Dallas v. Fort Worth

In those years, Dallas and Fort Worth were intense rivals. Amon Carter, with his Stetson hat and Sid Richardson really built up Fort Worth. Clint Murchison was Mr. Dallas and there was a real rivalry between the two cities. Don’t hear of it any more.

Funny, those three millionaires were born in Henderson County where my family and I were all born. Sid and Clint are buried in the Athens Cemetery where my Mama is buried.

In l936, Dallas had the huge Centennial Celebration (see image above on the right). Bigwigs from all over. They built all of those buildings at the Fair Grounds for the Fair. It ran all summer.

It was more that the Fort Worth moguls could stand. They called the New York showman, Billy Rose, and brought him to Fort Worth to develop competition. He came and helped build the first Casa Manaña. It was outdoor entertainment with waterfalls for curtains.

I went to the Dallas affair, but I didn’t get to see the original Casa Manaña. Gypsy Rose Lee came with her fans. The slogan was something like, “Go to Dallas for education, but come to Fort Worth to have fun.”

Building DFW Airport was the first sign of cooperation rather than competition, I think.