Sweaty Stories from the Cleveland Schvitz
9781467159142
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Author Joshua Womack tells the story of those who lived, breathed and sweated in one of Cleveland’s most iconic landmarks. In Cleveland, there’s a place where sweat, steak and friendship collide. Tucked away on a dead-end road in the once-bustling area of Kinsman, the Schvitz is where men have come for decades to let it all hang out. Wrapped in towels and mystery, this nondescript, utilitarian building has captured the hearts and pores of many. There’s a lot of questions around the Schvitz. Is it just a Jewish thing? Why is it where it is? Why do men (and now, more recently, women) love this place?
History of Cleveland’s Playhouse Square, A
9781467149983
Regular price $21.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Lovers of theater in Cleveland and beyond are sure to enjoy this story of grand ambition and determined perseverance
Cleveland was one of the largest cities in America when Playhouse Square opened as a testament to the city's splendor. In 1921, Loew's State, Loew's Ohio, the Hanna Theatre and the Allen opened their doors, and Keith's Palace Theater, then the world's finest theater, greeted patrons in 1922. For fifty years these theaters prospered before falling on hard times. Three even faced demolition. But through visionary planning, hard work and civic pride these magnificent show palaces survived and thrive today, and Playhouse Square Center is once again the largest theater center outside of New York's Lincoln Center.
Playhouse Square volunteer Redcoat and tour guide Michael R. Routa celebrates the people who made and saved theater in Cleveland.
Findlay Market of Cincinnati
9781467148597
Regular price $21.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%This detailed history of a beloved Queen City institution is sure to offer something new on Findlay Market for the even the most hardcore local history buff.
Located in Over-the-Rhine in the heart of Cincinnati, Findlay Market is Ohio's oldest continually operating market. It opened in 1855 to serve a growing population and quickly became a central neighborhood hub for goods and services. Despite its success, the market experienced dwindling customers and storefront vacancies in the mid- and late twentieth century, reflective of the struggles and decline confronting many cities in those years. Over the last twenty years, market revitalization efforts signal ongoing reinvestment in the city center--a trend transforming many American cities.
Gathering personal stories of the merchants of Findlay Market, historian Alyssa McClanahan shines a light on the past to reveal the market's place in local and American urban history.
Hollywood in Ohio
9781467159364
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Too few know of the screen legends from Ohio and the outsized impact the state had in establishing Hollywood as the filmmaking capital of the world.
Hollywood and Ohio are much closer than one might assume. Indeed, it could be argued that Hollywood is Ohio’s offspring. The original settlement was founded as a Christian community by a young lady from Ohio. That community was pushed aside when the fledgling New York City movie industry relocated to California to find refuge from Ohio’s own Thomas Edison and his monopoly on motion picture production. Native Ohioans such as Lillian Gish, Theda Bara, and Clark Gable also stepped into the early Hollywood spotlight. And the movie industry truly became that—an industry—when the Warner brothers from Youngstown introduced sound to films, making movies a significant form of entertainment worldwide.
Author Conrade C. Hinds unspools the deep and little-known connection between Hollywood and the Buckeye State.
Cincinnati Chinese Food
9781467170703
Regular price $24.99 Save Liquid error (snippets/product-template line 248): Computation results in '-Infinity'%Savor the unexpected and altogether delectable history of Chinese food in the Queen City
While a smattering of chop suey houses were sprinkled around Cincinnati around the turn of the twentieth century, Wong Yie was the first to present the cuisine to non-Chinese Cincinnatians as a new, exotic, and upscale dining experience with his Gold Dragon in 1911. Despite challenges from the Chinese Exclusion Act, which exacerbated the already massive difficulties faced by Chinese immigrants, Yie’s restaurant spawned more than eighty Chinese restaurants in the city, famed spots such as the Canton, the Wah Mee, and the Fortune Kookie. Proprietors like Mike Wong of Oriental Wok and Johnny Chu of KungFood Chu’s AmerAsia keep our local Chinese food culture alive and evolving.
Author and food etymologist Dann Woellert delves into the fascinating and mouthwatering history of Chinese food in Cincinnati.