The Forties

The Los Angeles freeways are a landmark unto themselves in Southern California. Fabled in song, movies, TV, and late night comedy monologues, the system was first conceived just after World War II. he Master Plan of Metropolitan Los Angeles Freeways was adopted by the Regional...

Before major league baseball arrived in Milwaukee in 1953, the city hosted a team in the American Association (AA) starting in 1902.?? A minor league, the AA became an A level circuit in 1903. In 1912, it was designated AA and in 1945, it??...

The Flyers played in the American Hockey Association from 1928 to 1942 before moving to the American Hockey League where the played for the 1944-45 season and again during the 1952-53 season.

The Chicago Rockets played in the All-America Football Conference, a rival to the NFL, from 1946 to 1949, though in their final season they were known as the Hornets. The team played its home games at Soldier Field.

The Kansas City Monarchs were established in 1920 and the longest-running Negro League franchise in professional baseball. Jackie Robinson played for the Monarchs in 1945.They disbanded in 1965. Get the KC Monarchs sticker too! *Design is officially licensed from the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum...

A key part of Cincinnati lore, a local newspaper once described the El Rancho Rankin Hotel as "a two-story embarrassment of neon and a sprawl of giant, improbably-colored fiberglass animals." Built by Colonel Harrison Rankin in 1940, it closed in 1996 and is now...

In 1946, at an industry convention in California, Cincinnati restaurant owner Dave Frisch met Bob Wian who introduced him to a double-decker hamburger called the ???????????????????????????Big Boy.???????????????????????? Dave secured permission to adopt the concept but personalized the Big Boy by dressing it with a...

Boston's third pro football team, after the Braves/Redskins (1933-1936) and Yanks (1944-1948), were founded in 1959 as charter members of the new AFL. In 1970, the team changed it's geographical name to Bay State, before switching to New England a few months later, the...

Steve Crane was an actor turned restaurateur. After opening the highly successful Luau restaurant in Beverly Hills in the late 1940s, he started the Kon Tiki chain in 1958. Most of these were located inside Sheraton hotels.

The Toledo Mercurys played in the International Hockey League (IHL) from 1947 until 1962. It was the league's first franchise outside of the Detroit Metro area. The team won the league championship, the Turner Cup, in its first season. They won again in 1951...

Billed as "delightfully different," the Zombie Hut opened in Sacramento in 1945. Though it changed hands a few times, it remained open until 1990. The restaurant's former location is now the site of a strip mall.

Sivils Drive-In opened in Houston in 1938. After an article in?????Life?????magazine, a Dallas location was opened in 1940. A Birmingham location was later added to the chain.

Opened in 1947, Biffs were a chain small coffee shops located next to gas stations mostly in the San Francisco Bay Area but with several locations in Los Angeles. They closed up shop for good in 1996.

Before the Cincinnati??Swords,??Stingers, Cyclones, and??Mighty Ducks, Cincinnati had the Mohawks. They were a member of the American Hockey League (AHL) from 1949 to 1952, before moving to the International Hockey League (IHL), where they won 5 straight championships. Their home ice was the??Cincinnati Gardens.

The St. Louis Bombers were charter members of the Basketball Association of America (BAA) in 1946. In 1949 they joined the National Basketball Association when the BAA merged with the National Basketball League. The Bombers left the new league after one season.

The Indianapolis Olympians were formed in 1949, the same year the combined Basketball Association of America and the National Basketball League became the National Basketball Association or NBA. They folded in 1953. Pro basketball would not return to the city until 1967 when the...

Red Lion Sparkling Ale was a popular brew produced by the??Burger Brewing Company??in Cincinnati from the 1940s until the early 1970s.

It's a sign! Skyline Chili was established in 1949 by Greek immigrant Nicholas Lambrinides. The first location in Price Hill offered a wonderful panoramic view of downtown Cincinnati, which inspired the restaurant's name. It has literally become synonymous with Cincinnati-style chili, as many folks around...

In 1946, at an industry convention in California, Cincinnati restaurant owner Dave Frisch met Bob Wian who introduced him to a double-decker hamburger called the ???????????????????????????Big Boy.???????????????????????? Dave secured permission to adopt the concept but personalized the Big Boy by dressing it with a...

KULA began broadcasting on May 14, 1947. In 1967, it changed it's call letters to KKUA and switched its format to Top-40. It has changed call signs several times since, and today is a talk radio station.

The All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) and played12 seasons starting in 1943 and ending in 1954. The Grand Rapids Chicks played from 1945 until the league folded, winning titles in 1947 and 1953. The AAAGPBL was founded by MLB executives Phillip Wigley, Branch...

Detroit's pro basketball team was established in Fort Wayne in 1937 as a semi-pro squad called the Zollner Pistons. Fred Zollner, a manufacturer of pistons, owned the team. They turned pro in 1941 and joined the National Basketball League (NBL). In 1957, the team...

Jerry's was founded in Lexington in 1946, quickly becoming a Kentucky favorite. In 1957, the restaurant began franchising. In 1990, the chain was acquired by Denny's who converted most locations to that nameplate while renaming about a dozen locations Jerry's J-Boy, after it's signature...

The Tiny Hut tiki bar was a restaurant located in Walnut Hills, California. It was in operation in the 1940s and 1950s.

The Indianapolis Clowns a professional baseball team in the Negro American League. They came to Indianapolis in 1946 after stints in Cincinnati, Miami, and as a barnstorming team. They left the Negro American League in 1954 but continued to play exhibition games into the...

WQXI first went on the air in 1948 and played the pop standards of the day. In the 1960s it moved to a top-40/rock & roll format, before switching to oldies in the 1970s. The station is most famous for being the inspiration for...

In 1946, Ohio football legend Paul Brown was named head coach of brand new football team, one that would come to bear his name. After for years in the upstart All-America Football Conference, which they dominated, Cleveland moved to the established league and won...

The Portland Eagles played in the Pacific Coast Hockey League from 1944 until 1951.

The Pittsburgh Ironmen were a charter member of the Basketball Association of America, playing their home games at Duquesne Gardens. The team ended their only season in 1946-47 with a record of 15 & 45, finishing worst overall in the league.

For their final season, the Chicago Rockets of the AAFC were known as the Hornets. When the league merged with the NFL after the 1949 season, the Hornets players were divided between the Bears and, the then Chicago, Cardinals of the NFL.