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Toledo History Box

20th Century Toledo from the view of the Toledo Blade and Toledo News-Bee, with some personal recollections thrown in for no good reason. WITH A NEW LOOK!

Toledo History Box

20th Century Toledo from the view of the Toledo Blade and Toledo News-Bee, with some personal recollections thrown in for no good reason. WITH A NEW LOOK!

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Comments (56)

  1. Stacey Booth says:
    May 11, 2017 at 10:57 am

    I have searched and searched for images of the Calder stabile that used to hang in the Hudson’s court of the Franklin Park Mall. I have such fond memories of it. DO you know of a resource that might help? Thank you!

    Reply
    1. Mark says:
      January 16, 2020 at 7:17 pm

      What is the name of par 3 that used to be on Lewis and ALEXIS before the target and dicks sports came in

      Reply
      1. Ned Wright says:
        March 28, 2021 at 5:52 pm

        Par 3

        Reply
      2. Annie says:
        August 17, 2021 at 9:48 pm

        Can anyone tell me the name of the childrens shoe store at Cricket West before Stride Rite bought it out please

        Reply
        1. Phil Orwig says:
          December 1, 2022 at 9:06 pm

          Junior Boot Shop

          Reply
    2. Wendy L says:
      June 15, 2023 at 5:48 pm

      My dad went to Clay High School and graduated in 1966. He and I were talking today about an old, long-closed, nicer restaurant and possibly reception hall that was located on Bay Shore Road. It was somewhere around the Bay Shore Supper Club and Olney Market. He recalls going to a high school friend’s wedding reception there. He thinks the name of the place started with a “T,” and he recalls it was a brown building that fronted on the water. We can’t yet find any historic information. Any ideas?

      Reply
  2. Frank Lehman says:
    June 17, 2017 at 1:40 pm

    I just discovered the “Toledo History Box” web site. All sorts of interesting things.

    One of them is an article about not longer existing restaurants from Toledo. One is the Ted’s Hamburgers at Monroe and Erie. What you did not point out is that right across the street (ie. across Erie St) is an establishment I remember going past so many times when going downtown on The Trail and then coming in on Erie St–the “Scenic Bar.” You can clearly see the sign in the picture.

    Do you remember that the Scenic Bar was the “Gay Bar” in Toledo? At least among my acquaintances when going to high school in the 1950″s, it was the only gay establishment in Toledo.

    Reply
    1. Bev Hoffman-Rush says:
      April 14, 2018 at 10:27 pm

      I just discovered this and so glad I did. Brings back some great memories. Thank you!

      Reply
    2. Bob Schmersahl says:
      August 19, 2019 at 3:10 pm

      Do you have any information on a restaurant named The Saint Louis? It was run by my uncle’s (he is 93 and lives in the St Louis area) family. Would love to see if the building still stands.

      Reply
    3. Elise says:
      September 2, 2020 at 9:02 pm

      Frank,
      I knew the Scenic Bar well. I think it was one of the longest running gay bars in the US. At the time I went there, 70-80s, it was owned by Harmon Kerns. Don Hanna was the delightful bartender who participated in a UT fraternity hazing stunt where the boys had to go to the Scenic and ask for… Cinderella? There my memory fades. But it was fun.

      Reply
    4. Gregory H Brown says:
      April 12, 2021 at 1:45 pm

      I don’t know that it was the “only” gay bar in Toledo in the Fifties, but it was the longest lasting. It closed in the Eighties. One of the things I found amazing when I lived in
      Toledo from 1970 to 2006 was the number of bars bars serving gay men and lesbians–sometimes together , often not. For a small city, there were quite a few, mostly downtown but also scattered around town.

      Reply
  3. Paula Wethington says:
    July 4, 2017 at 12:52 pm

    I came across this site when doing a search for the date of the founding of Franklin Park Mall. Your crossreference of memories with historical records in cities we have lived in is how I have saved and passed on quite a few stories for my family; but I really didn’t have much information about the stories we’d be interested in from Toledo. I’ve enjoyed looking through the archives and am sharing your link with my family!

    Reply
  4. Lizzie H. + Others says:
    December 5, 2017 at 2:20 pm

    Hello! Searching for any and all information on Carlo Sommer. We dug ourselves deep into this rabbit hole, and any leads or contacts would be amazingly helpful.

    Reply
  5. Rosa Loughnane says:
    March 1, 2018 at 11:34 am

    Hi!
    I’m going crazy trying to find an old photo of Captain Billy’s Wizzbang, with the hammer head shark outside; I found a recent one, sans shark. It’s a very special memory for someone and I’m trying to surprise him.
    Any leads would help!
    THANKS!
    Rosa

    Reply
  6. Bud Alderman says:
    May 15, 2018 at 4:49 pm

    Was there ever a revolving restaurant in Toledo?

    Reply
    1. Mr. Leslie McDonald says:
      November 21, 2019 at 10:29 am

      Yes. In the Central Business District. https://imgur.com/gallery/GauJQFI

      Reply
  7. David L Harmon says:
    May 24, 2018 at 8:24 am

    I have just discovered an article on the Toledo History Box website entitled ‘Toledo’s New Union Station Opens’ dated July 21, 2017. May I have the name of the author of this article?

    Reply
  8. Bob Campbell says:
    October 9, 2018 at 11:15 pm

    Can anyone help my wife remember the name of the Mexican restaurant that was on Emerald Avenue in Toledo? Sometime in the mid to late seventies.

    Reply
    1. Gregory H Brown says:
      April 12, 2021 at 1:48 pm

      Thanks for jogging my memory. I can’t recall ever knowing the name but ate there a few times. If we are talking about the same place it was small, in a residential neighborhood, and was obviously family run–at least three generations, cooking and serving. Good food.

      Reply
  9. STEPHEN SMITH says:
    October 31, 2018 at 8:19 am

    Hello My father was born in Toledo. He has just passed away at 99 years old. He was a WWII pilot and loved aviation his whole life. In his records we found a membership card to The Toledo News Bee Squadron Junior Aviator Membership Card. It is signed by Al Williams. Any idea what year this would be.

    Thanks

    Steve Smith
    Commerce, Mi

    Reply
  10. Steve W. says:
    January 31, 2019 at 11:02 am

    Awesome website! I was wondering if I could use some of your info. for an article that I’m currently writing? Keep up the great work!

    Reply
  11. Jennifer says:
    March 20, 2019 at 11:26 am

    This is too cool! Do you remember the Toledo sex clubs scandal? One was supposedly near where I used to live.

    Reply
    1. gregory brown says:
      April 12, 2021 at 1:54 pm

      I remember seeing several Blade articles. It sounded pretty seedy. One member was interviewed and asked if he was concerned about STI and–especially–HIV/AIDS. He said that wasn’t a problem because he showered a lot. Toledo always had some sex thing on the boil. One year’s city council election was dominated by references to the abundance of prostitutes working downtown near the Greyhound station. I decided that I would vote ONLY for a candidate who did not pick up on and beat to death the buzzwords Jefferson Avenue Circus.

      Reply
  12. Virginia Minton says:
    June 6, 2019 at 6:32 am

    I am working on a 50th wedding Anniversary gift. their first date was to a restaurant on Talmage around where the ihop is now located. I remember after 2000 they tore the building down. Any idea? thanks gin

    Reply
    1. Peter Stamps says:
      April 29, 2020 at 8:04 pm

      The name of the restaurant was Saba’s Charcoal House, located right next to Orchard Drug. It was in a small plaza with these two businesses (if I remember correctly). They tore it down sometime in the 90s I think.

      Reply
    2. Geoffrey Armstrong says:
      February 15, 2021 at 7:49 am

      The Charcoal House.

      Reply
  13. Brenda Cardenas says:
    September 24, 2019 at 1:11 pm

    There was a prime rib restaurant in a shopping plaza at the corner of renolds road and airport highway I cant remember the name do you know what it was?

    Reply
  14. Jim Antoine says:
    October 7, 2019 at 3:16 am

    Raised near Woodward H.S (Brigham & Ketcham) in the 60s, 70s and 80s down the street from Angelo’s on Stickney. Between Angelo’s Restaurant, Shakey’s (player piano) Pizza, Gino’s (Colony), Elbow Room and Dominic’s Italian… As far as I’m concerned, I grew up eating the finest pizzas in the world. Incidentally, would any of you have the recipes for Angelo’s (rectangular) pizza and Dominic’s light and crunchy pizza? The crust recipes at least.

    Reply
    1. Mr. Leslie McDonald says:
      November 21, 2019 at 10:15 am

      Sorry, all I have a picture of their us in their room at Angelos on Stickney. https://imgur.com/gallery/XUxxlTb

      Reply
  15. Les Todd McDonald Sr. says:
    November 7, 2019 at 8:29 am

    I played lead guitar for Johnny and the Hurricanes during the Beatles era and have uploaded a lot of former Johnny and the Hurricanes videos/photos and links at this blog site. Feel free to use any pics/stories.
    https://imoneofthe3002020.wordpress.com/
    Please insert this link in to “Related Links” on your Toledo History Box site.
    Thank You, Les Todd McDonald Sr.

    Reply
  16. Mr. Leslie McDonald says:
    November 21, 2019 at 10:02 am

    In about 1957, there were several shoe stores in Toledo which featured the amazing X-ray machine that actually showed your foot bones in your feet, right through your shoes. This was a terrible thing to do to our feet considering the fact that even in a dental x-ray exam, we must use a lead covering and the dental person LEAVES the room !
    When I was a kid I stood on this contraption at least a dozen times and saw my feet’s bones. In the second half of the 20th century, growing awareness of radiation hazards and increasingly stringent regulations forced their gradual phasing out.
    A shoe-fitting fluoroscope was a metal construction covered in finished wood, approximately 4 feet (1.2 m) high in the shape of short column, with a ledge with an opening where the child (or the adult customer) would then place his or her feet in the opening provided and while remaining in a standing position, look through a viewing porthole at the top of the fluoroscope down at the x-ray view of the feet and shoes. Two other viewing portholes on either side enabled the parent and a sales assistant to observe the child’s toes being wiggled to show how much room for the toes there was inside the shoe. The bones of the feet were clearly visible, as was the outline of the shoe, including the stitching around the edges.
    Now, I have numbness and tingling in my toes. I’ve suffered with this sensation for many years. It seems to get worse as time passes. Please help me to find out if others have this problem and to join in on any lawsuits that are available.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoe-fitting_fluoroscope
    Thank You,
    Col. OH

    Reply
  17. Jeff Mallamad says:
    December 1, 2019 at 11:00 am

    The Aku Aku room was an old style night club with floor shows and great food. It was also the unofficial head-quarters and rest stop for those regularly engaged in criminal activity, much of it centered in Detroit.

    Reply
    1. gregory brown says:
      April 12, 2021 at 2:05 pm

      Now THERE is a pot of memories. When I first arrived in Toledo in 1971 I was a bit lazy about finding a job and worked for several months for the housekeeper at the Town Club Motel, which housed the Aka Aku Room.. It was not one of the high points of my working life but I observed and learned a number of things that had not been part of my upbringing. The owner was Mister Shapiro (known as Slick) who lived in Florida. The place was obviously not doing a thriving business as a motel for travelers but it was popular with hookers. I was party to a housekeeping staff stakeout on a room once when we had t wait until the sex worker occupant was gone briefly so we could get in to clean the room, which had been in use for three days or so. Naturally, she came back sooner than expected with a client. There was a bit of a row. I did my tasks quickly and retreated, leaving the housekeeper and two old Polish ladies who worked as maids to deal with the situation. Definitely a shady operation. I have occasionally (and recklessly) told folks that I had a brief career in the employ of the Detroit Mob.

      Reply
      1. gregory brown says:
        April 16, 2021 at 9:33 am

        Correction. My memory slipped. The motel was the Town HOUSE.

        Reply
  18. Brenda Cardenas says:
    August 23, 2020 at 11:46 am

    There was a steak restaurant on airport highway near Renolds road in the seventies and eighties. It is driving me crazy, I can’t remember the name. Please help me.

    Reply
    1. Geoffrey Armstrong says:
      February 15, 2021 at 7:52 am

      The (Haddad’s) Bungalow.

      Reply
  19. John Philip Ross says:
    October 2, 2020 at 6:29 pm

    During the Great Depression my maternal grandmother, Gladyus Pettit opened “Mom’s Sweet Shop” on Glendale Ave. near one of the local schools. She ran this business until the mid to late 1950s. Would you have any information about this historical neighborhood business?

    Reply
  20. Jiki says:
    October 13, 2020 at 4:27 pm

    Does anyone remember two restaurants with a central adjoining kitchen? I always found it an odd combination. The building was L-shaped. The Chinese restaurant faced the east-west street; the kitchen sat right on the corner of the intersection; a Mexican restaurant faced the north-south street. This was in the early 1970s when I was I college. It was like no other Chinese restaurant I have ever been to. You ordered your entree, but first came the soup course, then the egg roll course, then a tossed salad, a basket of rolls, the entree w rice, and finally orange sherbet. The kitchen was shared with the Mexican restaurant around the corner. Food was very good and quite reasonable in price. All I remember it was somewhere north of Central and east of Secor.

    Reply
  21. Mary Horning says:
    November 30, 2020 at 8:21 pm

    Love you website! Have you come across any photographs of the storefront of Orchard Drugs on the south end of Talmadge? My mom worked there as a “soda jerk” and cashier in 1964-65 for a Mr. Bean and I’ve love to show her a photo of what it used to look like.

    Thank you for your time and research!

    Reply
  22. Sandra Moore says:
    January 15, 2021 at 11:50 am

    Do you have any historical background on the Collingwood Cemetery, once known as the “Old Tremainsville Burying Grounds”? I am a member of the Lucas County Cemeteries Historical Association, and have been trying to track down burial records for this cemetery before 1940. Apparently, when Washington Township was annexed to the City of Toledo in 1917, the land on which Collingwood Cemetery stands, was also part of that annexation. Collingwood Cemetery continued operation of the cemetery under the control of Washington Township, but did not sell the cemetery to the City of Toledo until ~1940. At this time, according to Washington Township Trustees, all Collingwood Cemetery records were turned over to the City. My problem is that the City of Toledo seems to have no records prior to 1940. Does anyone know a contact person associated with the Collingwood Methodist Church (now disbanded) from that time period?

    Reply
  23. Geoffrey Armstrong says:
    February 15, 2021 at 8:06 am

    What was the name of the pet store at Westgate Village at Secor & Central? I believe it was next to Lanes Drugs??

    Reply
  24. russell heath says:
    February 19, 2021 at 12:16 pm

    millers on reynolds road and marios pizza on arlington and eltropical mexican on western no not eltipico on south that was also good. marios on arlington small white brick building half block from ginos and milos bowling ally on corner of south and spencer my favorine heines fish and chips on spencer

    Reply
  25. gregory brown says:
    April 12, 2021 at 2:12 pm

    I saw the separate posting on restaurants but am too tired to go back and comment there. So here’s one memory: The Athans Village Greek restaurant was adjacent to the Scenic, the Fantasy Bookstore, and Regers religious supplies. It was a tiny place. Instead of a menu, diners were taken into the kitchen where a small, ancient man oversaw a large number of bubbling, sizzling pots and pans and vats. Someone identified what was in each, and took orders right there. The food was very good, but I was never sure that it was anything near what I said I wanted. And the final cost was always a bit vague. No complaint about that, though.

    Reply
  26. Joel Zuker says:
    May 25, 2021 at 12:25 pm

    I was raised in Toledo 1942 to 1960
    I remember in particular Red Wells, White hut, Kin Wah lo (?) the Moron Burger,
    Naftalins, Brauers Deli. Russian Bathhouse Steaks, the Commodore Perry Restaurant
    the Ice Cream Place with the white polar bears outside and vernors ginger ale

    Reply
  27. Linda M. Graham says:
    July 1, 2021 at 8:22 pm

    GREAT NEWS! WE IDENTIFIED THE RESTAURANT–LITTLE CAESAR’S!
    My boyfriend contacted a friend and he immediately remembered it. It was the last dine in outlet for the chain. With the way pizza chains are run these days we forgot about Little Caesar’s being a dine in restaurant. Remember Pizza Hut as a dine in restaurant? The last one I knew of was in Oregon. It’s now closed too.
    THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!!
    If you have any history behind the restaurant, etc. please share!

    Reply
  28. Kevin Morrow says:
    December 8, 2021 at 12:09 pm

    Does anyone know if Kin Wa Low was owned by Danny Thomas?

    Reply
  29. Robert Abbenzeller says:
    January 20, 2022 at 1:37 pm

    Wondering where I can find a copy of the Sunday Times-Bee for July 5, 1903. There is an article in it titled “He Builds Boats at 84”. This article chronicles the life of my great great great grandfather David F Edwards. He built schooners and yachts in the Toledo area and was a storied navigator travelling extensively around the world. I have 2 model ship hulls crafted by him. Appreciate your guidance.

    Reply
  30. Joshua says:
    February 23, 2022 at 7:06 pm

    Hey guys! My grandfather owned Stan’s Nite Club off of Wynn Road in Oregon between 1952-66. I’m hoping y’all have any memories of this place that you can share with me!

    Reply
  31. Gary Flinn says:
    April 11, 2022 at 5:40 pm

    I am working on a book on the history of Kewpee restaurants of which there were three locations in Toledo. When did they open and when did they close. I understand Kewpee owner Hortense Adams sold the rights to the Kewpee name to the operators of the Kewpee locations in Lima in 1985.

    Reply
  32. AMB says:
    July 11, 2022 at 4:39 pm

    Don’t know if you still check this blog, but you’d be happy to know that Charlie’s Blind Pig was reopened a few years ago next to the original Jojo’s Pizza on Monroe. The Jojo’s family also just opened a Jojo’s and a new bar, Artie’s in the little group of buildings next to where the old Charlie’s Blind Pig used to be.

    Talking to one of the sons of the owner, he said if his dad could have rebuilt the Blind Pig he would have, but this was the next best thing.

    Reply
    1. David M says:
      September 16, 2022 at 7:41 pm

      I just found this site, too. I’m hoping the author still checks! I was born in Toledo in 78. My dad’s family was from all around east Toledo and Oregon, and I’ve been trying to track down names, places, and stories. This blog looks like it’ll be fun to browse!

      Reply
      1. William Bradford says:
        April 30, 2023 at 1:53 am

        Thanks for this site. Northview grad here, late 1900s. I haven’t been back since 1985, but its still home and always will be.

        Reply
  33. Megan says:
    December 31, 2022 at 9:27 pm

    I’ve been searching for any information I can get about a supposed Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In restaurant in Toledo. This menu lists 111 S. Summit Street as the location, but this is where apartments have been since at least the early 60s. The abandoned restaurant near it apparently used to be a Big Boy and now reads Spring Gardens Family Restaurant. It is more likely that the restaurant stood here and the menu address is incorrect or does not match today’s. Unless the restaurant never opened and the address for the yet-to-be-opened location was listed anyway. But if the Laugh-In restaurant did exist, then why does nobody remember it? I have asked many and have had no luck- I’m 20 so it’s loooong before my time. Even if it existed for a short time, you think that would be pretty memorable! I’m just looking for any evidence at all that it existed.

    https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/1969-rowan-martin-laugh-restaurant-1891835772

    Reply
  34. Melissa Andrews says:
    April 18, 2023 at 6:57 pm

    Hi, Can we chat about your Carlo F. Sommer post? It’s regarding a story I’m working on for WTOL.
    Thanks!

    Reply
  35. Barbara Kollar says:
    April 19, 2023 at 4:24 pm

    Hi – I was looking for information regarding the Cory family and Corey Woods and stumbled on your site. Does the Toledo Blade have a searchable online archive? Thank you!

    Reply
  36. mike sutton says:
    June 27, 2023 at 6:22 pm

    Thanks for article. I lived near here a kid 1955-69, watched Battle of the Bands at Lesalles, my dad shopped at Gross Photo and took pictures 1968. I ate my first Mcdonalds there, saw Goldfinger at the movie theater. I saw his famous Austin Martin car there. Lots of memories 🙂

    Reply

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