Benson Street in the sixties (Cincinnati, Blue Ash: how much, neighborhood, shops)

[Jim Burke]

Anyone remember any of the shops on Benson Street in Reading during the sixties?

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by Jim Burke

Anyone remember any of the shops on Benson Street in Reading during the sixties?

Well, there was Foxie's Chili just east of downtown Lockland.

[mike1003]

Wasn't here a topless bar back then?

[goyguy]

Dunno how much the waitresses showed, but during the late '60s and early '70s there were radio ads aplenty for two suburban joints with "exotic dancers." One was the She Nightclub on Blue Ash Rd. The other was My Room in Reading, which wasn't on Benson but a couple of blocks north - just off Reading Rd on Pike St.
With the, shall we say puritanical, values in force at the time and still today it's a stretch to believe that the gals went topless. Much more than cleavage and a miniskirt would've brought raids and "indecency" trials. Of course the proprietors of one or both places might've purposely incited the authorities in order to better drum up business.
Anybody who thinks Cincinnati learned to ease up on its stodginess after the Contemporary Arts Center exhibit fiasco need only look at what went on with another Reading business much more recently. The owner caught enough flak from putting an inflatable, um, mannequin in front of his business (KT's Barbecue) with her "strategic parts" covered that he ended up giving her a Dukes of Hazzard wardrobe.
Before Benson St became an attempt at a "bridal shopping district" there really weren't any businesses that made it stand out, just neighborhood staples like dry cleaners and a UDF. I doubt many folks in Reading particularly care that their town holds few draws for outsiders beyond Sorrento's and the Glass Barn - and, oh yeah, KT's - besides all those shops for females about to be wed.