Cleveland Vintage Blog

"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...

In a recent conversation, I was asked exactly when Cleveland became known as “The City of Light” and I had to answer honestly that I had no idea. But since I’m rarely caught that off-guard on topics Cleveland-related, I set out to track down the answer. It led me to one Charles F. Brush, the inventor born in Ohio who brought us the arc light. If the name “Brush" and the word “arc” sound familiar, your instincts are correct. Brush High School, which serves the South Euclid-Lyndhurst School District, is indeed named after Brush. And their team nickname - the “Arcs” -...

Rocco Scotti was a beloved Cleveland baritone/tenor who sang the National Anthem more than anyone else - an estimated 10,000 times by the singer's own estimation. Scotti was the son of Italian immigrants and raised in Cleveland's Little Italy neighborhood. The popular local talent passed away in 2015 at the age of 95, but was well-known for all the times he sang "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Cleveland Indians games, which dates back to his first time on Opening Day in 1952. Scotti even became good friends with Cleveland great Bob Feller over the years. One of his most famous renditions at Municipal...

Many of us longtime Clevelanders remember it like it was just this past Saturday afternoon. “Hello der” (dare) was how Marty Sullivan, aka “Superhost,” greeted his fans when coming on air or back from commercials during his successful run on local Cleveland television station WUAB. The show, in a variety of formats, enjoyed a nice long run of 20 years from 1969 to 1989. Sullivan performed a variety of jobs at the station prior to and during his run as Superhost. He was a floor director and an on- and off-air show host while also wearing a very baggy, cartoonish...

Cleveland is on a quest to become a more walkable and accessible city environment - a "15-minute city," if you will, with the idea being that a person's daily needs are within a 15-minute walk, bike, or transit ride from one's home. Part of that transformation into a far more inclusive and happier Cleveland includes shutting down vehicular traffic to certain streets. East 4th Street downtown has been open to just pedestrian access for decades now and it has revitalized the area into a prime destination for residents and tourists alike (the recent decision to turn East 4th into a Designated Outdoor...