Ohio Archives

October 26, 2013

Frost Leaves Me Cold

When I walked out of my room at the motel where I’m staying in Athens, Ohio, I had an unpleasant surprise: my car was encased in a solid sheet of ice.

What is on the back of my van?

I spotted the housekeeper who throws me new towels every morning coming across the parking lot. She’s a friendly sort.

Leading her around to the back of my van, I asked, “What do you see on the back of the car?”

She looked at the car, then at me, and shot me a confused look.

This is against the law

“That’s a Florida license tag on this vehicle,” I clarified. “Don’t you folks in Ohio know that it’s against the law for a Florida vehicle to be covered in ice?”

She laughed, but it was a nervous kind of laugh.

I wonder if I’ll have new housekeeper in the morning?

Since I didn’t have Friend Jan along to scrape the ice off the windows, I just let the engine run for about 10 minutes, then scraped the ice off the mirrors with a credit card.

May 4, 2013

When I wasn’t shooting assignments, I was usually cruising around looking for interesting people, places and situations. I thought this farmstead in southern Ohio interesting enough to pull over for a quick photo.

There was a curious mix of vintage cars, VW bugs and a VW bus in front of the old farmhouse, barn and outbuildings. It wasn’t unusual to be greeted by barking dogs, but these guys seemed to be a little more unfriendly than most. The barking dog on the left didn’t worry me as much as the guy just peeking over the rise on the right. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)

I hate little yip-yip dogs

I’ve managed to make it into Medicare age having been bit only twice in my life: once when I was a paperboy and once by a neighbor’s dog down here in Florida. In both cases, the culprit was one of those annoying little yip-yip dogs that are like rats with an attitude – and just about as useful.

This guy, though, didn’t look like he would fool around. I decided to leave this a road not taken. I wondered what was down that lane that warranted this much protection. My first thought was moonshine, but the VWs made me lean toward illegal herbs.

Or, it might just be they valued their privacy and didn’t want any visits from the Avon Lady.

March 14, 2013

Fraternal Organizations

Small towns used to be populated by Moose, Elks, Eagles, Masons, Oddfellows and other members of fraternal and social organizations. Today we have Facebook.

When Friend Jan and I traveled across Ohio, I was struck by how many small towns had buildings associated with fraternal organizations. In some, like in tiny Nelsonville, two of the largest buildings in the downtown area were affiliated with organizations like the Fraternal Order of the Eagles. (You can click on the photos to make them larger.)

Knights of Pythias

This is Nelsonville’s Pythian Building, built in 1905.

Shawnee Knights of Pythias

When I shot a collection of architectural photos of Shawnee, Ohio, I roamed the former Knights of Pythias building, which had also served as an opera house and theater. Rotting lodge robes were still hanging in a closet.

Visitors scrutinized

Visitors to the lodge meeting room were checked out through this peephole before being admitted.

International Order of Odd Fellows

The IOOF – International Order of Odd Fellows – met a few doors down.

What organizations did Cape have?

I was prepared to say that Cape didn’t have many fraternal organizations, but a quick scan of the 1979 City Directory turned up quite a few:

Calvery Shrine #8 (Masonic Temple) – 2307 Broadway (includes other affiliated organizations)
Circle Number 603 Daughters of Isabell – 318 S. Spanish St.
Epsi Lota Memorial Lodge – S. Sprigg St.
Lodge 639 Benevolent Order of the Elks – 2751 Thomas Dr.
Oddfellows Lodge 675 – 825 S. Ellis St.
St. Vincent’s Council No. 1111 Knights of Columbus – 318 S. Spanish St.

February 6, 2013February 6, 2013

Pencil Sharpener Museum

Let me say right off that a guy who can put his hands on his grade school Valentines and almost every negative he’s shot since 1959, doesn’t have much room to wiggle when it comes to talking about what someone else collects.

Passenger Jan and I were blasting down the backroads of Ohio on our way to Old Man’s Cave when she spotted what looked like a welcome and information center. We did a quick U-turn and headed back.

One of the things I like about rural areas is that you can do things like U-turns and stop in the middle of the road if you want to take a picture.

Jan, a Florida native, wasn’t used to roads that curve and have deep dropoffs. About half her early postings were that she feared she was going to die in a crash or, worse yet, go flying over a cliff Thelma and Louise-style to meet her end in a ball of fire and/or freeze to death because nobody would find us until around March 15, when the buzzards would pass over on their way to Hinkley, Ohio.

People here drive, they don’t AIM their car

“Jan,” I explained patiently, “people outside of Florida learn to DRIVE their vehicle, not POINT it. Florida puts guard rails on perfectly straight stretches of road if there is a canal within 300 feet. Up here, you can have a 300-foot dropoff at the edge of the shoulder and it’s assumed that you are going to keep the car on the road because if you DON’T, there’s a 300-foot dropoff at the edge of the shoulder.”

She eventually quit whimpering. Or, maybe I just got to where I tuned it out.

So, back to the Pencil Museum

The Paul A. Johnson Pencil Sharpener Museum, which might measure roughly 10′ x 20′, is located on the grounds of the Hocking Hills Regional Welcome Center at 13178 State Route 664 South, Logan, Ohio, 43138. It is open to the public for free Mondays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. You can find out more at the center’s website.

It does NOT take you long to go through it unless you REALLY appreciate pencil sharpeners.

No puns or word play

First off, I am going to write this without any cheap puns because the walls of the place are covered with newspaper stories writers and editors tried to make “clever” and “cute” with bad puns and plays on words. I won’t do that, not because I don’t like puns and silly word play, but because some topics are too easy. This is one of them.

I have that camera

I have that camera pencil sharpener on the shelf in my office. I think Wife Lila may have given it to me. When Paul Johnson’s wife gave him a couple of sharpeners for a Christmas present after he retired in 1988, it triggered a dormant sharpener collecting gene. Before long, he had more than 3,400 of the things in all shapes, kinds, colors and subjects.

I showed more restraint. Besides, I liked mechanical pencils that didn’t need grinding.

Wife donated collection

When Paul died in 2010, his wife, Charlotte, donated his collection to the welcome center. (You can click on any photo to maker it larger.)

I bet you’ll recognize something

The odds are pretty good that you’ve owned at least one of his collection. In addition to the camera, I saw the old-fashioned plastic pencil boxes that had a sharpener built in that we used in grade school. He arranged his art objects by category.

Used to give them away

Early news reports said Paul would give away his duplicates to visitors. All of the ones on display now are supposed to be unique.

Plenty of color

Some of the colors are eye-catchingly, garishly blinding.

The Museum isn’t somewhere I’d go miles out of my way to visit, but it’s worth a stop if you want to kill a few minutes. The workers at the welcome center are friendly and the restrooms are clean. What more can you ask for? That’s the point of it, right?

Darn! I ALMOST made it without using any puns.

Tag: Ohio