Cleveland Vintage Blog
Ohio State and Michigan Faced Off in the First Outdoor Hockey Game at FirstEnergy Stadium
On February 18th, 2023, the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines played in the Faceoff on the Lake, the first-ever outdoor hockey game at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland. Pretty cool use for a fully outdoor stadium sitting on the banks of a lake in a Midwest city, huh? More than 45,000 people showed up to watch the historic game, a huge number for an outdoor college hockey game, but certainly nothing that should come as a surprise for anyone familiar with this hockey-obsessed region that has a long history of supporting the game. It doesn't hurt either that we're talking...
The Assassination of Mobster Danny Greene and How It Led to the Demise of the American Mafia
The title suggests an interest premise, does it not? Could it be possible that the bombing that ended Cleveland mobster Danny Greene’s “luck of the Irish” streak, as he himself referred to his ability to cheat death, had also been the start of the end of the strong Mafia influence nationwide? The question came up recently in casual conversation, so I went back and took a second look at an earlier article I had done on Danny Greene’s Cleveland reign as the city's “bomb king” in the explosive '70s. As mentioned above, Greene ultimately met his own explosive end in Lyndhurst...
The Ghoulardi All-Stars, a Charitable Endeavor Featuring Cleveland Legends
Most native Clevelanders are at least aware of Cleveland television pioneer legend Ghoulardi, or one Ernie Anderson, who went on to Hollywood fame as the voice of ABC television promos. Most memorable was his deep booming voice calling out the phrase “The Loooove Boat” in promotion of one of the network's most popular shows of the time. What most Clevelanders might not remember was Anderson’s use of his local fame here in Cleveland to organize other local celebrities as the Ghoulardi All- Stars to play football, basketball, and softball games to raise funds for local charities. These efforts on their part...
A Look Back at Cleveland's Elysium Arena (1907-1951)
Quick question: What could $60,000 get you today? A pretty decent down payment on a dream home or the start to a college education. Perhaps a really, really nice new car or even the satisfaction of giving your child the wedding day of their dreams. All great ideas and goals in today’s world, but did you know that in Cleveland in 1907 that very amount of $60,000 was about to bring to the city the notoriety of having the largest indoor skating rink in the world? It’s a pretty safe bet that this little nugget of Cleveland history has passed most of us...
New York's the Big Apple, But Cleveland's a Plum: The Slogan to Take On NYC
We all know that New York City is the Big Apple, but did you know Cleveland has its own fruit-based nickname? That's right, Cleveland's a plum. The Origins of the Infamous 'Cleveland's a Plum' Slogan Back in 1981, the city of Cleveland was still dealing with a less-than-stellar national reputation. It wasn't too long ago that the Cuyahoga River was catching on fire with some regularity and the city was literally the car bomb capital of the world. Oh, and in 1978, Cleveland became the first city since the Great Depression to default on its financial obligations, as it...