And They’re Off!

By Emily Rinaman, Technical Services Librarian

The term “derby” can be used to describe several types of events in which Tiffinites partake. The Cub Scouts of America’s annual Pinewood Derby races is a tournament in the early spring that involves local troops who send the top winners in different categories onto district championships. Then there’s the demolition derby at the Seneca County Fair. Many might also watch (or attend) the Kentucky Derby at the beginning of May, where bets can be placed on the winning horse in each division.

Of the many things in history that are attributed to Ohio, including seven U.S. presidents and the light bulb, is the All-American Soap Box Derby, which has been held in Dayton at Derby Downs for the past 83 years. Derby Downs was built on a hill close to the Akron Municipal-Fulton Airport during the Works Progress Administration in 1936 and is owned by the City of Akron. It has a year-round administrative staff that manages not just the main race, but also educational camps and over 100 preliminary races throughout the country that lead up to the main event in July.

Now, when I think of a soap-box derby, the first picture that pops into my head is the 1994 Little Rascals movie. The entire film’s plot is centered around the gang’s plans to build a car and win the annual local derby race. It is basically an expanded version of an episode of Our Gang called “Derby Day”.

Back in the 1950s, a group of boys from West Lodi decided to do something very similar and create their own derby in Seneca County. According to “Lands in Lodi”, these teenagers set up a racetrack on a different hill each summer—“with the first year being the hill behind the former "Doc" Bowen house and the next, the steep barn bank at the big brick house on the west side of CR 27 just north of Lodi. (The former Nathan Butz home). The second year the boys sold tickets on a lamp to raise money to be able to give out small prizes to the racers.”

Phil and Gene Slaymaker from West Lodi.

https://bit.ly/SCDLSoapBoxDerby

At this time, the Soap Box Derby had become pretty popular. Smithsonian Magazine states that in the late 1950s, the same time these boys were creating their own derby, the All-American Derby in Dayton was attracting the same numbers we would see today at a Big 10 football game. And West Lodi wasn’t the only place to see a makeshift derby. The Ohio Memory Project, which houses the Seneca County Digital Library, has photos from a derby in Elmore.

While Seneca County residents beyond West Lodi may not have had a high interest in soap box derbies (at least nothing appears to be recorded),it has had many boating races on the Sandusky River. When the Heritage Festival first started in the early 1980s, there were several interesting types of races in the schedule of events-- a canoe race, an 8-mile bike race, a foot race, a crayfish race and an unusual craft race. Winners of the canoe and unusual craft races, which embarked at Kiwanis Manor, won $100 each.

Starting in 2017, the Tiffin Elks now host a Regatta race at Bel-Mar Landing. Regatta races are amateur boat races and this version is held to raise money for a different charity of choice each summer.

Spectators line up to watch the Heritage Festival’s Canoe Derby at the first Heritage Festival in 1979.

https://bit.ly/SCDLCanoeDerby

Historically, horse races have been (and remain) a traditional form of racing in Seneca County as well. There’s even a section in the 1914 Tiffin City Directory’s index called “Horse Dealers and Trainers” and the following names are listed: Frank Callahan, George Heller, Henry Kingseed, Larry Lease, Floyd Lease, Thomas Leahy, and Vere Swander.

Harness racing remains a classic at the Seneca County Fair but there are plenty of accounts of unofficial horse racing among Seneca County residents. Omar, Ohio often had saddle races and in Bascom there was once a race over a building that at one time had been the town’s post office (as well as a saloon and shoe repair shop). Two gentlemen raced their horse and buggies from Bascom to Fostoria. “Hubach arrived first and bought it. As a result of the race, Grummel lost a good driving horse” (Bascom Then and Now).

The most unusual race this county has seen is an outhouse race in 1987 as part of Bloomville’s Sesquicentennial celebration. Surprisingly, you can find annual outhouse racing in other states, including Alaska and Virginia City, Nevada. The finish line tape is even toilet paper.

Works cited:

Derby Downs, https://www.soapboxderby.org/derby-downs/derby-downs.aspx

Directory of the City of Tiffin 1914, W.M. Lawrence & Company, 1914. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/39479/rec/1

Fourth Annual Heritage Festival 1817-1982, Sayger Printing, 1982. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/27555/rec/1

Smithsonian Magazine, Megan Gambino. “The History of Soap Box Derby”. June 30, 2011. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-history-of-soap-box-derby-25139930/

Sketches of Bloomville and Bloom Township, Bloomville Sesquicentennial Committee. 1987. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/41807/rec/1

Virginia City, Nevada. https://visitvirginiacitynv.com/events/world-championship-outhouse-races/

Young, Rodney. Photographs 1st Tiffin Heritage Festival 1979. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/45880

Seneca County Digital Library, Ohio Memory Project, https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27

And ‘Bingo’ Was His Name-Oh!

By Emily Rinaman, Technical Services Librarian

There’s one word that’s fun to say, but not fun to hear, and no, I don’t mean a cuss word. Or the word ‘no’. It’s BINGO!

Even after the invention of Nintendos and smart phones, the simple game of BINGO has stood the test of time.

Since it’s evolution in the late 1920s and early 1930s, there are have been all kinds of creative versions of BINGO. Some versions replace the letter and numbers with pictures. In Travel Bingo kids watch for their designated features like squirrels and red cars and yell “BINGO” every 20 minutes instead of “Are we there yet?” every 2 minutes. Bakery bingos remain popular because the prizes are delicious desserts.

The calling of numbers is also a form of bingo. Keno, present in many sports bars across the U.S., is a modern form of this type—participants must predict the numbers that will get drawn before the round starts.

A picnic program for employees of the former Hanson Clutch & Machinery Co. in Tiffin.

https://bit.ly/SCDLPicnic

A loose version of this is recorded having been played in West Lodi, Ohio. For their 1988 sesquicentennial celebration, residents organized a cow chip bingo. According to an article on the Modern Farmer website, this is how cow chip bingo works:

“A grid is set up, typically on an outdoor field, comprised of numbered, one-yard squares. Spectators buy tickets that stake out a specific square. If ‘Bessie’ chooses your real estate to do her business, then shazaam: You’re a winner! Typically only one cow takes the field, but flashier fundraisers release up to four. In multi-cow play, the first dookie earns a grand prize, with lesser awards for second and third poopers.”

Just like the Tesla-Edison debate on which one discovered electricity, critics are divided on who “invented” modern bingo cards first—Edmund Lowe or Hugh J. Ward. Like many other inventions, it basically boils down to who secured the “patent” first. But let’s face it, true Bingo players don’t care who invented the cards; they just want as many cards as they can handle managing at one time. If you’ve ever tried enjoying a game of Bingo with 3 young children by yourself, all of whom are having trouble reading their cards, and succeeded, please tell me your secret!

Bingo has become so intense, you can even go on the World Championship Gaming and Bingo Cruise in November 2020.

In the 1950s and 1960s it even intensified the rift between Catholics and Protestants because Protestants saw the game being played at Catholic church festivals as “gambling” (whether that happened here in Tiffin during the St. Joseph festivals is unknown). Believe it or not there are actually some strict laws on Bingo. The World Casino Directory points out that “most local bingo halls support a charity of some sort and as a matter of fact, in most areas, casino’s aside, this is required by state law. In fact, charging for bingo isn’t even legal in the state of Utah; however some savvy bingo diner owners have found a way around this law, by charging for dinner, and offering bingo for free”. 

Works cited:

“Bingo, Beano, Lotto” The Big Game Hunter. https://thebiggamehunter.com/games-one-by-one/bingo/

“Bingo Around the United States”. World Casino Directory. https://www.worldcasinodirectory.com/united-states/bingo

Hanson Clutch & Machinery Co., 1956. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/37511/rec/1

Lands in Lodi. West Lodi Historical Society, 2007. https://www.ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27/id/44538/rec/2

“Turn Cow Poop into $10,000? Bingo!” Modern Farmer. https://modernfarmer.com/2013/08/cow-poop-for-cash-and-prizes/

Seneca County Digital Library, Ohio Memory Project, https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27

Tossing into the History of Pizza

By Emily Rinaman, Technical Services Librarian

Pizza and football have become synonymous with one another, especially on Super Bowl Sunday. In fact, the National Football League actually designates an official Pizza Sponsor (in 2019 it was granted to Pizza Hut for the first time) and according to Tableskift.com, Pizza Hut and Domino’s each expected to sell about 2 million pizzas on Super Bowl Sunday in 2019. But what is now an American staple food was once a widely unknown (and bizarre) concept until veterans brought the idea home with them after serving in World War II. In fact, pizza as we know it today wasn’t even something most Italians beyond Naples, Italy, had even heard of until World War II began. When Allied soldiers invaded Italy in 1943, they were so taken with the pizza they encountered that they asked for it wherever else they went (not knowing it was still largely local at that time).

While Reino’s can claim having served the “first commercial pizza” in Tiffin (we will get into that more later), only the Italian Tiffinites were making pizza at home. To put it into perspective, Fort Ball Pizza wasn’t founded until 1978. There was once Tony’s Spaghetti House in Tiffin in the early 1960s (spaghetti was a much more familiar Italian dish to most at the time), and Domino’s became one of the very first nationwide pizza places in the 1960s after having its beginnings as a local shop in Michigan.

There are adaptions to pizza that are authentically Italian. Calzones and Stromboli have some of the same ingredients but are molded and shaped in different forms. A calzone or “foldover” is basically a folded pizza that originated in Naples and traditionally uses ricotta cheese, although numerous versions have been created. They are sealed with crimped edges. Stromboli is a rectangular-shaped topping-filled dough meant to be sliced and served as a meal. Lasagna and meatball sandwiches were the crowd favorites at Pizza Villa, which was once located on Washington St. (Food historians believe that lasagna is one of the world’s oldest pastas, and was likely eaten by ancient Greeks and Romans).

Giovanni Reino's naturalization record, found on the Seneca County Digital Library.

https://bit.ly/SCDLReino

These are the dishes that the 4 million Southern Italian immigrants brought with them when they arrived in America between 1880-1920. They were serving these dishes as meals long before the pizza followed them to the States. One of those immigrants was Giovanni Reino, who immigrated from San Bartolomeo, Italy, a small village in the mountains near Naples, in the mid-1920s. The story goes that Webster Industries sent fliers to Italians in this area seeking employees. “It was almost as if the entire community packed up and left for America,” John Reino, owner of Reino’s Pizza & Pasta, said. “They would send letters to family and friends back home to convince them to join the rest of them in America.” The waves of immigrants from this part of Italy partially contributed to the development of Little Italy of Tiffin (in the neighborhoods surrounding Tiffin University).

While Giovanni was a moulder and fireman his entire life, Frankie knew from an early age that he wouldn’t like factory work. He began cooking at various restaurants around town in the 1930s and then joined the Navy as a cook in World War II. After the war was over, Giovanni bought Frankie his house so that Frankie would have enough money to start his own business. Frankie’s son (and Giovanni’s grandson), John, has owned the family business since 1983.

The average American eats 46 slices of pizza a year but in 1950 the average American probably ate that quota in hamburgers. An article framed on the wall by the front door from Feb. 1986 states that Francis Joseph “Frankie” Reino, the son of Giovanni Reino. originally opened Reino’s for business as a hamburger joint known as “The Lighthouse Restaurant”  in 1950. It quickly became popular with the college students. In fact, it was so known for its hamburgers, John says, that when his father replaced the “hamburger” sign with “pizza” on the outside of the building, locals thought the business had been sold.

Today, there are many options when it comes to finding the perfect pizza. Besides Reino’s, Domino’s and Pizza Hut, Tiffin is also home to Fort Ball, Napoli’s, A.J’s Heavenly Pizza, Jac and Do’s, Marco’s and Little Ceasar’s. Additionally, there’s Sauced in New Riegel, Scooterz in Bettsville, Fat Head’s in Republic, Fostoria Pizza Palace and Red’s Pizza in Fostoria. Every year Tiffin even hosts a Pizza Palooza. In 2019, attendees purchased  tickets for $1 that could be redeemed for a slice of pizza from any participating vendor. Half of each ticket sold was donated towards downtown revitalization.

What exactly is the composition of pizza? Recipes and ingredients have widely evolved over the years. The pizza that the American soldiers discovered was sold by Neopolitan street vendors and was made as an “on-the-go” meal for the working class. The vendors carried the pizzas as a whole in boxes around the streets and would slice the pizza based on the customers’ appetites and funds. The simplest forms were only topped with garlic, lard, salt, olive oil and herbs (such as oregano). Sometimes ones could be found with caciocavallo, a cheese made from horse’s milk, or fish (anchovies, anyone?). Fancier ones might have contained artichokes, capers, olives, mushrooms, peas, hard-boiled eggs, tuna, shrimp and prosciutto.

An ad for Mama Monaco’s in the November 1970 issue of the Tystanac, a publication of Tiffin University.

https://bit.ly/SCDLMamaMonaco

Marinara sauce, the base ingredient on most pizzas, wasn’t always a topping. “Marinaro” actually means “sailor” in Italian, and “sailor sauce,” as it was called, came about when canned tomatoes were among the only items available at local grocers during the war.

Today, hundreds of versions of pizza have been created by inventive minds. At Sauced in New Riegel, you can try a loaded potato pizza or “The Blue Jacket,” where $1 per pizza ordered is donated to the New Riegel School District. Pinterest abounds with breakfast and fruit pizza recipes.

Sicilian pizza, a more traditional version, is a menu item at Napoli’s Pizzaria. Traditional Sicilian Pizza doesn’t use mozzarella but rather a cheese made from the milk of sheep and goats. Among today’s Italians, it’s a tradition to serve this type of pizza on holidays like New Year’s Eve (another big “Pizza Day” in the U.S.).

A newer trend that is gaining popularity is the emergence of sweet pizzas and traditional Italian pizzerias are trying to accommodate this trend by using unique ingredients like Nutella, honey, fruit jam, yogurt and cinnamon and sugar. Fort Ball serves cinnamon sticks and apple pizza daily in its buffet. Scooterz makes cherry streusel pizza and A.J.’s Heavenly Pizza makes “pizza brownies”. These dessert pizzas may trigger fond memories for some natives of Tiffin who may recall Mama Monaco’s, an Italian bakery in Tiffin the 1960s and 1970s.

If you want traditional Italian pizza, John Reino recommends the “Frankie’s Original” at Reino’s, which consists of mozzarella, provolone, Parmesan cheese and thickly sliced pepperoni. Frankie was coaxed by the Heidelberg College students from Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania to add pizza to his menu (pizza had already become popular in this part of the country with all the Italians who worked in the steel mills there). Through connections, he was offered to “work” in Luigi’s in Akron (a restaurant that still exists to this day) for one week to learn how to make an Americanized version of pizza that was popular on their menu. The story according to John is that pre-sliced pepperoni wasn’t an option in those days and his father didn’t have a meat slicer, so when he sliced the pepperoni sticks with a knife, they naturally turned out thick. While today John and his team do use a meat slicer, if you order a “Frankie’s Original”, you will enjoy the signature thick slices of pepperoni.

Works cited:

“Who Invented Pizza?” Gayle Turim, 2012

“A History of Pizza”, Alexander Lee, 7 July, 2018. https://www.historytoday.com/archive/historians-cookbook/history-pizza

“What is Sicilian Pizza?”, Lev-Tov, Deborah. https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-sicilian-pizza-2708787

“A History of Spaghetti and Meatballs”, Larson, Sarah. 10 December, 2013. https://www.escoffieronline.com/a-history-of-spaghetti-and-meatballs/

“Is Spaghetti and Meatballs Italian?” Esposito, Shaylyn. 6 June, 2013. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/is-spaghetti-and-meatballs-italian-94819690/

“What is the difference between a calzone and Stromboli?” Delany, Alex. 2 May, 2018. https://www.bonappetit.com/story/difference-between-a-calzone-and-a-stromboli

Interview with John Reino, 2 December, 2019.

Seneca County Digital Library, Ohio Memory Project, https://ohiomemory.org/digital/collection/p15005coll27