On the Air with the Old Curmudgeon

We found out the other day that the Old Curmudgeon interview on WKRC, Channel 12, the CBS affiliate in Cincinnati, has garnered the 7:30 slot on the local news show this coming Saturday morning, September 26. That’s a little early in the morning on a Saturday for most people, but I suspect there will be viewers in my age cohort. The studio is located high above Cincinnati in Mt. Auburn, so if the skies clear, I can watch the sun rise over the next ridge, Mt. Adams, while waiting to go on the air. I recorded an interview on WVXU, 91.7, an NPR-affiliated local news radio station, about a month ago, though that one won’t air until October 11. I believe this television interview is live, and when we wrap that up (as they say), it’s off to the Covedale Library for my first official book signing. So, if you’re up early and not doing anything Saturday morning, turn on Channel 12 with your morning coffee, then come up to the Covedale Library to make it look like a crowd has turned out. (Sometimes they have snacks, too.)

Your Message Here

Years ago, my advertising company was sometimes asked to make buttons to promote a restaurant or event. A lot of customers didn’t want hundreds of buttons, which is what you need to make it realistic to get buttons printed, so we found a button maker that let you assemble the pieces, with a custom printed insert, to make a few buttons at a time. It was a clever device, made by the Badge-A-Minit company. You had to assemble several metal rings of different colors in just the right order, press and clamp, and eventually you had a nice button, about two inches in diameter. I haven’t thought about buttons in awhile, but my daughter showed up with some “Old Curmudgeon” buttons the other day, and I found out she still has a button maker. It’s not the same one—all the rings are plastic now, of course—but it still works well to make a few buttons at a time. And it is still made by the Badge-A-Minit company, too. So, look for these Old Curmudgeon buttons on a lapel near you soon . . .

The Book Tour (Such As It Is)

Now that The Collected Old Curmudgeon has hit the bookstores, I’ve got a book tour scheduled. That’s right, I start at WKRC television studios in beautiful Mt. Auburn, early on the morning of Saturday, September 26, for a spot on their local happenings show. Not sure if we have the 6:15 or 7:15 am slot, but in either event, I’ll be up early. Then, at 10:00 am the same morning, I’m scheduled to appear at the Covedale Library in Price Hill, where I’ll be signing books until 11:30 am. And the following Saturday, October 3, I’ll be at Findlay Market downtown, which is a great place to go even when I’m not there. But I will be there, signing books again—this time with Jerry Dowling, who will also be signing his Edgecliff Press book, Drawing Pete. That will be from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Finally, I’ll be at the Price Hill Historical Society & Museum on Wednesday, October 7, at 7:00 pm as the speaker for the regular monthly meeting. I’ll show a presentation from the Delhi Historical Society on our local bootlegging legend, George Remus, and I’d be happy to sign books—as well as answer questions—after the presentation. There’s so many stories about Remus, I can tell tales all night. That’s it—that’s the grand 2009 Old Curmudgeon book tour. (At least I don’t have to take off my shoes at the airport.) I think there are more details of all the book tour events at my Web site. If not, let me know and I'll have my people get right on it.

Happy Birthday, Skyline!

Skyline Chili is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. Sixty years—that’s a long time to be making what some people don’t even consider to be true chili. When Nicholas Lambrinides opened in 1949, he had me paint some menu posters. This was one of the first sign painting jobs I had ever done for money. Since then I worked off and on for Skyline and the Lambrinides for more than forty years. In fact, I was in their 40th anniversary television commercial and my company had made many of the props used in the production. Being associated with Skyline was a lot of fun. It’s a little known fact that I, personally, invented the “Cheese Coney.” Nobody at Skyline believes me, but back in the early 1950s, I ordered some coney islands at the chili parlor on Glenway Avenue. It took some doing, but I convinced the old waiter to bring me a side order of cheese. I put it on my sandwiches and the “Cheese Coney” was born. Really! In the mid-1970s, Bob Hope was having a little party in Palm Springs and wanted to serve Skyline Chili. The guys at Skyline helped me send out a care package, and this was before the chili company packaged their product frozen. We surrounded the chili with dry ice and packed it all in Styrofoam. I then bought a seat on a flight to Palm Springs and left the chili in the care of one of the flight attendants. I had someone in California pick it up and Mr. Hope got his Skyline without a hitch!

A Luddite Encounters Technological Glitches

My show about Cincinnati's Inclines at the Delhi Library went off last night with just a few hitches. Most were technological, as usual. My thanks to Phil Lind, a fellow Price Hill Historical Society member and history buff, who helped me get the show started, and to my daughter Amy, who helped me to get the dang thing turned off. Phil has also been helping with the displays we put in at the Covedale Library. (As you can tell, I support my local libraries. Vote for the library levy on November 3.)
Phil has a lot of old photos of Cincinnati buses and streetcars that we’ve used in the library display before, but this month he loaned us some vintage photos of the Cincinnati Police Department to use in a display about the Cincinnati Police Museum, which is near downtown Cincinnati, at West Eighth and Freeman Streets. We just put in the new display yesterday. Stop by to see it at the Covedale Library, and you might want to visit the Police Museum, too. Speaking of museums, tonight is the monthly meeting of the Price Hill Historical Society. The snacks are always good, so if you are in the neighborhood, stop by our museum at 3640 Warsaw Avenue in Price Hill for the meeting.