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Just
looking at a San Antonio map, I want to say it
was probably on Taylor Street, near the intersection with 4th Street – but of
course, I could be wrong. It was called “Hips Bubble Room”. Less than 1/2 mile
north of the Alamo and only about 40 by 40 feet
square in size, Hips offered tasty hamburgers and colder beer. The beer on tap
was called “GimmeDraw” served in a cold mug.
Walking in the door, the
register was immediately on your left and the bar and stools ran to the rear occupying
the left half of the room. Overhead at the bar, a toy electric train ran on its
track, sometimes. The hamburgers were cooked behind the bar. The only illumination
inside was the Christmas lights that bubbled, and they bubbled all year long.
The right half of Hips Bubble Room had booths along the wall and a few tables
in the middle. Each booth had a selection box to choose music remotely from the
jukebox in the rear. It was well air-conditioned and restrooms in the back. It
was a good place to spend a hot Saturday afternoon in San
Antonio.
I first walked in Hips in 1951 while I was stationed at
Brooks Air Force Base on Loop 13. Later I was overseas for a couple of years but
spent the rest of my 4-year enlistment in San Antonio
and occasionally at Hips. All my other years, I have lived in Houston.
Just passing through at some point after 1996 I stopped in Hips for a "GimmeDraw"
and found out they were going to close. A parking lot was to be built there. Since
then I've driven past the area and saw parking lots but recognized no landmarks.
Hips was there for 50 years dispensing its brand of ambience and endorphins,
and now it is gone. It was a miracle that I was there the year it began and the
year it ended and some of the years between. But that is a "faded love" and memory
now, just like the song. If your footprints ever crossed the threshold of Hips
Bubble Room, I would be interested in your memories.
©
Ken Rudine
11-22-05
Guest Column
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