Author Archives: Denny

Bones, Butterflies, Bison, Bunnies, and Beavers

Posted on by
2

I have visited Big Bone Lick State Historic Site a couple of times in the past, but that was many years ago. Since then, I’ve passed it several times, without stopping, on the way to Rabbit Hash. A friend visited both last week, and their description of that visit made me promise myself that I would return. A sunny Thursday almost immediately provided a perfect opportunity.

My first stop at the park was the Visitor Center. In addition to having a gift shop, helpful attendants, and a supply of information and maps, the center houses a small but very interesting museum. A panel just inside the door offers a pretty good overview of the park. That big guy in the foreground of the third photo is a Harlan’s Ground Sloth.

At the rear of the Visitor Center is a life-sized diorama depicting how earlier visitors to the salt springs might become trapped in the bogs and involuntarily leave their bones for future scientists. Big Bone Lick is on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, not because the Corps of Discovery stopped here but because both of its captains did. At the urging of President Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis visited the site in 1803 on his way west to join William Clark. The boat carrying the specimens he collected sank on its way to Jefferson. In 1807, after that famous expedition to the Pacific Ocean, Clark made a stop here to collect and ship specimens that did reach the President.

Although they have absolutely nothing to do with vertebrate paleontology, I found the smallish examples of wildlife flitting about in front of the Visitor Center a lot of fun to watch.

A paved path that begins a short distance from the Visitor Center leads to an elevated bison viewing stand. But no bison presented themselves to be viewed there today. Instead, the small herd was lounging in the grass, just out of sight, a short distance away.

Having noted that I’ve passed Big Bone Lick a number of times while driving to Rabbit Hash, continuing on to the one-of-a-kind river town after my stop was rather natural. Besides, if I hadn’t, I could not have put “bunnies” in the title. I grabbed an ice-cold ginger ale at the general store, then sipped it as I watched the Ohio River flow by.

This intersection, just east of US 42 about two and a half miles east of Big Bone Lick, marks the community of Beaverlick. I believe there used to be limit signs here, but I found none today. If I didn’t imagine them, I’m guessing they are hanging on a college dorm wall somewhere. Until a year or so ago, there was a Beaverlick Trading Post at US 42, but it is now an ice cream stand, and almost all of the signage has been changed. They’ve not yet taken care of a couple of side doors, however. Places like Big Bone Lick and Beaver Lick (now Beaverlick) were salt licks where various animals came to get a little salt in their diet. They were named for the lickers, not the lickees.

To complete what has turned into a survey of the area’s smile-inducing place names, I stopped at an establishment that appears to be the last remaining enterprise acknowledging that the community of Sugartit once existed. It’s just a few miles north of those spots made famous by salt-licking beavers and big boned animals.

Book Review
Route 66: The First 100 Years
Jim Ross and Shellee Graham

Posted on by
2

It’s a beauty. That was my initial thought when I first held this book in my hands and flipped it open. I wasn’t surprised, of course. I’ve seen enough of Jim and Shellee’s work to make me expect great photography and writing, a top-tier knowledge of history, and a rock-solid commitment to quality. I’m not quite as familiar with Reedy Press, but what I have seen smacks of the quality targeted in that previously mentioned commitment. My instant declaration of beauty came from seeing great images accurately reproduced on thick glossy pages. Including the text in my appraisal took only a little more time.

Route 66: The First 100 Years differs from some of the authors’ previous books in that it does not rely almost exclusively on their own photography for the book’s images. It’s a history book, so naturally, historic images are used; however, contemporary pictures from other photographers are also included, with each being properly credited.

Unlike many other Route 66-related books, Route 66: The First 100 Years is not organized geographically. Nor is it organized chronologically as history books often are. There is a slight hint of chronology in discussing the roads that preceded US 66 in Chapter 1, “Revolutionizing Travel”, and covering “Renaissance” and “Preservation” in the last two chapters. In between, chapter subjects might be eras (e.g., “Hard Times”), collections of people (e.g., “Ladies of Legend”) and businesses (e.g., “Trading Posts and Tourist Traps”), or something else. Whatever the subject, a wide-ranging set of examples is included. But 100 years and 2400+ miles cover a lot of space and time, and anyone with more than a passing familiarity with Route 66 will probably come up with a personal favorite or two that didn’t get included. The selection process could not have been easy, but the selections are excellent.

Every chapter, like the vast majority of real-life road trips, has a “Detour”. The book’s detours are deep dives into one of the chapter’s subjects, and not all of them are obvious. The detour for the “Revolutionizing Travel” chapter is “The Ozark Trails”. This was an early named auto trail, or actually a system of auto trails, that, in my experience, doesn’t seem to get enough recognition. The “Hard Times” chapter takes a detour into an area that has been overlooked far too often for far too long: “The Green Book and Threatt Filling Station”.

It’s probably not all that surprising that Route 66: The First 100 Years overflows its twelve numbered chapters. It starts with a full page of Acknowledgments, followed by a Forward written by Route 66’s storytelling king, Michael Wallis. Jim and Shellee follow that with a Preamble, then include an Epilogue, Road Facts, and a few other sections after Chapter 12. One of these sections, titled “Happy Trails”, is a collection of roadside photos taken over the Mother Road’s first 100 years. Many are of unidentified travelers, but there are some real celebrities in the mix. There’s Jack Rittenhouse standing beside a California U.S. 66 sign, Lillian Redman by an Arizona 66 sign, and Cynthia Troup gazing at a U.S. 66 sign in New Mexico. As I said earlier, 100 years and 2400+ miles cover a lot of space and time. Jim and Shellee have done an impressive job of capturing the big picture and quite a few of the small picture details, too.

While writing this, I took a look back at a post from this blog’s first few months of existence. My review of “Route 66 Sightings” by Jim and Shellee, along with their good friend Jerry McClanahan, was one of the first reviews published here. I was surprised to see that its last sentence starts with the exact same words that begin this review: “It’s a beauty”. Maybe I’m in a rut, but at least I’m being honest.

Route 66: The First 100 Years, Jim Ross and Shellee Graham, Reedy Press (May 22, 2025), 11 x 9 inches, 208 pages, ISBN 978-1681065823
Available through Amazon.

Where the Airstream Wheels Start

Posted on by
Reply

One reason the Airstream Heritage Center has been on my “someday” list for such a long time is that, while I find travel trailers interesting, they are not something I aspire to, and therefore don’t think about a whole lot. Another is that it’s close enough to my home that I knew it would be a simple day trip when the time came. Early in the week. I briefly followed a long flatbed trailer with three small new Airstreams strapped to it, and that reminded me of just how close to me their point of manufacture is. That reminder, along with an idle Thursday, led to a leisurely drive north. A popular Airstream slogan is “Home Is Where Wheels Stop”. Those Airstream wheels are mounted and start turning in Jackson Center, Ohio.

The Heritage Center is attached to the front of the 750,000-square-foot trailer manufacturing plant. The admissions desk is just out of frame on the right. On the left is a new trailer and a display of Airstream-branded gear. The gift shop, where my museum tour will eventually lead, is on the right. The museum entrance is straight ahead. The online reservations for the factory tour would not let me select a date prior to June 10, so I assumed the tours were full or otherwise not available. Not so, said the girls at the museum desk, and they signed me right up.

First up in the museum is a timeline that begins with the birth of Airstream founder Wally Byam in 1896 and ends with the building of this facility in 2018. Displayed at the timeline’s very beginning is the canteen that Wally’s grandfather, Loren, carried in the Civil War. It is claimed that this whole Airstream thing came to be because Wally really liked to camp, and his wife, Stella, did not like sleeping on the ground.

This is the very first Airstream Clipper ever built. It was hand-delivered by Wally Byam to the President of Mexico in 1936. At some point, it became the property of a traveling circus. It was eventually discovered near Mexico City and, once identified, restored. The placard contains some photos and an abbreviated history.

In the late 1930s, Airstream produced some wooden trailers that resembled large teardrop trailers more closely than the familiar rounded-end models typically associated with the name. The sign explains that this 1938 Airlite “…had an aluminum skin applied over the original Masonite exterior which helped to preserve it”. Airstream halted production during WWII but got the wheels rolling again in May 1947 with the Airstream Liner, which was basically a much improved Clipper. That’s a 1949 Liner pictured. The third photo is of a 1949 double-door Whirlwind model.

Here’s a trio of particularly well-traveled examples. In fact, Oscar and Etta Payne’s 1957 Bubble could be the most travelled Airstream of them all. With a legitimate claim of having gone “Around the World in 859 Days”, it is one of four Airstreams from the 1960 European Caravan to tour Russia in the Soviet Union. Virgil and Grace Golden ordered their 1963 Tradewind specifically for the 1963-64 Around the World Caravan, but it made many more journeys than that. The white 1955 Cruiser was used by Wally and Stella Byam on the 1956 European Caravan. It was painted white to match the Byams’ white Cadillac tow vehicle.

I had driven to Jackson Center thinking I would have no factory tour, and I would have been quite happy with that. Of course, learning that I could tour the factory made me even happier. The picture at right was taken just outside the museum. Corporate offices are upstairs. Trailer manufacturing is through those doors straight ahead. No photos are allowed.

There are approximately 500 employees in this building and about 1200 in all Airstream facilities in Jackson Center. The city’s population is roughly 1450. Our guide, Dan, did an outstanding job of describing every phase of the operation, and the tour does an outstanding job of selling the product. Airstream has a reputation for high quality. That top-tier quality, along with worker safety and satisfaction, is a primary goal is evident throughout the factory. It looked to me like the premium prices these trailers command are justified.

Factory tours are free, and the museum is cheap — $5 or less. Currently, the company’s website (https://www.airstream.com/) appears to be experiencing some issues, including those that prevented me from reserving a tour in advance. Hopefully those are resolved soon. At present, website issues do not interfere with access to a factory tour video that is almost as good as the real thing.

Sign Museum Threefer

Posted on by
2

I visited the American Sign Museum on Thursday. Technically, I visited it twice, once during normal hours and once in the evening for a special Tod Talk. The Tod Talk, “Acquiring and Restoring the Frisch’s Mainliner Sign”, was the reason I was there on this particular day, but I also wanted to see the freshly installed genie pictured at right and the museum’s first-ever special display. Ergo, a threefer.

The museum has owned a pair of the giant Carpeteria Genies since 2003, but one was held in off-site storage until last week. Wonderfully restored, it now stands beside the entrance to the museum’s parking lot. I failed to get a picture of the genie at the front door (which is admittedly looking a little faded these days), so I have included one from the museum’s 2012 grand opening at this location.

When the museum expanded last year (New Stuff to Look At), it was said that there was now enough space to potentially accommodate some temporary exhibits. The first such exhibit, Glow & Behold: Cincinnati’s Historic LGBTQ+ Bar Signs, is in place now. One panel supplies an introduction. Another notes that “…there were more drag queens and kings, known then as female and male impersonators, working on Vine Street in Cincinnati in the 1880s and 1890s than there are today.”

The exhibit includes photos of several businesses that no longer exist, along with retired signs (Remember where we are.) from both defunct and very active establishments. Saturday night’s “Signs & Spouses: A Sparkling Celebration of Marriage Equality” was inspired by this exhibit.

As closing time approached, I took advantage of the relatively empty museum to grab pictures of the Frisch’s Mainliner sign and its flying machine in pieces on the ground without humans milling about. I will be learning a lot more about this sign in a couple of hours.

Between the time that the Tod Talk was announced and when it actually happened, the sign was moved from the storage site to inside the museum, and so was the talk. The email announcing the move let us know that this would allow a cash bar, etc. To my surprise, “etc.” included a genuine Frisch’s hamburger from the still-operating independently owned franchise restaurant in Bellevue, KY. I had eaten during my time away from the museum, but I hadn’t eaten THAT much, and I didn’t want to appear unappreciative, so…

The talk began with Erin Holland, the museum’s Director of Education and Engagement, delivering a greatly abbreviated version of her March presentation on the overall history of Frish’s and its advertising. Then Tod Swormstedt, the museum’s founder and the Tod of Tod Talks, stepped in to share stories about acquiring and taking possession of the Mainliner sign.

The instant that hints of the Mainliner closing began to circulate, the fate of its incredible sign became a topic of concern for many locals and the ASM in particular. As restaurants closed and lawsuits opened, it wasn’t easy to learn just who owned what. It took some creative sleuthing by Erin to contact the owners of the sign. That resulted in a mid-December meeting with three men identified at the time only by their first names. Although they tried to imply that there were others interested in the sign, it was pretty obvious to Tod that not many would actually want a sign of that size, fewer still would have the means to remove it, and no one else could possibly accomplish that by the suggested end-of-year deadline. Even so, there was no additional contact until Christmas Eve, when the museum was told it could have the sign, and yes, that end-of-year deadline was real and very firm. In anticipation of that happening, Tod had sown some seeds in the ASM phenomenal community of helpers. Although the timing could hardly have been worse, the sign was taken down and transported to a museum storage area in a single day.

Every day is a big day at the ASM, but some are bigger than others. The museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, so various projects are often scheduled for those days. Monday, May 19, saw two really big projects completed. The huge genie in the opening photo was erected in front of the museum, and the Frish’s Mainliner sign was moved inside it. Natalie Grilli, photographer for the upcoming book on the museum’s first twenty-five years, was onsite and busy bouncing between the two giants in motion. Natalie was also onsite Thursday evening. Pictures and some of the videos of the moves we saw on Thursday can be seen on the ASM’s Facebook page.

The group then moved out to where the Mainliner sign now stands, and I silently congratulated myself for taking those unblocked photos earlier. Tod now pointed out some of the sign’s features and described some of the plans for its restoration. Those plans are far from complete, but he said restoring the rotating propellers is definitely part of them. A printout of that photo displayed next to the sign was waiting on each chair, and I’ve included a scan of mine here. Note that the original chase lighting was incandescent and ran through the airplane. At some point, this was removed from the plane and converted to neon tubes on the sign body. The plugged holes can be seen in the picture of the airplane interior above. This is also something that Tod hopes to restore. The separate section with the Big Boy has been lost and will likely not be restored.

Something that may be obvious but still should be pointed out and cheered is that the restoration of this sign will take place in the middle of the museum in full sight of visitors. This will certainly present some challenges for those doing the restoration, but it is sure exciting for us mere spectators. Also in the realm of spectating, the sign can be seen at its original home during my own final visit to the Mainliner. A link to pre-order that 25th anniversary book I mentioned is on the museum’s support page

Sixty Years After

Posted on by
Reply

Ten years ago, on the day following the fiftieth reunion of my high school graduating class, I posted “Fifty Years After“. It ended with a reference to the far-in-the-future sixtieth reunion and the line, “If I can, I will”. I did. So did another seven members of the Ansonia High School class of 1965.

Not surprisingly, that was considerably less than the nineteen who attended the all-alumni banquet in 2015 or the twenty-six who attended the our-class-only gathering the night before. There is a banquet every year that is open to all graduates with emphasis on the “5s”. I have gone to most, if not all, of those, but there wasn’t one for our fifty-fifth. That was the year of the COVID pandemic. The lack of a get-together at the five-and-a-half-decade mark was somewhat disappointing, but it is the class of 2020 that really deserves our sympathy. I thought there might be something a little special for them on their fifth, but there was not. Actually, there was not a single member of the class of 2020 in attendance. It’s hard not to try reading something into that, but it’s just as hard, as an outsider, to know what that something should be.

Ten years ago, I wrote that “We graduated smack dab in the middle of a decade that was about as turbulent and confusing, yet as filled with promise and potential, as any could be.” It feels like we just might be smack dab in the middle of another one. Of course, the decade we were born in held the horrors of World War II and was clearly even more turbulent, but that decade is outside of our personal memories. It is the 1960s and 2020s that more or less bracket our lives as adults.

By coincidence, a blog I follow published a piece a few days ago that makes some comparisons between today and the world of sixty years ago. It is here, and I encourage reading it in its entirety. Among the events of sixty years ago it mentions is the Social Security Act of 1965. That’s the act that established Medicare and Medicaid. Both are facing cuts today. Our generation also benefited from things like the 1965 Voting Rights Act, the Water Quality Act of 1965, and others.

What I have just written makes me aware that my and my classmates’ adulthood more or less aligns with the rise and potential fall of numerous efforts to make life better for the general population. That, in turn, made me think of the cringeworthy idea that “We got ours. Sorry about your bad timing, kids.” Oh, how I hope that’s not true.

Classes celebrating one of the 5s are provided with a room to gather in before meal time. Our room wasn’t overflowing, but everyone there had a good time studying old photos and sharing the memories those photos, and just being together, stirred up.

Of course, classes are seated together at the banquet. Yeah, we took up a lot less room than we did in 2015. I didn’t try very hard to get a picture of the group as a professional took a posed group shot of us, and I’ll share that here as soon as it is available. Most of our class is in the foreground of the second picture, but that’s not the target. The target is every past cheerleader in attendance, lined up to lead us in a spirited singing of the old fight song.

ADDENDUM 23-Jun-2025: Here is that posed picture I promised. Someone must have told me an anti-joke just before it was snapped, or maybe I’m unhappy because I wasn’t let in on the joke that has everyone else smiling. Whatever the reason, I apologize to my classmates for grimming up at exactly the wrong time.

As usual, the banquet was followed by a dance. I always skip the dancing part, but this year I even skipped the going part. In the past, the dance was held at Eldora Ballroom on the Eldora Speedway property. The Ballroom was a weekend hotspot back in the day, and going there on alumni weekend always provided a little glimpse of the past. This year, it was at the American Legion, which would not have fed my nostalgia. It is at the same location I remember, but the building is a newer one. I’ve said I would have gone if it had been at Eldora, but maybe not. Starting the drive home before midnight seems a sensible thing to do these days.

The best information available indicates that we have lost a total of sixteen members of our class of sixty-five. That means that just about three-quarters of us are still around. In that 2015 post, I mentioned that the men who were living had already exceeded their at-birth life expectancy, and that the women were getting close. We are all in overtime now. A study I found online says that anyone turning 78 in 2025 can expect to live another 11.09 years. That would cover a 70th reunion. If I can, I will.

Barbie and Julia

Posted on by
Reply

In my report on the Cincinnati Museum Center’s 1950s Day, I mentioned that the event was timed to tie in with the museum’s ongoing exhibits on Barbie and Julia Child. I also explained that I intended to see both exhibits but would do so on a day less crowded than 1950s Day. It happened on Thursday. In hindsight, those tie-ins seem a bit of a stretch since the first Barbie, pictured at right, appeared at the very end of the 1950s in 1959, and Julia Child’s first TV show aired in 1963.

Barbie was conceived by Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler to address the disparity she saw in the toys available to her son and daughter. The son had dolls that let him imagine himself as a cowboy, soldier, fireman, and so much more. The daughter had dolls that let her pretend to be a mother. The daughter’s name was Barbara.

Clothes and other accessories have always been an important part of the world of Barbie. There were twenty-two different ensembles available for that very first Barbie, and their display provides an opening for telling about my only personal Barbie experience. My sister would have been nine when Barbie first appeared, so she might have had a Barbie. I just don’t recall. My daughter definitely had some in the 1980s. The pictured “Cruise Stripe Dress” was only made in 1959-62, but the red high heels it was packaged with, or at least a close facsimile, continue to be made today. I understand that there are worse sources of pain, but stepping barefoot on an upturned tiny red stiletto in the darkness does create a memory lasting forty years and beyond.

Gender diversity began to be addressed rather quickly. Racial diversity stayed absent a little longer. Ken (Yes, Ruth’s son was named Kenneth.) appeared in 1961. Barbie’s Black friend Christie came along in 1968.

Barbie has had a lot of vehicles, especially sports cars and campers, during her 60+ years of existence. I was surprised to learn (from the internet, not the exhibit) that her first car was a 1962 Austin-Healey 3000. A pink Corvette is the first car I think of when I think of Barbie, and I believe that is true for many people. This mockup of a 1985 model was one of several photo ops scattered throughout. I saw probably thirty to forty people inside the exhibit while I worked my way through it. Three were males, two guys with their partners, and I. The rest were females in groups of two or three. Many took advantage of this Corvette to grab pictures of each other.

The idea that girls could be anything they wanted to be was an important part of Ruth Handler’s vision for Barbie. Numerous displays showing some of the careers available to Barbie and her playmates during various periods are spread around the exhibit.

1968’s Christie was a powerful “some of my best friends are Black” statement. In 1980, that statement moved onto “and I am too” with the introduction of Hispanic and Black dolls carrying the name Barbie. Today, Barbie can proudly be called the world’s “most diverse doll line”.

The 1959 Barbie in the opening picture retailed for $3. That’s about $33 in 2025. Some estimates place its current value at more than $27,000. The standard “exit through the gift shop” takes you past this rack of Barbies priced at $11.99. Not too bad, I think, for an icon.

The entrance to the Julia Child exhibit is right next to the entrance to the Barbie exhibit. Barbie is a ticketed event; Julia is included with museum admission. Although I did not know much about Barbie, I knew even less about Julia. I have seen her on TV while channel surfing, but don’t believe I have ever watched a full program or interview.

I was even more out of place here than I had been in the Barbie exhibit. Not only did I know very little about Julia Child, I knew less about French cooking and the tools of the trade. Others in attendance knew of various events in Child’s life and specific items in the collection of cooking gear she called “Batterie de Cuisine”.

Apparently, Child had achieved some level of fame before that 1963 television show. This photo of her and her husband, Paul, was used as a Valentine’s Day Card in 1956. I believe this was the only spot in the exhibit set up especially for a photo op. It did not seem as popular as Barbie’s Corvette, but some of the same groups of women who posed in the car also took each other’s pictures in the tub with Julia and Paul in the background.

As with many traveling exhibits at the CMC, a local connection is part of this one. Cincinnati has been home to some well-known French restaurants. I never made it to Pigall’s, but I did have one meal each at the Gourmet Room and the Maisonette. Two out of three ain’t bad.

Barbie: A Cultural Icon is here through September 1. The last day for Julia Child: A Recipe for Life is today, May 18. 

Book Review
Two More Old Highways Across America
Denny Gibson

Posted on by
4

I had so much fun driving twice across the country for 20 in ’21 and the YT Too, that I did it again. This time, both coast-to-coast routes were from the era of named auto trails that preceded the U.S. Numbered Highway System. A drive on the National Old Trails Road was plotted years ago but never got scheduled. Only after I was given access to a guide for the Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway, an auto trail with similar endpoints, did I get serious about scheduling a trip on the NOTR that I matched with one on the PPOO. Driving both trails in one outing didn’t fit into my life in 2024, so they were split into two. Both trips and both routes do fit into this book, however, despite there being over 200 photos included. Apparently, that’s a personal record. In prepping to write this review, I reread my review for 20 in ’21 and the YT Too and saw it was bragging about “nearly 200” photos. “Over 200” is now the new high mark. This book doesn’t have more pages, though, so I have to resort to bragging about “nearly as many pages as 20 in ’21 and the YT Too”. 

I also bragged about the title of the Yellowstone Trail and US 20 book and bemoaned the fact that it wasn’t as clever as initially envisioned. Of course, clever sometimes also means cryptic, and that might have been the case here. Anyone who thought 20 in ’21 and the YT Too overly cryptic will be happy to see that the title of this book isn’t cryptic at all and not the least bit clever either. It really is about going across America on two old highways and, since I’ve done that before, it really is about two MORE old highways. It just occurred to me that some folks might be unhappy about having to guess which two, and I can understand that. But putting the wordy names of these two auto trails in the title would have made it entirely too long, and it’s too late to do anything about it now anyway. Sorry.

To be honest, though, even if the names National Old Trails Road and Pikes Peak Ocean to Ocean Highway were right there in the title, they would not be recognized by everyone. Out west, some would recognize the NOTR as something that turned into US 66. Back east, a similar number might recognize it and think it had become US 40. In the middle of the country, I suspect that just a few would even recognize the PPOO’s name. Of those who did, some might say it was replaced by US 36, while others would claim it became US 22. There is a little truth in each of these claims, but my point is that not all that many people know that the PPOO and NOTR were both once routes that connected the East Coast with the West. Their names in the title would not be any more enlightening to many than the words “Old Highways”.

There is a chapter on the history of each of the subject highways that might enlighten you a little, but the majority of this book just tells about me trying to follow the paths of the historic routes while gawking at scenery and points of interest and taking some pictures.

Two More Old Highways Across America, Denny Gibson, Trip Mouse Publishing, 2025, paperback, 9 x 6 inches, 185 pages, ISBN 979-8280457881.

Paperback and Kindle versions available through Amazon.

Reader reviews at Amazon and Goodreads are appreciated and helpful, and can be submitted regardless of where you purchased the book. All Trip Mouse books are described here with links to purchase signed copies.

Mystery & Benevolence On Display

Posted on by
Reply

When the Mystery & Benevolence exhibition opened at the Taft Museum of Art in February, I tucked it away as something I would like to attend someday. But other things came along, and it eventually became untucked. A post on a blog I follow reminded me of it just in the nick of time. The exhibition closes today, May 11. I saw it on Wednesday.

The exhibition is subtitled “Masonic and Odd Fellows Folk Art”, and most of the items displayed are from either the Freemasons or the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, although there is a smattering of items from some lesser-known groups. The columns in the opening photo are from a Masonic temple and represent those at the entrance to Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem.  The letters ‘B’ and ‘J’ identify them as the pillars of Boaz and Jachin.

This is a traveling exhibition put together by New York’s American Folk Art Museum, but there are several local touches. One relates to this 1870 “Washington as a Freemason” poster printed by Cincinnati’s Strobridge Lithographing Company, as described by a “local story” placard.

Focusing on the “art” aspect of the exhibit, here are a couple of impressive marquetry works. The plaque contains numerous Masonic symbols, while Independent Order of Odd Fellows symbols fill the folding table. Additional IOOF items are displayed beyond the table.

The Odd Fellow’s “BURY THE DEAD” sign fits in with the “Benevolence” of the exhibit’s title. In the days before life insurance was common, help with burial expenses was a valued benefit of membership for many organizations. Goats appear in the rituals and symbols of several fraternal organizations. The rideable one pictured here belonged to the Modern Woodmen of America. Another item from something other than the Freemasons or Odd Fellows is this 1902 hooked rug. It is labeled as belonging to the Daughters of Pocahontas, although I believe it should be the Degree of Pocahontas, the Women’s Auxiliary of the Improved Order of Red Men.

I knew next to nothing about the internals of fraternal organizations when I entered the exhibition, and not much more when I exited. That’s not because the organizers didn’t try. It is because those internals are usually cryptic and often illogical, and I don’t believe either is by accident. My quite possibly incorrect understanding is that there are three degrees of “regular” Freemasons, but there are systems of degrees (called rites) that extend well beyond that. The Scottish Rite is one of the better-known of these, and the double-headed eagle is one of its better-known symbols. The “local story” displayed by the eagle is about Taft Museum of Art co-founder Charles Phelps Taft, who was a 33rd Degree Scottish Rite member.

The panel in the foreground contains International Order of Oddfellows symbols. The skeleton hanging on the wall is from the Knights Templar division of Freemasons. I was struck by the frequency with which skulls and skeletons show up here. There is a hint at an explanation in references to the Latin phrase “memento mori”. The English translation is “remember you will die”, and it is used as a reminder to do something good before you go. That’s pretty benevolent. The rest is still a mystery.

1950s Flashback

Posted on by
1

The Cincinnati Museum Center has presented a 1940s Day or Weekend annually since 2011. I attended the third in 2013. Saturday was their first-ever 1950s Day. Asked on their Facebook page if this would also be an annual event, the museum said no. It is intended to be a one-time thing to mate up with the ongoing Julia Child and Barbie exhibits. “But,” they added, “it could come back!” I don’t really remember the 1940s, but I do remember the 1950s, and the rain on Saturday looked just like rain did when Ike was in the White House and Waite Hoyt was on the radio.

Individual information tables lined the rotunda. Pictured are King Records Legacy, Casablanca Vintage Clothing, and the American Sign Museum with a genuine 1950 NEON SIGN.

I stepped into the Newsreel Theater intending to watch a few minutes of the Moving Images presentation and ended up staying more than an hour watching clips of “Melody Showcase”, “Midwestern Hayride”, and commercials. I don’t remember “Melody Showcase”, but “Midwestern Hayride” was a staple at our house, and it’s even possible that I saw some of what I saw today when it was broadcast live.

1950s Day included quite a bit of live music. I caught the P&G Big Band, the Queen City Sisters, and Naomi Carman and the Bluecreek Boys. I do intend to check out the Barbie and Julia Child exhibits sometime, but the museum was far too crowded for that on Saturday. I’ll slip them in on a weekday when school’s in session and employed people are doing employee things.  

Living on the Air in Cincinnati

Posted on by
4

I’m sure everybody is familiar with the joke about someone having “a face for radio.” It’s based on the idea that you do not have to look good to sound good. That’s an idea that often applies doubly to buildings. I’ve not been in a lot of radio stations, but I have been in enough to know that the people behind the microphones are frequently speaking in a dark cubicle far from prying and non-prying eyes, with little for their own eyes to take in as they work. That description has applied to Cincinnati’s WVXU and WGUC, but will no longer. Cincinnati Public Radio is letting the public see its new building this weekend. The bulk of personnel are already operating in the new space, and the plan is to switch broadcasting activity at noon on Tuesday.

I attended Saturday’s open house, which repeats today, April 27, 2025, from 1:00 to 5:00. Directions and other details are here. The cartoon in the opening photo stood not far from the entrance. The distance between speech balloons represents reporter Bill Rinehart’s signature pause when identifying debris on the roadway. I got my first view of the building from a drive by a few weeks ago, but this was my first up-close and stationary look.

And it was obviously my first look inside. That is the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra Woodwind Quintet on stage in an area dubbed The Gathering Space. There is also a Performance Studio. With spaces such as this, dare we hope that live music performances — possibly featuring local talent — might be in CPR’s future?

Pictures from the upper floor, including subjects from the preceding paragraph, show how open the building is.

The Instrument Petting Zoo, which seemed to be a big hit, was a new one on me. A more traditional petting zoo was also on the agenda, but the pettees had not yet arrived when I was there. After I walked to my car and worked my way back through the traffic to exit, I saw a Cincinnati Zoo van parked near the front door. I’m pretty sure that meant additional petting was happening or about to.

There are a number of smaller work areas, including some without windows. Most, if not all, of these are mixing and editing stations where a little isolation is a good thing.

As far as I know, the food trucks will not always be there, but they were certainly welcome on Saturday and will be there on Sunday if you want to grab a meal or some Graeter’s ice cream while checking out the building. The CSO quintet was piped outside to a nice park-like area, so I assume Sunday’s Gathering Space performances will be as well. That is where I listened while enjoying some black raspberry chocolate chip. The new place is finished, and the Welcome Weekend is half over. Cincinnati Public Radio is just about done packin’ and unpackin’.

ADDENDUM 29-Apr-2025: Although I was aware of the building’s forward-thinking mass timber construction and actually had it in mind as something to point out when I snapped the picture of the stairway, it completely got away from me during the writing phase. I was reminded of my glaring oversight as I listened to the official throwing of the switch at noon today. The core of this building is not steel or concrete. This is the first mass timber building in Cincinnati. Learn about mass timber here and watch a video about why Cincinnati Public Radio chose it here.