. Later that year, Smith enrolled in graduate school at the University of Missouri, where he earned an MA in Journalism. After graduation, he moved to Iowa and worked for WHO Radio and Television in Des Moines. He also began working as a freelance feature reporter for NBC Radio’s Monitor. The pieces he developed in that position shaped the style of Smith’s future radio show.

Returning to Big Spring in 1967, Smith resumed his role at KBST. His second son, Brian Zack Lewis was born in 1968. Smith taught broadcasting courses at Howard College for two years. Two of his most notable students there were Alan Doelp, writer for Shocktown, one of the first prime-time emergency room television shows, and Jim Ryerson, a reporter for ABC Television’s West Coast division. After Smith was fired from his position at KBST in 1969, he began to write for Texas Parade Magazine. It was then that Smith made the biggest decision of his career and started his self-produced radio show.

The show was originally titled Tumbleweed, but in April of 1970 Lewis would change the name to  The Sound of Texas and took up the radio persona of Tumbleweed Smith. By the end of the year, The Sound of Texas could be heard on ten radio stations throughout the state. The Sound of Texas would garner a decent following after being on the air for a year, with hundreds of listers tuning in to hear Tumbleweed’s interviews with eccentric characters. Episode topics ranged from conversations about high school football, women-led businesses, military history, law, politics, technology, and many other matters. Tumbleweed’s show grew in popularity throughout Texas, and in recognition of his success, he was invited to become a professor at the University of Texas-Permian Basin in 1974, where he taught until 2008. During his thirty-four years at UTPB, he taught broadcasting to thousands of students, many of whom became award-winning journalists. His students won 120 awards during his tenure, most notably the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Award in Broadcasting. After leaving UTPB in 2008, he took up a professorship at Western Texas College in Snyder, a position he stayed at until 2010.

Being a radio personality was not all Tumbleweed was known for. He was also a marketing expert, starting his own advertising company, Multimedia Advertising Company, in 1981. The company won two national awards in 1986. Tumbleweed’s production company, Orange House Productions, also garnered national recognition. The production company won six Communicators Awards, the Governor’s Tourism Award State of Texas, the 2018 W3 Award and two Telly Awards for “The Texas Torera” and “The T & P”. In addition to precuring quality interviews for his show, Tumbleweed also travels to cities all over the state, giving speeches at various academic and professional conferences and entertaining local community groups with stories.

A mentor to prominent radio personalities and television hosts and an innovator in his programming, Tumbleweed Smith earned a favorable reputation in Texas broadcasting circles. His passion for radio and interest in preserving Texas's stories pushed Tumbleweed to local stardom. His legacy persists, and his broadcasting style continues influencing radio show hosts across the state. The show highlights unique aspects of Texas culture and the people, providing a platform for underrepresented communities to connect to a wider audience. The Sound of Texas not only displays the versatility of Texans but embodies the essence of Texans. In addition to precuring quality interviews for his show, Tumbleweed travels to cities all over the state, giving speeches at various academic and professional conferences and entertaining local community groups with stories.

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With a bellowing voice and masterful piano playing, Mercy Dee Walton emerged as an early influence in rhythm and blues not only in Waco but across the country. Towering figures such as Ma Rainey and Fats Domino are rightfully remembered as foundational for the blues and later rock n’ roll, but artists with less recording opportunities, like Walton, also shaped the country’s music scene in the early twentieth century.

Walton grew up on the water. His parents, Fred and Bessie Walton, worked on a small farm on the banks of Brazos in Waco and welcomed their son on August 30, 1915. Though a young Mercy Dee Walton worked the corn and cotton fields, he found himself captivated by local music. Aspiring musicians traversed Texas, performing on stages and in homes for little to nothing. Thirteen-year-old Walton listened, soaking in soulful vocals and rhythmic instrumentals. The blues artists he heard told stories of hardship and of love to steel guitar and striking barrelhouse piano arrangements. Searching for his own voice, Walton began to play piano and sing the blues at ten-cent house parties, where locals could pay a dime to hear the young artist hone his skills.

Waco’s own musicians influenced Walton’s sound. Unrecorded artists, such as Pete the Grey Ghost and Delois Maxey, impacted his style and song. Though many blues artists of the early twentieth century never recorded albums, their artistry formed other musicians. When Walton witnessed Maxey’s piano expertise at house parties, for example, he modeled his own playing after him. Others also influenced his sound, including Waco and Marlin piano players Son Brewster and Bob Jackson. Though labels never captured their talents, their inflections remained present in the work of later blues musicians.

Audiences certainly understood the talent of these rising artists. As Walton grew in popularity, he moved from intimate venues to larger crowds in Fort Worth. In the early 1930s, he took the stage at the Dixie and Bryson Taverns. Other emerging musicians, such as Pinetop Shorty, joined him. After playing the Texas circuit, Walton decided to move westward to an up-and-coming music metropolis, Los Angeles, in the late 1930s.

While playing around Fresno, Chester Lu, an executive at a smaller recording label called Spire Company, heard Walton’s talent. Walton recorded his first song “Lonesome Cabin Blues” with Spire. Though the song rose to the top ten on R&B charts, Walton’s performances and albums did not result in financial prosperity. As he sang about his troubles on stage, they persisted in his life as he continued to labor for little pay. For instance, at one venue, Walton performed for a few dollars and a hot meal. Agricultural work provided supplemental income as Walton continued to pursue his musical career, and he often performed at bars where Black farmworkers gathered to listen to lyrics that illustrated their experiences. 

After reaching number seven on the charts with “Lonesome Cabin Blues,” Walton cut a record with Imperial Records. The songs never charted, and Walton did not record any more songs with Imperial. Things changed when Walton joined Specialty Records. He recorded his hit song “One Room Country Shack” in May 1952, and garnered national attention. He briefly toured with the popular Jay McNeely Band, whose smooth saxophone sound skyrocketed the group to the top of the Billboard charts. A long way from the Texas circuit, Walton traveled across the country, singing popular tracks, such as “Roamin’ Blues” and “Romp & Stomp Blues,” in auditoriums for large crowds. One song that captured fans’ attention was “Rent Man Blues,” which featured Walton’s wife, Thelma Walton, who received the pseudonym Lady Fox on the record.

Walton cut more records with Specialty, but none accumulated extensive recognition. Notably, payola, the practice of bribing radio hosts to play certain songs to increase an artist’s popularity and a label’s success, ran rampant throughout Walton’s career. Though he recorded with two small labels, Rhythm and Flair, in the mid-1950s, his albums did not reach previous heights on the charts. He moved to Stockton, California, where he continued agricultural work and played music on a smaller scale.

Though Walton’s recording opportunities seemed to decline over time, in 1961, record producer and blues fan Chris Strachwitz began to record with Walton on his newly founded label, Arhoolie. With his remarkable barrelhouse piano style, Walton put down multiple tracks with Strachwitz. Tragically, as his career seemed to be resurging in the recording studio, Walton died suddenly in December 1962. Though his recordings remain few, his conceptions of rhythm and blues live on, shaping artists in Waco and beyond.

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Wildlife expert and storyteller Harley Berg provided entertainment for those across Central Texas in the mid-twentieth century. Broadcasting from the local KWTX to the homes of Wacoans, the Harley Berg Show emphasized the importance of wildlife and provided conservation tips. Engrossed by Berg’s animal exhibits and captivating narratives, viewers tuned in weekly to the popular show.

Fascinated by wildlife since his youth, Berg enjoyed hunting, fishing, and exploring nature from his family’s move to Texas in 1913. Those early interests guided his career path as he decided to become a game warden. Berg, along with his wife, son, and mother-in-law, eventually settled in Waco in late 1949, where he continued his work as a game warden. His passion for wildlife inspired the creation of a traveling wildlife exhibit sponsored by the Parks and Wildlife Department and often featured at state fairs. The subsequent popularity of the exhibit spurred KWTX’s general manager M.N. “Buddy” Bostick to invite Berg to the big screen.

The first episode of the Harley Berg Show premiered on April 4, 1955, at 7:30 p.m. Donning his game warden uniform, Berg began telling stories he had collected over the years while he displayed a largemouth bass, green sunfish, and bluegill. In the episodes that followed, Berg featured various animals brought in from the San Antonio Zoo, including mountain lions, snakes, porcupines, and various species of fish. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department provided funding for the animals’ transportation, but Berg hosted the show nearly free of charge. He appeared regularly on Monday evenings in a half-hour slot, live and unscripted.

Messages that encouraged the protection of wildlife struck Berg as most important. He taught his audience about ecosystems and how they could improve wildlife habitats. He explained how overfishing led to dilapidated lakes and why listeners should not hunt nongame wildlife. Once, he brought a hawk on the show to explain that hawks helped control rats, mice, and other insects and did not pose a threat. He also outlined the importance of poisonous snakes and spiders and informed viewers of protocols if ever bitten. Many viewers expressed that Berg’s informative show helped them protect themselves and animals when they encountered wildlife in their communities.

Despite the show’s popularity, the television station briefly halted production after they were acquired by a larger network. Complaints from those in the community spurred the show’s reinstatement. Though the network initially provided a fifteen-minute slot, Berg contended that he needed more time to tell his stories. While some stories contained exaggerations, many came from Berg’s personal experiences. His fascinating tales about nature and wildlife remained a prominent feature of the show, and with broad audience support, the Harley Berg Show began once more on Sunday afternoons in a half-hour slot, where the show remained until its final episode.

Though the show primarily focused on wildlife, Berg also diverged into other topics that he felt offered important information to viewers. He provided recipes for deer chili and deer jerky. One episode touched on how to identify glaucoma, which aired after Berg was diagnosed with the eye disease. He also received over two thousand requests for a printed snake bulletin that contained information regarding identification of poisonous snakes and first-aid, which he sent to viewers across Central Texas. And after years of transporting animals from San Antonio to Waco, he sought to form a local zoo. The local zoo project and Berg’s wildlife advocacy aided the later establishment of Cameron Park Zoo.

Those who watched the Harley Berg Show ranged from people in nursing homes to schoolchildren. Fisherman, doctors, farmers, preachers, and professors expressed interest in the show and wrote letters to signal their support of Berg’s work. When The Texas Outdoorsman magazine featured Berg on the front cover, hundreds of viewers requested autographed copies. He received invitations to speak at universities across the state, including Texas Christian University, Baylor University, and Texas Southern University. He also spoke to Boy Scout and Girl Scout camps and elementary and high school students. With over nine hundred episodes airing over the years, Berg relished the support of viewers across Texas.

At the end of each episode, Berg concluded in three languages—English, German, and Spanish. In what became his signature sign off, Berg stated, “This is your old wildlife man saying, amigos grande y chiquitos, grosse und kleine freunden, big and little friends, bye for now.” He continued to close out with that message until the late 1970s. Remembered as a friend to wildlife, Berg passed away in 1979.

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Beginning in 1945, the sounds of big bands, the blues, and rock blended on the dance floor of East Waco’s Walker’s Auditorium.

Continually looking for ways to serve his community, African American entrepreneur Herbert Walker founded the club. Prior to opening the venue, Mr. Walker provided his neighbors with leisure and transportation through his taxi stand and stables. Later he added a BBQ pit and apartment buildings to his business portfolio. As the only establishment of its kind open to blacks, Walker’s Auditorium served as a prominent social spot for Waco’s African American community. Its pea green, maroon, and grey interior was complemented with elegant furnishings, a sizable dance floor, pool tables, and a mirrored bar that offered patrons drinks and entrées. Mr. Walker told a local paper he envisioned the spot as offering “Wacoans a good place to go for amusement.”

Walker’s Auditorium operated as part of the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” a cross-country touring route used by black entertainers prevented by segregation from playing in white-only locations. A network of black-owned and -patronized businesses, the circuit created an opportunity for African American artists to freely express themselves and their experiences. By being a stop on this route, Walker’s Auditorium connected blacks in Central Texas to national trends in African American social and cultural life. It fueled creativity but was a grueling lifestyle. Musical acts such as Ike and Tina Turner, James Brown, B.B. King, and Etta James, all of whom would go on to greater success, played Walker’s Auditorium for gigs of a night or two when they traveled through Texas in the 1950s and 60s. They went on to other clubs, but some of the talent drawn to Waco by Walker’s Auditorium decided to stay in the area.

In 1963, Herbert Walker invited Louisiana-born blues musician Classie Ballou to lead his house band. Ballou played music all across the world, but his growing family made Walker’s invitation of localized work appealing. As often as six nights a week, Ballou provided the soundtrack at Walker’s Auditorium. When business diminished for Walker’s Auditorium and the rest of the Chitlin’ Circuit, Ballou chose to remain in Waco playing regular gigs around town.

Outside its primary function as a music venue, Walker’s Auditorium hosted holiday parties, debutant balls, parades, and various celebrations. Fraternities and sororities like Alpha Phi Alpha used the club for dances and gatherings. In 1953, it held a fundraiser for the March of Dimes. Civic clubs and organizations also used the space for business functions and teas. Walker’s Auditorium provided Waco’s African American community with a multipurpose venue suited both for amusement and formal meetings.

The patrons of Walker’s Auditorium, however, were not exclusively African American. White Wacoans, and many Baylor students, also frequented the club. “Mingling” between whites and blacks occurred more frequently by the 1960s, than in previous decades of the club’s operation. This shift resulted in broader acknowledgement of the club by all Waco’s citizens. Community members, like state senator Murray Watson, met with Mr. Walker and held him in high esteem. Additionally, local and student newspapers, whose racialized reporting on Walker’s Auditorium early on tended to revolve around petty crime, now increasingly carried advertisements and other news about the establishment in the 1960s and early 1970s. It is in this era that it became a community institution, expanding Mr. Walker’s vision to its fullest extent.

The advent of the civil rights movement, the closing of James Connally Air Force Base, and competition from other entertainment eventually hurt Walker’s Auditorium. Like many venues on the Chitlin’ Circuit, it fell into disrepair. In 1977, Walker’s Auditorium came under new management, but only a year later it ceased operating. By the 2000s, nothing remained where the legendary venue once stood. Through over three decades of operation, Walker’s Auditorium gave Wacoans, particularly its black citizens, a place to relax and celebrate.

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In the 1960s and 1970s, the taste of pizza and the sound of Dixieland jazz went hand in hand for Wacoans who frequented Shakey’s Pizza Parlor. Shakey’s, the nation’s first franchise pizza chain, would become famous for pioneering a winning combination of casual dining and live music in hundreds of restaurants nationwide. The Waco Shakey’s provided a relaxed atmosphere for food and fun at 1420 North Valley Mills Drive until its closure in 1978.

In 1954, friends Sherwood Johnson and Ed Plummer opened the first Shakey’s Pizza Parlor in Sacramento, California. After having suffered a case of malaria during World War II, Johnson earned the nickname Shakey. When the time came to open their first restaurant, both owners decided to name the franchise after Johnson’s playful moniker. Both owners dreamed of creating a restaurant in which families could not only eat, but one that offered vibrant live music reminiscent of a bygone era. During a time in which live music and sit-down dining remained largely separate in public establishments, the culinary experience that Johnson and Plummer created stood out. Dixieland jazz bands and banjo players combined with costumed staff to create a lively atmosphere of 1890s frivolity. Johnson, a banjo player himself, encouraged subsequent parlor owners to offer live banjo-infused tunes as well. Indeed, for decades to come, old-timey piano melodies and banjo strums offered a lively backdrop for pizza outings.

The second Shakey’s opened in Portland in 1956, followed soon after by dozens of new outlets throughout the United States. By 1967, the chain boasted more than 272 locations. Shakey’s began an international expansion the following year. As the nation’s first franchise pizza chain—which would later be emulated by chains such as Pizza Hut—Shakey’s charted new territory in the American restaurant world. The restaurant offered pizza, beer, and live music—a formula that proved as successful as it was simple. Restaurants in decades past had catered to wealthy fine-dining elite and road travelers. But as automobiles became more ubiquitous and families moved out of cities and into suburbs, the 1950s saw the rise of franchise dining and, later, of family casual dining. Waco was no exception. When Shakey’s opened in Waco in 1966, the restaurant offered a whopping twenty-one varieties of pizza as well as several Bavarian beers. The Waco location also catered to its university population with a designated Collegiate Room, geared toward the town’s young adult crowd.

While Shakey’s remained a local favorite for the next decade, the chain began to suffer after both Johnson and Plummer sold their shares to the Colorado Mining and Elevator Company in the late 1960s. The closure of Waco’s Shakey’s in 1978 mirrored a national trend. By 2010, the restaurant claimed only fifty-eight restaurants in the United States.But while Shakey’s locations in the United States struggled under new ownership and the shifting tastes of the American public, the franchise found much success internationally. As of April 2019, the chain boasted five hundred stores globally, the majority outside of the U.S. To this day, Shakey’s remains a bright spot in the memories of many patrons, evoking memories of lively music and lighthearted dining.

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From the 1940s to the 1970s, Wacoans could enjoy the full spectrum of the cinematic experience from the comfort of their own cars at the Circle Drive-In Theatre. This theatre, named for Waco's nearby traffic circle, was one of hundreds of drive-in cinemas that popped up across the country during the 1940s. While movie houses featuring silent films had been around since the late nineteenth century, the first drive-in theater was patented in New Jersey in 1933—a full decade after sound technology debuted in short films.  When the invention of personal car speakers in the early 1940s led others to duplicate the new innovation, the number of drive-ins in the United States subsequently skyrocketed. Built in 1946, Waco's Circle Drive-In was part of this postwar boom. 

The theatre opened on Friday, June 21, 1946, with a showing of Columbia Picture's Technicolor production "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest."  Although the Circle Drive-In was not Waco's first theatre of the sort, it quickly became one of the city's most popular. The theatre, designed by Dallas architect Jack Corgan, promised "absolutely the latest developments in modern drive-in theatre engineering, supplemented with all of the beauty of modern architectural genius." Moviegoers were not likely to be disappointed. The drive-in featured  an extensive array of amenities that included in-car speakers with adjustable volume control, a well-stocked concession stand, and tiled restrooms.  Additionally, each car ramp had been engineered to guarantee every car a prime and clear view of the screen, and had been paved to eliminate any dust that might obscure the audience's view.  For patrons who experienced a flat tire, attendees waited nearby to fix the tire free of charge.

Outdoor cinemas became especially attractive to those looking for a family-friendly pastime, and the Circle Drive-In was no exception. The theatre provided a free bottle-warming service for mothers with infants so that the whole family could tag along. For children who had trouble sitting through a feature film, there was a full play park, complete with swings, a seesaw, and sandboxes. Between each film, the theatre also showed a selection of cartoons for youngsters in the audience. 

Furthermore, the ability to view a film from the comfort of one's own car appealed to a wide variety of viewers. Moviegoers could come dressed as they wanted and even smoke without fear of clouding up an indoor theatre. The drive-in was hailed as "the answer to the prayers of the invalid and aged," as those with limited mobility could enjoy a film more easily than ever.

The Circle Drive-In's program, which changed four times weekly, offered a diverse selection of the latest films, ranging from westerns to romances to kiddie flicks. As technology continued to develop in the following decades, so did the drive-in. In-car heaters were added in the early 1950s, ensuring maximum comfort for viewers even in the colder months. The theatre also installed an "electro-aire system" in snack bars and restrooms in 1953 to rid the air of germs and prevent the spread of sickness and disease. While the technology was later proven to be largely ineffective, the installation was seen as an important effort in the wake of various epidemics.

In the 1960s, however, drive-in theatres began losing customers—and, therefore, revenue—to indoor theatres that were not restricted to nighttime hours and could offer a more extensive selection of viewing times. Indoor theatres also offered consistent air-conditioning and operated even in inclement weather.  The development of the VCR in the 1970s took a further toll on drive-in theatres, as audiences could now view virtually any film of their choosing without leaving home.  Finally, gas prices in the 1970s forced many families to purchase smaller cars that were more fuel efficient, but decidedly less comfortable for movie viewing.  Given the massive decrease in family attendance, many outdoor cinemas—the Circle Drive-In included—began to feature slasher horrors and X-rated films almost exclusively.  The vast majority of these theatres ultimately succumbed to financial pressure, opting to sell their properties as land prices rose in the wake of expanding suburbs.  After years of steady decline, the Circle Drive-In closed its gates in 1980. 

Currently,  the theatre grounds are used to house a local flea market, which draws hundreds of visitors each week. Although the drive-in theatre is no longer in operation,  the screen tower still stands off of Waco's LaSalle Avenue, the reminder of a bygone era in both cinema and society.

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During the 1890s, the city of Waco was in a period of financial growth, and citizens were in need of a place to be entertained. Waco was home to several theaters and opera houses; however, local businessmen desired a large auditorium that would bring prominent stage productions, conventions, and money to the citizens of Waco. Respectable citizens called for a place to bring culture, as well as crowds and their wallets, to the young Brazos city.

After failed attempts to raise money for an auditorium in 1893 and 1894, due to the construction of the Texas Cotton Palace, a movement to build an auditorium began in 1899. A group of local businessmen, known as the Karnival Klub, strived to promote the interests of the city and presented plans for the Waco Auditorium. The Waco Auditorium Company was formed, and citizens of Waco donated money and bought stock in order to support the construction.

Plans for the building developed quickly. Built at the intersection of North Sixth Street and Columbus Avenue the Waco Auditorium held a prime location, sitting on top of a hill, and near the city’s businesses and hotels. On Thanksgiving Day, 1899, the greatly anticipated Waco Auditorium was dedicated. A heavily promoted opening included guests such as Governor Hogg and William Jennings Bryan to see the evening’s acts.

The building was originally built to seat about three thousand people, but by 1901, renovations cut capacity by half due to the lack of sold-out performances. The interior of the building was lush and elegant—dark red velvet covered seats, walls finished with terra cotta, crowned by a canary ceiling. Attending productions at the Waco Auditorium during its early seasons was a social and cultural event and was a place to socialize and to be seen by others. Visitors arrived by coach and wore their finest jewelry, and beautifully dressed women filled the mezzanine boxes.

The Waco Auditorium’s early seasons brought sophistication and refinement to Waco. Theatrical companies traveled to Waco in large numbers because of the large and modern facility, as well as Waco’s convenient location between Austin and Dallas. Acts included Shakespeare plays, opera, symphony orchestras, lectures, dances, musicals, minstrel shows, vaudeville, and magicians. By 1915, silent movies with orchestral accompaniment became a popular attraction. Prices of tickets ranged from ten cents to four dollars, depending on seating, time of the act, and caliber of performer.

By 1915, the Waco Auditorium had undergone many changes in management. Several previous theatrical seasons were slow, and ticket prices were reduced as a result. That year the auditorium’s longest manager, Gussie Oscar, took over the task of scheduling acts. Oscar traveled to New York City every summer to view and select performers. She organized more performances than any other manager at the Waco Auditorium and brought in big-name artists such as Fred and Adele Astaire.

With the decline of traveling acts during World War I, Oscar began booking controversial acts such as wrestling matches and chorus girls with flapper attire. Oscar also booked large amounts of vaudeville acts and movies to fit the needs of Camp MacArthur soldiers. Because of the level of popularity of movies such as The Birth of a Nation, Oscar violated Waco’s Sunday Closing Law resulting in her arrest. Oscar pleaded for a settlement and promised to never schedule shows on Sundays again, however, she was arrested once more in her career for the same offense. Oscar continued to run a strict business, though, and fired employees who showed up to work late or out of uniform.

The auditorium’s business began to decline during the 1920s for several reasons. New movie houses competed for consumer dollars and theater audiences declined. Camp MacArthur also closed its doors after the war, meaning soldiers were no longer a large source of revenue. The physical shape of the auditorium suffered due to the lack of funds from ticket sales to refurbish it, and it became difficult to schedule performances. The Waco Auditorium was sold in 1928, and torn down in 1929.

Because of the venue, Wacoans were introduced to Harry Houdini, Will Rogers, the Marx Brothers, and many others. The Waco Auditorium entertained citizens with over 2,400 performances for thirty years, and brought sophistication and culture to the city.

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One of the most infamous publicity stunts of all time, "The Crash at Crush," took place about 3 miles south of West, Texas, featuring two locomotives of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company (known as M-K-T or "Katy") intentionally set on a head-on collision course on Sept. 15, 1896. Advertised for months in advance, the event drew more than 40,000 spectators to a natural amphitheater formed in a shallow valley with hills rising on three sides.

Katy Passenger Agent William George Crush, for whom the event's site was named, had proposed the spectacle as a way to sell $2 per round-trip ticket from anywhere in the state. A special four-mile track was laid for the collision run, and telegraph offices erected and water wells drilled.

Workmen also constructed a grandstand for officials, speakers' stands, a platform for reporters and a bandstand. An eatery was set up in a tent borrowed from Ringling Brothers circus. A carnival midway sprang up, with medicine shows, game booths and cigar stands to entertain the spectators as they waited for the main event. Some 300 special policemen were brought in to keep order.

Almost all train wreck fans were put on a hill at least 200 yards away for what the Dallas Morning News termed "a perfect view of the destruction." Only journalists were allowed to be within 100 yards of the track, for their own safety.

The two engines, one green and one red and each pulling six cars covered with "gaudy advertising", slowly met at the point of collision to be photographed. Then the trains backed slowly up the low hills to their starting points. As they started their run, the two train crews abandoned their posts and jumped from the train.

At impact, estimated to be at 50 miles per hour for each engine, the smashing of metal and splintering of timber filled the air. But just as the dust from the smoking heap started to settle, both boilers exploded simultaneously and the air was filled with flying metal missiles "varying in size from a postage stamp to half of a driving wheel," the News reported the next day.

Two people died and at least six other people were seriously injured by flying debris. Ernest Darnall, who was sitting in a mesquite tree at the time of impact, was hit by debris and was killed instantly. One Waco photojournalist, Jarvis Deane, lost an eye. A Confederate veteran who was present for the crash told the newspapers the scene was like a Civil War battle, with people falling all around him. A heavy smokestack, blasted skyward, fell within the danger area, and two heavy trucks lifted off the ground by the concussion.

While the railway moved in quickly to remove the larger wreckage, souvenir hunters swarmed over the site, carrying off most of the remains despite burning their hands on the shrapnel. The Katy settled all claims with cash and life-time passes.

Impresario Crush, a disciple of P.T. Barnum, was "fired" the evening of the crash, but rehired the following day. Rumor even had it he got a bonus for all the attention he brought the railroad, which curiously saw a surge in business afterwards. He worked for the company for 57 years until his retirement.

The combustion, carnage and carnival atmosphere of the proceedings were immortalized by ragtime composer and Texas native Scott Joplin, in his "Great Crush Collision" march.

Despite the catastrophe of "The Crash at Crush," the Katy Railroad Company prospered into the first half of the 20th century. Staged locomotive collisions also became an element of mass public amusement on into the twentieth century.  

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Decades before American Idol made stars out of wannabes, Waco had its own hit-maker, Mary Holliday.

Holliday (1901-1969), believed to be the first female radio announcer in Texas, broadcast a thirty-minute youth talent show each Saturday for more than thirty years. She started in radio in 1925, working as a studio pianist at WJAD-AM, which became WACO-AM in 1927. The show launched shortly thereafter.

But the program — known as the "Jones' Fine Bread Kiddie Matinee Show" — proved so popular it was moved in 1932 to the Waco Theatre. It was broadcast there weekly until 1956.

In the show's heyday, Holliday would invite youngsters ages 5 to 14 who could sing, play an instrument or act to come two weeks in advance to audition for the show. Successful performers were given a slot in the program. If an act wasn't up to par, the ever-gracious Holliday would not dash the auditionee's hopes but rather suggest that they go home and practice some more.

One of the most famous alumni of Holliday's show is Hank Thompson, a Country Music Hall-of-Famer whose career has spanned six decades and who has sold more than sixty million records worldwide.

The young performers received free admission to Holliday's show, while audience members paid a quarter a head to get in. The children competed for humble cash prizes of fifty cents to two dollars.

Besides the variety show, Holliday was known for the talk show What's Doing Around Waco, which began as a fifteen-minute filler in 1938 and had expanded to an hour long show by 1950.

Holliday also was much in demand as a public speaker because of her many adventures overseas. 

"She took her radio audiences to France, England, Italy, Germany and other faraway places with her tape recorder," Holliday's July 7, 1969, Tribune-Herald obituary noted.

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For over a century, the Baylor University Homecoming Parade has played an important role in the relationship between the institution, its alumni, and the greater Waco community. The tradition began in the fall of 1909, when Baylor alumni received a postcard inviting them to return home to campus in order to rekindle school spirit and renew former friendships. This announcement of Baylor’s first homecoming drew hundreds of alumni back to campus on Thanksgiving weekend for what would become one of university’s largest celebrations. The weekend included concerts, class reunions, speeches by professors, and, on the morning of the last football game of the season, a grand parade through downtown.

The Baylor Processional of 1909 began by heading west on Washington Avenue, continuing to Austin Avenue, and traveling along the city’s major streets before arriving on campus for the game’s kickoff. Nearly twenty-five blocks of participants lined the streets, eager to share their school spirit. Led by the university’s marching band, the processional included faculty, the football team, and various student organizations. Automobiles and carriages decorated with green and gold pennants and yellow chrysanthemums carried dignitaries such as the university president, Samuel Palmer Brooks, and notable alumni.

The greater Waco community also took part in the homecoming parade since its debut. Shopkeepers and restaurant owners downtown decorated their storefronts with green and gold and joined the throng lining the streets as the parade passed through downtown. Some even joined the processional, setting a precedent for cooperation between the Waco community and the university. Alessandro’s Band, a family brass ensemble who regularly held concerts in venues such as the Brazos city riverboats and the Texas Cotton Palace, performed and marched in the 1909 processional.

Baylor Homecoming was not initially conceived as an annual event. The next homecoming parade did not occur until 1915, held to mark the seventieth anniversary of the founding of Baylor University. Floats first appeared in the parade that year. One 1915 float depicted a freshman entering a hall and exiting as a senior. By the 1920s, floats became the standard method of transportation during the parade, often portraying patriotic themes. In the 1915 parade, the Baylor mascot also made its debut. In the months preceding the festivities, students voted on their choice of mascot and the bear was revealed as the winner over options such as the antelope, buffalo, and ferret.

Baylor’s 1924 football season was so successful that the Baylor Alumni Association voted to make the homecoming celebration an annual event. The basic elements of the homecoming parade remained constant from the 1920s forward, although each year the alumni association sought to outdo the previous years’ celebration. 

Escalating international tensions in the 1940s cast a shadow over university activities. All male students between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five were required to register with the military, and many were called away from their studies to serve in the war. From 1943 to 1945, the alumni association canceled the homecoming celebrations in order to best preserve supplies during times of dire shortages. As the war came to a close, the alumni association put plans into motion for the “greatest parade to date” in 1946. It promoted not only Baylor spirit but also celebrated soldiers returning home and the end of the war.

Baylor’s homecoming celebrations have continued annually since the end of World War II, and in 2009, Baylor celebrated its homecoming centennial. The parade has grown to include dozens of student organizations, local businesses, and Waco high schools. Now, each fall is marked by this grand and time-honored spectacle, an essential element in the fabric of the university and greater community.

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