I’ll be up front with you; I was part of the first TV generation, hooked on the electronic babysitter when I was a kid. I can even tell you what a test pattern is.
I still watch a lot of TV, though I dropped cable for streaming and new channels have popped up with occasional surprises. One is called “Decades” that has a wide variety of pre-cable programming. Remember Dick Cavett? I was watching one of his shows and there was something that seemed really out of place.
Then it hit me. His guests, all of them, were smoking.
The show was taped when most Americans smoked, and I mean REALLY smoked. It was so much a part of our culture that you rarely saw someone without a “ciggie.” My dad was one of them. Four packs a day. He had an ashtray next to his dinner plate. When I was a kid, he would send me to the neighborhood deli for a pack of Luckies. No filters, either. Filters are for girls.
We used to say Dad had “a heart of gold and fingers to match.” When I went to college, you could smoke in class if you brought an ashtray. Think about that. Does anyone even have an ashtray in their house today?

Hall Hits
That leads me to my next point. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame welcomes its 2019 class this spring and, I know I’m courting controversy here, I think they got it right. How do you deny The Zombies, Roxy Music with Bryan Ferry and Brian Eno, Radiohead and the rest?
I don’t envy the folks who make the final decisions. Just about everyone on the outside has an opinion, usually based on acts that didn’t get in or they complain about some who did.

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Some of Sheridan’s best work is in strips featuring his notorious characters Dealer McDope and the Leather Nun. Read into those stories whatever way you like, but a lot of art does spark controversy. ...

Those were the halcyon days of horror hosts. Vampira started it all in Los Angeles. Pete “Mad Daddy” Myers had a show for a month on Channel 8 in the 1950s. There was Fritz the Nite Owl in Columbus, Zacherle in New York, Chilly Billy Cardille in Pittsburgh and others who took their places when they retired. Even little Mansfield had Roger Price as “The Baron.” But no one had the following of Ghoulardi, who at one time was on six days a week. ...

My family had two St. Bernards, male and female, and it was the dreaded “slobber season.” The female was in heat, The male howled along with the 8-tracks. I refused to sleep in a two-room tent with six people and a dog, so I spent three weeks in the station wagon — with the other dog. ...

 

Ever think we’d see the end of radio? Many of us remember when radio personalities were as important as the artists they played, and competition between stations raised the bar on creative programming.

Consolidation, cable TV and the internet all played a role in the diminished importance of over-the-air programming. There’s still great radio, much of it on satellite or online, but let’s not forget the folks who made radio great.

Why isn’t there a legitimate statewide broadcasters hall of fame? A lot of major names have worked here in radio and TV. Jack Paar, Soupy Sales, Casey Kasem, Nancy Dickerson and Alan Freed, to name just a few, went on from Cleveland media to national prominence. Even more stayed here. We should preserve their legacy and their important part of our media history. It’s time for that hall of fame.

There were a couple at one time in Northeast Ohio, but they didn’t last. Maybe it’s time for a respected institution like the Western Reserve Historical Society, the Ohio History Connection in Columbus, or an independent panel of historians, academic types and broadcast professionals to establish a real hall of fame that’s aimed at documenting these important accomplishments in a serious and, most importantly, impartial manner.

Let’s also preserve the artifacts, audiotape and videotape that still exist for future generations. The banner welcoming the Beatles to Cleveland in 1964 is sitting in a basement. Ernie “Ghoulardi” Anderson’s personal effects were auctioned off on eBay. Tapes and other memorabilia often find their way to the curbside when estates are left behind. Libraries could be great repositories. Like the idea? Let me know. The email is listed below.

 

Whatever happened to movie palaces?

I remember when the really big first-run films would open first downtown. I saw “The Sound of Music” at the Palace Theatre at a weekday matinee.

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Boom

Pop Culture Chronicles

Mike Olszewski

 

Springtime Harbingers

Opening Day, Drive-Up Restaurants and … Wizard World?

 

We’re finally shaking off Old Man Winter. When the Indians’ equipment trucks head West, you know more daylight, warmer weather and the opening of drive-up restaurants are right around the corner.

For my wife and me, it’s pop culture convention season. Now let me make this clear. We stand in line for tickets just like everyone else, but we stand in a lot of lines because there are so many of them. Most are just an hour or two away, and most have a Cleveland connection.

The Wizard World show at the Cleveland Convention Center in March is huge, and there’s always plenty of star power. There’s Wizard World Columbus in June, and both shows are similar to the San Diego Comic-Con International.

What started out as comic book conventions are now about TV shows, pro wrestling, movies and more. You see Lou Ferrigno, the guy who played the Incredible Hulk, at a lot of these. He used to live in Columbus and he visits friends when he travels to Ohio.

Which brings us to movies. Last issue I mentioned Cinevent 50 in Columbus, and I got a couple of emails asking what it was about. It’s one of the oldest film conventions in the country, an annual event that marks 50 years this Memorial Day weekend. Morrie Everett from Cleveland sets up his movie poster auction there that brings people in from around the world.

Just over the state line in Mars, Pennsylvania, is Monster Bash. There are two of them, one in June and one in October.

I’ve said before that so many Clevelanders show up there you think Mars is in Northeast Ohio. Promoter Ron Adams convinced Joe Flaherty from the old SCTV show to make an appearance in October.

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We are the last generation of collectors. Younger people have access to what they need on their phones, and many don’t see the value in a lot of the stuff we see as important. ...

Boom! Pop Culture Chronicles

So, here we are, a new year and the usual list of resolutions that didn’t last a week. I have noticed changes in our generation that may not be evident and are happening before our very eyes. We are uncluttering our lives. We’re getting rid of stuff.

Steve Madonna is a big-time Beatles collector. He’s a local guy who travels the world finding rare John, Paul, George and Ringo memorabilia. Liverpool, New York, anywhere.

Steve said we are the last generation of collectors. Younger people have access to what they need on their phones, and many don’t see the value in a lot of the stuff we see as important.

What happens to our collections when we say our last goodbye? Something you worked your whole life on could end up in a garage sale or on the curb. If your family isn’t interested, they’ll get rid of it in the most efficient way possible. Pez dispensers, Precious Moments figurines and Beanie Babies beware.

There are plenty of folks who are already leaving collections behind. George Shuba is Cleveland’s first rock and roll photographer and has thousands of negatives on the block. He also knows what they are worth, but for the right price, you can buy a photography gold mine.

I saw it at the Cinevent movie convention, too. Every Memorial Day weekend, movie fans from around the country head to Columbus for one of the oldest conventions of its kind anywhere. You see a lot of the same dealers, and I noticed one had a lot of new stuff. He’s been around for a while, and when I asked where all the extra films and programs came from, he gave me an interesting answer: “I’ve enjoyed them for a long time, and it’s time for someone else to enjoy them.

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