By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
The essence of Buffalo Stories is defining and celebrating the people, places, and things that make Buffalo… Buffalo.
That’s Buffalo’s pop culture heritage-– and that’s what you’ll find as you scroll through these stories or search the collected works of one of WNY’s most prolific pop culture historians of the last decade for something specific…
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
Aside from offering “fresh-killed poultry” from 15 city storefronts in 1950, the Chicken Shoppes was also in the beauty business.
Barbara Fabing of Lafayette Avenue was named Miss Slick Chic 1950 in an event at the Crystal Beach Ball Room. The photo shows her receiving a trophy from Chicken Shoppes owner Lewis Bronstein.
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
With a stunning array of gizmos, tonics, tools and devices, Western Auto had everything a dad, not to mention a boy, could want.
The shelves were lined with items to make your car, camping trip or sporting event far more interesting.
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
In the 1980s, the jingle reminded us that “This was not your father’s Oldsmobile.”
Assuming those “father’s Oldsmobiles” were being sold in the 1950s, those dads were told a new Olds would make them space-age and future-cool.
No matter how young ad executives tried to make Oldsmobiles seem, for generations, they were generally seen a sensible, comfortable car that a dad or a grandpa would love.
General Motors stopped making Oldsmobiles in 2004. One of the dealerships listed on this ad from 65 years ago this week sold the cars until the bitter end. The Tunmore family sold Oldsmobiles for 73 years starting in 1931.
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
Grants — which was, as the company’s slogan said, “known for values” — opened its 10th “bigger, better” Buffalo-area location 65 years ago today on Tonawanda Street in Riverside.
The national chain of variety stores expanded in Buffalo as the city’s population did and was a fixture in many early strip malls, such as University Plaza and in the retail build-out at Main and Transit. The national chain filed for bankruptcy in 1976.
This Grant’s location is now occupied by the Riverside library branch.
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
The City of Buffalo, in particular, faced a housing crisis during World War II when tens of thousands of people came to the city to populate the war production efforts in what was then one of the nation’s top manufacturing cities.
From 1940 to 1950, Buffalo and the nearby suburbs gained 68,000 residents and saw 31,000 new units of housing built. The analysis of these numbers and others make for an interesting snapshot in Buffalo’s history and show what city fathers were looking at as they built infrastructures to accommodate the 2 million Buffalonians expected to come by 1980.
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
If you spent time on a Buffalo porch or patio anytime from the 1950s through the 1980s, chances are pretty good at least one or two of these summer furniture pieces from Edwards’ downtown store look familiar.
The metal chairs, especially, seemed to last forever. Many still survive in the backs of garages even after being replaced by plastic resin Adirondack chairs.
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
Among the beers advertised to the fathers of Buffalo on the pages of The News 65 years ago this week, in August, 1950, were imports from Newark, Detroit, Toronto (by way of Cleveland) and one beer made right here in Buffalo.
Ballantine was a New York City favorite for generations and was a less expensive brand carried into the ’80s at places like Bells.
Goebel beer, brewed in Detroit and available in Western New York into the ’80s, was announcing its new “bantam cans,” allowing your dad to drink 8 ounces at a time.
Red Cap Ale and Black Label Beer, both by Carling, were Canadian beers that were being brewed in Cleveland in 1950. They were among the most popular in Buffalo at the time.
Beck’s beer, not to be confused with the present day German import, was brewed by Magnus Beck Brewing in Buffalo from 1855 to 1956.
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
Matchbooks eventually became more that just a means for lighting a butt.
People might hold on to colorful, fun, or borderline pornographic (from a 1950s sensibility) matchbooks. Some became souvenirs of visiting a restaurant or a city.
Matchbook collecting became a serious hobby for many through the second half of the twentieth century.
eBay seller uniqueanteek has recently posted over 12,000 matchbook covers for auction, several dozen of which are from Buffalo, Niagara Falls, and the immediate area.
Especially for some of the smallest businesses, like neighborhood grocery stores, corner taverns, and storefront restaurants, these matchbooks are the sole surviving proof that these businesses ever existed.
Most of these matchbook covers date from the 40s and 50s, with a few as late as the 70s or early 80s.
Enjoy this unique, broad look at Buffalo’s pop culture history through the matchbook covers of uniqueanteek, and if the spirit moves you, head over to any of uniqueanteek’s auctions, and pick up one of these or any of the thousands of cool covers listed for sale.
If you have anything to share about any of these places, drop me an email: steve@buffalostories.com
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
Bethlehem Steel’s Lackawanna plant was at one time the largest in the world and employed 20,000 workers in the manufacture of steel.
It was the same sort of work happening a few miles away on South Park Avenue along the Buffalo River at Republic Steel. Thousands worked at that plant as well, and the hope was that, with changes announced 65 years ago this week, the plant would be able to churn out 900,000 tons of steel each year.
The plant was closed and demolished in the mid 1980s and is currently the site for the state-funded RiverBend project, set to be home to SolarCity.
By Steve Cichon
steve@buffalostories.com
@stevebuffalo
When we think romantically about “Buffalo’s good old days,” when a man could walk into any plant of factory in town, put in a good day’s work and provide well for his family, one part of the equation we often forget is labor strife.
This week in 1950, about 500 grain elevator employees walked out on strike. That decision had an impact on another 4,000 workers who refused to cross picket lines or were idled because their work was reliant on the strikers. These included grain scoopers, grain car coopers, longshoremen, construction workers and railroad switchmen. In many cases, grain stored in the elevators was transferred to nearby Buffalo grain mills for rendering. The mills were also closed down.
As 300 carloads of grain sat on docks a few days into the strike, there was some mild violence and minor injuries. The state also ruled that none of the 4,500 idled workers would be eligible for unemployment benefits.
