Older Residents Recall Fostoria of Long Ago
December 21, 1997, article two

This is the first in a series of articles containing the reminiscences of some of our older fellow Fostorians. We hope it will stir pleasant memories in some and acquaint others with the manner of life and living in Fostoria, mostly in the period before World War 11.

"There've been a lot of changes. It's not like it used to be."

Richard Vogel knows. Richard is a lifelong Fostoria resident and has seen many changes in his eight decades.

It's in the nature of human perception that we sometimes don't fully appreciate the changes around us. A new building here, an old one torn down there, a street widened, a new church, a plant closed, a business relocated. Year after year, the landscape of a community changes bit by bit, not just architecturally, but socially, too.

When enough time passes, the change is dramatic and younger folks have a hard time imagining how it was back in "the good old days."

Take Saturday nights in downtown Fostoria. Could you believe that once people drove downtown late on Saturday afternoon to park their card and walk home? That way when they cam beck downtown in the evening, they would have a prime parking spot.

Another lifelong Fostorian is Dorothy Gamertsfelder.

"On Saturday night people would go downtown. That was the social activity of the evening for people," recalled Dorothy. "When I was just a little girl, my father would drive our Seneca motor car downtown in the afternoon so he could get a good place on Main Street. My mother would sit in the car and wait for my father and I while we would go to the movie and she would see all her friends. Everybody came downtown on Saturday night and every store was open."

When Dorothy and her dad emerged from the movie, there would be her mother, Rose, in the Seneca, surrounded by a knot of her friends, visiting and passing a Saturday night on Main Street. (Now Rose didn't spend all her time in the car. She took advantage of those open stores, giving some shopping her undivided attention.).

Juanita Dunfee and Helen Sour, too, recalled the weekly parking contest. They said, too, that you didn't need anyplace special to go on a Saturday night. You could meet your friends just standing on a corner or walking down the street.

Paul Carbin recalled a fellow named Dillon who was especially choosy about his Saturday night parking. He showed up extra early to claim the same Main St. spot every single week.

One of the popular night spots in Fostoria was the Moose Club, located on the second floor of the old Commercial Bank building. Small 10-15 piece orchestras provided the music that everyone danced to.

"Fostoria really had a topnotch orchestra, the Richards brothers, Jim and Bill," said Paul. "They lived on the corner of High and Main, the big brick house."

Most members of the band were local musicians, many were Fostoria High School grads, products of the music program of Jack Wainwright. They played at the Moose and other places including The Black Cat. This was in the late 1920's and early ‘30s. Eventually, the Richards took their band national. They played in medium sized cities like Ft. Wayne and big towns like Chicago.

Another local band played under the baton of Bid Kuhn whose daughter, Virginia was the piano player until she married a fellow named Ed Clark and moved to Idaho.

The Black Cat has been a Fostoria institution for nearly 70 years and most of us have dined there. But several folks at Independence House can recall that the Black Cat began as a small shop serving up barbeque sandwiches. There were gas pumps out front. In fact, it was once known as the Black Cat Bar-B-Q. In the 30s it was called the Black Cat Nite Club.

It was in the late 20s that the restaurant was built. Dorothy Gamertsfelder said, "They first built the area where the bar is now. Then they built a room on the back. They had an orchestra out there and we could go out there and dance."

One of the fellows who played in bands there was Dick Downs who later gained wide recognition as the director of Fostoria's national champion V.F.W. Band.

Syble Lonsway worked for all the owners of the Black Cat except the first, Cecil and Minnie Burkhart, who had it from 1929 to 1952.

"I started out with Orville and Juanita (Twining). Juanita was the one who taught you how to be a waitress and how to set up the table. And I tell you, she drove that into your head."

(Next - since we ended with the Black Cat, we'll next begin by exploring some of the eateries that once satisfied local appetites. The installment is tentatively titled "Food for Thought" or "What's Eating You?")

I would like to thank the many people who generously took time to share their memories with me including Maybelle Kinn, Dorothy Gamertsfelder, Chester Jordan, Richard Vogel, Luella Jackson, Helen Sour and Juanita Dunfee, the reminiscing group at Good Shepherd, Evelyn Barringer, Lillian Thaxton, Erma Hutchins, Wanda McDonald, Mabel Holcomb, Wilbert Holloway, Syble Lonsway and Paul Carbin. We will be exploring more of their recollections in future issues.