Cincinnati Memories

[goyguy]

Yow, I once worked at a King Kwik. Haven't they been extinct for 20 years or so? At one point they all seemed to have been supplanted by Circle K, itself unseen in recent times.

Johnny's Toys lasted improbably long after the rise of Toys-R-Us and that ilk of stores. The owners' decision to open at Forest Fair/Cincinnati Mills/whatever might have brought on too much red ink. It made no sense to outsiders since their only other location north of the river was minutes down Winton Rd in Greenhills. Johnny's always had "the best" clerks, who were almost inevitably grandmothers up on all the latest crazes. Since they're a thing of the past I'm left wondering when the last person out of Greenhills will turn off the lights!

[xjken]

Originally Posted by ram2

Jake the snake !

I bought my first car from Jake the Snake at Vine and Galbraith, a brand new 1974 Pontiac Firebird

[goyguy]

Nice! That was one great muscle car. A high school classmate had a "hunter green" one that he bought used in '76 - great fun to tool around the 'burbs in. It met the fate of many a set of wheels purchased by or for teens. He had to unload it to help pay for college. Imagine what it'd be worth today if it was kept roadworthy. It wouldn't surprise me if somebody out there doesn't have to imagine.

Did anyone here first get behind the wheel at Bick's Driving School? I don't remember where their location(s) were, just that they saturated the radio airwaves with their ads. My high school had Driver's Ed classes that you had to pass to graduate. (The arms of the auto lobby are long and extend into all kinds of places...) Since kids were randomly assigned to cars you couldn't pick who you learned with. This was a good thing. No matter what the situation, as in "The Breakfast Club" and countless other works of literature and film people bond around what they're thrown into together. Though no lasting friendships were formed, you and your car-mates saw each other a little differently after that shared experience. We had fun mastering gear shifting, parallel parking, etc under the tutelage of the school's down-to-earth and eternally patient football coach. I can still picture him behind the extra steering wheel of the driver's-ed car, foot perpetually poised to slam on the passenger-side brake! To this day when I'm riding with somebody whose vehicle handling sets my nerves on edge I'm known to go through drivers-ed-teacher motions. ("That light up ahead is green, but this one isn't!!!" Followed by me extending my right foot into the front of the floor under the glove compartment. LOL)

[pegasus1939]

Used to go to the movies in mt. washington and hang out at "hamburger heaven" and watched it become "gold star". Empress still my favorite, but its been years, remember the cardboard pint containers it came in? My dad owned "murphy Motors" on reading road across from the old "fuller Ford". Love the memories, and cincinnati.

[Ohky0815]

Theres a facebook group just for this kind of thing- i LOVE looking at the old pics!

Funny about the west/east side thing. "Whered you go to highschool" is more important than " whered you go to college" Personally im a Eastsider and I prefer the westside.

[kjbrill]

First of all, they have to ask whered you go to high school? to determine whether you even had a prayer to go to college. It just shows a mentality where HS was the final step for a great many people. Don't knock them, that was just the way it was.

[goyguy]

Dinner table conversation a year or so ago:

Goyguy Nephew (then a college sophomore): "I need to pick up some new St X gear to wear at school"
Goyguy: "In college everybody reps their high school in their first semester of freshman year, then it drops off in the spring. And no one keeps doing it after that."
Goyguy Sr: "In Cincinnati they do!"

So true! But this sort of thing can't exactly be a "memory" since it persists to this day...

[mike1003]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

First of all, they have to ask whered you go to high school? to determine whether you even had a prayer to go to college. It just shows a mentality where HS was the final step for a great many people. Don't knock them, that was just the way it was.

I doubt this. Having worked on the Westside, there is extreme rivalry between the high schools that people keep forever. I'm sure the same is true everywhere

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by mike1003

I doubt this. Having worked on the Westside, there is extreme rivalry between the high schools that people keep forever. I'm sure the same is true everywhere

Yes, there is a high degree of rivalry between the high schools. But when I was young, high school was definitely the end of the line for a majority of the students. So the high school graduation was a really big deal. A large number of the relatives would be there and the graduate pumped they had made it.