Category Archives: Vintage

Trolley Rescue At The Spaghetti Warehouse

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When the roof of the Spaghetti Warehouse in Columbus, Ohio partially collapsed back in March 2022, many of us gasped in dismay. Sure, it’s a chain restaurant but it felt special and the historic building that had given it shelter for so long was packed with unique antiques and decor including an old trolley car.

That’s right, there was a trolley car in the middle of the restaurant and it was used to hold tables for dining. Not to mention, this place was a destination for tourists and for locals who celebrated special occasions as well as regular old dinners in this late nineteenth century building.

I was there just a few weeks before the collapse and was shocked at the idea that this building that looked and felt so solid could just begin falling in on itself. 

News reports over time first gave hope that repairs could be made but became increasingly dark as it was clear the great old building we all knew and loved wasn’t long for the world. Many were especially concerned about the artifacts displayed inside including that historic trolley car. 

But we finally got a bit of good news this week as we learned the trolley had been safely removed. In fact according to local news reports in Columbus, the demo crew is treading carefully as they unearth a number of historic treasures including an 1890s era steam wheel from when the building was used as an ice house.

Photo courtesy NBC 4, Columbus

The trolley will be restored before being given a new home in a park on Livingston Avenue. That park is being built by the Rickenbacker Woods Foundation whose mission is to honor the accomplishments of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker and of Granville T. Woods. Mr. Woods was a Columbus native and an African American inventor who held over sixty patents. He was the inventor of the third rail which today still powers subways and streetcars around the world. 

The new park will be part of the foundation’s campus which also includes the boyhood home of Captain Rickenbacker. 

Honestly, the salvaging of that trolley is a true bright spot in all of this. A week ago the future was grim for the old gal. No one had yet stepped up with the right combination of means and desire to fund the expensive project to remove it from a condemned building and give it a new home. 

Let us celebrate and say amen. 

Meanwhile back at the old Spaghetti Warehouse, the owner plans to develop the property into apartment buildings. 

Notice I referred to it as the old Spaghetti Warehouse? Well, they did open a new location in downtown Columbus. So, you can still get some of the old menu items but the menu is scaled back. I missed the manicotti.

It’s a nice restaurant with modern ambiance but it doesn’t hold a candle to the old location. So, if you’ve been there before and expect an experience similar to which you were accustomed, it will be a disappointment. If you’re just in the mood for some decent ravioli in downtown, they’ve got you covered.

Luckily, the Dayton location still gives us the classic vibe and you can eat in a trolley car there!

Can we also pause a moment to appreciate the fact that someone in this disposable society of ours saw fit to rescue a piece of local history? It’s encouraging knowing that it didn’t go down with the ship but will instead be preserved for generations to come.

Ghost Mural

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Downtown Petoskey, Michigan is one of the most utterly charming places I’ve visited. Lots of shoppers flock here for the fine stores and shops filled with gifts and clothing. We best enjoyed the breathtaking sunsets but I also liked the architecture and the details in so many of the storefronts.

This ghost mural clues in the curious visitor to the fact the upstairs of this building was home to the Normal Business College. Seeing things like this always makes me wonder about the people who taught and studied there. Where were they from and what ever happened to them?

What did they learn here and how did they apply that knowledge to bettering themselves and the world around them? Do their grandchildren’s children still live in Petoskey or did they travel west to live or go abroad on grand adventures?

Clearly, I will never know but these types of questions keep me entertained for hours.

King Of Indiana Pizza

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In an age of corporations with cookie cutter locations, there’s an Indiana based pizza chain that bucks all trends.

Founded in 1956, there are locations all around the Indiana and every self respecting Hoosier I know will tell you that Pizza King pizza is a literal slice of Home and Heaven.

I visited one in Muncie a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Fantastic service, my kind of atmosphere and absolutely delicious food left me feeling happy and wishing I could go back another time on that trip.

I was reminded of this recently when my blogging pal over at Hiding in Plain Sight posted this story about a Pizza King location he made out of Lego. Check it out. He gives a lot of history and the Lego model is pretty cool too.

I found this 2019 story from Indiana Public Media that says that while the food is consistent, each location has its own character. I truly enjoyed the character of the one I visited even though I’m not certain which of the several Muncie locations that was exactly.

In addition to a darn good salad and veggie pizza, I liked the ordering system. You just pick up the phone receiver and someone in the kitchen takes your order. It wasn’t long at all before a waitress brought my food.

I would absolutely go back if given the chance and I’m a little sad there’s no Pizza King near me. Want to drool over their menu? Find it here!

Clang, Clang, Clang Goes The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum

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I like things that go, things that move people, things that help us travel through our daily lives and can potentially take us to places far away. Planes, trains and automobiles are favorites as well as hot air balloons, ships, bicycles, stagecoaches – you get the picture.

But vehicles that take you distances that cannot be measured are my very favorite. In other words, old planes and cars can double as time machines if you allow your imagination to run wild. 

Last month, my imagination got a workout at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum where I got to see, touch and board a large assortment of trolley cars that very easily could have met a scrapyard doom rather than a museum spotlight. 

This museum features a visitors’ center with exhibits, restrooms and classroom space as well as a preserved train depot and a large building packed with trolley cars. Visitors are invited to climb aboard, sit, dream, and to touch. Well, you’re encouraged to touch a lot of things but they prefer you keep your hands to yourself in the operator’s area! Most are restored. There was one in particular that hasn’t been restored that shows just how damaging time and deterioration can be. 

They have a small army of volunteers who keep the place running as docents, trolley drivers, restorers and more. One such gentleman was Mike, a retired teacher and former trolley operator with a flair for storytelling that made us want to pull up a chair for a long chat.

There are trolley cars with local connections and some from much further away including a streetcar named Desire. Remember the old Marlon Brando flick? Yup. This streetcar operated on New Orleans’ Desire line which was made famous by the Tennessee Williams play turned film “A Streetcar Named Desire.” 

If you’re a fan of Mr. Rogers, you can sit on the same steps of a Philadelphia streetcar where he sat when filming an episode of Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood in the mid eighties. 

You’ll notice vintage advertising for things like cigarettes, rodeos, electric mixers and secretarial schools geared toward women. You’ll notice different decor like stained glass in some older cars and less comfortable seats in newer ones.

They tell the story of how the trolley system became obsolete thanks to the city bus, the automobile and other cultural influences. I didn’t realize that when Judy Garland sang “clang, clang, clang went the trolley” in the 1944 film “Meet Me in St. Louis” that the streetcar was already an endangered species. 

They tell the story of this mode of transit in its heyday too. Plus, you can ring a real trolley bell using a foot pedal like the trolley operators did back in the day. You’ll learn about the difference between a streetcar and a trolley and there’s great signage that tells stories about each car. 

They offer a long trolley ride and a short ride periodically throughout the day and the depot is well worth a visit too. All of this is included in the price of admission. 

My friend, whose sons are grown men now, talked about how fun it was bringing her boys when they were small because this was a museum where they could touch and not hurt things. Their curiosity was encouraged and she could breathe easy while they explored. That’s a real gift to parents of curious children. 

I’ll share some pictures on the Make the Journey Fun Facebook page and I imagine I’ll revisit some other stories from this museum in the future. Incidentally, this is where we saw the amazing Legotown and a stupendous model train exhibit that were available for viewing through the holidays.

Visit their website to learn more and to plan your trip!

The Continental

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The Continental is a fabulous-from-the-outside diner in Old City Philadelphia. It seems to be closed now and I realized after snapping this photo that a person was sleeping on the stoop.

That stack of dice still turns, giving me a shred of hope the rest of the place will sometime spring to life. At this point, the sign is the best part of this place. Here’s hoping someone will polish up the place and make the pancakes the best part of the Continental.

Celebrating Fifty Years

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The popular tv show Little House on the Prairie premiered on this day fifty years ago. I fell down a rabbit hole several months ago and developed what some might call a mild obsession with this show. It all started because my Roku tv recommended their new Little House on the Prairie Channel which airs the show in sequence 24 hours a day. 

I didn’t even consider tuning in for the first several days. Then, one afternoon, I flipped over for a little nostalgia and literally never left. From sometime in late winter until just a few weeks ago, if my tv was on, it was probably on the Little House Channel. Sometimes it was just for noise in the house while I was doing other things. I’m not very good at just sitting down and watching tv but I noticed that I was more apt to sit for this show than for anything else available to me. 

Then I began googling the actors, read a couple of the books and started noticing Little House connections all around. I think this all was a result of decision fatigue. I never had to scroll through thousands of viewing options because Little House was on. Little House is ALWAYS on!

Life in fictional Walnut Grove was appealing because the people and the town had everything they needed without too many distractions from the outside world. The arrival of the telephone in their sleepy village was a source of trouble. There was no internet and there was a sense of scarcity that made every possession seem much more valuable to most residents. Mrs Olsen and her terrible daughter Nellie were fabulous villains (or at least very realistic prairie era mean girls) but they nearly always got what they had coming to them so that made it better.

We value very little in our disposable 21st century society. We throw away rather than fix everything from expensive gadgets to the people in our lives. Walnut Grove was a refreshing break from that. It’s also a nice break from the constant bickering over the handful of social issues designed by politicians to keep us all divided.

It’s important to note that life wasn’t so simple back in 1974 when this show debuted.  Post Vietnam America was a stark contrast from the late 19th century setting of this show. This was the year President Richard Nixon resigned following the Watergate scandal, forever altering the lens through which we view our presidents. The Cold War and energy crises raged on as Patty Hearst dominated the headlines. 

By September 11, 1974, America needed a sickeningly sweet throwback to simpler days when right and wrong were easy to distinguish and when all the world’s problems could be solved in under an hour. 

The popular NBC program was made possible by television producer and former NBC executive Ed Friendly. He acquired the film and television rights to the popular Laura Ingalls Wilder book series and hired television legend Michael Landon to direct the pilot and play Charles Ingalls. 

That pilot was a two hour tv movie that aired on March 30, 1974. The regular series premiered on September 11. 

I was very small when the show went off the air so I really only know the show from syndication. Yet it has always felt like comfort food to me. It’s the tv equivalent of a plate of steaming hot mashed potatoes, green beans from the garden and a buttery biscuit. 

At this point, I believe I have seen every episode at least once so that’s 204 regular shows and four specials. I haven’t felt the urge to even check which episode is on since before the Philadelphia trip and I’m quite pleased that I have gone cold turkey. 

Of course, I’m not watching much of anything else either. TV news is detrimental to my mental health (And yours too. Turn it off, please and read some better journalism.) and there’s very little that seems worth my time. The television landscape is cluttered with reality shows that are totally disconnected from reality, with drama and horror, with so much news that’s written to inflame and with comedy that doesn’t really make you laugh. 

Aren’t we all ready for something that warms the heart and that gives us a break from reality? I know I am. Maybe give Little House a try. They played fast and loose with some of the actual history but many of the stories still hold up today.

Who knows? The wholesomeness of it all may make you just a little bit happier. As rabbit holes go, this one is kind of rewarding!