Brace Yourself for Horrible Jewelry Ad Season
Few things induce more eye-rolling than cliché jewelry commercials with impossibly flawless couples, dialogue on par with that of pornos and overly sentimental background music. When it comes to these contrived advertisements, it doesn’t get worse than Kay Jewelers. My boyfriend and I were watching Hulu Plus the other day when the same unsettling (and…
Shilling the Savory/Sweet Sensation
The mix of salty snacks and sweet snacks is one of the latest food fads the marketing departments of major food corporations have been trying to convince consumers they should be engaging with. It’s nothing new: Trail mix, Chex mixes and chocolate-covered pretzels and peanuts have been around for decades, though mostly produced on a…
Bistro Grace (Review)
For more than six years, Suzanne McGarry searched throughout Cincinnati to find the ideal spot for the restaurant she dreamed of owning. When Honey — on Hamilton Avenue in Northside — closed earlier this year, she seized the opportunity. “It needed a lot of work,” McGarry says, “but otherwise it seemed perfect.” She wanted a…
Music: Fred Hersch
Fred Hersch is one of the top pianists in the modern Jazz world, his deft and often innovative playing, arranging and compositional skills earning him boatloads of acclaim and numerous awards over the course of his extensive career. He’s also one of Cincinnati’s greatest musical exports; the brilliant 58-year-old musician grew up in North Avondale…
Event: Sierra Club Miami Talk
The John Ganis: Consuming the American Landscape photography show of “over-developed/under-respected lands” at Iris BookCafé will have a knowledgeable interpreter when Sam McKinley, chair of the Sierra Club Miami Group, speaks. Ganis’ photographs are interesting for both artistic merit and their subject matter, the terrible encroachments being made on our natural world. Exhibition on view…
Holiday: Luminaria: Nightlights at the Cincinnati Observatory Center
Mount Lookout celebrates 38 years of its annual luminaria event, during which the streets and shops of Mount Lookout Square are lit with candles in paper bags. The Cincinnati Observatory is participating again this year with an open house full of caroling, stargazing and hot drinks. 6:30-8:30 p.m. Sunday. Free. 3489 Observatory Place, Mount Lookout,…
Event: Cat Scratch Fever: Artists Unite for OAR
Choose your favorite tribute to a tabby or homage to a Himalayan when Thunder-Sky Inc. gallery hosts a silent auction of cat-themed paintings, photography and sculpture for the benefit of Ohio Alleycat Resource & Spay/Neuter Clinic. Local artists include Antonio Adams, Emily Brandehoff, Tony Dotson, Pam Kravetz and Robert McFate. Volunteers from OAR will be…
Event: Final City Flea of the Year
Bring your friends to this year’s final City Flea urban curated flea market, with 45 vendors, including names such as Secondhand Fancy and Chestnut Street Studios, to find the perfect holiday gifts. 5-10 p.m. Saturday. Free. Washington Park, 1230 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, cityflea.com.
Onstage: Mannheim Steamroller Christmas
Christmas music aficionados won’t want to miss America’s top holiday celebration, Mannheim Steamroller Christmas. The show, created by Grammy Award-winner Chip Davis, spotlights the renowned Christmas music of Mannheim Steamroller set to multimedia effects, all in an intimate environment. 8 p.m. Saturday. $38-$78. Aronoff Center, 650 Walnut St., Downtown, cincinnatiarts.org.
Holiday: Reindog Parade
Ring in the holiday season with a festive parade and costume contest for you and your trusty canine companion(s). Dress your dog in holiday gear, antlers, a cheery coat or let them wear their own fur as the parade route takes you both around Mount Adams. Registration and judging for the contest takes place between…
Holiday: Light Up OTR
Celebrate a fantastic year for Over-the-Rhine as family, friends and neighbors light up more than 2,000 luminaries. This year, the jubilee will be centered in the newly renovated Washington Park to show how much OTR has grown and what can be accomplished by a community with the goal of safety and unity in mind. The…
Holiday: Unsilent Night
The Contemporary Arts Center has joined the national movement to mark the holidays with an Unsilent Night procession. Participants bring boomboxes and play cassettes of New Music/Experimental composer Phil Kline’s multi-track composition Unsilent Night as they walk through the city. Working with Light Up OTR, the walk goes from Washington Park’s bandstand through Over-the-Rhine and…
Holiday: Nutcracker Luncheon
What more can you ask for in a Christmas-themed event than a classic ballet paired with a contemporary lunch? The 2013 Nutcracker Luncheon is a family-friendly event with lunch and excerpts from Act II of The Nutcracker, produced and put on by student dancers from the Otto M. Budig Academy, plus an all-inclusive Rat King…
Onstage: Every Christmas Story Ever Told (and Then Some)
Cincinnati Shakespeare brings back — for the eighth consecutive year — a non-stop holiday romp through everyone’s favorite Christmas stories. They do it with four actors and in 90 minutes, skewering classics we all know and love. You name it and a tale you remember will end up in their satirical sights: A Christmas Carol,…
Holiday: Cincinnati Santacon
Eat, drink and be Santa! Even Santa Claus needs a break from the madness of the holiday season, so if your best colors happen to be red and white and you need a reason to “ho, ho, ho,” meet at Fountain Square with a Santa costume for a Saturday filled with caroling, scavenger hunting, barhopping…
Art: DAAP Masters of Fine Art Pop-Up
Students from DAAP’s Master of Fine Arts Program will take over various pop-up spots along Short Vine and its off-streets to showcase their work. Thirty-eight graduate students will exhibit works of painting, drawing, sculpture, ceramics, performance, new media and social practice in an effort to demonstrate their “collaborative approach to making artwork in the studio.” …
Event: Road to Sochi
The United States Olympic Committee invites you to help pave the way to the next Olympic Games. The Road to Sochi Tour began in New York’s Times Square and has made its way to Cincinnati’s own Fountain Square as it counts down 100 days to the next games. Fans are invited to be a part…
Comedy: Drew Hastings
Drew Hastings started his comedy career in Dayton, Ohio after running several companies, including a document shredding concern. “I was better at selling the service than doing the actual shredding,” he says. He turned to comedy full time to see if he could make a living at it, which he did. A successful and respected…
Holiday: The Christmas Ranch
A true winter wonderland, as seen on Good Morning America and HGTV. This massive holiday ranch features 500,000 dancing Christmas lights synchronized to holiday music, unique Christmas craft gift shops, a bakery and café, model trains, Santa’s workshop, photo opportunities with the man in red, nighttime village wagon rides and more. 5-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday; 5-10…
Holiday: Holiday in Lights
Featuring one-mile of holiday-themed light displays, strung over the trees and through the woods. You’ll see Santa, his elves, toy soldiers and more from the comfort of your car during Sharon Woods’ annual Holiday in Lights. Head inside to Santaland in the Sharon Centre for hot cocoa, carolers, baked goods and photos with Santa ($6.75). …
Committee Votes to Pull Support for Supportive Housing Facility
A City Council committee on Tuesday voted to rescind council’s support for state tax credits going to a 99-unit supportive housing facility in Avondale that would aid chronically homeless, disabled and low-income individuals. But since National Church Residences already obtained tax credits for the project from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency in June, it’s possible…
Morning News and Stuff
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald is preparing to replace running mate Eric Kearney, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. Kearney, a state senator from Cincinnati, has been under increasing pressure to drop out of the race following multiple media reports that uncovered he, his wife and his business owe up to $826,000 in unpaid taxes. FitzGerald…
The Gift Guide 2013
Presents for everyone on your list ranging from foodies to pet people to couch potatoes and crafty bitches, plus a guide to shopping local online. Read the full issue here.
Holiday Happenings
Metro Holly Jolly Downtown Trolley — Hop aboard a trolley at the Westin Hotel to see the sights of downtown. The trolley will board at Fifth and Vine streets. Noon-5 p.m. Saturdays. Through Dec. 21. Free. 21 E. Fifth St., Downtown, downtowncincinnati.com. Santa’s Workshop — Ditch the mall trip and head to Washington Park for…
Around The World in 80 Days (Review)
Critic's Pick Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati opened a revamped version of the delightfully spirited Around The World in 80 Days on Dec. 4 to a full house. The production is exactly what you would hope for from a family-friendly holiday show: a large and talented cast, an incredibly clever set, hilarious moments, beautiful songs, theatrical surprises…
Winter Shelter to Open Tuesday
Cincinnati’s winter shelter for the homeless will open on Dec. 10 and remain open through February, the Greater Cincinnati Homeless Coalition announced on Friday. The announcement preceded a winter storm that covered Cincinnati’s streets in ice and snow and sparked a citywide snow emergency over the weekend. The snow flurries and colder conditions will continue…
Morning News and Stuff
The Federal Transit Administration on Friday gave Cincinnati until Dec. 19 to make a final decision on the $132.8 million streetcar project before it pulls up to $44.9 million in federal grants. The decision gives the city less than two weeks to finish its audit of the project’s completion and cancellation costs, which should be…
Mayor: Feds to Allow Streetcar Review
The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) will allow Cincinnati to keep $44.9 million in federal grants for the $132.8 million streetcar project until midnight on Dec. 19 while the city reviews the costs of canceling or completing the project, Mayor John Cranley announced on Facebook on Friday. The FTA's decision gives the city two weeks to…
Cranley’s Choice for City Manager Withdraws Nomination
Cincinnati Parks Department Director Willie Carden, Mayor John Cranley's choice for city manager, has withdrawn from the nomination process, the mayor's office announced on Friday. The mayor's office said it will keep Acting City Manager Scott Stiles in his current role while it launches a nationwide search for a permanent replacement. "After consulting with my…
Cranley Might Veto Ordinance Continuing Streetcar Project
Mayor John Cranley might veto an ordinance continuing the $132.8 million streetcar project, even if a majority of City Council wants the project to continue after its costs are reviewed through an independent audit, said Jay Kincaid, Cranley’s chief of staff, on Friday. The decision means six of nine council members — a supermajority —…
Morning News and Stuff
Streetcar Project Executive John Deatrick yesterday said only 11 streetcar workers are expected to lose their jobs following City Council’s pause of the $132.8 million project, far below the original estimate of 200 city officials gave on Monday. The remaining workers will be moved by contractors to other jobs or kept under ongoing utility work,…
25 Things to Do Before You Read Thought Catalog
Call it nostalgia, call it buyer’s remorse, call it what you will — the fact of the matter is that my college graduation is looming only nine days away. And, in the spirit of sentimentality, I wanted to leave CityBeat with a list of things that those four-and-a-half glorious years taught me — about life,…
Only 11 Streetcar Workers to Lose Jobs
Only 11 streetcar workers are expected to lose their jobs following a City Council-approved pause of the $132.8 million project, according to Streetcar Project Executive John Deatrick. The final number is far below the original estimate of 200 layoffs that city officials gave on Monday when council members asked about the effects of halting the…
Morning News and Stuff
City Council yesterday voted to allocate $1.25 million to pause the $132.8 million streetcar project and study how much it will cost to continue or cancel the project. The final 5-4 votes to pause came despite offers from private contributors to pay for the $250,000 study and construction for the one or two weeks necessary…
City Council Pauses Streetcar Project
City Council on Wednesday allocated $1.25 million to indefinitely pause the $132.8 million streetcar project and study how much it would cost to continue or permanently halt the project. If the study's continuation and cancellation estimates aren't persuasive enough to continue the project, the vote could effectively act as council's final action on the streetcar.…
The Manhattan Project
Last month, Lance Bowman, mixologist/bar director of the Over-the-Rhine Japanese restaurant Kaze, received good news: He had won the Ohio portion of the fifth annual Esquire magazine-sponsored Woodford Reserve Manhattan Experience — a bartending competition to find the best Manhattan cocktail recipe in the country — which was held at the 21c Museum Hotel. The…
Restoring Porkopolis
If there were a time machine that could magically transport us back to the Cincinnati of the 1820s, downtown’s Central Parkway would look exceedingly different than it does today. In fact, it wasn’t a parkway at all but the Miami and Erie Canal, which connected Lake Erie to the Ohio River, allowing farmers from Northern…
Sports: Cincinnati Cyclone’s Ugly Sweater Party
Join the Cyclones for their Ugly Holiday Sweater Party this year as they face off against the Kalamazoo Wings with hopes of keeping up their winning season (the ’Clones are 11-6 so far). Ugly sweaters are a holiday tradition, and the most horrid one at the game will win a cash prize. The Cyclones are…
Film: Medora
The CAC is screening the new documentary Medora, about a high school basketball team’s 2011 season in a once-booming rural Indiana industrial town. Like the town itself, the team is fighting for meaning and pride amid a lot of hard times and diminished expectations. The directors, Davy Rothbart and Andrew Cohn, will be present for…
Art: My First Art Show at Semantics
Semantics, Cincinnati’s oldest continuously operating nonprofit art gallery, is currently celebrating its 20th season of serving as a training ground for experimental and/or inexperienced artists. To keep up that work, Loraine Wible, Semantics member and professor at Northern Kentucky University, has encouraged the students from her video, installation and sound class to exhibit their final…
Music: Walden
Walden is the superb Indie Folk project of singer/songwriter Ethan Samuel Brown, who was born in eastern Kentucky, grew up in the suburbs of Cincinnati and, when he was 18, moved to Nashville. The songwriter calls Walden an “acoustic, brass Folk band” and “collaborative solo effort,” with his mesmerizing writing at the core, fleshed out…
Event: The Bootlegger’s Ball
Ladies and gents, grab your boas, dust off your suspenders and don your 1920s best as Covington Arts raises a glass to bourbon, Prohibition and the 21st Amendment. BLDG will be transformed into a speakeasy with an open bar as the region’s finest mixologists serve cocktails celebrating the 80th anniversary of Prohibition’s demise until the…
Holiday: Holiday on the Hill
Get in the Christmas spirit with an entire weekend of festive activities for the whole family in Price Hill. From watching the tree lighting while sipping on hot cocoa to singing with carolers to checking out local art on the gallery walk, there is something for everyone. Guests can also have breakfast with Santa, watch…
Music: Sweet Honey in the Rock
Enjoy an exclusive holiday concert from globally recognized a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock, a group that celebrates various faiths and religions through singing rooted in the African Honey legacy. This program is a tribute to holidays from Christmas to Kwanzaa, with American spirituals, Latin, Chinese and Hebrew influences in the repertoire. There…
Class: Make + Bake Glass Ornament Class
Design and create your own blown-glass holiday ornament. Learn basic glassblowing technique alongside a Brazee Street Studios glassblowing instructor and then work independently to create your own ornament in this beginners-level course. 6-7 p.m. and 7:30-8:30 p.m. Friday. $35; must be 16 or older. Brazee Street Studios, 4426 Brazee St., Oakley, brazeestreetstudios.com.
Holiday: Christmas Saengerfest
American Legacy Tours, the group responsible for the Queen City Underground tour and The Spirit of Christmas tour, are sponsoring a traditional German Christmas Saengerfest, showcasing 14 church choirs from the World Choir Games in five sacred spaces downtown and in Over-the-Rhine including St. Francis Seraph, First Lutheran and the Christian Moerlein Brewery. 6-10 p.m.…
Events: Redsfest
Though baseball season is long gone, it’s never too late to indulge in the fan frenzy of Cincinnati’s favorite pastime. This year’s Redsfest offers its annual winter warm-up with games, activities, merchandise and interactions with players of years gone by and future stars. 3-10:30 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Saturday. $18.50 adults; $8 kids; two-day…
Onstage: Striking 12
Falcon Theater knows its way around offbeat musicals. For the holidays, they offer one with a Rock score and puppets. Music trio Groove Lily created this concert event off-Broadway in 2004 with a Tony Award-winning writer. It’s about a lonely guy in a major funk thanks to holiday cheer. He skips a New Year’s Eve…
Comedy: John Evans
Comedian John Evans is no stranger to Cincinnati comedy fans; the Tulsa native recorded his album, High Plains Thrifter, at Go Bananas back in 2011. You may have also seen him on Comedy Central’s Live at Gotham or NBC’s Last Comic Standing. While he’ll talk a little politics, he mostly talks about family, everyday living…
Literary: Jim Borgman
Just because Jim Borgman retired from The Cincinnati Enquirer doesn’t mean his wit-infused pen is going dry. The Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist remains busy these days with his syndicated Zits comic strip, a collaboration with writer Jerry Scott that has flourished since its inception in 1997. The duo’s latest collection in book form, Zits En…
Event: Bourbon and Bacon
Be prepared to enter hog heaven during an evening of pork and booze tastings. Notable local restaurants — from Walt’s Hitching Post and Eli’s BBQ to City Barbeque and Camp Washington Chili — will be pushing some delectable bacon dishes while OYO and Four Roses bourbon hand out samples to wash them down for CityBeat’s…
Holiday: Christmas Caper Murder Mystery Dinner
What stirs up more holiday spirit than a good murder? According to the folks at Mayhem & Mystery Dinner Theatre, nothing. So gather up the family for a night of murder, mystery and mayhem — all in the time it takes to eat a single meal. Play detective and do your best to guess whodunit, but…
Holiday: Let It Snow Laser Light Show
The Drake Planetarium turns its full-dome planetarium into a virtual snow globe with this animated laser light show, choreographed to classic holiday songs. The 32-minute show features Christmas tunes from Frank Sinatra, Chuck Berry, Burl Ives and more, plus a multi-media finale with music from the Trans Siberian Orchestra. 7 p.m. Wednesday. Showtimes through Dec.…
Phratry Records Facilitates a Foursome
Modeled after DIY-minded Punk/Post Punk labels of the ’80s and ’90s like Amphetamine Reptile and Dischord, Cincinnati’s Phratry Records is one of the best modern independent record labels in the region. And every addition to its catalog only beefs up its legacy. Along with high quality music (ranging from Punk, Metal and Noise to Post…
Holiday: Antique Christmas
Ring those nostalgic, silver bells with Taft’s annual holiday display, Antique Christmas, filled with antique toys, ornaments and decorations. This year’s display also includes a German nativity pyramid (dated 1890), a Civil War-era Christmas tree and a 1950s Christmas display. Tuesday-Sunday. Through Jan. 5. $10 adults; $8 seniors and students; $4 kids; free on Sundays…
Final Stop?
Mayor John Cranley and a majority of City Council appear ready to halt Cincinnati’s $132.8 million streetcar project on Dec. 4 — and voters might not get a final say if council ends up canceling the project after further reviewing the costs to do so. In front of council are 11 ordinances totaling $1.25 million…
Cincinnati vs. the World 12.04.13
A Mall of America security guard arrested a 29-year-old man in Minnesota for using the last $1,000 to his name to make it rain on shoppers from a fourth-floor balcony. Serge Vorobyov says during the past year he lost his job, fell behind on his bills and got divorced and decided to pay his final…
Atmosphere at City Hall Changes for the Worse
It took less than 30 minutes for it to become very clear on Dec. 2 that change had come to City Hall, but it likely wasn’t the change Cincinnati voters were expecting. Within half an hour, Vice Mayor David Mann abruptly recessed the Streetcar Committee he chairs. The cause: Some council members, including top vote-getter…
Worst Week Ever!: Nov. 27-Dec. 3
White People Live Too Long Black people in Cincinnati don’t live as long as white people, and if you follow the logic of many conservatives it’s probably because black people don’t work hard and then make bad decisions, leading to unhealthy lifestyles and having to live in parts of town that don’t have grocery stores.…
A Scribble Resurrection?
Since canceling the long-running Scribble Jam Hip Hop fest almost five years ago, co-founder Nick Accurso and his fellow organizers have been inundated with requests to bring it back. A very vocal group of Scribble participants and advocates have offered ideas on everything from where to put on the festival to suggesting organizers downsize the…
Return to Sender
When Cleveland and Lisa Cox returned their 9-year-old adopted boy to Butler County Family and Children Services Oct. 24 they didn’t tell him he wasn’t coming back home with them, only that he was going to a hospital to be “fixed” of his allegedly violent and aggressive behavior toward the family that has had him…
Circumstantial Evidence
W hen Cincinnati Police Officer Orlando Smith struck Natalie Cole with his police cruiser on Nov. 9, his car’s camera malfunctioned and failed to record the collision. Although police quickly closed a small section of Over-the-Rhine to investigate the immediate scene and Cole survived the ordeal, the malfunctioning camera left police and those close to…
Out of the Furnace
Writer-director Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart, with a winsomely scraggly performance from Jeff Bridges, tapped into a raw, living-on-the-edge vibe that obviously would have inspired a Country song or two. Living and loving ain’t easy, especially as you age and find that you haven’t quite grown up the way you should have. So this time, with…
Sex, Lies, and ‘Vinyl’: VOD Debut for Sonja Kinski
The turning of the calendar page to 2014 will mark the 25th anniversary of Steven Soderbergh’s breakthrough Sex, Lies, and Videotape, so it is somewhat fitting to end 2013 with a review of a new video-on-demand release — writer-director JR Hughto’s Diamond on Vinyl — that seems to revisit the murky interpersonal space between strangers…
There Are Too Many Types of Toothpaste
Buying personal care products is more difficult than it needs to be. There are about 10 different items I run out of every couple of months. This never happens at the same time and I never know what exactly I’m looking for when I go to replace them. It’s ridiculous to be standing in the…
!!! with Yip Deceiver
Coalescing in Sacramento, Calif., more than a dozen years ago, !!! (pronounced "Chk Chk Chk") is one of the prime members of the Dance Punk movement it helped usher in with such like-minded new-millennium acts as LCD Soundsystem, The Juan Maclean and The Rapture. The band’s five full-length albums are exuberant fun-house rides built to…
Morning News and Stuff
City Council plans to vote today on 11 ordinances that would indefinitely pause the $132.8 million streetcar project while council members review and weigh the costs of cancellation versus the costs of completion. The measures are expected to pass. Because they each allocate at least $100,000 in funding, the ordinances are not susceptible to referendum.…
Bare Mutants with Bummers Eve
The late Lou Reed and his bandmates in The Velvet Underground famously influenced pretty much the whole of Indie Rock as we know it. Add Chicago’s Bare Mutants to the list of bands beholden to the Velvets’ primal pull. Former Ponys frontman Jered Gummere took an extended hiatus after the demise of his previous noisemaking…
‘Airborne’ Turns 20
Cincinnatians love seeing this city on-screen — in Rain Man, The Ides of March, Traffic, Bar Rescue, etc. — and there’s no greater film that encapsulates the spirit of the Queen City (plus the awesomeness of early ’90s Rollerblading and turtlenecks) more than the seminal sporty romantic comedy Airborne. Yes, Airborne: The local cult classic about a…
The Koffin Kats with Kemper, Formally Lethargic, The Nothing and Shriek
The Koffin Kats have self-described their musical vision as Gothabilly, and it’s difficult to argue with that effective compound word assessment. A few discerning listens reveal the Detroit trio also exhibits the tattoos of Punk, Metal, Surf, Garage and Psych, and while that could be considered Rock critic nitpicking, there’s no arguing the fact that…
Offbeat Holiday Shows
It’s early December and time for you to decide which hip holiday show you want to take in. Of course, you just missed last weekend’s tour stop of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The Musical, a musical adaptation of the famous Dr. Seuss tale about the green meanie Christmas hater, a latter-day Ebenezer Scrooge. And…
Local Composer Gives Back Through Music for the Holidays
C omposer Rick Sowash has a simple idea: Anyone can buy any of his CDs for any amount they want to pay and he promises to give half to the St. George Food Pantry. The other half goes to cover the cost of producing the albums, which is considerable. The Mansfield, Ohio native and Cincinnati…
Goblin with Zombi
Italian horror movie maestro Dario Argento’s bloody visions found a capable partner in Goblin, a five-piece band whose trippy, creeped-out soundtracks became as important as what was up on the screen. Influenced by the proggy sonic excursions of King Crimson and early Genesis, Goblin almost stumbled into its soundtrack work — Argento, after failing to…
Two New Additions Bring Great Beauty to the Art Museum
The Cincinnati Art Museum lately has been concentrating on what it calls “node” shows — small-to-medium-size exhibitions and gallery changes highlighting its collection or local angles. The bigger shows with a national/international focus will return in a year or so when the new Western & Southern Gallery for special exhibitions is complete. But in the…
The Nationalist
C hris Matthews is a political junkie of unyielding enthusiasm. His nightly talk show, Hardball, has been an MSNBC staple for more than a decade, a showcase for its irascible host’s boundless passion for politics and the importance of good governance in the lives of everyday Americans. Say what you will about the guy’s presentational…
A Cleveland Story
Around this time every year, one of our many annual holiday traditions entails saying things like, “the soft glow of electric sex.” That, of course, is a quote from one of the best Christmas films ever made, A Christmas Story, which turned 30 last month. When the film hit theaters in 1983, it wasn’t a…
The Return of the Shillito’s Elves
The Shillito’s elves’ journey from the North Pole has been a long one. From the holiday windows of the John Shillito & Co. department store to a home in Mariemont, they’ve captured the imagination of Cincinnatians for decades. From the mid-1950s to the mid-1980s, the Shillito’s department store served as a home for two different…
