Dallas goes Bling

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I spent the day in Dallas, a city most Americans associate with big hair, flashy lifestyles, and enormous egos.

Much of that impression comes from a famous TV show set in the city, and the antics of the Dallas Cowboys NFL team.

In reality, the image is closer to real life than many residents would like to admit, at least in certain parts of the city.





No discussion of Dallas is complete without the tale of the most famous promotional stunt in Texas history, Mark Cuban runs a Dairy Queen.

Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks NBA team, has long feuded with the NBA commissioner over the consistency of officiating at games.

During a press conference early in 2002, Cuban stated that the head NBA referee was so incompetent he wouldn’t hire him to run a Dairy Queen (see Its Beauty Can’t be Exaggerated, Even by Texans).

Understandably, the CEO of Dairy Queen was insulted, and responded that Mark Cuban should try running one himself.

Mark Cuban, who knows an opportunity when he sees one, did what nobody thought he would and accepted the offer.

Thus, on January 16, 2002, Mark Cuban and some Dallas Mavericks players ran a Dallas area Dairy Queen for a day.

Truth be told, they spent as much time signing autographs as serving ice cream, but Dairy Queen still had its highest single day customer count in history.

Win win!





I had to spend most of the day running errands, but did take some time to dive into local culture.

Part of Dallas’s reputation as the home of flash and pomp stems from the department store Neiman Marcus, which was founded and is still based downtown.

Since 1926 they have put out famous holiday catalogs showcasing gifts few humans could ever afford yet still managed to buy.

The 1997 edition featured a custom jet!

Now, the store showcases an entire holiday gift department in November and December, so I went to see the spectacle.





My visit was a view into a world where the price truly doesn’t matter.

Neiman Marcus featured the largest stuffed animals I have ever seen, Christmas tree ornaments as luxurious as most jewelry, and model cars powered by gas that actually run.

I didn’t dare look for price tags.

The store also featured piles of its most infamous holiday gift ever, pink fruit cake!





In Dallas, I stayed a relatively new boutique hotel called the Magnolia.

It’s aimed at business travelers.

Few of those are in Dallas this time of year, so I got another ridiculous last minute discount on the room, over 50%!o(MISSING)ff.





The hotel occupies an incredibly historic building.

The public areas preserve much of the design detail.

It was built by the Magnolia Oil Company in 1922 for their headquarters.

It was the tallest building in Texas at the time.

In 1934, they created a large red neon statue of a pegasus, which they put on the roof on a turntable.

It was visible throughout the city, and quickly became a symbol of Dallas itself.

The logo will also look familiar to most drivers; Magnolia was later bought out by Mobil Oil and they kept the logo for themselves.





Dallas would not be a proper Texas city without some really good steakhouses.

Most of them will require a second mortgage to pay the bill.

The front desk at my hotel directed me to Hoffbrau Steaks, one of the few combining good steak with affordable prices.

The place was decorated like a sophisticated roadside bar.

The list of cuts was long enough I turned to my server for advice; they recommended the rib-eye, which was excellent.

The place also featured sweet iced tea, the classic Southern beverage (see Approaching the Emerald City), served in glasses so large they could double as small buckets.

Apparently, Dallas natives can’t get enough of the stuff.

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Photos

Pegasus Statue
Closeup of the pegasus statue on the Magnolia Building, a symbol of Dallas

Magnolia Building
The former home of Magnolia Petroleum, now a hotel

Neiman Marcus
Preparing for the holidays at Dallas's home of flash and pomp