The "memory posts are all presented here. As new ones come in they will be added to the end of the January 25, 2006 post.

From: PC in Tampa
Date: 01/20/06 00:20:59
Subject: Miami Shores memories.

Bonnie,
The list of things in Dayton started me thinking about some of the things that were in Miami Shores and West Carrollton during my youth. I send them to you, in no particular order, in hopes that some of our alumni might send their own memories. So here goes.

Venetian Way Pond, where we want swimming, fishing and ice skating. Not with skates but just our street shoes. I used to catch some real nice Bluegill out of there.

The floods. Once the water started to recede there would be pockets of standing water where you could and catch fish by hand. This was before they built the levee up.

Smith's Boathouse. I spent a lot of summer hours there just admiring the boats, (mostly the wooden Chris-Crafts) and occasionally someone would even take you for a ride in one of them.

Bonny Lee's Tavern. Used to go there on a Saturday afternoons and stand outside to watch them throw the drunks out. (There wasn't a lot to do back then.)

The old narrow bridge that led into Miami Shores. We could climb up the big rivits that were in the spans and walk on top of the bridge. My brother once even rode his bike on top of it.

Jim Richardson, Ronnie Craig, Bill Howard and I playing baseball in the street with imaginary home run walls, (a power line). And each of knew the starting line-up of our favorite major league team, mine was there Yankees.

The huge Great Dane dog that the Boytnutts had.

The Tradi'n Post that had everything from tools to pin-up magazines. I even saw Brenda Lee sing there once when she was real young.

The free movies shown on a sheet stretched between two poles in the vacant field across from the Reed and Bailey Hawkins' house. On that same field I can remember playing football, full tackle, no pads. I also smoked my first cigar there and got so sick that I couldn't watch the movie.

The airport where we used to go to practice hitting fly balls to each other.

The old Sohio gas station. I think the owners name was Chet

Webbs grocery store where you could take the store coupons that came in the mail, and trade them for ice cream, candy or whatever.

The barber shop where I very seldom ever went because I always got a home haircut.

Hopper's "Supermarket" , the brackets are mine. He always seemed like an old grouch to me.

And going across the bridge to the Montgomery Co. park where we spent most of our summer days, after it was built, playing all of the sports, including tennis. We even had a full fledged football team that played our home games there. It was coached by Rev. James Allen, minister of the Evangelical United Bretheren Church there in Miami Shores

Of course Woody's first store, The Indian River fruit stand.

And moving on down to W.C. The ice cream stand across from Woody"s, (can't remember the name of it). Woody owned it too. They used to sell a drink made of cream soda, the red kind, and ice cream that cost only a quarter, which was great. We used to stop there just about every day after practice, football, baseball or track, and get one

The little donut shop just around the corner from the H.S. stadium where we used to go in and watch the guy cutting the donuts out and flipping them up onto his thumb. And if you got a red star on your receipt your order was free. They were soooo good when you got them hot out of the fryer.

And Buck's store across from the H.S. where a lot of the students used to go to eat lunch, and catch a smoke.

Also the service station, how long since you heard that term, across from the H.S. that had the pin-ball machine that would pay off.

The brand new Henry J that Miss Marsh bought.

I am sure that I could think of many more but I will stop for now and allow someone to contribute some of their own thoughts.

P.S. One more. The huge bonfire pep rallies at the H.S., where the students formed a "snake".

Thanks for listening

Tom
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From: Richard Doll
To: Bonnie
Subject: Re: Annual WC Alumni Dinner/Dance

Have to make a comment after reading through some of the memories in this email. I had a memory jar myself! I do remember the Mayfair "Burlesque" Theater. I was home from college in the winter quarter from Ohio State my freshman year, even brought a new college friend home with me -- Bob Bilsing from Upper Sandusky, Ohio (Bob and Dave Koehler -- Kaylor -- were high schood friends and roommates at OSU at the time -- Dave went on to replace Oprah Winfrey in Nashville as a news commentator a few years later and wound up in Columbus at WBNS TV for 25 years) need-less-to-say we all have our stories and time seems to add more 'spice' to them.

Bob and I were on the way home to my house on Lamme Road -- it had snowed and turned icy while we were "at the show" -- don't remember a thing about it actually! lol I was stopping, or at least trying too, on Patterson Avenue in downtown Dayton and veered into a light pole. Neither of us was hurt; but, the car was slightly damaged -- not bad at all, mind you. When I called my parents to tell them what happened -- those were the days of a one car family -- I had to go pick them up from some friends where they were playing euchre or some card game -- my dad asked how bad the car was damaged -- never mind if we were hurt!! The event must have traumatized me for years, because the next time I was ever at a burlesque show was at the Moulin Rouge in Paris over 20 years later -- learned my lesson though -- took a taxi to that one, and two women I had met on the trip!!

Richard Doll
Class of '61

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From: Dallas
Date: 01/20/06 16:51:39
To: Bonnie
Subject: Re: WNR Supplement---

Hi Bonnie,
Loving all this walking down memory lane stuff. Seems to me that Bealls was about half-way between Dwyer Mill and Woody's on Rt 25. Heading south, Bealls was on the left side. They served a double burger {the Big Jim?) similar to Frisch's Big Boy but sloppier. I once lost a bet that I could eat four of them at one sitting.

Has anyone mentioned Woody's Arctic Bar that sat across Rt 25 from Woody's? Great soft ice cream for a nickle a cone and shakes for 25 cents.

I don't remember that Dayton ever had a White Castle until the last 10 years or so. The hamburger joints in Dayton I remember were called White Tower but they didn't have the little sliders that White Castle sells. I always thought it a treat to go to Cincinnati to get a bag of sliders at White Castle. You know why they're called sliders don't you? So greasy that once they're in your mouth they just slide on down. There were a few wags who called them Gut Bombs.

The thing I remember most about the Gallaher's Drug Store at 2nd and Main was the open mezzanine where you could sit and eat your meal or drink your cherry coke and look over the railing to the main floor. Nothing smells quite like a Gallaher's drug store. My favorite place in downtown Dayton was the Arcade. It seemed that if you couldn't find it in the Arcade you didn't need it and it had its own unique aroma.
.
Remember the old guy who sat in an electric wheelchair at the corner of 3rd and Main and sold religious trinkets? I saw him come to work one day in what looked to me like a very large, luxurious car. Might have just been a Chevy--memory is trickier as I get older. I do remember for sure that he had an Ocelot for a pet at one time. He brought it to work with him and fed it out of a bowl that he put on the sidewalk. His hands were all scratched up from taking the bowl away too soon.

I am shocked that noone has mentioned West Carrollton's greatest contribution to the world's haute cuisine---the Knot Hole's butterscotch pie. I have never tasted anything so delectable anytime or anywhere since.

Remember the cheap theaters on Jefferson Street. There were three of them I think--Rialto, Ohio and I can't remember the other one. You could see a double feature of cowboy movies for 35 cents. One of the great things about the downtown theaters was that they started showing movies at around 10:30 or 11:00 am and showed continuously until closing time. You could go in at any time and stay as long as you wanted. I seldom saw any film only once in those days.

The Mayfair was indeed an exotic place. I think it may have been built as an opera house. It had two balconies and several boxes along with an orchestra pit. The walls and ceilings were ornately decorated with plaster cherubs, flowers and vines. The balconies were closed to patrons, occupied only by Dayton Police officers who were watching to be sure G-strings and pasties stayed in place. The sight of a bush or nipples would no doubt have corrupted the entire city of Dayton. In the orchestra pit was an old, bald, skinny guy named Ruben playing piano. Ruben always wore a white shirt, no tie, baggy gabardine pants held up by suspenders. Also in the pit was a young, handsome drummer named Tony who always wore a turtle neck sweater. The dancers always paid a lot of attention to Tony. There was a comedy skit in between each stripper's act. The comics reminded me of Milton Berle, Ed Wynn, and the Three Stooges. There never seemed to be more than 10 ro 15 people in the theater at any one time.

Judith and I went to WC in December to Mr. Haggerty's going away party. It was wonderful to see people I hadn't seen in 40 years. Despite the passage of so much time, I would have recognized Mr. and Mrs. Haggerty, Mr. Huffman and Mr. Scutt anywhere. Mary Pat Russell was also there. Remember her? She was one of WC's best ever English teachers. I got to talk to Shirley Tudor (once known as shimmyin', shakin', Shirkey flag-pole Pudor, a name given to her by none other than Jack Godby) She has hardly changed at all. Looks young, pretty, and vivacious. Also talked to Bob Brane who had a long career playing back up alto sax for a lot of big names. He still is young looking and vivacious, and two out of three ain't bad. Saw several old band mates--Andrea Bailey, Dave Burns, Ricky Donovan, among many others. It was great to hear the outpouring of humorous and serious memories of band experiences. But the real theme of the night was to honor the Haggertys. It was clear that Mr. Haggerty has been a positive influence in the lives of hundreds of his students. We are all very grateful to him for instilling in us an appreciation for the rewards hard work and discipline can produce. Mrs. Haggerty was, as she always has been, gracious and charming. Her role in Mr. Haggertys work at WC was huge. Needless to say I am a Haggerty fan. The Haggertys are moving to Tucson to be near their children Tom and Beth. Judy and I spend a couple of weeks in Tucson every winter to visit an old friend and to escape Washington winter. We are going to get together with the Haggertys this year.

Well, that's about all for now. Keep the newsletters coming. I really appreciate all you do to give us a sense of community.

Dallas

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From:W4MSW (Mike West)
Date: 01/18/06 16:23:54
To: Bonnie
Subject: Hi A Question

So,
Now that you are in recovery from "writers cramp", I hope that you make a speedy recovery and can write another report soon. Anyway, I think that I did tell you the "memories" piece was not my work (I hope that I did, anyway.) If it was mine, I would have taken that engineers approach and included agonizing detail about each item, -like Ollie Green the organist at Skateland, or that the directions to Old River included turning left where the red barn used to be. I would love to hear your version of a "memory lane" piece. Maybe you can include it in your novel - you are working on a novel, right? I loved the recollection of Don Eagle. Certainly, I remember him from the Saturday night wrestling on WLW-D, channel 5. Somehow, I thought of him as a national celebrity.

Remember when WLW-D was on channel 5 and moved to 2 around 1952? Channel 7 (always WHIO) was on 13 and moved the same night. In retrospect, I'm sure that was a forces relocation, as no one in their right mind would do that on a whim. BIG BUCKS, even in 1952. Every piece of equipment past the mixer board would have to be replaced!

We moved to the south Huber plat in '54. Before that, a scad of us had lived in Westwood, generally around Westwood School at Hoover and Leland Aves. That was just a few blocks from Sucher Park. (Sucher's Yummy Meats!) I would lay in bed on Saturday (Friday?) summer evenings and listen to the crowds roar at the rasslin matches. I guess they moved to WLW-D in the winter.

Another interesting neighbor was Iams, the pet food people. That started business in a garage behind a house on Delphos Ave, about three blocks from Westwood School. Two WWII vets started making dog food in their garage using surplus grain from a nearby elevator and fat from Suchers. Honest to God, that's the truth. In those days, most everything that we used or consumed was locally produced. Try to think of something that wasn't! I remember that even toothpaste and shampoo were made at a little factory on Gettysburg Ave. The shampoo, SUAVE and Vita-Fluff later went national. Davis Soap Company on Hewitt Street still makes nearly the entire crop of the little soaps and shampoos that you find at hotels. Coffee was all locally roasted. Paint was locally made. ENOUGH! It's kind of sad though, because it was all fresh, inexpensive and made by people that you knew. Today, I looked at an egg carton from Food City and they came from Wisconsin! Hell, some farmer used to bring eggs that were in the chicken the day before, right to our door at four dozen for a dollar. Mom put a pan on the porch for the eggs with a note and the money in it. If you left a note, on his next delivery he would bring the chicken! Sometimes he would leave a note, carefully handwritten by Mrs. Farmer, that he would have vegetables or whatever next week, just leave me a note in the egg pan, I'll collect later.

Now, I can't remember why I have gone into all of this, because it's not even close to why I wrote in the first place!

O yes, I was inquiring about your early recollections. I seem to remember Indian River Mkt, and Bealls Restaurant, but have lost any picture or location that I had. Were they in the area called Dwyer, close to the railroad bridge? Remember Dwyer Mill? I remember that the owner of the Doughnut Stop used to run out of flour, sugar, whatever and we would push carts full across the street to deliver to him.

Angelo's!!! The science club stopped there with Mr. Showalter after travelling to Lowes, downtown Dayton to see Forbidden Planet in 1956. It wasn't exciting or very good. After being closed for thirty-five years, Bob and Ramona Potts opened it as a family eatery. We ate there faithfully until we left town. Good eats, real meals, with potatoes and peas! Always a blue plate special for under $5.00 It closed about the time Frisch's opened in 56 or 57.

You mentioned John Strahan. He was principal (?) and then went on to some important position with the state education system, I think. Has someone heard from him?

Now, I'm really done and all that I wanted to know is where was Bealls and Indian River Mkt?

Mike
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FROM: Bruce in Wears Valley, TN (formerly of Trotwood)
Memories of Dayton, OHIO
----- WING radio man-on-the-street Jack Wymer and his live interviews from under the marquee at Loew's theater. The Loew's, Colonial, RKO Keith's and State movie theaters downtown.with admission 25 cents.
The King Cole restaurant when it was located on the Second Street between Main and Ludlow streets.
A ride downtown on the street car.
Rike's Christmas displays.
Lakeside Amusement Park. General Motors and McCall's printing company.
The Goody-Goody restaurant on Salem Avenue. Trains passing through Dayton several times a day to pick up passengers at Union Station Terminal.
The Van Cleve Hotel, now a parking lot at the corner of First and Ludlow streets.
Thanksgiving Day football games between Stivers and Steele high schools.
The Virginia Cafeteria on Third Street between Main and Jefferson streets.
The NCR Christmas tree. Gallaher's Drug Store at Second and Main streets.
Disc jockey Gene "By Golly" Barry broadcasting from in front of a hardware store and spinning his top rock 'n' roll tunes.
Ted Weems, Glenn Miller, Tex Beneke and the Dorsey Brothers bringing their bands to perform at the Crystal ballroom at Lakeside Amusement Park.
The sparkling lights of a number 75 - 'like flashing little diamonds" - that illuminated the front of Elder's for the celebration of the store's 75th anniversary.
Big band concerts at Island Park. The Loretto residence hall for women on First Street. The Gem City clock at Third and Main Street (which now occupies the roof of Reynolds & Reynolds and is visible from Interstate 75).
The red neon Reddy Kilowatt sign on DP&L's Tait generating station off Interstate 75.
Workers by the thousands dashing from the NCR factory buildings between Brown and Main streets for their cars at the end of a work day.
Culp's cafeteria inside the Arcade.
Journal Herald columnist Marj Heyduck and her hats.
The Merry-Go-Round Supper Club on Main Street.
Omar Williams' commentary for the studio wrestling bouts at Channel 2.
The NCR auditorium.
The Gold Coin Restaurant on Main Street.
Frankie's Amusement Park at Forest Park, especially Tuesday nickel days.
Servis and BuhI Restaurant at First and Main streets.
Newsstands at Second and Main and Fourth and Main streets.
Steele and Roosevelt High Schools Dayton Aviators baseball team of 1920s;
Dayton Ducks baseball team of 1930s-1940s. Fanny Farmer's candy store on Main Street.
Skateland on Helena street .
Porky's Luncheonette at Second and Perry streets. (My father owned this place.. R.S.)
Bott's School of Dance.
Sodas at Maud Muller's on Main Street.
Buying records from Mayor's Jewelry basement at Third and Main streets.
Purple Cow at the corner of Second & Ludlow.
Metropolitan, Rikes, Sears, Home Store, Thal's, and Donenfeld's
12 Cent hamburgers at the White Castle at Patterson and Third
Borden's Dairy at Fourth and Perry Streets and their cremery on
Patterson with 5 cent single and 7 cent double dip ice cream cones.
Aha, yes..............I remember

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From: W4MSW (Mike West)
Date: 01/19/06 10:53:17
To: Bonnie
Subject: Re: Well, I loved that one, Mike!---

Hi,
Well, I'm sorry to have included so much about Westwood, original home to me, Madeline Beck, Ross Hodgson and several others. The exodus from the far west side of Dayton hit in a big way when we were in the seventh grade and were about to head off to Roosevelt or Dunbar High Schools. Plus, the racial mix was changing rapidly. As a rule, I'd say that we understood little of it, but looked forward to the move to WC as an adventure. WC and Miami Township were pretty quaint compared to life in the big city, but WC had some advantages too. We certainly weren't as likely to get into mischief there. WC in 1954 was a world away from what it is today. I understand that big city problems found it years ago. Someone told me that WC is the place that people go when their kids are expelled from Dayton schools. I can't confirm that however. WC was never a high-end place, but fifty years ago it was quintessential small town America.

I remember the Longo property, empty in 1954 (?) and was told by my dad that it had been an Italian eatery. He said that it was one of two favorite haunts of his fellow students at Fairview High School, the other being The Keyhole on Salem Ave. Both places were far out of the city and just right for date night.

I remember the little house with trees, not as a restaurant though, guess that it was closed by then. I also remember San Rae (?) Gardens as a nursery and florist on the east side of the road in that area.

I remember quite clearly that Miss Woodman was fascinated, for whatever reason, by the bridge/overpass over the railroad. She was always going to look for a date on it. I wonder if anyone out there ever thought to take pictures of that area, now completely buried by roads and bridges and long ago forgotten by the passing of time?

When we moved to the south Huber plat, it had only recently been the former location of the airport, in fact the tower and support buildings were still standing at the end of our street, Kajean Ave. I remember small planes circling overhead at night looking for the airport.

I mentioned the Donut Hole (Donut Stop?, now I'm getting confused) and pushing carts of raw materials across the road. I failed to say that was from Woody's, where I was a carry-out. Absolutely anyone from WC or the 'burg who wanted a job could find one at Woody's, of course. I remember that we carry-outs were paid 50 cents and hour. My mom thought that was awful, but I went for it. What she forgot about was TIPS. Friday night -payday- was the primo time to work carryout, but that went to the high seniority kids. With tips, especially around holidays, we were the best paid people in the store! It is ironic, but some of Woody's best customers were the very people that we ran away from on the west side! They were also the best tippers. At that time, carry out was in your arms, NEVER in a cart. If it took two or three kids, that was OK. Holidays frequently brought a dollar tip for everyone. If you were a single carry out, sometimes more than that.

Around holidays, Woody would put out the country store with strange and exotic things that were impossible to get anywhere else. He had a fleet of trucks that would go hundreds of miles to pick up ponhaus, scrapple, cheeses and such. That was the big draw that brought people into the store from quite long distances.

Regarding Moraine City, home of Longo's et al. Although never an official entity of any kind, it did however appear named as such, on road signs and gas station maps. I think that was unusual, but the area was an important commercial center. I suppose that as such, people had to call it something.

Well, I've done it again.

Best to All,

Mike

----- Original Message -----
From: Bonnie Risner Miller
To: W4MSW@charter.net
Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2006 5:11 PM
Subject: Well, I loved that one, Mike!---
---What fun to read! Thank you, too, for your wonderful comments about the latest bulletin. It's exactly what keeps me going, truth to tell.

Dwyer Mill! Yep, you bet! I have vivid recollections of it. If you came straight south on Dryden Road past the entry to Miami Shores, you came to a very sharp turn, under one of those little, metal bridges. Longo's Spaghetti House sat on that sharp turn, remember? It was a white frame building, two-story. Anyway, once you rounded that sharp turn, then you were on that day's version of a "ramp," which led right into South Dixie Highway (old Route 25 southbound). JUST before you actually made the merge into the southbound traffic, though, there was a turnoff into the old Dwyer Mill. We could always smell the odor of all the fresh grain products, as we passed. Directly across old 25 from Dwyer Mill, was a huge, old farmhouse, which had been the original farm for all of the surrounding land. In that farmhouse lived the Class of 1959's Lucienne Engel. We used to pal around a bit, as she lived so near to me.
- posted by Mikey @ 5:44 PM