Author: Steve Cichon

Steve Cichon writes about Buffalo’s pop culture history. His stories of Buffalo's past have appeared more than 1600 times in The Buffalo News. He's a proud Buffalonian helping the world experience the city he loves. Since the earliest days of the internet, Cichon's been creating content celebrating the people, places, and ideas that make Buffalo unique and special. The 25-year veteran of Buffalo radio and television has written five books and curates The Buffalo Stories Archives-- hundreds of thousands of books, images, and audio/visual media which tell the stories of who we are in Western New York.

Buffalo in the ’70s: Danny Neaverth, one of Buffalo’s greatest pop culture stars

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Beyonce. Bono. Cher. Some personalities are so renowned and celebrated just one name will do.  Such is Buffalo’s Danny.

Buffalo News archives

Pictured here in the studios of WKBW on Main Street with newsman John Zach in 1972, Danny Neaverth is perhaps Buffalo’s greatest pop culture star. He’s remembered most for peeking at us through the hole in the record behind the microphones of upstart WBNY radio in the 1950s as Daffy Dan, then WGR Radio, and then 25 years at WKBW Radio — with most of those years as Buffalo’s morning man. Tag on a dozen more years at WHTT, and a few more at KB again, and Danny moved our fannies on the radio for half a century.

But it wasn’t just radio — Neaverth was also a TV weatherman on Channel 7 and later Channel 2. He was the public address announcer for the NBA Braves and the NFL Bills.  A few of his moonlighting gigs dovetailed more closely with his work as a disc jockey and radio host. He was a concert promoter and recording artist (who could forget “Rats in My Room,” even if they tried?). Of course, his face and voice were everywhere for Bells Supermarkets and dozens of other Western New York businesses through the years. His work in the community for dozens of causes and charities over the last 60 years has been unmatched.

In the ’70s and ’80s, it was difficult to spend a day in Buffalo and not somehow be graced by the voice, smile and personality of “Clean Dan Neaverth,” a true Buffalonian who never forgot his Seneca Street South Buffalo roots and proudly plied his trade among fellow Buffalonians proud to call him one of us.

More Danny:

Danny Neaverth’s 25th Anniversary at KB

Buffalo Morning Radio around the dial in 1989

Buffalo’s 1520 WKBW Radio: WNY’s great contribution to 20th century pop culture

The scary sounds of Halloween on WKBW: 5 hours worth of K-Big talent on display

Ten years without the I-190 tolls

Buffalo in the ’50s: The suburban splendor of Hens & Kelly

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Today, the thought driving to the corner of Main and Transit might conjure up thoughts of sprawl for as far as the eye can see married with seemingly endless traffic. Sixty years ago that same view — as seen in the Transitown Plaza parking lot here — was more like the summit of suburban living and all the newness that Buffalo had to offer.

Buffalo News archives

This late ’50s H&K photo (above) is from the same time period as this ad (below) announcing Hens & Kelly’s 67thanniversary (and subsequent sale.)

Matthias Hens and Patrick Kelly opened Hens & Kelly in downtown Buffalo in 1892. The store remained in local hands until the late 1960s, when it was bought by Sperry & Hutchinson, the S&H Green Stamps people.

The original downtown location is now known as “The Mohawk Building.” The Transitown Plaza location is now home to TJ Maxx. When the Abbott Road location opened in 1951, Lackawanna’s LB Smith Plaza was the largest shopping plaza in Western New York. Today, it is anchored by Save-A-Lot. The Bailey Avenue location was next to the Kensington Expressway.

In the 1970s, the chain was purchased by Twin Fair. All Hens & Kelly location closed their doors when Twin Fair disappeared in 1982.

What It Looked Like Wednesday: Allen and Franklin, 1981

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

When Buffalonians talk about neighborhoods in danger of being lost to freefalling divestment, Allen Street has not been a part of that conversation for a very long time.

Buffalo News archive

Thirty-five years ago, the story was a bit different. “Boarded Up Dreams” was the title of this photo as it appeared in The News in 1981.

The “burned and boarded up” buildings on that corner had been in the sights of developers Stanley Collesano and Dennis Insalaco, but plans for all four corners fizzled when three banks pulled $3.1 million in promised cash — which in turn led to $1.6 in federal urban development grants going away.

The building, minus the boarded windows, still stands a block from Main Street and the hope of the new Children’s Hospital and Medical School, visible from the building’s stoop.

Torn-down Tuesday: St. Brigid’s Hall in the First Ward

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

St. Brigid’s Roman Catholic Church was the center of the Irish immigrant community in Buffalo’s First Ward neighborhood for more than a century.

Buffalo News archive

More than just the home of spiritual life, St. Brigid’s — and specifically St. Brigid’s Hall — was a center for union meetings, political rallies, parties, sporting events and theatrical performances.

Through the 1920s, it was also the place where thousands came together to organize the annual St. Patrick’s Day parade through the streets of the Ward.

The hall, pictured above in 1938, stood on the corner of Fulton and Louisiana streets.

The hall was across Fulton Street from the church, as shown on this 1894 city ward map. Buffalo Stories archives.

Ten years without the I-190 tolls

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Ah Black Rock and Ogden, we hardly knew ye. The new year will mark a decade since the City of Buffalo had toll booths at its northern (Black Rock) and southern (Ogden) borders along the I-190.

For generations of Buffalonians, it was a bit of a sport to toss the quarter, and later two quarters, into the EXACT CHANGE baskets at the now demolished 190 toll booths.

The tolls were supposed to come down in when the highway was paid for in the late 80’s– but to the outrage of WNYers, you had to pay a toll to get to downtown Buffalo. The outrage built to a crescendo in 2006 when the toll booths were removed.

For some tollbooth memories we dip into the Buffalo Stories archives for these shots.

dannythruway(1)

Its WKBW-TV Channel 7’s zany weatherman Danny Neaverth standing at the Ogden Tolls sometime in the early to mid 80’s.

dannythruway(2)

This story was all about how fast people could drive through the “Exact Change” booths, and still get the coins into the basket.

dannythruway(3)

Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com
Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com

Buffalo in the ’50s: Gorgeous George brings showmanship to the Aud

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Gorgeous George was wrestling’s first bad guy. He invented the persona after he married his real-life wife in the ring, and then over and over again, seeing the potential for showmanship in the sport, which had little of it before his silk robes and atomizer.

Buffalo News archives

This photo comes from a 1949 match at the Aud, with GG (as the papers of the day referred to him) against Ray Villmer, “The Mighty Yankee.”

You can be sure the crowd was erupting as it looked like “The Human Orchid” might finally lose. From a clipping on another match:

Gorgeous hardly is gaining in favor with the populace. Mincing down the aisle in a cream robe, cape style, he was the target for assorted paper cartons and one entire beer. He was thrown out of the ring early in the mill, and his well-being appeared endangered until he escaped.

GG is well-remembered for rebuffing any touch with a boisterous “Get your filthy paws off of me,” but two events remained etched into the psyches of Buffalo wrestling fans. One, the night Stormy Bob Wagner “gave Gorgeous an authentic beating” at Memorial Auditorium, complete with a real head wound created by GG’s perfume bottle.

The other press event involved Gorgeous George driving to the Aud down Main Street in a convertible, waving around handfuls of dollar bills. When he began to throw them out to “the peasants” in Lafayette Square, a riot almost ensued.

The stories are emblematic of a showman whose curly locks and silky robes helped make wrestling into a popular attraction that became the multi-billion dollar industry it is today.

To remember GG as merely a heel wrestler — even only as “The First Heel Wrestler” — belittles his memory. The Human Orchid was one of the great stars of early television. Wrestling was cheap, flashy and easy to televise — and Gorgeous George was the performer that people loved to hate. It was said that in TV’s earliest years, Gorgeous George’s appearance on TV sold as many televisions as Milton Berle’s.

Gorgeous George — his legal name after 1950 — died of a heart attack at age 48 in 1963, just as another boisterous, flamboyant, larger-than-life personality began his career in the ring — albeit the boxing ring.

In the same 1964 Associated Press story that asked if Cassius Clay was “a hoax … or the new golden boy,” his promotional style was offered up as patterned after Gorgeous George.

Buffalo’s Christmases Past: A look back

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

As the BN Chronicles staff celebrates Christmas, we’re taking a look back at some of the Christmas memories we’ve collected through the years.

Dec. 8, 1969: A Christmas full of masculine scents at Rite Aid

In the less-complicated world of 45 years ago, buying dad a gift from Rite Aid may have seemed far more appropriate than it may today.

With the choice of several distinct men’s fragrance sets by Aqua Velva, Skin Bracer, Hai Karate and Black Belt, the only reason to shop elsewhere for your dad would have been if he were an Old Spice guy.

Nov. 28, 1974: Buffalo’s great Christmas catalog stores

Shopping from home is easier than ever these days. You’re a web search, a few clicks and a credit card number from just about any product ever created.

That same searchability makes creating Christmas wishlists much easier, too. But remember when you had to write down the page number instead of emailing a weblink?

For decades, the wants, needs, hopes and desires of Buffalonians fit not into the vastness of the World Wide Web, but into the 180 pages of the Century and Brand Names catalogs.

Buffalo in the ’60s: Mom’s Christmas perfume at AM&A’s

Looking at the clip art and the premise behind this December 1962 ad for the AM&A’s toiletries department, one can quite easily picture, say, Ward Cleaver showing up in one of the six Adam, Meldrum and Anderson locations with this ad in hand.

Buffalo Stories archives

The perfume counter was on the main floor at the downtown location. Other locations were on Sheridan Drive, University Plaza, Thruway Plaza, Abbott Road and Airport.

Dec. 24, 1969: Fir boughs or fake? A look at Buffalo’s Christmas tree tastes

Christmas tree farmers in Amherst and Tonawanda were noting declines in sales of real trees 45 years ago this week, while the Sears store at Main and Jefferson noted robust sales of the fakes.

While the headline indicates some 1969 folks thought that real trees might go the way of lighting trees with real candles, the truth is, the farmers knew there would always be a place for a spruce or a fir in some Western New York living rooms come the end of December.

“The artificial tree: One day soon that’s all Yule see”

“The men who stand watch over Christmas tree lots in and around Buffalo concede that artificial trees are making inroads on their sales.

“But they steadfastly predict real trees, now known as ‘natural,’ will be around for countless Christmases to come.”

Dec. 25, 1969: Christmas in jail

The News didn’t print a Christmas Day paper in 1969, but on Christmas Eve, this photo of an inmate at the Erie County jail was at the top of the front page, just below the day’s headline.

Dec. 23, 1969: The Harlem Globetrotters play at the Aud on Christmas Day

“Abe Saperstein’s Fabulous Harlem Globetrotters” found their way to Buffalo 45 years ago this week, when they played Christmas night at Memorial Auditorium.

No word on how many of tickets were sold, but every seat was a good one. While the “Oranges” would be the cheap seats for more than two decades, in 1969, the roof had not yet raised and the steep, high orange seats had not yet been added.

Dec. 23, 1969: Buffalo’s AHL Bisons celebrate Christmas on ice

Buffalo Bisons Terry Crisp and Bill Plager join their families on the ice of the Fort Erie Arena for a holiday skating party.

Crisp later won two Stanley Cups with the Philadelphia Flyers, including in 1975 when the Flyers defeated the Sabres in the finals. He played for head coach Fred Shero in Philadelphia, the same man who coached him here with the Bisons.  Crisp became an assistant coach under Shero and eventually went on to be head coach of the Calgary Flames and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Plager played for the Minnesota North Stars, the St. Louis Blues and the Atlanta Flames before retiring from hockey in 1976.

 

Buffalo in the ’60s: How many of these News calendars do you remember?

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

For many of us it was our introduction to fine art.

Through the ’60s and ’70s, in the kitchens of our mothers and grandmothers hung the impressionism prints to which the annual Buffalo Evening News calendar was stapled.

The following are an incomplete collection of News calendars from 1964 to 1975. Do you remember any of these painting calendars? Where did they hang in your home?

B

All images are from the Buffalo Stories archive/Steve Cichon collection.

 

Remembering Gramps on a Warm Christmas past

By Steve Cichon | steve@buffalostories.com | @stevebuffalo

What a beautiful day outside.

Seeing small kids playing with someone who looked like their grandfather in Delaware Park just now takes me back 35 years to a similar scene in Cazenovia Park, on a similar beautiful just-before-Christmas day. The only difference— unlike these carefree kids, all was not right in my world.

Gramps & me...
The first pic of Gramps & me…

It was a quick run across Seneca Street from Grandma and Grandpa Cichon’s into Caz Park, and Gramps loved taking us for a walk whenever he was not on his way to work at the track (Buffalo Raceway) when we’d stop over on a Saturday morning.

The walk part of the walks were longer in the winter, because our visits to Caz weren’t punctuated by a visit to “the swings, and the slides, and the horseys,” as Gramps always called the playground in a sing-song kind of way.

We’d come back to Grandma’s house from taking these walks nearly frozen by the harsh South Buffalo winter, and really having earned our hot chocolate with real marshmallows.

But this day wasn’t one of those days. Much like today, the grass was green and lush, the sun was shining, and instead of shivering we were probably sweating—unnecessarily overdressed in layers on a 50 degree day, for fear that the Blizzard of ’77 would quickly revisit Seneca Street while we were on our 90 minute hike.

And despite the beautiful weather, this day, there were no swings to play on—the city parks department was much more rigid about taking swings down in those days. It was by date, not by weather forecast.

Anyway, this day I’m thinking about, we were on one of our epic walks taking in most of Cazenovia Park from the ball diamonds to the ends of the golf course. I should have been enjoying the warmth—and not a flake of snow in sight, but I wasn’t.

There was growing concern in my Kindergartener heart, and I had to share it with someone I could trust. Gramps was the man, for sure.

“Grandpa,” I asked, probably with doe-like eyes fluttering, “if Santa’s sleigh doesn’t work because there’s no snow, how will he be able to deliver our presents?”

“Santa has a helicopter, son,” he said reassuringly without skipping a beat. I’m still warmed by his reassurance.

I don’t remember what I was hoping Santa would deliver that year, but I know I was excited to deliver to Gramps—no chopper necessary—a gift bearing the brand name Skin Bracer, Old Spice, or Hickory Farms. He always loved our presents no matter what they were.

Gramps was special because he had the mind of a man and the heart of a child. We should all be so blessed.

John Otto: Hold the Phone!

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

 This page first appeared on staffannouncer.com in 2004, and was last updated May 21, 2014.

Weekly vintage John Otto airchecks from buffalostories.com
Weekly vintage John Otto airchecks from buffalostories.com

In celebration of John Otto’s 85th birthday, and mindful that it was 15 years ago this year that your congenial co-communicator signed off, we introduce several hours of John Otto recordings unheard since the day they were first broadcast in 1998.

It’s truly one of Buffalo’s greatest broadcasters at his finest: John Otto, broadcasting live from the Tralfamadore Cafe on the night he was inducted into the Buffalo Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

John talks with and interviews dozens of our city’s finest broadcasters, and they pay tribute to him– on the radio, on the telephone, at long last.

And the more to come sign is up– As we draw nearer the 15th anniversary of our-operator-on’s last show, we will present dozens more recordings from the 1950s through 1999 in this space. We’ll get to that in as soon as it takes to tell it– in the meantime, enjoy that Hall of Fame day broadcast below, and hold the phone.

John Otto played many of his own sound effects on the show… You could often hear him fumbling for the right cart as someone asked to guess the voice, or Joann the Just would call– of course, the trumpet was necessary to announce her presence. Here are a few of the sound effects “Your operator on” would play– taken directly from the broadcast carts which he himself used on the show.

otto-cart-label

John spent most of five decades on Buffalo radio, and his show was introduced by various jingles and production elements through the years. Several of these were given to me by the late Ben Bass, who aside from sending 30 years as a disc jockey himself, was also an engineer on the Otto show in the 1970’s.

Finally, here are some clips of the man himself– These were saved at the radio station by many of John’s producers through the years, including Mike Maniscalco, Brad Riter, Greg Bauch, Ben Bass, and others. They are mostly short, entertaining John Otto clips on pop culture and bad callers– others are just a taste of how John sounded on the air. The last clip is 46 minutes worth of a show– enjoy!

Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com
Reformatted & Updated pages from staffannouncer.com finding a new home at buffalostories.com