on and off high

Grant Wood's American Gothic is in Chicago. This is in Columbus, repainted by Bonie Bolen 2010; originally by Steve Galgas and Mike Altman 2002.

I think it was in 1984, an Ohio U. graduate, wrote to me about getting a tee shirt from a record shop in Columbus. He was living in Louisiana, and he wanted a Magnolia Thunderpussy shirt. All these years later, it is still there. High Street was a bit beat up then, a store front was boarded over, and someone wrote in big letters, "Nuke a gay whale for Christ".

This is very near the American Gothic is Brian Clemons' Mona 1990. It needs to be repainted too. It borders a narrow alley, and it seems there is always trash there.

Barbara Grygutis. Garden of Constants. 1994. 

The numerals 0 through 9 are by Dreese Laboratory OSU. Could be something about number theory. Some lay on the grass, and some are upright. Seasons past this included plants.

There is a big sportsball place surrounded by thick metal fencing, not too far away. It seems like "O" is similar to "0".

Adam Hernandez. 2020.

This Martin King quote is on the aforementioned parking garage.

King Rhino is smoking a cigar in a strip mall. He is not old, but he is rusty. Once he was very shiny.

transitions

Bolton Avenue Presbyterian 1892-1923, became Antioch Baptist in 1934. For a time, Antioch had the largest black congregation in Cleveland. The largest faith group among black Clevelanders, and nationally, is Baptist. Antioch Baptist is involved with Cleveland Clinic, and is still culturally, and politically important in the city.

 This sign is partly neon, the cross on top replaced a star.

another church neon sign
 

At one time (1926-77) this was St. Archangel Michael Russian Orthodox Cleveland, it is now abandoned. In the brickwork is an Orthodox cross, the next occupant decided to put up a Latin cross up higher on a cupola with loudspeakers. When a church has a new congregation, there is often visual changes in style (often towards of reduced elegance, and when coupled with reduced maintenance, the resultant is entropic deterioration). Instead of an abandoned piano, there is an abandoned keyboard on the lowest step. Orthodox churches are free of musical instruments.

El Hasa Temple №28 Cleveland in the Desert of Ohio  

This was the parish hall. In 1955 a concert was held with Elvis Presley, Bill Haley, and others. There is a rumour, that someone filmed the event. No such film footage has been made public. A Shriners Lodge, in 1977, rented and later bought this building. By visual inspection, all of former St. Michael's is abandoned.

There is a church on Cedar with a flamboyant character in an almost pre-Christian Mesopotamian manner. It has twin towers, and this wonderful diagonal brick bond pattern in the center, between unsound stack bonds. This particular denomination is in several cities, and the chief church is in Washington DC, with many of the same elements. Cedar and Union have stretches that have several black churches. The ones on Cedar are more impressive in architecture. The ones on Union are more plentiful, nondescript, and dilapidated, and some may be derelict. Nearly all are some sort of Baptist, or some sort of Pentecostalist.

ruminations during snow watch

Mid to late January is often enough times the coldest time of the year. No big news bulletin. It is not pleasant to be outside, and for those who can stay inside, it is a good choice. I haven't posted in a few days, and my mind wanders through subjects, some minor, some major.

I see in language differences, some people are surprised that 'bakery' can be synonymous with pastry, or any non bread item that comes from a bakery. We have heard on the media, for years, 'barbecue' used this way. "Hey, Melinda Sue, let's go get some barbecue". There was some other language thing that someone had a snit about, and i have forgotten what it was...well, maybe one day it will pop up in my mind while in the shower.

Something is rotten with the American people. Donald Trump is undeniably evil, yet he is worshipped by millions. Psychiatrists diagnose him as a malignant narcissist with dementia. Someone so incompetent, stupid, and sadistic to be successful as he was in receiving such great political power must be allied with demonic forces. Of course, many psychiatrists have no belief in the supernatural; but logical cause and effect can not explain Orange Caligula. Those in his thrall love the cruelty, even if it destroys themselves. In Iowa he told his worshippers, "You can't sit home. If you're sick as a dog, you say: 'God, I gotta make it.' Even if you vote and then pass away, it's worth it". He also told the trumpster stupids, "And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning...". Well, the original Caligula said, "Would that the Roman people had but one neck!"...so he could strangle, break it, or cut it off. Now, Trumple-thin-skin is repeatedly mentioning Al Capone being murderous if one looked at him wrongly.

Vanishing America, 

Julian Hoke Harris. Keeping Away Death. 1959. Atlanta.

Another tale of vanishing America, never been to Atlanta. This was once on the County Dept of Health. The building is gone, Emory U and Grady Hospital wanted the space.* Harris was an architectural sculptor, and a graduate, and later a professor at Georgia Tech. He had several commissions for public buildings in Georgia. Harris had been an army officer, and the US Army has Hermes' caduceus as the symbol for the medical corps. This was an error, but it can now be looked at as satire/sarcasm. Hermes was a god of commerce. Asclepius was the god of healing, and he carried a staff with one snake, the aesculapion. Some physicians and health workers found this image apropos in the struggle against covid-19.

in the American Sign Museum Cincinnati [not my foto]

Neon signs were common and popular for a generation in America, from the mid to late 1920s to the end of the 1950s. Interests change, and things become passé. Nostalgia rolls in, and curios become dear to compilers. There are neon sign museums in Cincinnati, Las Vegas, Warsaw, Canada, and elsewhere. God’s Own Junkyard sells and rents them in London. 

 

The signs began with the work of a scientist inventor, Georges Claude in 1902. He later became a very willing nazi collaborator.

 

St. Malachi Cleveland c. 2018

Looking at fotos from the Cincinnati museum, i noticed two signs from churches: a Baptist, and a Pentecostalist; and i thought, well yeah. When looking at American religious denominations, there they are: déclassé, and gauche. This American Protestantism gloms on to whatever is current in the larger society. They purposely appeal to the lowest common denominator, any hook will be fished. Most neon signs were used for commercial purposes: restaurants, saloons, and such.

Then i remembered. We often are vexed at things we have done ourselves. Around 1995, another fellow and myself were caught in a foto published by Cleveland Plain Dealer. We were on a steeple removing neon lights about the cross, it needed regassing. Years before, during WWII, the original church burned down. Malachi's could be seen from the lake, and i heard that its steeple was used as a landmark. When the new church was built after the war, the cross was meant to be seen from the lake. I do not know when the original installation of the light was. Back to the picture, i was suspicious about the photographer. The sky was beginning to look ominous, and dumdum had an aluminum ladder. This was the time when OSHA was made to be a bogeyman. I made sure my back was to the camera.

I remember once in the twentieth century an OSHA man came to construction at the new baseball park, and once to a hospital building going up. Foremen were only worried about extension outlets. There was a job in Beachwood, where i was working for a replacement contractor. Every other trade was scab, some from out of state. They were hiring off the streets. It was a very unsafe job site. One day we were working, and we noticed all the other trades were gone from the building. We saw them standing in the parking lot. OSHA was on site. They can't cite you, when you are not working. Me and another journeyman showed the guy around, and pointing out hazards. All he did was put caution tape around the porta potty. Some miscreant shat in the pisser portion, and gravel was strewn about. That didn't effect me, i went to a nearby fast food joint anyway. I quit that job, the shop was full of creeps. I never saw OSHA in this century.

Well, many churches had sign boards, before and after some started using neon. Now with led and plasma screens that can be programmed, many churches of all denominations have lighted electrified signs.

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*The sculpture is now inside of Grady Hospital.

random Columbus

Terry Allen. Scioto Lounge [1 of 3]. 2014. Columbus.

This one is on the Rich Bridge, the other two are lounging on the west bank of the Scioto below.

Next to Interstate 71 is this lighthouse on top of a church. The roof had shingles with the words, "Jesus is Lord", spelt out. Some time ago, new shingling was put on without wording. Also, a sailor dummy had been on the tower. I had passed this several times over the years, this time i got off the freeway to foto it.

from the highway October 2019

Leland Ernest Loretz started this congregation, Calvary Temple*, in 1954, and led it till his death in 2011. It was then put on the market. The church was built in the 1970s, Lighthouse Christian Academy in 1978. This sort of construction, incorporating slightly bizarre elements is common among Pentecostalists (and some Baptists). Loretz was a graduate of an Assemblies of God college. Recently it has become Evangelical Church of the Sanctified, a black Pentecostalist denomination, which here is a Haitian congregation.

Daniel H. Burnham. Columbus Union Train Station Arch. 1893-1979.  

This arch was moved from High Street. This is now called McFerson Commons, or Arch Park. The Ohio State Penitentiary was here 1834-1998. There is a marker for John Hunt Morgan on the acreage. He was a confederate general who stole horses, and was captured. It was the furthest excursion north by the confederates. He and some officers were imprisoned here, and he and six of them tunneled out into the yard, and escaped over the wall. The day of this snap, sunlight was low and in front of me, late in the afternoon of a mid-December day. The field was empty.

Beaux-Arts classicism

 a very tall sign in an Italian Village parking lot, behind St. John the Baptist church

Originally Ohio Central, then Toledo and Ohio Central Railway was active from 1895 to 1930. Again, the harsh afternoon light came to play. Another sight best pictured in the morning, or when the sun is not so low in the west.

The pagoda like tower is next to the elevated rails. 

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* postscriptum 12 January 2024: Coincidence or not, Rex Humbard's congregation was also called 'Calvary Temple' before it became Cathedral of Tomorrow. He was a Pentecostalist in Cuyahoga Falls, who began building a tower. It was stopped after 22 days of construction at 494 feet, because of financial/legal problems.

Athens Ohio foto safari

Blue Eagle Music Company  

There is much to foto in Athens.

Court Street Athens Ohio bottoms out at the Armory. The Armory no longer has munitions (i guess),  but once the secessionists did make a couple of armed sojourns in southern Ohio. We did have insurrectionists attack the national capital last year.

Yesterday, somewhere south of Canton, the trees were leafing out. On a very cloudy, and somewhat rainy day in Ohio, the northern part was not green as the rest of the state. This is Jeff Hill, to the right is Jefferson Hall.

Peace mural, around Athens there is a lot of art on the outside of buildings.

Keith Wilde. Release. 2018. Stimson Avenue.

On Stimson Avenue beginning in 1890 and on to 1917, millions of paving bricks were made by the Athens Brick Company, across the street where post office 45701 is now. This is a 2019 mural by Keith Wilde.

Some of the bricks leading between Ellis Hall and Alden Library from University Terrace and Park Place.

Dogwoods have opened their white bracts. Biology tells us, those white or pink leaves are not flowers, the petals (specialised leaves) are at the intersection, and center of the bracts. White and green are the school colors. Between Ellis Hall, Cutler Hall, and Galbreath Chapel you can see the pink colored.

A lantern at the entrance of Scott Quad, facing the back of Gordy Hall. Rumour suggests Scott Quad may be soon gone.

Below Scott, and over Clippinger Lab, a woodchuck looks out.

Christ Enthroned. Kelly Latimore.

Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal's main worship space is very low church, but elegant. Recently they have two icons by Latimore, who had lived in nearby religious community.

This Lady Justice has not always been gilded (perhaps 2004 or thereafter), and she is not blind, but she does have a lightning rod up her back. She has sat high on one side of Athens County Courthouse, since 1890.

Oscar recycles, who knew?

Great neon sign, really stinky beer. Have not had one since the January blizzard of 1978. For years, when someone opened one across the room, i could smell it unseen.

2021 Miscellany #11

"Kathy," I said as we boarded a Greyhound in Pittsburgh
"Michigan seems like a dream to me now"
It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw
I've gone to look for America

Y'no, i mentioned greyhounds before, the wonderful animals. A bus company uses them as their logo. Cleveland Greyhound Bus station has been in the same spot for some time. It is an unfriendly place, there is not the happiness and lightness of Paul Simon's lyrics. I walked into the place, the other night. The first time in over thirty-five years. I wanted a foto of the flying greyhound. I was kicked out in under thirty seconds. The place was cluttered, and not unclean. 

 

Riding that old grey dog was not as romantic as Paul Simon sang it. From the Great Depression, through the War, to after the highways were completed, until perhaps the first oil crisis when Nixon was president it was not too bad. Decay and increased dodginess came ever more apparent. There also were passenger trains for long distance travel, but air travel was less common. Having a car was less necessary, especially for daily travel to work, and shop, and errands for there were streetcars and such. Old people who never learned to drive, college students, military servicemen, and people with little means looking for a new town rode the buses. But at one point, something changed in America. This company was not managed well and sold a few times, employees were not treated well. Terminals were not maintained. Some people that habituated the terminals were rough, crazy, and had criminal interests eager to engage (this was true then too, but it grew). Travellers did not like to be there, and felt discomfort and unease.

 

William Strudwick Arrasmith was the architect of some sixty plus of these puppies. The first being in Louisville Kentucky (where he was based) in 1937 (now gone for more than a generation). He applied the Streamline Moderne style of industrial design to architecture.  Cleveland's was the first completed after WWII in early 1948 and the last in that style and the end of Art Deco. The Louisville depot's exterior was porcelain enameled steel in Greyhound blue, Cleveland's (then the largest) is in limestone with aluminum.  

The neon dog used to be on both sides until recently.

Collinwood High was built in the 1920s, and once was the largest high school in Ohio.

lion head ornaments, and lightning rods on finials

one of two John Marshall High's owls, now in Jefferson Park

Columbus Ohio

 Topiary Park

Yesterday, Cleveland Museum of Art announced they acquired their first pointilist picture (Louis Hayet. Banks of the Oise at Dawn. 1888). Columbus has a pointilist topiary (James T. Mason. 1998-1992) after Georges Seurat (A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. 1884-6).

 

on someone's porch

 Greta Garbo and John Gilbert in Flesh and the Devil. 1926.

In front of this there is a parking lot. This is wonderful public art.

I don't like to give free advertising to business, partly because they do not reciprocate. It is a one way street. Neon signs are art. [sign 1936]

Andrew Carnegie to ease his conscience, gave money to build many public libraries. This one is in marble (and has been greatly enlarged, but without more marble, so the outside back wall is inside the library.

 

Nine ocular windows and a great stairway

Andrew Scott. Gavel. 2008. stainless steel

The Front Street approach is fenced and barricaded off, and so the back side is too, but with a line of sight. This little park is not currently accessible, it is next to the Ohio Supreme Court.

George Danhires. Journey to Learning. 2000.