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Shari,

I think my Mom was born in 1923. Assuming she graduated at 18, that would be class of 1941 at Hughes High.

Thank kind of fits with her marrying my Dad immediately after the war and having me in 1946.

10/02/15 11:30 AM

#1956

Sharon Baum (Covitz)

Thanks Bruce.

10/05/15 06:53 PM

#1957

Lady Eagles Golf update:

Soph Katie Hallinan won the SW Ohio Sectional today at Walden Pond GC with a 1-under par 71. Next closest score was a 79. This course was set up TOUGH today and she still beat it. Now on to the Districts next Thursday at Weatherwax in Middletown.

The rest of the team didn't fare so well - lack of experience with three sophs, two frosh, and a junior didn't help a lot - but still finished 13th of the the 16 teams competing. Everybody played better on the second nine as the jitters wore off. Hope abounds for better team results next year. Go Eagles!!

10/05/15 08:18 PM

#1958

Ira Goldberg

Class of '64... Join the 20th Anniversary of Alumni Foundation party on October 17. Go to the web at walnuthillseagles.com and click Alumni tab. Attire is: "Come as you were, come as you are!" Coach Klein and I are starting a table of 10. We need 8 more of you. Cocktails at 6:00, dinner is at 6:30, then program, and After Party with music from 9-on. If you are coming, seats are $125 for whole night, plus drinks, (or $250 if you are feeling really generous!). Let me know.

10/06/15 12:28 AM

#1959

Ann Shepard (Rueve)

I'll be joining Ira and Larry. Seven more to go.

10/08/15 11:16 PM

#1960

Another golf update:

Junior Max Broxterman made it TWO qualifiers for the District tournament next Thursday at Weatherwax with a 78 yesterday at Miami Whitewater GC. He'll join the afore-mentioned Katie Hallinan. Since the boys and girls play at the same time on two different courses (Weatherwax has four nines), it'll be a busy day getting back and forth between the two. Wish us luck!

10/10/15 12:51 AM

#1961

Philip Spiess

To start a new thread: Bruce got us to consider how we became the "Baby Boomer" Generation. I would now like to consider our generation in terms of media technology, namely, the television. When did your family first get theirs? (And at what belated date did they switch to color TV?) I can say that in my own household that, early on (age of four? five?) my sister and I listened to radio on Saturday mornings (i.e. before TV). The two shows I remember were No School Today (i.e., "Big Jon and Sparky," produced locally, I believe), and Let's Pretend, a wonderful (probably) half hour of children's stories, sponsored by Cream of Wheat (theme song: "Cream of Wheat is so good to eat and we have it ever'y day . . . ."). My grandparents had a giant console radio in their living room which I'm sure they used to listen to the news of the progress of World War II.

The first television I saw was our next-door neighbors, the Woests; it was tiny, with a screen about 5 or 6 inches by 3 or 4 inches, set into a console almost as big as my grandparents' radio! When our family got a television, it must have been in the early 1950s, because what I remember watching were: Queen Elizabeth's coronation (1953, when I was in 1st grade and my girlfriend was Elizabeth Vogel, so we paraded around as Elizabeth and Philip) -- by the way, you know that the present queen has surpassed her great-great-grandmother Victoria in being the longest reigning British monarch, and I'm convinced she was determined to go for it; General of the Army Douglas MacArthur's ticker-tape parade in New York after he was fired by President Truman (1952?); Eisenhower's first inaugural (1953); something of the Joseph McCarthy hearings in Congress (1954), because my parents were watching them; Bishop Fulton J. Sheen's on-the-air religious program (again, we weren't Catholic, but my mother was watching because Bishop Sheen was very charismatic); and, above all, The Texaco Star Theater (aka the Milton Berle Show), starring -- who else? -- Milton Berle, "Uncle Milty," corny as hell but the funniest thing on television at the time (he was one of the first who made the successful transition from radio to TV). He had a sidekick on the show named Marco, whose punch line was "Well, you don't have to make a federal case out of it!" In 1953, when I was 7, we made a family trip to Washington and visited the Capitol and the Congress. I have a vague memory of meeting our Senator from Ohio, Robert A. Taft (who, I thought, must be the President!) -- and then we went into the Senate Visitors' Gallery. Vice-President Alban Barkley (Kentucky) was presiding, and dozing in the chair (it was summer, and this was before the Capitol had been air-conditioned). Some Senator was giving a filibuster and, as he paused to take a drink of water, I chose this moment, in that acoustically-sound chamber, to say in a loud voice to my father, "Daddy, is this where they make a federal case out of it?" The whole gallery erupted in laughter, Barkley woke up, grabbed his gavel and pounded it, demanding, "Quiet in the Senate! Order on the floor!" -- and my father grabbed me and we got the hell out of there. It was probably my first joke in public, and I didn't even realize it!

But now to other childhood TV shows. There was Kookla, Fran, and Ollie (for which I've recently gotten the DVDs); something with Gabby Hayes (was it a Roy Rogers show?); and, of course, Howdy Doody, with "Buffalo Bob" Smith and the Peanut Gallery. There was John Cameron Swayze, the first regular newscaster on TV, with the Camel News Caravan. And, of course, locally there were numerous shows on WLW (Crosley radio, called "The Nation's Station," because the transmitter tower at Mason, Ohio, was one of the nation's most powerful): The 50/50 Club (aka The Ruth Lyons Show) -- Ruth Lyons was the long-time doyenne of talk TV (way before Phil Donahue and Oprah); The Midwestern Hayride, with Bonnie Lou, who could yodel like nobody else; Uncle Al (the show many of us watched when we were at home sick); Colin Callin', starring Colin Male, a local heartthrob; and many others (which I don't remember at this hour of the night).

So -- let us know what you remember watching from the early years of television (and I'm not even going to get into the Disney shows, Disneyland and Spin and Marty and The Mickey Mouse Club and its Mouseketeers; those were later, circa 1955-1956).

[Question Challenge of the Week: When was Television invented, and by whom?]

10/10/15 10:15 AM

#1962

Bruce Bittmann

Larry, Hank Haney has nothing on you. Congrats to the entire Golf Team.

10/10/15 01:52 PM

#1963

Well first of all, I remember when I read books about how TV worked, they credited Philo Farnsworth, in 1927, for invention of the camera tube. And Vladimir Zworkin was credited with additional inventions to make it practical, particularly the iconoscope tube (a practical camera tube). The big discussion was about how David Sarnoff of RCA had cheated Farnsworth out of many years of valuable royalties on his patents.

I remember my Grandfather bought a TV in 1949. It was a faily large screen, and included a record player and an AM/FM radio. So my most memorable show was Mr. Wizard. And the most memorable episode was when he put a candle and a funnel filled with baking flour and a plastic hose into a rather large steel can. When he blew into the hose, it blew the flour into the air inside the can and then the candle exploded it. Very impressive. I remember Kukla, Fran and Ollie, and probably still have two records. I remember Uncle Al, and greeted him and Santa Claus flying in to Lunken Airport one year. I remember the Lone Ranger, Cisco Kid, Gene Autry, a Canadian Mounty and Rin Tin Tin. And yes I remember the 50-50 club, but that seems like when I was in 4th to 6th grade. I also remember that they had a show where the stars pantomimed popular music songs, and one of the stars was Wanda Lewis (Uncle Al's wife). Yes of course all of the Mickey Mouse Club shows.

For me, color TV waited until I could afford to buy one - so at some point after I arrived in Phoenix and worked for Motorola, must have been 1974 or there abouts.

10/12/15 12:01 AM

#1964

Philip Spiess

Wow! Two Bruces in a row; one more, and we could have watched cold hard cash fall out of the slot machine at Vegas!

And speaking of jackpots, Bruce Fette wins it for more than correctly answering the Question Challenge of the Week: Farnsworth, Zworykin, and the ever-controversial General Sarnoff (a Victor in the battle for RCA) were all involved in television's invention and technological evolution. Not only that, but I believe he correctly spelled "Kukla" (as in Kukla, Fran, and Ollie, which I didn't). [N.B.: The first public display of television was, I believe, at the 1939 New York World's Fair, one of the great fairs, for which Flushing Meadows in Corona, New York, saw its humongous ash-heaps, the refuse of the city, immortalized in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, transformed into an elegant display of Art Deco decadence for the Fair -- "the World of Tomorrow" -- later the site of the 1964 World's Fair, both fairs having been under the direction and control of the Czar of New York's planning, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure construction for nearly 40 years, namely, Commissioner Robert Moses.]

Ah, yes! the Cisco Kid! ("Hey, Pancho!" "Hey, Seesco!"). And Gene Autry, the Singing Cowboy ("Back in the saddle again / Out where a friend is a friend . . ."); he brought us recordings of both "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman," among others. Then there was Roy Rogers and the Sons of the Pioneers ("Happy trails to you / Until we meet again . . ."); they did the soundtrack for Disney's short film on Pecos Bill. Indeed, it seemed everything for kids was cowboys on TV in the early 1950s; by the 1960s, these had turned into Westerns for adults on TV (Bonanza, Bat Masterson, Wild Bill Hickcock, Maverick, Gunsmoke, Have Gun, Will Travel, many others).

And, yes, now that Bruce mentions it, there was that show that pantomimed recorded singing, featuring Wanda Lewis; was this the origin of Karaoke? In the very early days of the Uncle Al Show, Wanda was not married to "Uncle Al," but was featured as doing "magical" drawings on a large sheet of paper on an easel (anybody remember this?); later they married.

We ourselves in the Spiess household did not get a color TV (as I recall) until I was well into college -- but that record player that came with the TV (that Bruce mentions) was perhaps the one I remember that both my grandparents and we got with our TVs; it was strictly a 45 r.p.m. player with a changer stack attached, and apparently ran off of the TV's power.

Other supercharged TV memories?

10/12/15 08:09 AM

#1965

Laura Reid (Pease)

Philip, did you receive the scans I sent you about the Nat'l Docent Symposium? If not, I will copy and mail, but I need your address......Laura

10/12/15 10:41 PM

#1966

I found a program for the 62 peanuts and the 64 Walnuts, as well as two photos from College Hill Elementary.

Seems I cant attach them but anyone asking for a copy just email to me at brucefette@yahoo.com.

Thanks,

Bruce

10/13/15 10:34 PM

#1967

Tonight as I am going through more boxes of my Mom's saved stuff, I found newspaper clippings that listed:

1) Walnut Hills ham radio participation in "Field Day" at Mount Storm. One article shows a picture of Irv Crandall and David Ransohoff in the transmit shack and many others erecting the antenna.Another version lists all the names of participants including: Mike Lichtstein, Ron Lee, Malcomb Montgomery, Dave Ransohoff, Clark Ross, Colin Gordon, Artie Osmond, and Mason Thompson. Hugh Evans and John Mezaraups are listed in a third version of this article. And I just found the Enquirer glossy photos from this event too.

2) Walnut Hills participants in a Science Fair held at Miami University. WHHS got 16 awards. Names listed include: Frank Dauterich, Don Lee, Mark Lichman, Frank Pien, Mark Zwick, George Brown, Margaret Craig, Fred Hoeweller, Linda Lane, Walt Meyer, Beth Mitchell, Ronny Crowen, Tammy Solway, Michele Ruwet, and Sharon Burke.

3) Scholastic Achievement awards given to: Catherine Prince, Dale Gierenger, Mark Termin, David Wise, Lew Lutton, Dave Bratt, Laura Stoner, Steve Lichtenberg, Arnold Bortz, Ronna Katz, Nelson Schwab, Roderick Dunn, Roger Rassmussen, and Don Lee.

4) I just found an article in the Hilltop News for the College Hill School play of "A Christmas Carole" starring Kristi Ottensen,Tina Prueninger, Cindy Ault, Rosa Lee Renner, Mary Jo Smith, Nancy Ault, Patty Evans, Cynthia Lester, Judi Ward, Judy Bosken, and Sharon McAllister. Also rans are Tim Heugenot, Carl Press, Tom Becker, and Jack Jellison.

Anyone that would like to see these clippings, please email me at:

brucefette@yahoo.com

Since I cant seem to attach them to the message forum.

Thanks,

Bruce

10/14/15 12:08 PM

#1968

The first TV we had at home (1955) was a Motorola B&W, 18" screen, on a swivel console. I still had that old TV at my current condo (and it still worked!) until Cincinnati went all digital around 2008 (est). I can remember watching Mickey Mouse Club, Cisco Kid, Lone Ranger, Ed Sullivan, Perry Mason, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, The Hayride, and a few other lesser known shows. True to my personality, I rarely watched the news, so didn't see much of those old guys that Phil enjoyed (still don't today). My first color TV was a Sharp 12" portable bought from Steinbergs downtown in December '69. It was my "coming home Christmas present to myself" celebrating my escape from 'Nam alive. I still had that one, too, until the digital switch.

In 1975, I was living in Lubbock, TX and working for TI. When the Reds made the world series, I went right out and bought a 26" color Zenith console so I could watch the series on the "big screen" instead of my little 12" Sharp. That (now non-functional) Zenith still sits in the breakfast nook as a side table for the digital TV. Just can't seem to let it go!

10/14/15 12:55 PM

#1969

Bruce what year was the article you found on the science fair at Miami U.? I participated in the 1960 joint Engineering Society of Cincinnati and Ohio Academy of Science Science program. The awards were presented at Miami University in April 1960. I was awarded a 'Superior' rating by both the Engineering Society and the Academy of Science for a working model of the human circulatory system. Several things stand out in my mind of that day. As part of the award I was given Junior Membership in the Ohio Academy of Science, some nice certificants replete with ribbons, and there was also supposed to be a scholarship to Antioch (I think that was the U), but because of my age they did not give it to me. But that was OK since I got lost on Miami's campus getting to the award ceremony and just got there in time, but in the process was really impressed with how beautiful the campus was. I am sure that had significant impact on my decision to apply there (and graduate from there).

10/14/15 01:41 PM

#1970

I found the following photograph from our Mach 1964 Senior Class trip with Americana Tours to Washington DC: Sorry for the quality- I had to scan it in 2 sections because the original is too large for my home scanner.

10/14/15 08:11 PM

#1971

Jeff,

The clippings I found did not preserve enough of the page to save the date. I am certain that the science fair was during high school, so this represents one of two events between 1962 and 1964. Engineering school left no time for science fairs.

But I do have fond memories of the regional science fairs at Miami University and the state science fair, which I think may have been in Cleveland or Toledo.

All, I expect to do more digging into the old bucket tonight! Who know what lurks in there next?

Thanks,

Bruce

10/15/15 12:08 AM

#1972

Philip Spiess

Jeff Daum: Dude, can you identify the folks in the photos? I do recognize the site -- the northern half of the western side of the Capitol grounds (i.e., the part that faces the National Mall, close to the Congressional Springhouse, a wonderful Frederick Law Olmsted feature that few now know about, which is actually in the background of the second photo). And yes, the Miami University campus is indeed beautiful; we took our Phi Gamma Delta (Fiji) Fraternity pledge class walk-out there from Hanover College in March, 1965 -- what was not beautiful was that it was St. Patrick's Day weekend (i.e., "green beer weekend"), and green vomit is not particularly beautiful!

Larry: What is the draw about Lubbock, Texas (this is not a disparaging question, just an honest one)? You were there, I believe Johnny Marks is there now, and two people I worked with at the National Trust for Historic Preservation in the 1970s were from there. There must be an attraction I'm not aware of. And, um, Larry, we actually apparently watched the same shows in the 1950s (cowboy, mostly); the one news show (John Cameron Swayze) my parents watched; I mostly remember him and Camel cigarettes -- but nothing of the news being reported. As to the World Series in 1975, I was in Boston with the National Trust's Bicentennial Annual Meeting, and publicly greeted Johnny Bench, Pete Rose (who I still think should be in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown), and others, who were staying in the same hotel as we were.

Bruce: You mention Mount Storm Park. Because I lived a number of houses east and south of the park (on McAlpin Avenue), this was our park of resort for winter sled riding; the splendid curvacious hills below the park drive (the western extension of Lafayette Avenue), which cascaded down to where Lafayette Avenue ran below the park (past Sally Fox's house) to join with McAlpin Avenue's western extension, which ended at the northern reaches of Ludlow Avenue, were perfect for serious -- and extended -- sled riding in winter. Perhaps on another thread I will elaborate on the thrills (and disasters) of this sled-riding; perhaps I will also elaborate on Robert B. Bowler's estate, "Mount Storm" -- how it came to be named, and the curious (and endearing) elements of that estate that remain in the park today, such as the Pergola (famous because of the Victorian Prince of Wales' visit) and the (now-sealed) cave, which was the estate's wine cellar.

Further: I do not often remark on political matters on these pages, because I believe they should be reserved for polite reminiscence. BUT -- I must remark on the Republican squabble to elect a Speaker of the House of Representatives: It reminds me of a comment of Abraham Lincoln's: "As the man said when he was ridden out of town on a rail -- 'If it wasn't for the honor of the thing, I believe I'd much rather walk!'"

10/15/15 12:29 AM

#1973

Phil, I know two of the classmates for sure- that is Steve Berman standing to my right in the top picture, 2nd from the right. I was hoping others would self-identify

10/15/15 02:49 PM

#1974

Steven Levinson

Re the photo: Kenzo Takai is pretty self-evident.

10/15/15 07:02 PM

#1975

Phil - Aahh, Lubbock, TX. As the song says: best viewed in the rear-view mirror. I started work for TI in Dallas on my 27th birthday, 12/04/1972. Just before my 28th birthday, I had been elevated to lead supervisor and was asked to go to Lubbock and start up operations in the new facilities being built there. I bought my first house, worked parts of all three shifts hiring and training new people, installing linear circuit test equipment, and still meeting production quotas. Stayed there 3+ years before the semi-annual dust storms finally got the best of me. Moved back to Cincy in time for the '76 baseball season and had season tickets thru the World Series.

In Lubbock, I once was playing in a w/e softball tournament when a dust storm blew in from New Mexico. We called the game, and while driving home it started raining. My white Grand Am became brown in five minutes and the windshield was mud-coated with the wipers swishing it around. That's when I started a new job search in Cincy.

10/15/15 10:50 PM

#1976

Ah yes, the dust storms. We had those in Phoenix too. I think the very same one, around 1974. It made my golden Road Runner Convertible into a brown convertible (beep beep).

AAAAH -- And regarding remembering, last night I found a small envelope with a lot of small 2.25" x 3.25" photographs of some very nice people who gave me their photographs in exchange for mine. I am sure we all remember capturing photos of some of our most favorite people and some friends too.

I have photos of Kristi Ottensen, Cindy Ault, Judy Bosken, and several others where my memory is inadequate to remember the complete name. And of the guys I have: Jim Martin, Dan Brown, David Ransohoff, Tad Hooker, Harold Merse, Fred Hoeweller, Steve Kanter, Jim Nathan, Robert Westbrook, and Phil ? Van Allen.

Perhaps someone will help me remember the names I have forgotten.:)

So as soon as I figure out how to convert *.pdf into *.jpeg, I will try to post these photos to remind everyone how much fun it was to trade photos.

Otherwise email and ask me for them.

And sure, I would love to know more about how Mt. Storm got its name.

Thanks, Bruce

10/15/15 11:36 PM

#1977