1950's-1970's Stratford Manor & Eastwood Village (Valentine's day, store)

[ChiDiana]

Originally Posted by bethany blair

I started Eastwood the second half of first grade - spring of 1958. I had come from a school so old it had a bell in a tower that was rung every morning - it is an historic landmark now. Eastwood was so nice and very different from what I was used to. I was in a room that combined first and second graders. I'm not sure why. Mrs. McConnell was my teacher. I remember that on my first day the principal, Mary Alice McCartney, came in to the the room and kissed me.
Do you all remember the lunch tokens we bought from our teachers and took to the lunchroom - I think they were gray metal triangles...

When I went there in 64 (4th grade) I could take my lunch money across the street to the drugstore and buy a cherry coke and a hot dog or Heinz bean soup. There were a lot of kids that did that. I still remember the waitress that worked there.

[ChiDiana]

Originally Posted by NightBazaar

I'm not actually certain at the moment if Mr. Duning is in fact the teacher I had. But I can understand that some teachers might not have been so patient if they had no idea about your difficult family matters.

I think I mentioned earlier that a teacher (an old woman probably close to retirement) hit me across the front of my throat with a long pointer stick. I was a 4th grader. It wasn't full force, but it was a lot more than just a light tap.

Times were different back then. Some teachers (usually male) relied on using wooden hack paddles to punish kids for stupid reasons, like chewing gum or making noise for example. It would make sense for some serious offense, but I honestly think some teachers would work out their own personal frustrations by hacking kids. Some teachers would put a lot of strength behind their swing. All it amounted to was being a bully. These days, a teacher would face serious charges of child abuse. Supposedly, it was to demonstrate their authority. Utter nonsense. They could've just as easily complained to the parents and let them deal with it.

I do remember being pretty intimidated by him, but it might have partially been because I wasn't used to doing poorly in school and didn't know what would happen or how I could make it up.

I know what you mean, though. I had a teacher that decided to give the whole class 3 swats each until one of us told on an "offender". (This was at Lyons.) My dad went in to talk to the principal about it. Apparently she did get into trouble, but then she took me into her supply room after my next class and yelled at me for telling my parents that she "beat me", which I didn't do. I never did tell my parents about that.

I also agree about teachers and their paddles, back then. I remember quite a few male teachers (and even at least 1 female) who lived on a reputation built around some wicked looking paddle hanging somewhere in the room. I doubt very much that would be encouraged or even tolerated today.

[ChiDiana]

Originally Posted by Hyden

NightBazaar, You are right about the teachers although I never had a problem, but my brother Ronnie had a teacher just outright pick on him. I forget what grade it was but our mother went to the room and caught her at it. Mom was only 4'10 so she blended well with some of the other students, she kept telling her to stop but she never looked to see who was speaking, but when mom grabbed her by the arm she knew then!. I think her name was something like Miss Roberto or something like that.
Never had any problems after that. Mom was small but dynimite
Teachers could have told the parents and back then they would have taken care of it, today the parents would be arrested, I chose to raise mine the old fashion way
Spare the Rod spoil the child. Hyden

Lol.... bless your mom.... I'm not even 4'10" and I've often been referred to as dynamite, also.

[ShawnoeTrail]

Leroy, the mailman, was a wonderful person. He was our mailman in Shawnoe Trail, which was a community of 168 homes down the street from Stratford Manor off on Duck Creek. Leroy came to my Mom's 75th birthday party in 1995. I can't remember when he passed away, but Mom and I went to his funeral which was held at a church in Madisonville. My Mom worked at the drugstore that was in the strip mall in Stratford Manor. It was called Hogue's Drugs in the 60's and was sold to Dave Poppe later and then to Jerry Davis. My Mom worked for all 3 of them. Her name was Dessie if you remember her.

I can't remember when Stratford Manor was torn down, but it was a very sad time, but the buildings were in bad shape. U.S. Shoe bought the property and built a there. They later moved out and Fifth Third Bank is there now. Coca Cola Bottling Plant is also there now.

I went to Eastwood School from the time it opened in 1955 and was there from 2nd grade through 6th grade and attended Lyon Jr. High School close by until it was recently torn down and an elementary school is being built there now.

The Children's Home has great memories for me and my sister. Mr. Ziegler ran the Home and my family were good friends of them. My parents were "foster" parents on the weekends to a few of the children who lived there. At that time, the children who lived there had families, but the families couldn't take care of them and when they became able to care for them, the kids left the Home. I've always wondered what happend to those kids we took on the weekends.

[ShawnoeTrail]

Louie had the red and white truck and John had the orange ice cream truck. They both came through Shawnoe Trail. They were both elderly men.

[NightBazaar]

Originally Posted by ShawnoeTrail

Louie had the red and white truck and John had the orange ice cream truck. They both came through Shawnoe Trail. They were both elderly men.

Thank you ST! Loved reading your recollections. I never knew the names of the drivers of the ice cream trucks, but I'm pretty sure the one that stopped near our place was the red & white truck. They were always very popular with the kids and adults in the area. You knew they were somewhere nearby from hearing the tune the truck played.

You mentioned some of the changes after all the apartment buildings at Stratford Manor/Eastwood Village were torn down. Looking at some of the aerial views on Google Maps, there are several large places that look like warehouses with fleets of freight trucks and trailers. I've wondered what those places were. DO you live near the area?

About the kids at the Children's Home, I'd guess most of the kids had relatives, but not all had parents. I'm pretty sure one of my best friends from there didn't have any parents, but he did have an older brother who drove a delivery truck for Frito Corn Chips. I think his brother was single and wasn't able to take care him, but he did visit fairly often.

I never asked any of the kids, but thinking back, I find myself wondering why most of the kids were there. Some may have been hard to control for parents, but most of the kids I knew from there were really good kids. When Coney Island would hold "Orphans Day", kids from all the orphanages around Cincy would attend and ride the rides for free. The Home would invite me to go along.

My family also took some of the kids out with us to spend the day at the zoo or Coney Island or go swimming at one of the public pools (seems like it was at Norwood but I'm not sure), and we'd have them over for birthdays. We always had a great time.

[ShawnoeTrail]

Hello, Night Bazaar. I'm new to this site and have only read the messages through Pg. 12. Just figured out, I need to read from Pg. 36 backwards.

I do still live close by the old "Manor" area. Not sure what all is in this industrial park, but Coca Cola takes up quite a bit of room there. Maybe you are seeing their trucks.

You are so right about the kids at the Home. Some didn't have parents. My Mom and Dad tried to adopt "Frankie", but his Mom wouldn't give him up. I'm older than you at age 60, but I remember Shirley Ashcraft, Johnny Hicks, twins Barb and Bev Brown and little Frankie. These are the kids whom my parents took places on the weekends.

I don't remember Orphans Day, but maybe my sister does. We did go to Coney and we loved that place. Kings Island will never be as good as Coney!!

As kids, my parents took us to Norwood's pool and to Pleasant Ridge pool. We did swim often at the Manor's pool.

My Mom worked for years at the drugstore in the Manor. Do you remember her? I worked there for a few months, but my 3 yr. old son didn't like attending the Manor's daycare, so I quit to be a stay at home Mom.

[NightBazaar]

Welcome. We're glad to have you join us. No, I'm sorry to say I don't remember your Mom. Been too many years ago. But I did visit the drug store now and then.

Yes, they're trucks. I think I posted a screen grab of the Google image somewhere on page 1 or 2. I'm sure some must be Coca-Cola trucks, but there are large buildings, maybe warehouses, with trucks and trailers all over.

Thank you for the compliment. If you're 60, I'm afraid you couldn't possibly be older than I am.

When we lived at the Manor, there was no pool. We moved before any construction on it ever started. Sometimes, kids and adults would sneak over to swim in the pond at the farm next to the Manor.

[Hyden]

Welcome Shawnoe , We are always glad to hear somebody elses memories. I don't remember any of the people that worked at the drug store by name. You sound like you may be around the same age as my brothers Ronnie Hyden 61, Charles Hyden Jr. would be 59, he passed away at the age of 53. I know they had friends in your neighborhood. I'll ask him for some names. Leroy was a sweetheart, my brothers and sister went to his services. My brothers were good friends with Buntains, they lived across from the stores. Do you remember Dave the barber? He was still cutting hair in another area and Jr took his son for his first haircut to Daves. Did you look at the pictures on page 30 or 31? You may know some of them. Yeah the popcicle man was old, in that red and white truck he would hit that bell like thing. It was such a nice time to grow up in. Alot of fun. Bye for now, Hyden

[NightBazaar]

The photo below is of Eastwood School from Google Maps. I zoomed in as far as it would go. It's kind of blurry, but that's understanding considering it was taken by a satellite. It's obviously before Eastwood school was torn down. It may be one of the last images of it. Farewell Eastwood. We knew ye well.

Below is Duck Creek Road. On the right is the new Eastwood Drive. The old original Eastwood Drive (a fraction of it is still visible) would be to the left but isn't shown in this photo.