Cincinnati a mecca for lovers of art deco

[Story]

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070312/NEWS01/703120400/1056/COL02

Historian says stores helped develop style

MOUNT ADAMS - Cincinnati qualifies as a major stop on the art deco trail. The Queen City is home to Union Terminal, named one of the top 150 works of American architecture by the American Institute of Architects.

The city also holds art deco treasures resulting from a collaboration of art museums and department stores in the late 1920s.

The history of this effort to promote furniture considered to be modern art 80 years ago was the subject of Sunday's lecture, "Selling Good Design: The Promotion of Art Deco," by art historian Marilyn Friedman at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Her hourlong presentation linking classic art deco with today's latest designs drew nearly 320 people.

The collaboration between art and commerce followed art deco's debut at the 1925 International Paris Exposition of Modern Decorative & Industrial Arts. Friedman noted that the connection between museums and department stores - including Cincinnati's Pogue's store - was based "on pure economics." Department stores wanted to sell furniture.

Art deco furnishings were designed by renowned artists. The pieces emphasized geometric shapes, clean lines, vibrant colors and sensuous curves. They appear in Cincinnati homes as well as the art museum as skyscraper-shaped bookcases and Rookwood pottery.

After the lecture, Friedman termed Union Terminal "a treasure." She called the rare woods and precious metals in the art deco lobby of the Hilton Cincinnati Netherland Plaza "staggering." Cincinnati, she declared, "played a major role in the development of America's art deco movement."

Union Terminal in Queensgate is a landmark of art deco, which Cincinnati helped develop in the 1920s.

 

[Novella]

I had no idea - thanks for posting the article! I may be headed out that way at some point this summer for the first time since I was really little, so it's nice to hear of the art deco to see there.

 

[Mr. Pinstripe Suit]

On the Road Again...

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070312/NEWS01/703120400/1056/COL02

Historian says stores helped develop style

MOUNT ADAMS - Cincinnati qualifies as a major stop on the art deco trail....

[SNIPPED]

Union Terminal in Queensgate is a landmark of art deco, which Cincinnati helped develop in the 1920s.

Thanks for that! I'll be trying to return to Ohio this year for another visit to the US Air Force Museum (Puts the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum to shame) and also driving up into Columbus' "German Town" again.

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Fletch]

It ain't Art Deco but...

...the village of Mariemont (say Mary-mont), just off US 50 in the eastern suburbs, is one of the 1920s more successful planned communities. Most of it is small-ish houses in classic 20s style, with a town center in Tudor architecture.

It's a green and placid place, with its own rather odd local government (a village income tax - yes you read right - keeps things spruced up) but residents still get their mail addressed to Cincy. Drive thru on a Sunday evening and catch a carillon concert in the park.

 

[Novella]

I was in Cincinnati a few weeks ago and decided to go have a look at Union Terminal.

Union Terminal is gorgeous. I have some shots of the interior, which I'll upload and post later. The terminal is now a museum complex. I went to the Cincinnati History Museum, where they had a great old tram car (I think it was from the 1920s?).

 

[dhermann1]

Buffalo also has a magnificent Deco train station, built in 1930. Because the city fathers insisted on placing it in an area where they wanted to foster development, instead of the natural downtown location that traffic dictated, it became a huge white elephant for the City of Buffalo. Much of the part covering the tracks has been demolished, but the main terminal still stands, waiting for redevelopment.
It's a great thing that Cinci has been so successful bringing new life to their magnificent structure.

 

[LocktownDog]

Cincy not only has great architecture and beautiful green spaces, but they serve their chili on spaghetti. Ain't nothing better!

Richard

 

[Diamondback]

OT: Railfan.Net has a good minisite on Buffalo Central Terminal, at http://central.terminal.railfan.net/ .

 

[KY Gentleman]

I did a lot of my growing up south of Cincinnati in Northern KY and that area is a haven for art deco architecture. The Neil Simon movie "Lost In Yonkers" was shot largely in Ludlow, Ky (a KY rivertown opposite of Cincy) because it still has such a '40's look. The Union Terminal was home to huge mosaics depicting the industries of Cincinnati in "The Golden Era" and the mosaics are now on display at the Greater Cincinnati Airport, so the next time you're there check them out, they're very cool.

 

[Randy]

A great book for this subject is "Cincinnati observed : architecture and history" by John Clubbe. [Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1992]. It covers all the wonderful architecture in the area and is packed with fascinating history. There is an absolute wealth of architecture in Cincinnati - I used to live in Lexington, Ky and my wife and I went to Cincinnati all the time. It would take months to see everything there is to see.

- R

 

[kysaddletramp]

Cincy "Home of Skyline Chili"

Skyline Chili is an awesome restaurant company. They are home to the famous coney, that is......hot dog, chili, cheese, mustard, onions and you can add hot sauce to your own taste. Also the plates of spaghetti with chili, cheese, etc on top are called 3-way, 4-way, 5-way depending on how you like it served.

funny thing about the coneys is that 100 or so miles from Cincinnati and across the country most people have no idea what a cheese coney is until they visit Cinn. The idea hasn't caught on in many places around the country so when in Cinn, go for it.

The three brothers who started the chain some 40 years or so ago developed the concept and also their own special recipe of spices that go in the chili. At the company commissary where the product, chili, is made for shipment to the company and franchised stores the three brothers would go into the the "spice room" lock the doors and each week mix up the special ingredients that make Skyline uniquely different from the other chains in Cincy who also reach out to the coney fans in the area. The brothers NEVER let anyone go in the spice room while they were mixing and never allowed the recipe to be made public.
They were of greek descent and great chefs in their own right.

 

[mrswheats]

Skyline Chili is an awesome restaurant company. They are home to the famous coney, that is......hot dog, chili, cheese, mustard, onions and you can add hot sauce to your own taste. Also the plates of spaghetti with chili, cheese, etc on top are called 3-way, 4-way, 5-way depending on how you like it served.
funny thing about the coneys is that 100 or so miles from Cincinnati and across the country most people have no idea what a cheese coney is until they visit Cinn. The idea hasn't caught on in many places around the country so when in Cinn, go for it.

Off Topic:
I lived in Cincy for almost 2 1/2 years, and ate more than my fair share of "Cincinnati spaghetti" and coneys. It really is a taste like no other, although I prefer the Gold Star chain to Skyline.
After talking to employees at both chains, they told me some of the unusual ingredients--Skyline actually has chocolate in the chili, while Gold Star has cinnamon in their recipe. Both styles are not "chili" in the conventional sense, they're more like a sauce; very thin. And then they pile on mounds of finely shredded cheese *sigh*
And let me tell you, once you aquire the taste, you miss it like crazy!

 

[MagistrateChris]

Born and raised in the Cinci area. There's quite a bit of history around if you can find it. Last time I was at Union Terminal/The Museum Center, they had an exhibit on Cincinnati during WWII. Anyone know if it's still there? It was a great exhibit. And, if you go visiting Cincinnati, take a drive north on I-75 for about 45 minutes to Dayton, and visit the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The WWII exhibits are incredible. LAst time I was there in 2004, they had rebuilt a WWII airfield outside of the museum, using actual buildings that were recovered and returned from England.

On a tangent, Cincinnati chilli, be it Skyline, Gold Star, Empress, or one of the others, all has unsweetened chocolate and cinnamon. And, all is fantastic. Just learn how to order, and remember that in Cinci, a 3-way ain't a lightbulb or something sexual.