The Lighter Side

     Part of my process in preparing to start this blog was to download every available digitized newspaper article about Fairfax that I could find. These articles are a great help in composing articles about important events in our village history. However, there were also a good number of human-interest stories. Although these aren’t necessarily the most significant stories, they are often lighthearted and give us an entertaining glimpse of life in the past. As you review these stories, please think about which one may have been most highly fictionalized. I would love to hear your comments.

Lion on the Loose

    It’s not unusual these days to hear about animals roaming the streets of Fairfax: escaped dogs looking for a little excitement, deer taking a morning stroll through the streets, and the occasional no-account coyote searching for trouble. However, in January 1936, Fairfax residents briefly had a bigger animal control concern.

     A January 4, 1936 Cincinnati Enquirer article stated that Harry Miller of Germania Avenue reported that he spotted a lion on a patch of snow near the creek, around 150 to 200 feet from his home. Mr. Miller grabbed a shotgun, fired at the animal, then called the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Department. Three deputies were sent to the scene, where they were joined by a half-dozen well-armed residents for a lion hunt. The posse searched several hours and didn’t find the lion, but reported that they found paw prints in the snow that were larger than those of a dog.

     There had been lion sightings earlier in the day by a woman who lived on Blaney Avenue in Madison Place and at the Duttenhofer estate on Erie Avenue in Hyde Park. Research by the Enquirer reporter determined that it was certainly possible that a lion could roam between Ault Park or Hyde Park Country Club and Fairfax undetected.

     The lion hunt in Fairfax followed a more extensive search the day before in the area of Avoca Park on Wooster Pike, east of the Newtown Bridge. This search was also unproductive.

    Surprisingly, there were no further reports of lion sightings in Fairfax.

The Seven Leaf Clover

    The May 27, 1936 Cincinnati Post brings us the story of Mrs. Frank Schaffner, who found a seven-leaf clover while walking near her home at the corner of Hawthorne and Southern. As we all know, four-leaf clovers are supposed to bring the finder good luck. Mrs. Schaffner did not keep her clover, however, stating “I’ve found lots of them with four, five, and six leaves and never noticed any extra good luck following.”

 

Scrap Barrel Poem

    During World War II, the U.S. government asked citizens to turn over certain scrap items that were in short supply to help with the war effort. These items included metal, rubber, newspapers, and even kitchen fat. There were scrap barrels on street corners and scrap drives to encourage participation. This picture isn’t from Fairfax, but shows a scrap drive and scrap barrels.

 

Accessed from Lehigh County Historical Society, http://www.lchs.museum/ww2/scrap.htm

     The January 15, 1943 Cincinnati Post explained how Fairfax came to get a scrap barrel at the corner of Bedford and Belmont. Mrs. Lottie Scott of Bedford sent the following poem to the Weekly Madisonville Bulletin about the lack of a scrap barrel in Fairfax:

                     When riding on the bus to town                                                                                                        We see on corners everywhere,                                                                                                            Red, white and blue barrels loaded down                                                                                            With scrap to fight the Axis over there.

                     Over here in Fairfax, never do we see                                                                                                These barrels for this particular use;                                                                                                    It has often occurred to me                                                                                                                Much scrap could be found in our refuse.

                     May I make this one suggestion                                                                                                        We receive barrels for our community;                                                                                                Living back from the more traveled section                                                                                        We cannot carry scrap so easily.

                     Back on Belmont and Bedford Avenue                                                                                                We have scraps that we would like to give;                                                                                        So send us a barrel of red, white and blue                                                                                            We too love the country in which we live.

 

Tarzan and His Apes

    The April 24, 1947 Cincinnati Post reported on a complaint filed with the county police by Germania Avenue resident Howard Wood. Mr. Wood alleged that a man identified only as “Tarzan” cruised the streets nightly with his “three barking apes.” Mr. Wood wasn’t as concerned with the animals as he was with “the allegedly wreckless manner in which the driver operated his ape-laden truck.” Mr. Wood said that the driver struck a pole on Watterson Avenue. The driver summoned a wrecker and he and his passengers left the scene before county police arrived.

     A search for “Tarzan” led investigators to a carnival set up on Kellogg Avenue, though the operators said the carnival had no animals.

     What I wouldn’t give to have seen the apes cruising Fairfax! I wonder if they hung around at Frisch’s?

Fairfax School Barricade

    The April 17, 1952 Cincinnati Times-Star reported that Mariemont Schools would erect a barricade in the driveway of Fairfax School to prevent the hot rod racing that had occurred there within the past week. Tire marks were found on the school lawn.

     An additional problem reported by residents was that the school parking lot was being used after dark as a “spooning place” by young couples. The school district would address that issue by prohibiting parking in the lot after school hours.

     Poor kids! Nowhere else in the area for them to drag race or “spoon!”

 

The Daredevil

    So, what else did Fairfax teenagers do for fun back in the 1950s? The June 8, 1959 Cincinnati Enquirer told the story of 15-year-old Gary Hodge, whom Fairfax patrolman Charles Doughton and fireman “Smoky” Whiteford found clinging to a transmission tower near Red Bank Road, 30 feet above the ground.  Gary told the men that he had climbed the tower “to get a good look around.” He said he had fallen 70 feet down the tower and broke his fall by grabbing a girder.

     He sustained only bruises and was released from Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Mariemont only 10 minutes after arriving.

Mayor Who?

    In his June 25, 1963 column in the Cincinnati Post & Times-Star, Si Cornell revealed that Fairfax mayor Ronald George Cribbet had not used his legal name for the first 40 years of his life. He had recently gotten a birth certificate for the first time and learned that his legal name was actually George Roland Cribbet. Everything from his home to his Social Security card was in the name of Ronald George. Mrs. Cribbet was quoted as joking, “I’m not married to you!” The mayor was in the process of legally changing his name to Ronald George.

  

Typewriter Cake

    Cincinnati Post columnist Si Cornell wrote in the May 14, 1975 edition about the typewriter cake Betty McLaughlin of Fairfax created for his birthday. Mrs. McLaughlin tried to give Si the cake for no charge because it was her first attempt at a typewriter cake, but he paid her for it nevertheless. She typically charged five dollars for a cake.

     The cake was pale green like Si’s typewriter and had chocolate keys. The only inedible part was a cardboard roll she used inside the cake and into which she managed to insert a sheet of paper with the printed message, “Happy Birthday, Si!” He was particularly impressed because the McLaughlin kitchen was just the average home kitchen with no professional equipment.

     I loved finding this story! Mrs. McLaughlin’s youngest daughter was one of my best childhood friends and I was familiar with her beautifully decorated cakes. I remember standing in the kitchen of her Murray Avenue home (which was, in fact, just a regular kitchen) and staring in awe at a cake she had just prepared that was sitting on a table. Such a wonderful memory!

  

Silent Petie

    The Town & Country column of the December 31, 1981 Cincinnati Post told the story of the pet canary of village councilmember and former Fairfax police chief James Finan. Mr. Finan named the canary Silent Petie because the young bird didn’t sing at first. As the bird matured, it began to sing and Finan was considering dropping “Silent” from his name.

     Silent Petie was apparently not big on hygiene and, according to Finan, would not bathe in the tub in his cage. Finan bathed Silent Petie himself, which the bird neither enjoyed, nor appreciated. Petie would not sing when he was bathed and Finan said “He sulks for a day or two.”