Aug. 27, 1960: New Marine Drive Apartments is looking for residents

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

One of the last contested questions of Buffalo’s Canalside development is what should become of the Marine Drive Apartments.

Fifty-five years ago this week, open houses were welcoming prospective tenants to check out the only downtown waterfront living available at the time.

Buffalo in the ’60s: A look inside Cheektowaga’s new St. Joseph Hospital

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

This week 55 years ago, August 27, 1960, Western New York’s newest hospital was opened, as Bishop Joseph A. Burke cut the ribbon on the St. Joseph Intercommunity Hospital in Cheektowaga.

(Buffalo Stories archives)

A special section of The News was dedicated to the latest advances seen inside, as highlighted by the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph.

Bishop Joseph A Burke dedicates Cheektowaga’s new St. Joseph’s Hospital on Harlem Rd. in 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)




Back to School 1960: New schools debut in Cheektowaga, Orchard Park, Amherst

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Fifty-five years ago this week, The News’ special back-to-school section featured articles on the latest in education inside and outside of the classroom, and, of course, plenty of back-to-school ads.

Children around Western New York were getting ready to start in new schools that are still in use today.

The new Cheektowaga High School opened on a still mostly rural Union Road in 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)

Maple Road was also more rural than it is today in 1960. When St. Gregory The Great opened that fall, the parish’s current largest neighbor– Milliard Fillmore Suburban Hospital– was not yet built. (Buffalo Stories archives)

Opened as Orchard Park Junior High School in 1960, the building was enlarged in 1976 and it has been the home of Orchard Park High School ever since. (Buffalo Stories archives)

Buffalo in the ’60s: Buffalo ‘will remain unchallenged’ as world’s flour-milling center

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Fifty-five years later, Buffalonians are growing increasing excited as new and innovative uses are being created for the aging, hulking grain elevators and mills along the Buffalo River.

But this week in 1960, the chairman of International Milling would have “looked at you funny” had you told him the best use for grain elevators might be to wrap them to look like beer cans so people have something interesting to look at while they play outdoor ice hockey.

Charles Ritz — who hailed from Minneapolis, not Buffalo, mind you — said things like “Buffalo’s geographic advantage cannot be matched” and “Buffalo is best situated to supply growing populations of the American Northeast.”

25 aug 1960 buffalo will remain flour giant

Back to School 1960: Where girls were shopping

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Fifty-five years ago this week– the last week of August, 1960– The News’ special back-to-school section featured articles on the latest in education inside and outside of the classroom, and, of course, plenty of back-to-school ads.

Goldin’s at Broadway-Fillmore and Thruway Plaza, featured “The Goldin Twins” and S&H Green Stamps in this 1960 ad. (Buffalo Stories archives)

Clothes shopping was a much more gender-specific endeavor in 1960 — while many larger department stores and discount stores obviously offered accouterments for both sexes, there were also plenty of specialty shops that catered to only boys or girls.

Hengerer’s, 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)

Girls were looking for dresses and skirts as they found new school clothes 55 years ago; most schools banned girls from wearing slacks.

Kobacker’s, 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)

Goldin’s, Morrisons and Oppenheim Collins all catered to women and girls.

Morrison’s, Main Street downtown, Broadway/Fillmore, and North Tonawanda. 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)

Hengerer’s, Kobacher’s, Neisner’s, Sattler’s and the Sample sold men’s and women’s fashions.

Neisner’s. Main Street Downtown, Broadway near Fillmore, and Bailey Avenue. 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)
Oppenheim Collins: Main at Huron, Thruway Plaza. 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)
Sattler’s, 998 Broadway, 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)
The Sample. Hertel Avenue, Walden Avenue, Seneca Street, Lockport. 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)
Ulbrich’s. 386 Main, 17 W. Chippewa, University Plaza, Sheridan Plaza, Southgate Plaza, Thruway Plaza, Hamburg. 1960. (Buffalo Stories archives)

Buffalo in the ’60s: remodeled Howard Johnson’s opens at Delaware & North

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Generations of Americans remember the home-style dinners and 28-flavor ice cream selection at the more than 1,000 Howard Johnson orange-roofed locations around the country.

Buffalo’s most popular HoJo’s was on Delaware and North — part of the sometimes strange development of Delaware Avenue. Working class families piled out of wood-paneled, American-made station wagons right across the street from the home of News Publisher and Buffalo aristocrat Mrs. Edward Butler.

Walgreens purchased what was Buffalo’s last Howard Johnson’s location and built a drug store at the site on Delaware and North in 1994.

17 aug 1960 Howard Johnsons
Buffalo Stories archives

Buffalo in the ’60s: $2745 for a flaming red ’58 ‘Vette

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

You can almost hear the guttural laments of car enthusiasts everywhere.

Few cars are more sought after than early Corvettes, and there likely haven’t been many available at $2,795 since Mernan Chevrolet put this one out on the Bailey Avenue lot 55 years ago this week– August 24, 1960.

With a “flaming red” finish, this car, the folks at Mernan promise, had never been raced.

While many among us can see ourselves peeling off the hundreds to buy such a classic at such a rare price, it must be noted that the National Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator says this ‘Vette actually cost about $22,500 in 2015 dollars. Still a great deal, but maybe it doesn’t sting as bad for having missed it?

Buffalo Stories archives

Buffalo in the 90s: The changing face of Hertel as a temple becomes a church

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

Today, Hertel Avenue has a hip, cosmopolitan vibe, with many blocks dotted with trendy bars and shops.

Twenty-five years ago, Hertel was in a state of flux, still transitioning from the center of Jewish culture in the Buffalo area.

For several generations before, interspersed along Hertel and surrounding streets were Jewish shuls, temples and synagogues, and storefronts that were home to Jewish bakeries, delis and other institutions catering to the needs of the Jewish community there.

By 1990, declines in attendance at services saw the merging of remaining congregations and the outright moving of several to Amherst. One sign of that was the building that was once Temple Brith Israel becoming Faith Good Shepherd Chapel 25 years ago this week.

Buffalo in the 90s: Buffalo’s FBI informant blowing smoke

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

When the FBI turned to Buffalo’s Joe Sacco to help take down organized crime in Buffalo, they must have had some inkling of what they were getting into.

Sacco, after all, was the same mob associate who, when discovered in a pool of blood by police, denied knowing that he’d been shot.

Twenty-five years ago this week, federal law enforcers were looking to pull back a deal with Sacco, who they say had not only been giving them ever-changing information but was also still involved in the underworld crime syndicate as it operated in Buffalo and Western New York.

Buffalo in the 90s: Searching for the fragments of Buffalo’s polka culture

By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo

For decades, Buffalo’s East Side was the cradle of the city’s Polonia culture. As people and institutions of Polish descent left the East Side, Buffalo’s unique blend of Polish and American traditions became spread out and not as easy to identify.

Twenty-five years ago, The News was asking whether Buffalo’s polka music culture was dead.