My wife and I first moved to Dayton, Ohio from New York in 1978 during the winter blizzard of ‘78. So we have been here for 30 years! And that trip took 3 days by car!
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You can say it was a bit of culture shock coming from a very large city of many millions to the Dayton Metro Area of a couple hundred thousand people. New York is the “city that never sleeps†and Dayton closes up shop at 5 pm.
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The difference is striking but very positive for both of us. We love the Dayton area and the Dayton people.
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Looking back it seems that a lot has changed in Dayton in 30 years. I can remember only two shopping malls, The Salem Mall (in Trotwood) and The Dayton Mall (actually in Centerville). They were both much smaller then. The Salem Mall was attractive and many times we would go there not only to shop but to do our daily walk. Many others had the same idea. We no longer have Harrigan’s Ford, Wolohan Lumber, Builder’s Square, the Kon Tiki Theater and Miami Valley Hardware.
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On the radio we listened to Lou Emm and on TV 7 we watched Gil Whitney with the weather and Don Wayne, the Walter Cronkite look alike, seriously doing the news. I am sure you had your favorites. There were others on the other channels too like Johnny Walker on TV22 and 
Omar Williams on TV2. 
Remember Steve Kirk on WING radio? I also remember Erma Bombeck…gosh she was funny. Si Burick was a great sports writer for the Dayton Daily News. Oh yes, there was another paper called the Journal Herald.
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James McGee was Mayor 
and we not only didn’t have I-675 but we didn’t have the Trotwood Connector either. This was before the pedestrian bridge at Deeds Park and there was no RiverScape Park and of course no RiverScape Fountain, which we enjoy. No Dragon 5/3 Field and no Schuster Center Theater.
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Downtown at that time did not have the Fifth Third or Dayton Centre buildings. Coming from NY I don’t call them skyscrapers. We didn’t have the Private Fair Soldier Statue on Main and Monument. Although I heard that they did have it back in the late 1880’s. Wonder if it is the same statue?
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I remember eating ice cream at Sherer’s and bowling at Bolero Lanes. Hara Arena is still around but I remember attending a lot of events there through the years including music concerts, pro wrestling, hockey (Dayton Gems then the Dayton Bombers) and country western concerts. Not a big CW fan but we took my Mom whenever she would visit from NY. She loves her “country music.†We were delighted to show off our town, including the Air Force Museum which just keeps growing and growing.
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Sinclair Community College was much smaller then and has steadily grown in size and stature. And remember Rike’s Department Store and the famous Christmas Display.
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Remember the Roger and the Zap Band? That was a tragic story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnTxhO8L_YI&feature=related
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We had no Internet then and no home computer until the early 80’s with the introduction of the Commodore. We did not have a cell phone but we did have a car phone that was attached to a large bag that we plugged into the cigarette lighter of our car and had very limited reception.
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I wonder what 30 years in the future will hold? Will anything be left of the big automotive industry? What will be the Dayton Area population? What will be the main industry?
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I am sure you have your Dayton Nostalgic moments too and I’d love to hear about them.
Click here for more Dayton Nostalgia:
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http://mhs77.com:80/Nostalgia.html
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http://www.thinktv.org/demand/dema_demand.html
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http://www.gigsalad.com/Music-Groups/Oldies-Music-Group/OH/Dayton/5
12 comments so far
Oh Yes, I do have some “memories†or growing up here in the city beautiful…Dayton, OH. I use to dream of being Aretha Franklin or Gladys Knight, even Patty Page or Dale Evans (yes I wanted 2 b a cowgirl sometimes-smiles). There were so many talent shows at our area high schools (Roosevelt Class of 1968 is where I hail from), Roth and Dunbar especially were the hot spots for talent and talent scouts. I was going to call myself “Daria from Dayton†or Lady D - but GOD had a plan!
Anyway, I remember Rubensteins Dept & Furniture store on Wl Third St. and the street market my grandmother “Mama Dillard†took me and my siblings to each Saturday morning. The bank on the corner was called WINTERS (was bank one, now it is Chase). I thought the street market was huge - I was a little 9 or 10 year old Negro Girl daydreaming each time Mama Dillard took me anywhere!. People were so friendly - no matter what race they were - and still are for the most part in my opinion. We don’t have “neighborhoods†that accommodate our needs and we have to travel now further, pay more and get less…go figure!
I remember my brothrs and sister going to Bens Hamburger Sandwich shop on Fifth St. Attending the Palace and Regal Theaters; going to Shulmans and Sawaya’s Market (they were big stores to me!) and getting items on credit which the store manager recorded on an index card. Then your word was definitely your bond, if you said you were going to pay for something, someone wrote it down and you came back on the designated date and paid it. Go figure!
This is a nice and unique way to “remember how far the good Lord has brought us all†and the good ole days are still just that. Thanks Dan for having such insight to keep us “Baby Boomers†and others - connected. I plan to share often.
Daria Dillard Stone, The Servant
August 14th, 2008 at 3:31 pm
Your blog is interesting!
Keep up the good work!
August 16th, 2008 at 11:56 am
You’ve got a lot of great memories of Dayton. I’m trying to find out the name of a grocery store which is no longer around. It was on Woodman Drive near the bowling alley. Customers had to mark the prices on the groceries with black crayons, bring your own bags, and pack your own groceries. Do you remember that store? I’d love to find out the name of it. I really enjoyed reading all your memories.
September 6th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
My research tells me that the grocery store on Woodman Drive that you are referring to was Bob’s.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
It was called Bob’s Food Warehouse
October 28th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
OMG, I was just talking about Bob’s with my parents the other night. There is a pet store now and I remember the Bob’s grocery story. No one believe’s me! if anyone has an old photo or something, this would be a perfect gag gift for christmas!
November 21st, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Yesterday I was at my neighbor’s house across the street from my Dayton residence (I’ve been living in NYC-Harlem going on 30 years) and we were trying to remember the store on the corner of Germantown and Summit. When I used to ride the bus to ballet class at the Y-barn, I would catch the bus home in front of the store. I woke up at 3am this morning and remembered, “Sawaya’s”! I quickly wrote the name down and called my neighbor later that morning and said, “Okay, the word of the day is Sawaya’s!” Yea! that’s it, he said, and we laughed and reminisced about the store, the neighborhood and the many memories surrounding those times!
December 31st, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.
September 10th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Does anyone remember the 78 or77 concert at eastwood lake with aerosmith,nugent,rory gallegher,rick derringer? who the first act before those 4 ?
August 1st, 2010 at 2:54 am
The Sawaya brothers (Bill and George) actully has a second store at Fifth and Williams. This was the store that years later, after both brothers were long dead, that a lady was killed during the “christmas massacures by Marcellous Keene.(later executed by the state of Ohio.) Keene was born just 2 blocks away at 117. S. Broadway.
How about Doug’? Owner Doug Collims. Inventer of the Bean burger. lol.
The Greasy Spoon. What a nasty little hole that was.
And then there was the Plabroski brothers (Raymond and George)who own Shop-Rite Grocery Store at the corner of W. Third @ Williams, now the home of the National Parachute Museum…
December 18th, 2011 at 7:09 am
One of my big memories of downtown Dayton was Rike’s and the big window display at Christmas. There was always a big crowd. We went every single year and it was one of my favorite things about Christmas.
September 25th, 2012 at 8:52 am
Hi Melanie,
You can still enjoy the old Rike’s Christmas display in the main lobby of the Schuster Center during Christmas.
September 25th, 2012 at 3:50 pm
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