Mid-century Reading Road (Cincinnati, Dayton, Springfield: hotel, mobile home, transfer)

[franke01]

Originally Posted by MiddleCincinnati

It was overlooked. The small Roselawn branch of the library
later moved to the Valley Shopping Center, into much larger digs.



T.C. stations - long gone now. According to a blurb on the internet,
the Cincinnati company was absorbed into the SuperAmerica
brand. All I can remember just west of Reading was a typewriter
store, with machines in the display window clearly visible from the
road. This would have been by the corner with Chaucer. On what side
of Galbraith was the T.C. station?



The building was sort of pale green. It seemed like there was a kind
of recessed area in the wall at eye-level, maybe behind glass. Could
this have been where the signs were?

The TC was on the same side as Porfidio's on the other side of Reading - seems like it was maybe 1/2 block from the corner but I could be wrong.

I think I saw the signs at Porfidio's sometime in the mid-50's. I was pretty young and my dad used to point them out to me. I thought they were higher up on the sides of the building and as I remember the building was white at the time.

[Korey]

Originally Posted by Heaveno

The donut truck is unique. I never saw it, but I am certain someone else will remember.

If memory serves (and it may not) it was either Fisher's or Fischer's Donuts. They also appeared at Carthage School at noontime selling pastries to supplement (or substitute for) our lunch, and often visited Swifton Village as well as Bond Hill.

[The Don]

Does anyone remember a bus company other than Cincinnati Transit that served suburban Cincinnati? I believe it was called the Ohio Bus company.

I seem to remember boarding the bus at the Greyhound Bus terminal on Fifth Street. I think they used that big barn of a building on lower Reading Rd, across from what is now the United Way building, as their maintenance facility.

While we are at it, I have been trying to figure out the original purpose of that building. It seems old enough to have been in existance since the mid 1800s but I am not sure. What was its original purpose?

[franke01]

Originally Posted by The Don

Does anyone remember a bus company other than Cincinnati Transit that served suburban Cincinnati? I believe it was called the Ohio Bus company.

I seem to remember boarding the bus at the Greyhound Bus terminal on Fifth Street. I think they used that big barn of a building on lower Reading Rd, across from what is now the United Way building, as their maintenance facility.

While we are at it, I have been trying to figure out the original purpose of that building. It seems old enough to have been in existance since the mid 1800s but I am not sure. What was its original purpose?

That was Ohio Bus Lines. I know they went to Hamilton but I'm not sure how much other service they provided. I'm guessing that they had an arrangement to use the Greyhound terminal on 5th between Main and Broadway.

I think there was also a Trailways terminal on the north side of 5th about where P&G is now.

I know the building on Reading Rd that you're speaking of but I'm not sure who used it.

[The Don]

There was/is a drug store in the Valley Shopping center that had a lunch counter in it. I can't recall what it was originally called but sometime in the 1950's it was renamed Noiman's.
Anyway, I went to Roselawn school at the time; school lunches where 26 cents (later increased to 27 cents). Well we could get a hot dog and coke for 21 cents at Noiman's so we often did - saving the 5 cents for a candy bar!

A bit north and on the east side of Reading Rd there was a Howard Johnson restaurant. We would go there to celebrate after various school functions.

Further north and on the same side was a bowling alley. I went took a number of dates to that bowling alley. Later I think a cheap furniture store took over.

The Triftway store located at Reading and Sunnybrook was noted elsewhere. I believe it was orginally a roller rink; it didn't last very long.

[franke01]

Originally Posted by The Don

There was/is a drug store in the Valley Shopping center that had a lunch counter in it. I can't recall what it was originally called but sometime in the 1950's it was renamed Noiman's.
Anyway, I went to Roselawn school at the time; school lunches where 26 cents (later increased to 27 cents). Well we could get a hot dog and coke for 21 cents at Noiman's so we often did - saving the 5 cents for a candy bar!

A bit north and on the east side of Reading Rd there was a Howard Johnson restaurant. We would go there to celebrate after various school functions.

Further north and on the same side was a bowling alley. I went took a number of dates to that bowling alley. Later I think a cheap furniture store took over.

The Triftway store located at Reading and Sunnybrook was noted elsewhere. I believe it was orginally a roller rink; it didn't last very long.

I remember the school lunches at OMS in the 50's.

Remember the little glass bottles that the milk came in and how they would go off like miniature explosions as kids dropped them around the lunch room?

I also remember the 5 cent candy bars - Milk Shake bars seemed like they were 8" long!

[The Don]

Originally Posted by unctheel

I don't recall the donut truck, but I do remember Mr. Softee and the popsicle truck. What fun times.

I wonder if that popsicle truck you are rembering was white with red fenders? We called the guy who drove it Archie. I don't even know if that was his real name.

Anyway, Archie was as sure a sign of spring as was the first robin or baseball opening day. There was a time that he parked his truck adjacent to the Roselawn school parking lot. I think the PTA ladies made him move as too many kids (myself included) spent our milk money on other stuff.

Included in the other stuff was 1950s era baseball cards and as everyone knows, they are all now priceless but were discarded years ago by unsympathetic mothers

[unctheel]

Yes, I regret losing my baseball card collection. I remember standing in the playground at Bond Hill School and I had "last year's" cards and wanted to "flip" with some of the older boys (remember that game? heads you got the cards flipped, tails, you lost your card(s)). The boys refused to flip with anything other than the current year's cards saying the past cards were "worthless." They even gave me some of their cards from the prior year. Oh, little did we know!!!! that was the time when the players were not paid well, and a lot of them lived temporarily in Swifton Village. Wally Post lived in the building next to ours, and we always waited for him, but never saw him. When we knocked on his door, his wife answered and gave us glossy photos autographed by him. Yes, times have sure changed.

As for the popsicle truck, I don't remember the color. just great popsicles and treats. Ah, the good ol' days!

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by The Don

There was/is a drug store in the Valley Shopping center that had a lunch counter in it. I can't recall what it was originally called but sometime in the 1950's it was renamed Noiman's.

"rlefraim" mentioned that drugstore, as well, in an earlier post but
did not give its name. When you think about it, the presence of three
drugstores all within half a mile from each other - and not near any
medical center - would seem out of place today.

A bit north and on the east side of Reading Rd there was a Howard Johnson restaurant.
...
Further north and on the same side was a bowling alley. I went took a number of dates to that bowling alley.

HoJo's and Summit Lanes were mentioned in the original post. It's
nice to see that someone remembers them. I can recall going to the
HoJo's in the early 1960's, but don't remember its being around for
long after that. Maybe its closing coincided with the opening of their
motel on Chester Road. Any idea when that soda fountain opened?

Summit Lanes was pretty big, and had undergone at least one expansion.
My mother was in some of the leagues that played there. Quite a popular
place in its day. Maybe opened around 1960.

[The Don]

Originally Posted by MiddleCincinnati

"rlefraim" mentioned that drugstore, as well, in an earlier post but
did not give its name. When you think about it, the presence of three
drugstores all within half a mile from each other - and not near any
medical center - would seem out of place today.

Not only were there so many drug stores in the area, I can remember them delivering prescriptions - a real godsend when there was a house full of sick kids. Of course that was before the day of CVS, Walgreens, WalMart, etc.

BTW, a drug store is still in that same location in the Valley Shopping Center. It is the only store that was where it was when I frequented the area.

Also, I think the name of the drug store before it bacame Noiman was Dow's. Does that sound right?