Cleveland Vintage Blog

Luxurious theaters with their large seating capacities were a staple in the Cleveland area as far back as the 1920s. I myself grew up with one in Maple Heights - the Mapletown Theater. Most started out as single-screen movie houses that were beautifully designed and decorated to be as much a part of the evening out as the show itself. Many, sadly, have met the wrecking ball over time, not able to compete with the emergence of multi-screen theaters. Others have been reimagined and reinvented and another, the Variety Theatre at 11817 Lorain Avenue, is getting closer to a rebirth...

Larry Bird dominated the NBA landscape in the 1980s, but his reign came to an end in the early '90s, perhaps a few years earlier than planned due to a bad back (though he was 35 at this point too). But Bird made one last run to the playoffs with the Boston Celtics in the 1991-92 season, meeting up with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round. Bird was limited to 45 games that season and had to sit out the Celtics' first-round victory against Indiana, but he was still an All-Star that season, averaging 20.2 points, 9.6 rebounds, and...

Cleveland - and the rest of Ohio - is a cryptid hotbed, with recorded sightings that date back as far as the 18th century. From the watery depths of Lake Erie to the dense, forested depths of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park and throughout the rest of the state, many types of cryptids have stalked this area and called it home. Here are some of the most popular cryptids you could find in Ohio. South Bay Bessie You might know South Bay Bessie by her other name - the Lake Erie Monster - but however you know her, she's been stalking...

You read that headline correctly: The first red-and-green traffic signals installed in North America were indeed again a Cleveland first in 1914 (Cleveland is the City of Light, after all). The road to get to that point began in London as far back as 1868, and the entire story brings to mind one of our favorite sayings that “necessity is indeed the mother of all invention." So what brought about the need for an electronically colored, bright, traffic signaling system you are wondering? Well, the simple answer is speed. When traffic consisted primarily of horses, horse-drawn carriages, foot traffic and...

"If you were constructing the ideal arena from my experience, I'd say, 'Duplicate the Richfield Coliseum.'" - Larry Bird Larry Bird is one of the best basketball players of all time, essentially dominating the 1980s along with Magic Johnson. But you won't really get too many interesting insights from Bird in his 1989 memoir Drive, co-written with sportswriter Bob Ryan.  It's pretty much a book full of hollow athlete speak that glosses over any really juicy details; however, Bird does provide some valuable tidbits at the end of the book with a full section on his opinions of every single NBA...