Abstract

Tad Gish shares his experiences growing up in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, during the 1930s. Gish discusses his family history, including his grandfather's funeral home and his father's dental practice, and describes the vibrant community life along West 14th Street. He reflects on the neighborhood's demographic, primarily composed of hardworking, foreign-born individuals, particularly of Polish descent. The interview also addresses the decline of Tremont due to industrial changes and suburban migration, as well as Gish's education, military service in World War II, and career. Gish concludes with insights on the neighborhood's revitalization and evolving community dynamics.

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Interviewee

Gish, Tad (interviewee)

Project

Tremont History Project

Date

2003

Document Type

Oral History

Duration

37 minutes

Transcript

Interviewer [00:00:01] We have with us here today Mr. Tad Gish. And he’s going to tell us a little bit about what it was like growing up in Tremont. Tad, first of all, would you do me a favor and spell your last name for me?

Tad Gish [00:00:13] G, I, S, H.

Interviewer [00:00:17] Thanks, Tad. Can you tell me what it was like, what your earliest memories were growing up in Tremont?

Tad Gish [00:00:23] Well, first of all, I disagree with certain aspects of what Tremont is. When I grew up, West 14th Street was not a part of Tremont. Tremont started on the other side of Lincoln Park. I guess I was brought up on Professor at the funeral home right across from the bank. The funeral home was my grandfather’s. My grandfather also happened to be president of the bank at my birth. My father, who was a mechanical engineer, a graduate of Michigan, decided to go to dental school here at Western Reserve. And four years later he became a dentist and opened his office at the corner of Literary and Professor. He had that office there for I don’t know how many years. But eventually he ended up on West 14th Street at the corner branch where we moved to from Lakewood. And he had his offices in the back of the there until that property was taken by one of the turnpikes coming through there. It was right across the street from Zion Church. I went to Pilgrim Church for kindergarten, and through the fourth grade I was in Scranton School. After that I moved to Lakewood with my family. However, my dad retained his offices there, and quite a bit of our family was in that area. West 14th, as you probably know, was known as the Church of Streets, the Street of Churches. And it was quite prominent in its day. It was a very, very beautiful street. And it was really nicely connected to downtown Cleveland with the old Central Viaduct, which was lost. The viaduct was also known for having a streetcar plunge into the river from up above. But you probably heard those stories. What are my recollections about the entire area? Well, we sort of felt that the Tremont area where we lived and I referred to where we lived on West 14th Street, belonging to people basically who worked in the steel mills. Granted, they were my dad’s patients, too, so it was neither here nor there. I remember going down Branch towards the Flats to a barber shop when I was a young kid. I have very few recollections about going to Pilgrim Church as a kindergartner or to Scranton School as a child. I do remember transferring to St. Augustine’s Academy, I might add, school for girls between the fourth and fifth grade and entering the fifth grade at that time. I’ve been afraid you’re going to have to ask me questions if you want specifics.

Interviewer [00:04:35] no problem. I’ve got plenty of them. I was wondering, what did you do when you were hanging out with your friends when you were a younger man? Where did you go? What did you do?

Tad Gish [00:04:44] Well, I really have very little recollection of friends in the area. I remember going to the Jennings on Saturdays. Two cowboy movies, a serial and two comedies for a nickel. So that goes back a long, long way. My mother and my aunt, who were sisters at one point during the silent movie era, played the piano and did a little singing at the Jennings and the Garden. I used to refer to them as [inaudible]. That was always a problem, but it was a good relationship. Actually, the house that my parents moved into on West 14th Street, it’s sort of a funny story. My grandparents owned a home on West 14th, four doors away from the corner of Branch and 14th. At one point in our lives we lived in that house on the second floor. It was a two-family also at that point. My uncle, who was a physician, owned a house on the corner of Branch and 14th. It eventually switched around to where my uncle, the doctor, bought my grandparents’ home. And we were in Lakewood, of course, at that time. And after several years, I’m sure we bought the house on the corner where we did a lot of remodeling, I guess.

Interviewer [00:06:46] Any memories of any neighbors, ethnic neighbors? I know there’s a lot of ethnicity in Tremont.

Tad Gish [00:06:55] Yes, it was basically a Polish area. I was- My background is Polish. Needless to say, the name has been changed. Primarily because it was simpler going to an area like Lakewood at that time. Yes. As a matter of fact, next door to us was another doctor, Dr. Mike Alenko[?], I believe. I don’t remember whether he’s alive or dead anymore. I presume that he’s dead.

Interviewer [00:07:34] Mike Alenko?

Tad Gish [00:07:35] Mike Alenko. We knew all the neighbors along the street there. I never did see much activity at the Zion Church, the one with the big steeple. I never knew what was going on at the big apartment house, which was diagonally away from the house. It was a lot of activity went out at the older West 14th and I think was Auburn [inaudible]. You met a lot of people there. You did a lot of- Drank a lot of Coke and you talked to a lot of people and you sometimes went out for the evening and that was the usual meeting place.

Interviewer [00:08:33] When did you move out of Tremont?

Tad Gish [00:08:41] ’28, ’29, probably ’29.

Interviewer [00:08:47] What year did you graduate?

Tad Gish [00:08:50] From high school, ’39. Then of course went to college.

Interviewer [00:08:59] Where’d you go to college?

Tad Gish [00:09:02] Alliance Junior College and then Mount Union.

Interviewer [00:09:06] What do you think is special about the Tremont neighborhood, in your opinion?

Tad Gish [00:09:13] I think it’s rather exciting to see people interested in redoing a neighborhood that was pretty nice at one time.

Interviewer [00:09:28] What do you mean by nice?

Tad Gish [00:09:30] Well, this was a neighborhood of foreign-born people who obtained the kind of money and through hard work to buy small homes and then took particular pride in their homes. In my day you never saw a dilapidated home around that area. Everything was well kept. The small 2 by 4 yards were mowed and taken care of. There were bushes, flowers. I’m beginning to see that coming back because people are taking care of the homes there and there’s a lot of money to be made. It’s rather nice and it’s a good area too, based on downtown Cleveland.

Interviewer [00:10:30] Have you been back to the neighborhood recently?

Tad Gish [00:10:32] Quite a few times. I have a niece living in the area. We do enjoy going to several places for brunch, lunch, sometimes dinner. Do we have close friends who live there? No, we just have niece.

Interviewer [00:11:02] What do you think contributed to the sense of community feeling that made it such a good neighborhood to grow up in?

Tad Gish [00:11:14] Well, as a young boy I remember walking past the Lincoln Park on my way to the theater and having a bunch of kids run across the park and take my dime away from me. I wasn’t about to fight four or five of them. This was common to the area. You had that sort of thing in virtually almost, I guess every neighborhood. I don’t think this was any different a neighborhood than any of the others. There wasn’t that much money flowing around there because these people were all hard-working and every nickel and even penny counted. A penny at one point was a pretty important. I’m very pleased with what’s happening there now, but I think it’s economics that is the bottom line.

Interviewer [00:12:26] You think economics is the reason why it’s suddenly turned around?

Tad Gish [00:12:30] Yes.

Interviewer [00:12:31] What do you think made it- What do you think made Tremont go down?

Tad Gish [00:12:40] Money. Well, that’s root of all evils, I guess. The steel mills kept closing. People who lived there and grew up there, their children decided to go to the suburbs, which happens and is happening in every community, I guess in the world. And they just want to lift themselves up a bit. The Flats closed up basically and people had to go someplace and they certainly didn’t want to stay in Tremont. The neighborhood had gone down. You had a project there.

Interviewer [00:13:31] Some people have blamed the project also for the downfall of Tremont. Do you think that was a part of it?

Tad Gish [00:13:39] That part of it. I don’t think all of it is there. Another factor is the fact that you had the Abbey Bridge closed down and of course you lost the Viaduct. And it was a little tough getting downtown from there. You had to buzz over to Scranton and go through the Flats and up Eagle Ramp, those things I remember. I lived back, lived there again in the ’38, ’39 period. Then of course after college and service, come back in ’46, basically get married at ’47. You don’t spend the time there anymore. So you can basically say that I left there in ’39 after spending a couple years in the Tremont area, if you will. It was too bad that the area went down. But let’s look at Cleveland. The same thing has happened there. I’m looking to see areas like maybe West 41st away from Ohio City build up. There are other areas that I think are prime targets for building up and becoming the same type of area Tremont has now become and is becoming. I’m glad I was there. I was born and played a lot in an area that was quite different. We had a beautiful home which was the funeral home, of course, but behind it was a two-story brick stable which was part of the funeral home which sort of curved around the back of all the stores over the Literary. And the entrance to this, the wagon or car entrance of this was on Literary. No entrance to it from Professor. It was a rather fascinating place. I remember sneaking up to the second floor when I was a young child and seeing old caskets and dust-covered reminders of the flu epidemics in those years. A lot of flotsam and jetsam. Good area. I remember having a nice party in the morgue which was on Literary, morgue and casket display area. Having a nice little youthful party there when I was in my teens.

Interviewer [00:16:50] What was dating like?

Tad Gish [00:16:53] Pretty much, I guess the same as it was today. Coke was fine at Lakewood. I found at Lakewood High School dating was a little different. And you had your cadre of people who liked their beer and could get it. And I do know that $2 was enough for a date to go to a dance and Coke and hamburger after the dance, of course. I also Remember working for 25 cents an hour as a soda jerk.

Interviewer [00:17:39] Where’d you work?

Tad Gish [00:17:39] At a place called Miller Drugstore at the corner of West 117th and Clifton Boulevard.

Interviewer [00:17:48] Any memories of the Depression?

Tad Gish [00:17:52] I guess I had one of those fortunate few that had a professional man as a father. I remember the mother and father saying in those days that even then during the Depression was rather tough. That and many times all they could pay on their mortgage was the interest. And this was a house that cost them $13,000 on Lake Avenue, very close to Clifton Park. And not too long ago my daughter went into the same house when it was for sale. It was someplace in the $250,000 range. So I would say that was pretty good appreciation. As a matter of fact, the investment was $172.29. I remember that. But with- I don’t remember that much about the Depression. When I wanted a dime or a quarter to go to the theater, something of that nature, I did it. And of course I remember 11-cent gallon of gas price, which was fine. Usually my dad left enough fuel in the tank so I could put my date and I didn’t have to put any.

Interviewer [00:19:36] Lincoln Park. Tell me more about Lincoln Park. Did you hang out there a lot or just-

Tad Gish [00:19:40] Very little. Very little. I’d go down there with friends every once in a while. I would kick a football around, but that was about all it was good for. There were no tennis courts. Of course, I wasn’t- This was not a tennis neighborhood. No golf course either. I didn’t take up tennis until I moved to Lakewood and it just didn’t happen there. Lincoln Park was an area of grass, trees. They had a little bandstand, if you will. But I never heard anything going on there.

Interviewer [00:20:29] Did you ever hang out at the Merrick House?

Tad Gish [00:20:32] No.

Interviewer [00:20:36] What did your mother do? Was she a stay-at-home mom?

Tad Gish [00:20:38] She was a stay-at-home mom and she died at age 101.

Interviewer [00:20:46] Wow. Wow.

Tad Gish [00:20:51] In those days, if possible, they were all stay-at-home moms. There are very, very few working moms in my recollection. Certainly in the group of people my parents associated with and were friendly with.

Interviewer [00:21:12] You mentioned that there are some kids in high school who liked their beer. Were there any problems with drugs in those days?

Tad Gish [00:21:19] No, no. I remember once walking out of Lakewood High School and there was some kid trying to sell marijuana street for quarter and what’s this? And nobody wanted them. Why should I give you that for marijuana when I can get regular cigarettes two for a penny? I happen to be of that ilk who belonged to a fraternity at Lakewood High at that time. They were very, very prominent. This is prior to the war and they were quite powerful. As a matter of fact, I did very little inasfar as school activity was concerned because you’re involved in your fraternity and many of the girls that we associate were involved in their sororities during that era. Of course, we’re talking about the big band era. We used to have some pretty good dances. My fraternity had Christmas night and we always had a dance down at the old Cleveland Hotel. Had both the main ballroom and the red room. And we would have bands like Duke Ellington. Chick Webb, who was a featured singer at that time, with stat queen Ella Fitzgerald. And she was 17 years old when. When I was there, I remember. We had Tommy Dorsey. He had a few of the good things happening in those days. And the school didn’t compare with it. The hangout was for being on the lake. And that was fun. I never went there. My parents wouldn’t let me. But we did have a lot of fun in high school. And when you’d have a 99-cent dance, for instance, and you had good music, this wasn’t a name band, of course, but you had good music. Beers were a nickel, Cokes were a nickel. And we were talking good. Well, mom spoke. It was a different kind of life. But that’s not Tremont.

Interviewer [00:23:58] I was wondering, you went to Lakewood High your whole life, like all four years?

Tad Gish [00:24:02] All four years, yeah.

Interviewer [00:24:04] Did you live in Tremont and commute or did you move to-

Tad Gish [00:24:07] Oh, no, we lived in Lakewood at that time. I graduated in ’39. We moved to- We moved back into the, as you now classify it, the Tremont area, back in ’38. So I commuted for about a half a year.

Interviewer [00:24:36] Any memories of World War II?

Tad Gish [00:24:38] I was in it. [laughs] I was at Alliance College, transferred to Mount Union, joined V12. I spent a year at Mount Union and was sent to Oberlin with another bunch of people who were in the V7 unit. V12 unit. And I spent a year at Oberlin, then went into the service midshipman school at Northwestern and I spent 32 months in the service. Discharged in April of 46. So then it was back to school together.

Interviewer [00:25:37] I was wondering, you said you went to Pilgrim at kindergarten. Did you go to church frequently growing up, or was that-

Tad Gish [00:25:45] No, no, no. They had a kindergarten class there and it was a- My parents decided to send me there. That’s all? No, we went to Church, to St John Cantius and to St Augustine.

Interviewer [00:26:02] What was Mass spoken in? English or Polish?

Tad Gish [00:26:03] Mass was, depending on what mass you went to, primarily it was Polish at that time, but they always did have an English mass. My two cousins and I think you talked to one of them, Robert Matthews, went to school there and as did his brother. And when they graduated from St. John Cantius, they both went to Staunton Military Academy. They possibly know a little more about the area than I do. In spite of the fact that they were out of town after their grade school period. Then again they went to college too. Out of town.

Interviewer [00:27:01] You mentioned a turnpike coming through the city.

Tad Gish [00:27:04] That was- What is it? We pass it coming in. It’s 176 comes through there and there was a turnoff there into Jennings and that area. And they took the home and they took all. Let’s see, I think six it was. They took about seven homes, eight homes from the corner of Branch and that was it.

Interviewer [00:27:53] Do you think that had a bad effect on the community?

Tad Gish [00:27:56] I don’t think so. I don’t think so. We had a lot of speeding traffic going by, but it was underneath and away from, no different than 71.

Interviewer [00:28:12] Okay. Anything else you can tell me about Tremont that comes to your mind as important?

Tad Gish [00:28:23] Well, I’m glad it’s there. It’s coming back a little bit. I have of course my niece, niece’s husband and of course the two of them have several units of property there that they let on where Sally is and I think you know her.

Interviewer [00:28:44] Do you think like when you go and visit your niece, do you think it’s the same community or do you think it’s changed a little bit?

Tad Gish [00:28:52] It’s changed a little bit. Certainly. Of course you still have- The school there certainly had changed. But I think everything has changed. The world isn’t the same place I grew up in and I can’t say that I’m liking it. But I don’t have too much to do about it nor much to say about it. This isn’t a political interview. It’s- The neighborhood has changed. It’s a little artsy now as compared to what it was. I do like the variety of restaurants we have there. My brother-in-law spends a lot of time there, whose son has several properties there. I’m just thinking that one of the people that lost their home there, or the gal did, she was a date of mine way back when, but she married the Cleveland Browns football player Chet Mutryn. Her name was Sarnecki.

Interviewer [00:30:16] Sarnecki?

Tad Gish [00:30:17] Sarnecki. And she lived there all her life. So she would know a lot about the area, it would seem to me.

Interviewer [00:30:30] Did you have a lot of TVs or radios?

Tad Gish [00:30:34] Just radios at that time and phonograph players. There was no TV until ’46, ’47, ’48, thereabouts. As a matter of fact, my wife and I think got our first TV in ’52.

Interviewer [00:30:51] There were a lot of people out on our front porch listening to the radio or listening to the games?

Tad Gish [00:30:55] Front porch was a nice place to be. We had a nice front porch in our place. It was a much better one down in my aunt and uncle’s place. It was nice to sit back and watch the cars by. The people walked by and there was a lot of walking around those days. I remember going downtown and the streets were absolutely jammed. Walking back and forth was going on all day long. We don’t do that anymore.

Interviewer [00:31:31] Wow. A lot of people walking.

Tad Gish [00:31:34] Not as a matter of walking, but a lot of shopping. I have a- I had a mother-in-law who was - a late mother-in-law - who would go shopping. Her husband would drop her off at 9 o’clock in the morning and she’d take the children with her and put the children into one of the theaters and pay the usher 25 cents to watch the children for three or four hours. Downtown was a completely different place than it is today. We sometimes are afraid to walk the streets. Then you never gave it a concern because nothing happened.

Interviewer [00:32:19] No crime in the neighborhood really, other than bullies?

Tad Gish [00:32:22] And then you had some of the most beautiful shopping in the world starting with Higbee’s and going to May Company and then Bailey’s right there, if you will. And then the Taylor’s and then the Halle’s. It was great. Stearns for furniture. It was a great, great, great time. And as far as the radio was concerned, you listened to a little bit of the news. Not like it is today. I listened to the big band on Sundays. My father, my grandfather and my uncle would listen to Father Coughlin who argued with, constantly, with FDR, or he rebutted him, let’s put it that way. But it was a different era, different life. Very comfortable life, relaxed.

Interviewer [00:33:27] Did your wife come from the neighborhood?

Tad Gish [00:33:32] Basically she grew up and started in, what do they call it? It’s called the Heights. It’s east of Newburgh Heights. Her grandparents lived on Harvard. They moved to Garfield Heights. They had a beautiful home on Edge Park Drive. Her father was an attorney, her brother was a judge. He had a good life.

Interviewer [00:34:16] Did you have any brothers or sisters growing up?

Tad Gish [00:34:18] No, no, I was a spoiled brat. I’m not kidding. Did you talk to Paul Matthews by any chance? I know you talked to Bob. Did you talk to Bob?

Interviewer [00:34:39] No, I spoke to John Palivoda.

Tad Gish [00:34:45] They’re the two cousins that I tell you that went to St. John Cantius School and they might have more information than I do. Professor was a very, very busy, active street when I grew up. I remember the men, the professional men all congregated in the cafe right next to the Lincoln Life Savings and Loan. It was called Ratusz’s Cafe, Ratusz’s, R, A, T, U, S, Z, or something like that. I don’t remember that much anymore, but they did serve a pretty good lunch.

Interviewer [00:35:41] You mentioned your dad owned the bank too?

Tad Gish [00:35:44] No, my dad was a board of directors. My uncle was a board of directors. And my grandfather, of course, was the president. No, they didn’t run the bank there. For a few other people that were involved in the banking business. That was eventually sold to Third Federal and it’s now operated by Third Federal. It was a nice building. I had all the opportunities in the world if I wanted to work in the banking business.

Interviewer [00:36:18] What did you end up doing?

Tad Gish [00:36:20] I ended up basically in sales. I spent, I spent 20 years in the automobile business. Usually working for the factory as a representative of the factory. And then, of course, I spent the last 15 years at Tri-C as Director of Continuing Education on the Western Campus and Eastern Campus. And I retired when I was 65. And I’m sorry I retired. I’ve had several jobs since then.

Interviewer [00:36:57] Anything else you’d like to tell me about Tremont?

Tad Gish [00:37:00] I wish I could. I wish there was something I remembered.

Interviewer [00:37:04] That’s fine. Mr. Gish, appreciate your time. Once again, we’ve been talking with Mr. Tad Gish and Ted, I’d like to thank you.

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