Mid-century Reading Road (Cincinnati, Mason, Avon: attorney, apartment, rent)

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by hiyaleah

Swifton Village was our home until we moved into a house but still in the Bond Hill district. The swimming pool at Swifton was a favorite memory while living there. It was HUGE! Our building was pretty close to the pool, so it almost felt like it was MY pool...lol!!

Hiyaleah, I vaguely remember there being a swimming pool just east
of the shopping mall, on the rise forming the west edge of Swifton Village.
Is this where your pool was located?

[hiyaleah]

i think bonnie turner, katie daley lived on section in the edgemont area. wish they would get on here and post some memories for us. don't know where bonnie is, but katie landed in hollywooooooooooooood!! you can google her to see some of her accomplishments. i haven't been able to get intouch with her but would like to try again someday. wendy prager would probably have alot to post about the roselawn area as well. maybe i'll just have to email her...get her involved with 'back in the 60s'. until next time, m

[hiyaleah]

yes, the pool could be seen easily from the langdon farm rd entrance to the pool. don't know how anyone could miss it...wall of concrete with a long driveway along either side of it. there was chainlink fence all around it...and lots of splashing going on. it was great fun....honestly, i missed it when we moved.

[franke01]

Originally Posted by veteran observer

Rebutting some items in recent posts....I can't recall Ohio Bus Lines having a Cincinnati-Hamilton route. I spent many days at our family business on Vine Street in the Millcreek Valley and cannot remember Ohio Bus Lines going by. That's not to say it didn't take a more indirect route.

In November 1931 - nearly 10 years after Henry started with one bus and three daily round trips - Ohio Bus Lines advertised 78 coaches arriving each day in Hamilton. "More passengers enter and leave Hamilton daily on Ohio Bus Lines than on any other transport service," the company boasted.


It operated buses seating 21, 29 or 40 passengers over two routes to Cincinnati and service to Oxford, Middletown, Eaton and Richmond.


Above from Hamilton Journal News 6/7/95

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by franke01

It operated buses seating 21, 29 or 40 passengers over two routes to Cincinnati and service to Oxford, Middletown, Eaton and Richmond.

Also mentioned in earlier postings on this topic was the Green Line. I
can vaguely recall seeing Green Line tokens, ca. 1960, and seem to
recall some buses painted a dark green going up the busier streets.
Was the Green Line another private bus company? Anyone recall
where it went or what became of it?

[franke01]

Originally Posted by MiddleCincinnati

Also mentioned in earlier postings on this topic was the Green Line. I
can vaguely recall seeing Green Line tokens, ca. 1960, and seem to
recall some buses painted a dark green going up the busier streets.
Was the Green Line another private bus company? Anyone recall
where it went or what became of it?

Green Line I think started in the 20's or 30s and took over operations of the Newport Bus Line. There were also lines in Erlanger and Ft Mitchell (Red Line?) that eventually merged with Green Line (a google search would provide a lot more info). Green Line eventually became TANK.

I remember Green Line buses in the 50's and 60's operating out of Dixie Terminal.

[jkgibb1]

I posted this inquiry on the Bond Hill thread, too--sorry for being repetitious.

I am looking for ANY information on Johnson's Cafe which was on the east side of Reading Road near California Avenue. It was just south of the old Alber's supermarket which later became Jim Hayden's seat cover business.

Did anyone ever go inside Johnson's Cafe? What was it like inside? I vaguely recall a sign on the door saying you had to be 21 to enter and there was a round glass window in the door. I think they also had a neon sign.

Thank you for any information or leads you can provide.

[MiddleCincinnati]

This could just as easily post to the thread on Cincinnati restaurants
but, since it was just a block away from Reading:

Does anyone else recall a steak place that used to be on
Tennessee, probably on or near the site of the Blue Gibbon? I
have vague recollections of this place from the early 1960's.

[goyguy]

Yes! It was called the Charcoal Chef. The Blue Gibbon has been in the same building for going on thirty years now.

The Charcoal Chef's demise wasn't brought on by loss of business, for it continued to be popular. Its owner ran multiple dining and entertainment operations around Cincinnati, one of which was a dance club near the North Bend/Cheviot Rd intersection. That club had gained a reputation for "serving" minors with little to no hassle. Two high school guys took advantage of that, got loaded, and ended up crashing their car in Westwood on the way home. One of them died instantly. As if that wasn't bad enough, he lived on the same block as the establishment's proprietor. Needless to say, the Charcoal Chef and every other one of that man's properties were up for sale posthaste, and he and his family got out of Dodge as fast as they could. It was an ugly and sad situation.

Well, you asked! The Blue Gibbon, btw, continues to thrive in that spot on Tennessee Ave. With the long-ago demise of Tom House on California, and the closings of Roselawn's Happy Garden and Fortune Kookie, it's easily the only place for miles around that offers Chinese "cuisine" any more. (Unless you count part of the menu at Song Long on Section Rd.) I think the closest areas to there for finding that kind of food now are Hartwell, Hyde Park, and Clifton.

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by goyguy

Yes! It was called the Charcoal Chef.
...
Well, you asked!

It's reassuring to know that the memory was real, but
very sad to hear how events played out.

Originally Posted by goyguy

The Blue Gibbon, btw, continues to thrive in that spot on Tennessee Ave.
...
I think the closest areas to there for finding that kind of food now are Hartwell, Hyde Park, and Clifton.

Thirty years for the Blue Gibbon already? It does sound
right - I seem to recall eating there in the early 1980's.
They were pretty good, if I'm not mistaken. Back then,
my favorite Chinese place in town was China Gourmet.
The latter was on its way down as long ago as the mid-
90's, though.

Chinese food in Hartwell? Boy, I really have been away
a long time. What's next - pho in Carthage?