Tag Archives: Cincinnati Ohio

American Sign Museum: 20 Years

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Recently, after reviewing a pair of books documenting the first one hundred years of Route 66, I published a post about my own, somewhat shorter, experience with the highway. That post is here. The origins of this post are much the same. While reading and reviewing American Sign Museum: Celebrating 25 Years, I naturally recalled my own experience with the subject of the book. As I noted in that review, I first became aware of the American Sign Museum when it opened in Walnut Hills in 2005. My memory is that I became a member soon after, but receipts indicate that might not have happened until 2010. If that’s true (and I’d like to think it isn’t), shame on me.

The picture of the ribbon-cutting at the April 28, 2005, grand opening at the top of this page is similar to a much better one appearing on page 97 of the 25-year book. The museum opened before this blog existed, and things that were not road trips appeared as Oddments. The Oddment for the 2005 opening is here. That’s the Katie Laur Band in the picture at left. While putting this post together, I found a couple of unpublished pictures from that day that I think deserve sharing. One is Katie Laur and “Mr Cincinnati” Jim Tarbell chatting as things wound down. The other is of Lenny Diaspro, to whom the 25-year book is dedicated and after whom the museum’s Lenny’ Bar is named. I remember Lenny as a tour guide and more in Camp Washington, but admit to not really being familiar with him at Essex Studios. Obviously, I should have been.

The next time the museum appears on this website is on the second day of a road fan outing called “Madonnas & Signs”. The first day of the trip was spent on the National Old Trails Road with stops at the Indiana and Ohio Madonna of the Trail Monuments. We reached the museum on the second day for a tour with Tod. The journal for this 2009 trip is here.

Sign Museum Entrance - pig and genieThis blog was added to the website in August of 2011, and in January of 2012, the ASM made its first appearance. The occasion was the last hurrah at the Essex Studio location before it was shut down for the move to Camp Washington. A reopening on the seventh anniversary of the April 28 opening in Essex Studios was the target.

The April date turned out to be only slightly overly optimistic. There was a soft opening for members on Friday, June 1, 2012, and a full opening on Saturday. For some unknown reason, even though the blog was obviously up and running, this reopening was covered as an Oddment. It is here.

Fred and Tod at Amrtican Sign MuseumThe museum had been open in its new location for less than a month when I got to show it off to visiting friends. Fred Zander, from Kansas, more or less scheduled a Cincinnati visit to follow the reopening, and the place was easily the highlight of his trip. His day in the Queen City is covered here.

Neonworks at American Sign MuseumJust about a month later, Don Hatch, from Illinois, was in town and anxious to see the expanded museum. Don had been part of the “Madonnas & Signs” group that visited the original location back in ’09. We both enjoyed our first neon tube lighting demonstration in the Neon Works shop attached to the museum. Don’s July 2012 visit is here.

It doesn’t seem likely, but I guess it’s possible that Dinner and a Movie – Cincinnati Style, near the end of January 2015, was the first event I attended at the museum in its new home. The movie was Sign Painters, directed by Faythe Levine & Sam Macon. Dinner was catered by Camp Washington Chili. What’s not to like?

On April 19, 2015, I was back at the museum to celebrate the tenth anniversary of its opening at Essex Studios, which was a little more than a week away. The next day, I attended the twentieth annual butterfly show at Krohn Conservatory. A Ten and Twenty Years in Cincinnati blog post covered both events.

I attended my first Society for Commercial Archeology conference in 2017. It was held in Cincinnati, and the zero lodging cost and almost zero transportation cost made it quite affordable. The SCA marked its fourtieth year with goetta (a Cincinnati treat) sliders at the Sign Museum.

The spring and summer of 2020 were tough on everybody, and that definitely included museums. The COVID-19 pandemic had closed them all, but by mid-summer, three of my local favorites had worked out procedures that allowed them to reopen. The Cincinnati Art Museum reopened in June. The Cincinnati Museum Center and the American Sign Museum reopened in July. I documented my visit on the day of the reopening with a Return of the Signs post. With no lines permitted inside, but hoping there might still be a need for lines, the Sign Museum used the Buma-Shave method to mark an area for a widely spaced line outside.

One of the most fantastic events I’ve ever attended was presented by the museum in June of 2022. The Signmaker’s Circus was a truly outlandish celebration of the tenth anniversary of the move to Camp Washington. Things were really falling into place to allow expansion into the other half of the building. This party took advantage of that situation and was actually sort of a step toward the expansion. The storage area was cleared, and just about every sign in the museum’s possession was hung and illuminated. An entire troupe of circus performers moved into the space so that the image at left is what we saw when the curtains opened.

In addition to the grand openings and anniversary celebrations, the museum has presented quite a number of smaller events. Some have been members-only affairs, like a series of Saturday morning “Coffee with Tod” gatherings, and others were open to all, with some even being streamed live. Here are a couple directly connected to The Signmaker’s Circus. In August 2022, after the circus gear had been cleared out, Tod used a “Coffee with Tod” session to share some of his thinking in placing signs for the event. Of course, many of those were advanced placement for the more formal extension of Main Street. A lot of wall space at the circus had been filled with authentic banners from the 1940s and ’50s. They had all been loaned for the event by David Waller of Boston. In November, while the banners were still hanging at the museum, Walker came to Cincinnati to deliver a presentation on them. I documented Walker’s presentation as Sideshow Signage. Nothing was posted on the “Coffee with Tod” session.

I don’t believe there was ever a time when all of the Sign Museum’s holdings were stored in one place, but for a while, a lot of them were stored in the unoccupied half of the building. Most was moved out for the circus and for the expansion. I had been privileged to peek inside that attached attic a couple of times over the years, and in May 2023, got A Glimpse of ASM’s Attic (detached version) with a special “Coffee with Tod” gathering. The Sign-Painter that opened that post now has a home in the museum, along with many other items seen that day.

In 2024, that expansion I’ve mentioned a time or ten was completed, and I got another ribbon-cutting picture. The ribbon was cut on Friday, July 13, at a member-only event. The bigger and better museum opened to the public on Saturday morning, and so did a Negro Motorist Green Book exhibit at the Freedom Center. I documented them together with New Stuff to Look At. In the post, I mention a preview with the Letterheads still onsite and talking with the fellow working on the Maisonette. In reading the 25-year book, I learned he had died about a year later. I had not noticed the plaque placed in the museum and shown in the book, but I sure do now.

A couple of notable visits to the museum since the expansion were Sign Museum Threefer, which happened shortly after the Frisch’s Mainliner sign was moved into the museum, and A Night at the Museum, where I picked up the book that led to this post. Now I’m all caught up—for a while.

A Night at the Museum

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The American Sign Museum held a little party on Thursday to celebrate its quarter-century of existence. Things got underway at 5:00, which was a bit before sunset, but by the time I exited the museum and took this photo, it was full-on nighttime. I’m sure it was no accident that the members-only party coincided with an open-to-the-public Glow in the Dark event, with the external signs powered on and looking glorious in the darkness.

But first things first. After picking up a beverage in the party area, I stepped back into the museum’s Main Street to check out progress on the Frisch’s Mainliner sign. While there, museum founder Tod Swormstedt stopped to say hi, and our chat included pointing out some sign updates. Holes in the airplane body that originally held lights but were epoxied over when the lights were removed have once again been cleared, and stainless steel panels that had been more or less destroyed over the years by alterations have been remade and reinstalled. It is going to be very interesting to watch this restoration unfold.

Anyone who has visited an old school service station or workshop is familiar with collections of cups and jars holding assorted nuts, bolts, and screws gruelingly assembled from past projects and other sources. Although not officially on display, here is the American Sign Museum’s version of that seen through the currently clear windows of Loomis Camera.

The Society for Commercial Archeology offers a monthly Zoom presentation on a variety of interesting subjects. It started during the stay-at-home days of the COVID pandemic and has continued. The most recent presentation was from Andrew and Kelsey McClellan on their book The Golden Era of Sign Design. The McClellans were part of the team that saved this Ward’s Bakery sign, and its discovery and preservation were part of their presentation. I naturally sought it out on this, my first museum visit after the Zoom event. A recording of the presentation can be viewed here.

I probably should have mentioned earlier that the museum’s name for this event was Clink! and the invitation was to “Join us for cocktails and light bites as we celebrate 25 years of preserving the art and history of American signage.” Formal activities were pretty much confined to truly brief comments from Museum Director David Dupee and Tod, and those comments were pretty much confined to thanking people who made the museum and those 25 years possible.

Clink! had been scheduled around the publication and availability of a book documenting the museum’s history, and that worked out, although the timing was quite close. Those who had preordered could pick up our copies, and copies were also available for purchase. The book looks fantastic (I’ll review it soon), and getting my copy signed by Tod and photographer Natalie Grilli makes it even better.

Glow in the Dark activities included a neon bending demonstration and at least one guided tour of the big sign garden mounted on the south side of the museum building. Touring the garden at night with a guide looked very interesting, and I immediately put it on my list. But right now I have a book to read.

ADDENDUM 8-Dec-2025: The book has been read, reviewed, and recommended: 
Book Review American Sign Museum: Celebrating 25 Years Roberts, Grilli, Kikkert

Not Long Ago. Not Far Away.

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On Saturday, October 18, “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” opened at the Cincinnati Museum Center. I attended on Wednesday. The red shoe pictured at right is one of the first items visitors see when they enter the exhibit. Photos of the shoe, backed by the image of countless other empty shoes, have been used to promote the display. The wall-filling image boggles the mind as the realization that the owners of all those shoes walked into Auschwitz but never walked out slowly forms. The mind nearly breaks realizing that the photo contains just a fraction of such shoes.

Having seen pictures of that red shoe, and knowing that this was “the largest collection of artifacts from Auschwitz outside of Europe”, I probably could have predicted the question that formed as I moved into the exhibit and listened to the included audio guide. It’s a question that most of us ask ourselves anytime we give much thought to the Holocaust. “How could this have happened?” we wonder. The exhibit doesn’t really explain it, but it does tell some of the history. It describes and displays artifacts from the small Polish village that would become home to the largest of the Nazi concentration and extermination camps.

Establishing that the “other” was responsible for all of Germany’s problems was essential. The “other” was mostly, but not exclusively, Jews. Blacks, Roma, homosexuals, and people with disabilities were among those persecuted by the Nazis.

This is the desk of the camp commandant, Rudolf Höss. Photos of key Auschwitz personnel are displayed nearby with an identifying legend.

Roughly 80% of those arriving at Auschwitz were sent directly to the gas chambers. The other 20% became slaves, and not many survived the starvation, beatings, and forced labor. Many more than three people occupied the three-tiered bunks. The concrete post held barbed wire, as seen in the photo in the background.

Some of the prisoners were “rented” to various privately held companies, but many were assigned tasks in the camp, such as removing bodies from the gas chambers or moving them through the crematorium. The first photo contains items from gas chambers and crematoriums. There is a “shower head” in the lower right corner. The gas mask in the second photo was worn by a soldier who dropped the Zyklon B once the chamber was sealed.

Other prisoners were forced to sort through the few possessions that actually made it to the camp. Prisoners referred to the sorting sheds as Kanada.

There were several benches placed throughout the exhibit. Many were positioned in front of screens showing videos of scenes related to the camps. All had a box of tissues placed at their center. There was no lack of tear-inducing images, artifacts, and stories in the exhibit. Nearly all of the items on display are from the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum. The last picture is of a quote from the director of that museum about remembrance. I immediately thought of Eisenhower’s 1945 command, “Get it all on record now. Get the films, get the witnesses, because somewhere down the track of history some bastard will get up and say this never happened.” He was right, of course. That quote on the wall notes that today “…our efforts to build a more just and humane world are under threat.” Nearer the beginning of this article, there is a photo of a quote about  “…the disappearance of a number of quite harmless people…” It’s from 1938 Germany during the Nazi rise to power. As I read it, it occurred to me that it could have easily come from certain Central or South American countries a few decades ago. Or it could have come from somewhere not even that far away or that long ago.

“Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” runs through April 12, 2026.

The Holocaust and Humanities Center helped bring the Auschwitz exhibit to Cincinnati. Although a separate operation, it is housed in the Cincinnati Museum Center and throughout the exhibit’s run is offering discounted adult admission of $7.50 to anyone presenting an “Auschwitz. Not long ago. Not far away.” ticket. This rate is available year-round to seniors and military.

Naturally, there is overlap between the Auschwitz displays and those in the Holocaust Museum. A notable example is this molded wall of abandoned shoes that echoes the red shoe and large photo from Auschwitz. But there are also a lot of differences. The museum has many interactive displays, and the story it tells is broader than the one with a specific concentration camp at its center. In particular, the museum continues the story well beyond the liberation of the prisoners with reporting on the post-war trials and tales of recovery.

When I spoke with a friend about the Auschwitz exhibit, I encouraged a follow-on visit to the Holocaust Museum, and it wasn’t just because of the broader story. The Holocaust is humanity at its worst. Studying it and acknowledging it is important and necessary, but it is hardly uplifting. The museum offsets that just a little by presenting recent examples of bigotry being defeated and human rights being defended. Your mood probably won’t be exactly celebratory when you leave, but it very well might be hopeful.

With every museum that exists, it is always possible to see something you’ve previously missed when you revisit. But sometimes that new discovery really is something new. That is the case with this recently installed interactive display featuring Albert Miller (1922-2023). Albert, who escaped Europe with his parents in 1940, then returned as a Nazi interrogator in 1943, tirelessly answers spoken questions about the life he lived.

I documented my first visit to the museum here. 

A River Roots Cruise (Lagniappe)

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The American Roots Festival is not Tall Stacks. It’s similar but not matching. Tall Stacks was a festival that happened six times between 1988 and 2006 on the Ohio River at Cincinnati. Among the reasons given for not reusing the name is a desire to paint the event as something broader than a gathering of riverboats and to associate it with the nation’s upcoming 250th anniversary in 2026. Whether or not that painting and association were necessary and/or successful is not my concern. I definitely enjoyed some of the musical offerings at Tall Stacks, but for me, the boats were always the reason for its existence, and that is even more true for me and the Roots Festival. The fact that I was heading out of town when the festival officially began, but not before a day of “advance cruises” took place, has a lot to do with that. A Wednesday cruise on the Steamboat Natchez from New Orleans is my only personal contact with the American Roots Festival.

I arrived downtown well in advance of the scheduled boarding time and slipped across the river into Kentucky to snap a picture that includes five of the nine boats in town for the event. The boat I would shortly be cruising on is at the far right of that picture, plus I grabbed one of it alone.

Back in Ohio, I parked near the public landing and walked to the river for a closer view of the boats. The Belle of Louisville is at the west end of the line. On the way to the landing, I passed the National Steamboat Monument and was happy to hear the whistles blow as I walked through them. That’s not always, or even often, the case.

I actually took photos of all nine boats, and a couple even came out OK. However, with the low sun, most were atrocious, and I’m reserving them for my own entertainment. I spent the remaining shore time taking some close-ups of the Natchez. This trip is something of a homecoming for the calliope on the left. It was built in Cincinnati between 1900 and 1910 by Thomas J. Nichol for the Steamboat Sidney.

A wide variety of cruises is available during the festival. This was a 90-minute “Beignets & Coffee” cruise. During the half hour allotted between boarding and departure, I listened to the excellent onboard Dixieland trio and downed my beignet.

That left me free to roam around once we were underway.

Built in 1975, the Natchez is pretty new for an authentic sternwheeler. She’s not entirely new, however. For example, the engines were in service aboard the Steamboat Clairton from 1925 until 1962, which means they are celebrating their centennial this year.

With breakfast and onboard exploration out of the way, I used the turnaround point as an excuse for an early lunch of jambalaya and Abita Amber. That container was absolutely stuffed with quite tasty jambalaya, which I completely failed to finish before realizing that we were nearing Cincinnati. About half of it came home to nourish me as I wrote this.

Not too long after I capped the jambalaya and stuffed it into my jacket pocket, we passed under the Big Mac Bridge and were soon facing the Roebling Bridge with the Bengals’ and Reds’ stadiums off to our right. Several other visiting riverboats were in motion on the river as we turned around and pulled into the landing.

Back on shore, I paused at the top of the landing to gaze at the Natchez one more time before heading to my car. Cruising up and down the Ohio on a steam-powered sternwheeler can definitely play havoc with one’s sense of time. That’s no doubt why I didn’t question seeing Mr. Clemens heading toward the very river where he got his pilot training half as much as I might have otherwise.

This blog did not exist during the Tall Stacks period. There was, however, an Oddment section with entries not related to road trips. An entry was made for the final Tall Stacks event in 2006. It is here.

Because of my plans to leave town on Thursday, I finished writing this Wednesday for publication as the regular weekly post on Sunday. But it began to bother me that, although there would still be a day of the festival left at that point, at the moment nearly all of it remained. There was at least a small chance that it might be useful to someone if it appeared on Thursday instead of Sunday. So here it is: a blog post published on a normally silent day of the week. I’ll put up a canned post on Sunday, and this will be, as the folks in NOLA say, lagniappe.

Season of the Clown

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Not everybody decorates for Halloween with store-bought skeletons and inflatable witches. Some people, like this guy in Delhi Township that I just learned of, do it with personal creativity. For the last ten years, Shaun Reynolds has filled his front yard with unique creations based on different themes. This year, it’s clowns.

“I’ve wanted to do this since I was a kid,” Reynolds told TV station WCPO. It was through their article and video that I learned of the seasonal attraction. Check it out here. I didn’t get to meet Reynolds when I visited on Thursday, but I have a feeling that he’s not quite finished with being a kid.

I did get to meet Teresa, a long-time neighbor. I was poised to ask what it was like having a big, spooky attraction in your neighborhood, but I didn’t really need to. Her smile when she greeted me let me know she was loving it. I had thought of counting the figures on display, but had not followed through. Theresa made that unnecessary, too. “38 or 39,” she said. She also tried to describe how great the place looks at night with the lights on, as well as just how crowded and fun it gets on Fridays and Saturdays.

Reynolds makes it very clear that he does this for fun and that sharing it and seeing others enjoy it is part of that fun. Of course, some folks have wanted to contribute something, so the Reynolds family has taken to accepting donations of food and money, which they pass on to the Delshire Elementary School food drive.

I’d sure like to see this place at night, and I’m going to try to make that happen. Maybe you can, too, but it is obviously pretty cool day or night. It’s on Assisiview Court.

Summer’s Here

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Where I live, Friday was the first day of Summer — barely. Summer Solstice, which marks the beginning of astronomical Summer, occurred at 10:52 PM EDT on June 20. Since the 21st was the first full day of Summer, some folks think of that as the first day of the season. But it was the 20th that encompassed the solstice, got Summer started, and counts as the longest day of the year. In Cincinnati, the sun was above the horizon for approximately 916 minutes on Friday versus a little more than 895 minutes on Saturday.

On that 80+ degree first day of Summer, the memory of a recent story about an ice cream stand’s anniversary prompted me to drive to the west side of town, and some sweet coolness. Zip-Dip opened for its 75th season in early March. Regular Summer hours went into effect on May 23. In addition to chocolate and vanilla soft serve, Zip-Dip offers orange sorbet and two rotating flavors of yogurt. I couldn’t have picked a better day for flavor choices.

I got my white chocolate macadamia yogurt with granola and a smile, then headed to the attached picnic area to eat it. Yeah, that cute curl had melted by the time I picked my spot, but I could taste the curl in my first bite, along with a smile and summer and a little neon.

Sign Museum Threefer

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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

Barbie and Julia

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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. 

Mystery & Benevolence On Display

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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

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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.