Mid-century Reading Road (Cincinnati, Wooster, Norwood: kitchen, golf, area)

[dmerkow]

To finish off the discussion of Jim's (Frank's) Barbershop. It is still open in Valley Shopping Center. Howard is still there (Wed through Sat). Jim has been retired for at least a decade at this point. His son Skip ran it for a few years and since left as well.

[Hyden]

I remember when I was little and had to learn my phone number it was BRamble for 271- I lived in Stratford Manor. I think the phone might have even been a party line Hyden

[goyguy]

Originally Posted by MiddleCincinnati

Oh yes - that way of remembering exchanges seems to have
passed on. "MElrose 1" used to substitute for 631. "JEfferson 1"
used to stand in for 531. Know any more of these?

Here are three more of the "original" phone exchanges for neighborhoods traversed by Reading Rd - to keep this thread on track:

UNiversity = 861 = Avondale (also Clifton)
POplar = 761 = Roselawn, Reading (also Lockland, Carthage, Wyoming, and Hartwell)
VAlley = 821 = Roselawn, Reading (also Lockland, Carthage, Wyoming, and Hartwell)

[blockhead]

Here's another:
Avon (281). I grew up in Avondale, and thought that the phone exchanges were abbreviated versions of the neighborhoods. What a shock when I found out it wasn't true.

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by blockhead

Here's another:
Avon (281). I grew up in Avondale, and thought that the phone exchanges were abbreviated versions of the neighborhoods. What a shock when I found out it wasn't true.

Quite so - we had relatives with a 731 exchange, which turns
out to have been REdwood-1. No redwoods in good old
Cincinnati 37...

As luck would have it, someone out there is maintaining a
web site devoted to exchange mnemonics of yesteryear. They
have a database covering North America, with several pages of
entries for Cincinnati. If their information is accurate, the 1's were
added in June of 1955 - only very large cities had been using seven
digits much before then (as evidenced by the famous chorus
that went "Pennsylvania-6 5000").

[awelliott]

My aunt lived in Mt Adams, and I believe the exchange there was CHerry-1(241). It was either her or my other aunt in Norwood. Dang, I can still remember the entire number, and I haven't dialed it since the mid-60s....

[blockhead]

Originally Posted by MiddleCincinnati

Guess our crowd wasn't stuck-up enough: we haunted Chili Time, just
up the road. On at least one occasion, we stayed until closing at
4:00, then came back two hours later, when the morning shift opened
for breakfast. Beside the rejuvenating qualities of Cincinnati chili,
the store offered a bustle and a diverse clientele unmatched elswhere
on Reading Road at that hour.

As for Perkins, well, they should have stuck their strong suit: pancakes.

Loved Chili Time, too. (But not a good place to pick up girls, as my mothers office was in the shopping center just opposite, on the other side of section road). I live in Texas now, and they think the chili is good here. No comparison to Chili Time. 3-way chili in Texas? Fugetaboutit!!

[BWAGS]

Here's a few more exchanges : 351 = ELmhurst, 921 = WAshburn, 661 = MOntana, 771 = PRinceton.
The one exchange to screw things up was in Bond Hill, 242 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jkgibb1]

When I was growing up, we had the telephone number JE1-7754. (JE for Jefferson.) Then it was changed to 531-7754. Then in the sixties, we were given the 242 exchange.

My grandparents lived in Price Hill and they had the telephone number WAbash 1-4886.

[jkgibb1]

I see someone said "WA" stood for "Washburn," but I am almost positive it was "WAbash." Can anyone confirm?