Pizza Hut Pete and Woodlawn Theatre still glow among Fredericksburg Road's neon landmarks
After 50 years on Fredericksburg Road, Pizza Pete still flips the pies at Pizza Hut in his vintage, neon sign glory.
It's a miracle the mustachioed mascot lights up at all. He first popped up on the historic corridor in the late 1960s, beckoning hungry drivers to just the second Pizza Hut location to open in San Antonio. But by the mid-1970s, Pizza Hut shifted its branding from the cartoon chef to the more modern red roof logo. Now the latter dots the Earth like so many pepperoni slices at nearly 20,000 Pizza Huts worldwide.
But the Pizza Pete on Fredericksburg Road is a survivor. Not only is he one of the last such signs in the country, he also made the trek from his original home in the 2500 block of Fredericksburg Road to its relocation 2 miles up the road in Balcones Heights.
Today the electric pitchman remains a beacon to a bygone era. He also shares that slice of roadside Americana with other vintage signs in San Antonio's Deco District, most of them fellow neon wonders that still light the way for their respective businesses still in operation.
Here's a closer look at Pizza Pete and his neon friends on Fredericksburg Road.
Cool Crest Miniature Golf, 1402 Fredericksburg Road
Cool Crest originally opened in 1929 as an 18-hole mini course, though most San Antonians know it best for its late 1950s makeover. That's when owners Harold and Maria Metzger added a second course and accented its Art Deco design with white concrete that zigzagged through its banana trees and verdant landscaping.
The Metzgers also dolled up the 36-hole oasis with Cool Crest's iconic hilltop sign. Shaped like giant putting green, the wavy titan still bears the Cool Crest name in classic cursive with the humble words "World's Finest" and an Earth globe emblem.
The sign faded with the site as health issues forced Maria Metzger to scale back operations before she died in 2010. Dr. James Andry and his brothers purchased the property from the Metzger estate in late 2012 and fully restored the historic landmark and its sign right down to the original green paint.
Bill Lyons, whose family owns the downtown Casa Rio on the River Walk and street-level Schilo's Delicatessen, took over Cool Crest earlier this year.
Woodlawn Theatre, 1920 Fredericksburg Road
Half a mile north of Cool Crest, one of San Antonio's oldest movie houses still shines its vertical blade sign announcing its name.
Woodlawn Theatre opened Aug. 17, 1945, as an Art Deco follow-up to the downtown Majestic Theatre, both designed by famed architect John Eberson. "National Velvet" starring Elizabeth Taylor was the first film to light up the Woodlawn marquee and screen. The former cinema also hosted the 1960 world premiere of John Wayne's "The Alamo" with the Duke himself in attendance.
The Woodlawn screened films well into the early 1980s, then transitioned to a catch-all entertainment venue. Those eclectic offerings ranged from theater productions of "Jack and the Bean Stalk" and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" to live music by the Red Hot Chili Peppers and My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult.
Today the historic site is the home of Woodlawn Comedy, an events company that specializes in stand-up and other performances. As for the towering sign outside, it still bears the catch-all name "Woodlawn" in vibrant light.
Plaza del Rey Ballroom & Bingo, 2716 Fredericksburg Road
The former ballroom and bingo hall originally opened in July 1951 as a Handy Andy grocery store with smaller tenants that included an Oak Hills Drug store and a Fox photo shop. Handy Andy remained there for roughly 30 years, then the space shifted to wedding receptions and 75-ball as Plaza del Rey in the early 1980s.
That's where the bingo hall's signage and provenance get a bit murky. The earliest reference the Express-News could find to bingo operations at the location is 1982. Yet the dilapidated "Ballroom Bingo" sign outside looks a good 30 years older. The long-running website RoadsideArchitecture.com estimates the nonoperational sign may be from the 1940s or '50s. It bears the same Art Deco-inspired lines and ring accents as the Woodlawn Theatre sign about a half-mile away.
Plaza del Rey now houses a Bargain$ Depot bin and liquidation store, which opened in May.
Tip Top Café, 2814 Fredericksburg Road
We know plenty more about DeWese's Tip Top Café, Plaza del Rey's cross-street neighbor. A San Antonio constant since 1938, Tip Top still serves the same chicken fried steak, onion rings and other homestyle eats that founders Pappy and Winnie DeWese first cooked up nearly 90 years ago. Those same popular entrees still grace the same brown booths and tables surrounded by the same knotty pine walls and same old photos of original servers and staff.
Such constancy also applies to the outside signage.
Tip Top offers two servings of tubular wattage. Curbside, a simple red sign sports the diner's name with the word "cafe" in a vintage green top above a simple marquee bearing the day's specials. Then on the diner's enchilada-red exterior, the words "Tip Top" jet over the front door awning with two pointy T's while three accent lines zip in from either side.
Both vintage signs still work, though the restaurant turns them off at closing time 7 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Pizza Hut, 4250 Fredericksburg Road
The animated Pizza Pete sign on Fredericksburg Road has stood by the same Pizza Hut location across several blocks and decades. And it may be the only sign of its kind in Pizza Hut history.
RoadsideArchitecture.com estimates the sign likely was built in 1969 and moved with the restaurant to its current home 30 years later.
The site notes similar Pizza Pete signs featured the character with just a single pizza in mid-air, while the San Antonio sign features the chef's left hand moving up and down while the pizza sequences through four positions.
That's not all that makes the sign stand out from the rest. RoadsideArchitecture.com also notes its Pizza Hut location loses points during corporate inspections for having non-conforming signage, though it is allowed to keep Pizza Pete flipping as long as he is maintained. And there's always an appetite for neon nostalgia.
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