more downtown Akron

The tallest building in Akron is a bank building built in 1931. It has had four banking names, it is up for sale. It is art deco, and this sculpture above the front doors is holding a treasure box.

next to railroad tracks

One of three emblems above the entrance of the art deco phone company building. The entrance is badly in need of restoration work.

This big donut sits in a window of the former Polsky department store, which is part of the University of Akron.

 

'Q' is for Qwazy

At the beginning of the 19th century, hypothesising on an earlier source of the Gospels started. Some German writers hypothesized a lost "Q" (Quelle is source) document. No "Q" has been found. Now, we have a completely different "Q", and it is a source of bat shit conspiracy stories favored by Republicans and other wackos. I have found "Q".

a statue honoring the working man

 

Alan Cottrill. Rubber Worker. 2020. Akron.

The look of this 12' bronze sculpture comes from the foto on this book, “Wheels of Fortune: The Story of Rubber in Akron”, written by Steve Love and David Giffels, and published in 1999. The sculpture was ready for a September installation. It was delayed more than a couple of times, over the creation and delivering of the stone base. The statue was lowered in place Wednesday, and Thursday the 13th it was shown to the public. It is the centerpiece marking the end of construction of “Main Street Phase 1”. Traffic circles/roundabouts are new to Akron, and this will give people something to look at. Later a kiosk will be installed nearby to access oral histories, and films.

A short walk up the street is a historical marker of the 1936 Akron Rubber Sit Down Strike. United Rubber Workers began in 1935. The conditions and pay for rubber workers were bad, and the Great Republican Depression made things worse. Roosevelt's New Deal favored unionisation. Later in 1936 the more famous Flint autoworkers' strike took place. What made such strikes effective was that management could not bring in scab workers to bust the strike, since the workers were in place occupying; and while management was always prone to bring in police, private thugs, and the National Guard to attack workers, management was not willing to risk the equipment and machinery in the factories, and mills.

2021 Miscellany #6

 

1472 East Livingston, Columbus O

great blue heron. old cost guard station, cleveland

at the mouth of the cuyahoga

whiskey island bridge, not ready for use

wolves (here dobermans) do not need horns

climbing a knot of osage orange, scioto park, dublin o

Really? This is where you want to park?

Route 33 to Athens

Well, Athens is the only bastion of democracy for many miles around.  I was displeased when my nephew said it was "in the middle of nowhere".  For many people Athens, and Ohio University are synonymous.

It may be 37 years since i was on the stretch between Columbus and Athens on route 33. It has changed. It is high speed four lane all the way. Lancaster, Logan, Nelsonville are invisible.

It is not easy to find free parking, this cardinal was resting on a very computerised meter. NASA had less technology to send men to the moon.

The paw print was the University's logo for years. It is not permitted since the attack cat was commissioned, and phased in from 1996 to 2002. People preferred the paw, but the university payed outsiders for something new. All approved clothing, all university athletic promotion can only have the attack cat. Paw print is prohibited, a private building has a few prints painted anyway.

The dogwoods here are still with their white bracts, and the green leaves have not yet come. In Athens the bracts (and wee flowers) are gone on nearly every tree, and they are fully green leafed. Before, some people followed the northward bloom of the dogwood. The interest began to pique when they bloomed in North Carolina, and then through the Virginias.They are still in bloom in Northern Ohio.

There still are steps on Jeff(erson) Hill. A lot of bricks have been replaced, or covered over. Jeff Hill, the last time i was in town, still had bricks, but bollards were on top and bottom. Athens had/has a lot of old brick with the name of the brickyards it came from. There is a lot of clay in the area. 

Students used to take trays from the cafeteria, to use as sleds in the very few days there was snow. When it was icy, it was humourous, to watch at a distance, cars try to go up. Some would fail, and lose control.

Chris Stain. “Without Labor, Nothing Prospers”. 2015. 

This mural, on Court Street (the main drag uptown), was dedicated for Workers' Memorial Day (April 28) 2018. United Mine Workers Local 1 was in nearby Nelsonville.

   Memorial Auditorium has several plaques from illustrious speakers that visited campus.

I am guessing that last summer, there was some political notice about town concerning the extra-judicial killing of black people. Here are the two sides of a sign planted in 2020.

Breonna Taylor was killed by Louisville Kentucky police March 13. 2020. This storefront window reminds us.

There is a Civil War Monument at the entrance to the College Green since 1893. One of several plaques reads, "Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori (Sweet and proper to die for the fatherland)". It was a good place to sit and eat, and smoke.

Guitar man singing on the town's establishment church. Though this area of Ohio was heavily Methodist, the first presidents at Ohio University were Presbyterian ministers.

There used to be Varsity Cinema directly across the Athena, years ago. Covid 19 has been bad for the picture show.

On old 33, Richland Avenue, with the Convocation Center under the clouds.The building was considered a white elephant.

dress your goose for roadwork season

Enjoy the commentary about the roadwork on West 65th Cleveland. This fellow was free...uh...safe to exercise sly humour. That sort of activity is dangerous for longevity in many workplaces.

Route 66 detours to Cleveland O

 

Goodtime II tour boat, New York Central lift bridge on the Cuyahoga

Route 66 filmed five episodes in Cleveland, during the time John Kennedy was president. Characters Tod Stiles, and Buz Murdoch (played by Martin Milner, and George Maharis) travelled the country in a series of Chevy Corvettes (show's sponsor). The bridge supra is officially designated NS1, and called the Iron Curtain by boaters and shippers. The bridge was built from 1954 to 1957, and was part of Corp of Engineers plan to replace old bridges. It was fairly new when the filming was done. The other road work concerns freeways. One episode was centered on West 14th, just before the freeway took part of it. In another episode they were putting in a freeway in Mayfield Heights. Because the show used real locations, scenes become historical photographic records of the America of two generations ago, before the new highways created enlarged suburbs, new suburbs, and massive urban sprawl, and homogeneous buildings, and loss of local color.

Those old enough to remember can see they used Union Terminal and the Ferro enamel mural is prominent. The New York Central lift bridge was central in two episodes, in both episodes Municipal Stadium is visible. To-day, the neon Indian is in Cleveland's History Museum, next to the enamel mural created for the 1939 World's Fair. St. Theodosius, and Terminal Tower are very visible. St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox is called St. August, Goodtime II is called Carol Diane II.

They filmed at Euclid Beach amusement park (gone in 1969), Sachsenheim Hall, West 14th before the freeway came; another episode I-271 is being built, and signs for Pick and Pay (a former local supermarket chain), and Golden Gate shopping center. They stayed and filmed at recently built Sahara Motor Hotel (sold, now gone). They showed Jones and Laughlin Steel, which has been absorbed and sold, and that site is now a large shopping center. A forging steel factory, in another part of town fills in for the shooting site. A mansion in Bratenahl is used. Burke Lakefront Airport is seen, as is Edgewater Park.

Sam Manners was a production manager and producer, born in Cleveland as Savino Maneri. He was the reason for the Cleveland visits, and perhaps the nearby Kinsman and Youngstown. Rod Steiger plays a philosophical psychopath who has either Maneri's house, or a house on the same street.

• Incident On A Bridge         S1, Ep30. 16 Jun. 1961
• First Class Mouliak            S2, Ep5.   20 Oct. 1961
• Two On The House             S2, Ep27. 20 Apr. 1962
• Welcome To The Wedding  S3, Ep8.    8 Nov. 1962
• Every Father's Daughter      S3, Ep9.  16 Nov. 1962

Cleveland was an industrial city with many European ethnicities, many of them Slavonic. Nehemiah Persoff played a Russian, and a Pole. Throughout the series actors play in different episodes as different people, sometimes the same person. One episode has a Russian community (really that would have been Ruthenian [Rusyn, or Carpathian Rus], another a Polish one, and a Serbian family. The older people speak with accents. Tod and Buz really look at the Poles and Russian Americans as strange. In the Serbian family, only the father has an accent, and it is light. The Serb is owner of a construction company, and is rich. The Poles,and Russians are poor.

Some times the leads are participants, and sometimes observers. The cinematography is exceedingly good. The series has very literate dialogue, but with some incongruities of plot. Willow Sunday (Passion or Palm Sunday) procession shown was the sorriest example. Inside their homes, no crucifixes, no icons, no religious pictures; with those people, at that time, it would be impossible. A silly superstition employing a pitchfork is news to me.

With the change of jobs, and locations the series compares with Richard Kimble (David Janssen) in the slightly later, but overlapping in time, The Fugitive;  the recent best movie Oscar winner Nomadland, also has people on the move, but they are, old, poor, and desperate.            

__________________________________________

POSTSCRIPTUM:

I did not realise that blogger removed this post purposely, i thought it evaporated by accident. I have now opened an e-mail (the link led to a 404 page).  It was censored, for what i do not know; perhaps it contained certain word(s) that led to automatic deletion. Here is their message:

    Hello,

    We have re-evaluated the post titled "Route 66 detours to Cleveland O" 

against Community Guidelines https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy. Upon 

review, the post has been reinstated. You may access the post at 

http://rustbeltvoice.blogspot.com/2021/05/route-66-detours-to-cleveland-o.html.

    Sincerely,

    The Blogger Team

Route 66 detours through Cleveland O

Goodtime II tour boat, New York Central lift bridge on the Cuyahoga

Route 66 filmed five episodes in Cleveland, during the time John Kennedy was president. Characters Tod Stiles, and Buz Murdoch (played by Martin Milner, and George Maharis) travelled the country in a series of Chevy Corvettes (show's sponsor). The bridge supra is officially designated NS1, and called the 'Iron Curtain' by impatient, grumpy boaters and shippers. The bridge was built from 1954 to 1957, and was part of Corp of Engineers plan to replace old bridges. It was fairly new when the filming was done. The other road work concerns freeways. One episode was centered on West 14th, just before the freeway took part of it. In another episode they were putting in a freeway in Mayfield Heights. Because the show used real locations, scenes become historical photographic records of the America of two generations ago, before the new highways created enlarged suburbs, new suburbs, massive urban sprawl, homogeneous buildings, and loss of local color.

Those old enough to remember can see they used Union Terminal, and the Ferro enamel mural is prominent. The New York Central lift bridge was central in two episodes, in both episodes Municipal Stadium is visible. To-day, the neon Indian is in Cleveland's History Museum, next to that same enamel mural created for the 1939 World's Fair. St. Theodosius, and Terminal Tower are very visible. St. Theodosius Russian Orthodox is called St. August, Goodtime II is called Carol Diane II.

They filmed at Euclid Beach amusement park (gone in 1969), Sachsenheim Hall, I-271 is being built in Mayfield Heights where signs for Pick and Pay (a former local supermarket chain), and Golden Gate shopping center are visible. They stayed and filmed at recently built Sahara Motor Hotel (sold, now gone). They showed Jones and Laughlin Steel, which has been absorbed and sold, and that site is now a large shopping center. A forging steel factory, in another part of town fills in for the shooting site. A mansion in Bratenahl is used. Burke Lakefront Airport is seen, as is Edgewater Park, Jim's Steakhouse, and Captain Frank's are in scenes. 

Tod jumps into the Cuyahoga to fish out a boy, who craves attention. That river was disgusting, and highly polluted then. The Cuyahoga caught fire several times, the last being a spur for the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency. Maharis was to have hepatitis, i wonder if the river had a part.

Sam Manners was a production manager and producer, born in Cleveland as Savino Maneri. He may have been the reason for the Cleveland visits, and perhaps the nearby Kinsman and Youngstown. Rod Steiger plays a philosophical psychopath who has either Maneri's house, or a house on the same street.

    • Incident On A Bridge         S1, Ep30. 16 Jun. 1961 Russians
    • First Class Mouliak            S2, Ep5.   20 Oct. 1961 Poles
    • Two On The House             S2, Ep27. 20 Apr. 1962 wealthy
    • Welcome To The Wedding  S3, Ep8.    8 Nov. 1962 murderer
    • Every Father's Daughter      S3, Ep9.  16 Nov. 1962 Serbs

Cleveland was an industrial city with many European ethnicities, many of them Slavonic. Nehemiah Persoff played a Russian, and a Pole. Throughout the series actors play in different episodes as different people, sometimes the same person. One episode has a Russian community (really that would have been Ruthenian [Rusyn, or Carpathian Rus]), another a Polish one, and a Serbian family. The older people speak with accents. Tod and Buz really look at the Poles and Russian Americans as foreign and odd in ways. In the Serbian family, only the father has an accent, and it is light. The Serb is owner of a construction company, and is rich. The Poles, and Russians were poor.

Some times the leads are participants, and sometimes observers. The cinematography is exceedingly good. The series has very literate dialogue, but with some incongruities of plot. A Willow Sunday (Passion or Palm Sunday) procession shown was the sorriest example of one. Inside their homes, no crucifixes, no icons, no religious pictures; with those people, at that time, it would have been impossible. A silly superstition employing a pitchfork as a plot element is news to me.

With the change of jobs, and locations the series compares with Richard Kimble (David Janssen) in the slightly later, but overlapping in time, The Fugitive;  the most, recent, best movie Oscar winner, Nomadland, also has people on the move, but they are, old, poor, and desperate.  In all of those there is desperation, and a striving for justice.     

______________________________________________

 POSTSCRIPTUM:

 This is my second posting of this. I thought the original was lost, so i reposted it; and since it was "lost", i recreated from an earlier draft. I posted it with an approximate time signature. Then this morning (after 10 am, 15 May) i received this e-mail:

    Hello,

    We have re-evaluated the post titled "Route 66 detours to Cleveland O" 

against Community Guidelines https://blogger.com/go/contentpolicy. Upon 

review, the post has been reinstated. You may access the post at 

http://rustbeltvoice.blogspot.com/2021/05/route-66-detours-to-cleveland-o.html.

    Sincerely,

    The Blogger Team

important recent art of Cleveland

Eagles of Two Brotherly Nations

There is a monument garden behind the Polish Center on Lansing in Cleveland. Over last weekend they unveiled a bronze for Polish Constitution Day (3 May). The bronze slogan is beneath the eagles, "Za naszą i waszą wolność (For our freedom and yours)". The sculptor was Andrzej Pitynski *1947, 2020†.

 above a door at the Polish American Cultural Center

A la Calavera Catrina, Luna Llena (Full Moon) by Mariela Paz at Julia Burgos Cultural Center, Cleveland.

Gina DeJesús painted by Gisela McDaniel in September 2020 Cleveland.

Gina DeJesús was one of three very young women abducted, kept captive, and tortured by Ariel Castro. She was the third, and youngest, taken. At the age of fourteen on April 2, 2004 she was kidnapped by the father of a classmate. It was national news when the three women escaped May 6, 2013. The house where they were imprisoned was one street north of where the mural is.

forgot, it's May Day...

 

The sun in the late morn was clear. It had rained heavily, the day before, and the sky was quite clear. We went for a stroll about the end of  East Boulevard. The temperature was moderate for the time of year. In the garden of Cleveland Art Museum, the dogwoods pink and white were open in beautiful sprays.

  

There is a Frank Gehry designed building on Case Western Reserve University's campus. Sunny it was about noon, we walked around, looking at it to see its angles and undulations. Mentioned this before, it is a goofy, and ugly building. There is a minority that ooh, and ahh over it. It is slightly reminiscent with the painted urban scenery of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Well, it was a great day for a walk around the Art Museum. We met four month old Zeus from Akron. Cassius is on the right.

Karma used to be a professional athlete. Here she is wondering how it would be as a fireman, or a pipefitter.

Other people were having events around the museum too. People were posing for wedding fotos.

 

There was a May Day rally, Workers' Assembly.

McKenzie Levi was there recording the event.  He is interested in Alex Jones' infowars. He shows up to many demonstrations, dressed as a mediæval crusader. As we walked passed him, he was talking to his companion about the only meat we will have is the fake meat created by Bill Gates. He has been a Republican candidate for Congress in 2018, and 2020. He is running for governor in 2022.

Did not notice until looking at the fotos, his partner has a hand gesture printed on his cap. It is for white power, in real sign language it is the part of the body where poop exits.