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Joseph Donahue

Speaking of Big Bear stores, my aunt and uncle owned E C Jones Trucking.  Their largest client was Big Bear. I loaded trucks for them beginning at age 13. We got so many stamps that I think my parents purchased a home - kidding of course but I do remember sitting at the dinner table and licking stamps until I could not get my lips apart. We saved money on food just to get TV trays so we could eat in front of the TV.  Made perfect sense to me at the time. Now....

Do any IC students remember painting Halloween pictures on the windows of the stores that fronted High Street?  

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Yes to the window painting. It always looked so festive. I tried it one year with Christine and probably Mary Margaret, I think, and it was disastrous. We got fired!!  They have a farmer's market now every Saturday right there along High between Oakland Park & Dunedin. I was just thinking last week, they should bring back the Halloween window painting.  Maybe I'll stop by and suggest it. With the trading stamps and sales tax stamps, at IC we used to have schoolwide contests to bring them in to buy school things. But I can remember many a day, sorting and pasting them during classtime. I always thought Lex's Live was quite possibly the grossest thing I'd ever seen but I DID have a special place in my heart for Flippo. A bunch of us from the cast of "Tammy" went to the show to hype our production!!  I remember nothing about it & since it was long before VCR, I have no idea how it went!!  He would probably not be allowed in public in this day and age!!

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Jimmy's Drug Store, maybe?  Remember the tunnel that went under High Street?  I was never supposed to use the tunnel. Or go to Jimmy's Drug Store either!!  I think I may have done both once or twice and lived not to tell about it!!!  There's a great series on WOSU-TV called Columbus Neighborhoods. The one on Clintonville and the one on The Tri-Villages ate both really interesting and have a lot of photos from the day. 

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mary Clare,

It could have been Jimmy's, can't say for sure. I know that Jimmy Rawlin's Dance Studio was on the second story above one of the shops on High Street.

I had forgotten about the tunnel! Yes, we were also told by our parents not to use it but I'm sure I probably did - and most likely RAN through it as fast as I could. I wonder what happened to that tunnel?

Here is something a little different for all to ponder: when I was in Columbus for the reunion I went out taking pictures around the area and one of them is shown below.

     -- What is the name of the area where this was taken?

     -- What is the name of the body of water seen in the picture?

     -- What large structure is just north of this picture?

David Mitchell

This is fun listening to all this.

I'm on my second day off from three back-breaking days af clearing tree debris from my yard along the banks of the May River, near Hilton Head (Jonny Mercer's inspiration for his song "Moon River"), and just got power and internet late Friday night. (spent 3 days with a friend near Atlanta)

I went up to the Beaufort Naval Hospital for a Friday appointment and asked if they could do a "twofer" - chest x-ray (as scheduled), AND back surgery - but noooooo. Those folks at the VA are soooooo picky.

First of all, I thought I was the only guy on the planet who would remember "Sweet Daddy Sikki" on Lex's Live Wrestling. He was my all-time favorite. (and wasn't Lex a dork?)

We did Buckeye stamps but I preferred S&H Green stamps. Not only did I like the color better, but they had a milk shake machine in the catalogue that my mother pormised me if I would put the samps in the book for her. She had me at the word "shake"! 

I sometimes sat and did the pasting while I watched Saturday morning TV, like Cisco Kid, My Friend Flicka, or Mighty Mouse. More sophisiticated evening shows like Rin-Tin-Tin, Walt Disney, or You asked For It, required my undivided attention. I think I even had Tom Litzinger help me paste stamps one night when he was staying over. We probably watched "Home Run Derby" while Mom made popcorn. Man, we really knew how to have a good time.

Is is comforting to know that while all these things have passed away, one thing remains constant in this world - Bechwold Hardware!  It is still there. It still has only one cash register. And if my information is correct, it is still the Saturday morning nerve center of "The People's Republic of Beechwold". You stand 8th or 12th in line for that cash register and you will learn absolutely everythign worth knowing as of that moment.  

And I still believe Roy Rodgers is the "King of the Cowboys" 

David Mitchell

Uh, yes, Dominican nuns taught me to spell. They just couldn't get me to proofread.

Joseph D. McCarthy

"Finally something that allows me to add my 2 1/2 cents.  Let's start by taking the "Way Back Machine" to before they built I-670 under High Street.  At the Southwest corner of High Street and Goodale (Now part of the Greek Orthodox church - Annunciation I beliieve) there use to be an old time Saloon.  The owner ran a "Tent like" faciltiy on the Northwest corner that was named either "Haff's or Half's Acre"  It was used in the Fifties for a wrestling center, with the bar/saloon/serving drinks and food.   This is where I first met Gorgeous George.  My parents business was located just west at Goodale and Park (Front St).  Across the street IS Goodale Park.  North on High Street (and Park St.) was the location of White Cross hospital, which relocated and changed it's name to Riverside Hospital.

S&H Green stamps was a Cincinnatti firm that did business nationwide.  And yes I still have a couple books of them somewhere along with Buckeye stamps.  A grade school classmate's older brother (Steve Breech) was the last C.E.O. of Big Bear.  Marvin Fishman (aka Bob Marvin, aka Flippo the clown) who I delivered newspapers to lived in University View of Kenny Road.  He also was a big band leader and owned or had an interest in the "ValleyDale" where he had Teen dances on Sunday's with local teen bands, etc.  One side note, Flippo got around to events in a BMW Isetta.  An Isetta has one FRONT door.  So you push on the steering wheel to open the front end of the car.  I liived not far from and knew the Ciotola families.  Coming into Ellis Island at different ties the two brothers and their families ended up living down the street from one another; but at Ellis one was told Ci a tolla and the other was told Choctilla was their name, or so the story goes.  They were neighbors of Paul Panzera who still owns Paul's Pantry on west Fifth avenue.  La Scala was started and owned (at least partially) by Ben, who had to give up his job on Northwest Blvd and Third where he was a barber.  And Finally, Sales Tax Stamps.  Started in Ohio in the early 1930's.  At first a customer would buy a $1.00 card from a retailer and everytime they purchaseditem(s) the clerk would punch out the amount of tax.  Eventually the state went to the "Stamps" that many of you may remember.  The Vendor (retailer) would purchase these from the state in stapled packs of 100 of different denominations.  Then whenj a customer acquired an item/items the vendor would tear off the half of the coupon/stamp that said "consumer" in the total amount of the tax Paid.  This was an attempt by the state to prove to the consumers that the vendor wasn't pocketing the tax, but had already paid the tax.   Finally, Clem keep up the good work.

Joe

James Hamilton, M. D.

Mary Clare Hummer (Bauer)

Thanks, Joe. What a trove of information. You definitely must come to the next reunion!!  And Jim, you've got me stumped on the pic. I figured maybe Overbrook or Wallahalla or maybe even the Olentangy down West Patterson or Oakland but I can't think of any large structure to the north of any of them. If no one comes up with it, how about a couple of hints??  

James Hamilton, M. D.

Fred Clem

Steve Breech was CEO of Big Bear when it was sold to a Syracuse NY company called Penn Traffic.  Corporate decided to cut costs by lowering quality and service.  Steve tried to stop their plans and was terminated.         Big Bear started a downward spiral and closed for good around 2005.

Steve had two younger brothers at St. Andrew, John and Larry.  John went to Watterson and graduated in '65. Larry was sent away to a boarding school.  He would hacve been in our class.

I remember painting the windows at Lane Avenue Shopping Center.  It didn't look anything like it does today. There were two drugstores (McKinley's and Cutler's), G. C. Murphy's, Super Duper (grocery), a movie theater,  U. S.Post Office and other smaller stores.

David Mitchell

Any of you "I.C. 'ers" remeber that old dirty frame house at the north east corner of North Broadway and Indianola? It was a scuzzy old bar called Holly's. We used to have to go in there now and then while Dad would go fetch a neighbor of ours who hung out there too much and couldn't drive himself home. 

And Speaking of Big Bear, do you U.A. folks remember that Big Bear with the tented roof down on Lane Ave. where Saint John Arena now sits. Seems to me it was a skating rink for a while after (or before) Big Bear occupied it.

And how about you St. Michael's folks - ever eat at Anton's (or Antoine's?) up on the west side of High Street almost across from the old Niklaus pharmacy? One of our family favorites for years. Dirty wooden booths with great Italian food and they still served 7 ounce bottles of Coke with the straw already in the bottle. 

While we are on restautrants - I used to stay over at my cousin's house on West Lane and my Aunt Norma (wife of Dr. John Mitchell - the Allergist with one arm) would take Jim (MItchell, Watterson '63) and I to Stew Harrison's on W. 3rd (or 5th?). They had an old section and the newer section. We always sat in the older section so we could sit in the booth's that were all carved up with people's initials and love notes. Best hamburgers!  And of course on special occasions was nearby Presutti's! Wow, how fun watching Mama and Papa Presutti seating diners  - him in his tuxedo and her in her flowing chiffon gowns. 

And we would go downtown some nights to eat with my Dad - he used to have evening office hours for his patients one or two nights a week. We almost always walked across from his office in the old Beggs Bulding (22 story skyscraper on State Street) to Mill's Cafeteria. We must have eaten there 100 times - so often the girls behind the counter knew my Dad and knew ahead of time that I was going to order the fish. Thy would have it on the plate and ready for me as I slid my tray along the rails. One night Mayor Jack Sensenbrenner stood and waited for us at the front door and tipped his straw boater to us and said. "Evenin' Doc" We used to see Governor Frank Lausche, often sitting at a table - ALONE - no entourage - chatting with poeple at nearby tables while he ate. But now and then we woud go upscale and walk over to Paoletti's, a nicer place with good food and table waiters. Fred probably knows every one of these families?????

James Hamilton, M. D.

Dave,

Janet and I discovered Stew Harrison's when we were dating and ate there frequently until we moved to Colorado. It was very popular with senior citizens and we always said that when we entered the restaurant we lowered the average age by 30 years! (If it were still there today we would fit right in!)

Presutti's was our favorite "upscale" place to go and Mama and Papa were always the the most elegant of hosts. The building was also elegant, inside and out. It was on 5th Ave as I recall. When Mama and Papa died the restaurant soon closed and became the "Bordello", another restaurant that also eventually closed. I do not know what it is today.

Does anyone remeber Ricardo's (not Ricardi's)? It was close to St. James the Less church in the Linden area. For years it was my parent's favorite eatery until it closed after a truck accidentillay crashed into it and was eventually razed. We used to have our IC athletic banquets there at the end of football season.

Michael McLeod

Ok I have to weigh in on Dave Mitchell's recollections about a place called Hawleys -- yes, that is the correct spelling -- on Indianola. It was not at the corner of East North Broadway and indianola, but rather at the corner of Oakland Park, one block down.

That corner remains vivid in my memory because I lived on East North Broadway between Indianola and the railroad tracks (meaning east of Indianola, and six houses down) and spent my summers walking from there to Olympic Swim Club.

We were so close to Olympic that I could hear the chatter of kids in the pool from my bedroom window and the hourly admonition over the loudspeaker: "It is now time for the ... o'clock break. Let's have everyone out of the water. The break will not begin until everyone is out of the water. Parents and adults are invited to swim during the break." I can't remember how long the break was, but as children, bursting with energy, it seemed an eternity before we could jump back into the pool.

I could go on indefinitely about Olympic, which of course is gone now, replaced by an apartment complex, a massive one that I drove by with a pang -- one more charming, communal landmark lost to what passes for progress -- when I was up for the reunion. One crazy thing Olympic did in our day was to put a fish in the swimming pool once a year and award a prize to the person who could catch it barehanded. Big fish. I caught it one year. As I climbed out of the pool with it, hoards of kids behind me in the water were still surging too and fro on wild goose chases, thinking the prey was still out there in the water. Kind of a cruel thing to do to a poor creature, looking back.

But to the point of that intersection: There was a row of businesses there. A barbershop, with an italian barber we tormented on our way to the pool - the "we" being my two sisters and I, Ellen and Katie. Then Hawley's. Then Brody's Drug Store. It was run by Steve Brody, who was -- and here again the memory makes me flinch a little - a JEW. Which was a whispered, alien novelty to us in those cloistered-Catholics days.  We also passed a produce story owned by Gus Dinova's family and a green stamp store -- which was, I guess, a place where you could go in and swap your green stamps for stuff? Not altogether sure about that....it was right next to Olympic. Further down Oakland Park, behind Dinova's, was an Omar bakery warehouse and an A&P grocery story.

During the school year, my sisters and I could walk west down East North Broadway to Immaculate Conception, passing by a row of homes inhabited by Catholic couples whose output of offspring was proof positive of either their dedication to cranking out Catholic kids or the loopholes inherent in the rhythm method of birth control. The O'Neils. The McCarthy's. The Johnsons. Their capacity for reproduction put my parents to shame. Thanks in part to my father spending several years away from my mother during World War II, when he went to the Pacific and served at Okinawa, we were a small brood by comparison -- just four children in my family: Katie, Ellen, myself, and an older sister I have not mentioned before: Mary Ann, sweet and scholarly Mary Ann, gone now these past, I think it's four years now.

So there you go, Dave. That's what happens when a journalist catches an error. And may I say: over the course of my writing career I've made many, many more than you ever will. Go Bucks and love you guys. 

Donna Kelley (Velazquez)

Whew, you guys have just listed a litany of all the Kelleys' favorite Italian restaurants in Columbus.  I can think of family dinners and special celebrations that took place in each and everyone of them. 

Jim, the photo reminds of Walhalla behind our house where we always went sledding.  One of the Kelley kids usually arrived home wet. 

For some reason I feel the urge to clarify that my ninth birthday gift of going to Lex Live Wrestling was not my idea.  I think that was the year that I asked for a pony.

Joseph Donahue

I don't remember the drugstore, but I think I remember that just south of Isley's there was a movie theater and a car dealership and a little further south on High was Mikes Village Variety store that was a combination drug, toy and hardware store. I should remember all of the names as that area was part of my Clintonville Booster paper route. I used to deliver every Thursday through rain and snow and dark of night. And speaking of Alex's wrestling, whatever became of Haystacks Calhoun?

Joseph Donahue

Lex's Wrestling. Damn spellcheck 

Donna Kelley (Velazquez)

Mike, please confirm that you couldn't hear the conversations coming from the upper floor Cabanas at Olympic Beach pool!! Some of those would be hard to live down. Right, IC girls?

Michael McLeod

Donna: I wish!

And ah, yes, The cabanas. In the social strata of our childhoods, anybody who had a cabana at Olympic was a member of the ruling class. We would stand there, shivering, clutching our raggedy towels, staring up at that second-floor enclave with envy and awe.

A postscript: I left out the Hughes in my role call of East North Broadway families involved in the cranking-out-little-Catholics sweepstakes of the day. Dr. Hughes and his fertile frau lived right next to what we referred to as "the old grey house," a decrepit, victorian-style home whose solitary resident, an old man we never saw,  was a source of mystery and fascination to us. I think my sister broke a window there once and tried to frame me for doing it.

Michael McLeod

OK PSS and then I'll stop, I swear:

A couple of businesses at Oakland Park and Indianola that I missed in the previous post:

There was a Sinclair gas station. Its manager, known to us as Mr. Cotter, had a face that I remember as always being blackened by oil. I don't know what the hell he was doing with engines to make his face that black but I remember so vividly how odd the whites of his eyes looked in the middle of that greasy visage. Looking back I also applaud Sinclair for its dinosaur logo, which was both entertaining and appropriate, if you think about the ancient geological processes that create oil.

There was also -- how could I have forgotten this -- The Big Bev: an old-timey, drive-in-and-be-served-by waitresses-who-come-out-and-hook-trays-to-your-window sort of place. (I think it is now a burger franchise on that lot but can't remember which). You could also eat inside, and patrons sat in booths alongside big picture windows that looked out onto the parking lot. Once, as a grade school kid, I discovered a wondrous novelty: a vividly realistic, marvelously detailed, frisbee-sized splat of rubber vomit. What a treasure it was. Hours and hours of wholesome family fun. Anyway the first thing I did with it was to walk past one of the windows where two diners, a young man and his date, were sitting opposite each other in their booth. I made sure I had their attention. Then I contorted my face, contracted myself into a series of dramatic convulsions, doubled over, and tossed the plastic puke on the pavement in front myself. The young woman gawked at the pavement, horrified enough to make my day. I don't think I thought my performance through any further than that, and thinking back now I am lucky her date did not come out and kick my ass. Instead, as I looked up, I could see him laughing, and had the warm-and-fuzzy, male-bonding experience of knowing that he and I, strangers just a moment before, were now like-minded co-conspiritors who shared a similarly sophisticated sense of what constitutes comedy gold. Maybe, like me, he was lucky enough to have a bas-relief plastic upchuck creation of his own in his personal collection of essential novelty items. At least it's nice to think so.

James Hamilton, M. D.

Timothy Lavelle

 Q.  -- What is the name of the area where this was taken?

A. Columbus, Ohio??????

Q.  -- What is the name of the body of water seen in the picture?

A. I need two guesses....a creek or a stream?

Q  -- What large structure is just north of this picture?

A.  A tree. This one was easier cause you can actually see the tree.....

So, for my prize, I want free medical care for life. JIm, you must have known that someone like me would go for the easy joke??

Alright. I mentioned to someone else that Mc'Lid...a name that I always thought would catch on at the local McDonalds Marijuana Shop...could turn a phrase with the best of them. BUT "...bas-relief plastic upchuck creation of his own in his personal collection of essential novelty items." ranks up there with some of the best that any of us could aspire to.

Fred, I no longer believe your last name is Clem. Maybe Chiacarella or Clementina or some other (pathetic attempt by me) Italian surname. OR, you have the world-renowned but sadly lost until now "History of Famous Columbus Italians" by Dino Cellini. I love your posts Fred.

So, just some other memories for the bonfire....Kennedy coming to Columbus and speaking on the Statehouse grounds. From the way my Mom looked at him, I believed all the stories years later. Did anyone but me get sent to the Y downtown to learn to swim? Ride city busses alone for fairly long distances (in 1950s or 60s measurement) by themselves to various events? I think maybe my folks were thinking maybe I'd get lost and they would have one less little Irish Catlicker to feed? No, not really. 

An early memory is of a flood in Columbus. Maybe 53 or 54?? My Dad drove us down West Broad toward downtown (from the Hilltop) and there were still rings of ice sticking to the sides of telephone poles at 5 or 6 feel about ground level. That day Dad taught me the name "Bottoms" that you Big C folks now call Franklinton or some such? Talk about Urban Denial.

Saint Agatha was better than any of your schools. Really, I mean, you know that's the truth so please give up those grainy memories of "the northeast corner of Indianola and Beelzebub". Our boys were stronger and more handsome; taller with IQs exceeding 140 and our girls could out-cute Shirley Temple. Most of us rode either BMW motorcycles or brand-new (each year) Schwinns to school but some came in Mercedes. Most of us had Olympic style lap pools in our back yards, generally closer to the house than the shooting range or tennis courts. The food was far superior to anything that you had to eat, even at home. I recall the Friday repast with the top layer of the Macaroni and Cheese being the consistency of freshly prepared Bakelite. Best of all, when I started there in the sixth grade, we had Miss Clifford who was Jane's older sister and the very best looking single-female ever to teach young men and women. She was a stand-out looker when placed next to the Sisters of Doom. Or anyone else. 

She became a nun.

...and the music died.

Timothy Lavelle

...I do apologize but this is really important to keep history perfectly accurate.

In 1957 at Lex's Live, Hopalong Cassidy just beat the living crap out of Roy Rogers and then rode out of the arena on Gene Autry's horse with Dale Evans riding double behind him. Roy was seen later trying to piece together his wrecked guitar as his horse 'Stuff-Me' looked on.

Just sayin'...

Fred Clem

David,

You're a little mixed up with Big Bear on Lane and St. John Arena.  The Bear was on the north side of Lane near the Olentangy River.  It was the very first Big Bear, opening in 1934 (formerly a roller skating venue). I don't know exactly when it closed but it was still open  on their 50th anniversary in 1984.  St. John opened in the late 50's, just before the Lucas-Havlicek era, on the south side of Lane.  A high rise apartment/condo building replaced the Big Bear.

Fred