Early Americana

The New York Black Yankees were a Negro baseball league team that played from 1931 to 1948. They played their home games primarily in Paterson, NJ, but also played games New York City. They played their final season in Rochester, NY.

Howdy says, "have good outdoor manners." He first appeared in 1959 in public service advertisements in Pennsylvania. His primary mission was to encourage folks not to litter, prevent forest fires, and otherwise treat the land well.

Burger Chef was a fast-food hamburger chain that started in Indianapolis in 1958. At its peak in the mid 1970s, it was second only to McDonald's in the number of nationwide locations. The chain even made inroads into Canada. In 1982, the chain was sold...

Headquartered in Twinsburg, Revco was founded in 1956. For two generations, it was the Cleveland area's leading drug store chain.

The Dixie Drive-In Theatre opened in 1955 in Louisville's Shively neighborhood. Located at 4915 Dixie Hwy., it closed in 1967. The site was later a K-Mart and is currently a large grocery store.

Van Leunens opened in the 1950s as China-Town. In 1973 the name was changed as its offerings had grown and diversified. The chain grew to seven locations: Amelia, Fairfield, Mason, Milford, and Monfort Heights in Ohio. There were also locations in Erlanger and Newport,...

It was originally called Candyland when it opened in 1928 as a franchise of sorts of the original Candyland on Church Street. It became Vandyand in 1985 to better represent its proximity to Vanderbilt University. For 78 years it was the go-to destination for...

Built in 1912 as Redland Field, the Cincinnati Reds home ballpark was renamed Crosley Field, in honor of the team's new owner, in 1934. It was the home of the Reds until 1970 when they moved into Riverfront Stadium. One of the most iconic...

Threadgill's opened in Austin in 1933 as a gas station and beer bar by Kenneth Threadgill. A live music space was added in the 1970s. A South Austin location was added in 1996. Both closed in 2020.

The Newark Eagles were a professional Negro league baseball team which played in the Negro National League from 1936 to 1948. *Product is official licensed by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

After years of not having a professional football team, Los Angeles received two in 1946. One, the NFL's Rams, had just moved from Cleveland while the other, the Dons, played in the brand new All-America Football Conference. Co-owned by actor Don Ameche, the Dons...

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.

Much like Jungle Jim's down the road in Fairfield, Ohio, Woody's started as a roadside fruit and vegetable stand. Woodrow “Woody” Bowman started it all in 1944 on a half acre of land on the old Dixie Highway. Woody’s Market closed in 1999, and Bowman died...

Harveys was a department store chain that began in 1942 with a store at the corner of 6th Avenue North and Church Street in Nashville. In the 1960s and 1970s it added locations in the surrounding suburbs as well as other towns across Middle...

Little Kings??was first brewed in 1958 by Cincinnati's own Schoenling Brewing Co. It became very popular throughout the Midwest thanks to its distinctive 7-ounce green bottles and famous "king me" slogan.

Paul Wilcox hosted??the TV show "Polka Varieties," the show aired Sundays on Cleveland's WEWS-TV (and eventually was syndicated on stations across the country) from 1956 to 1983. It??highlighted??both local and national polka acts.

Opened in 1954 at 10543 Memphis Ave. in Brooklyn, just outside of Cleveland, this drive-in movie theater entertained moviegoers for over 50 years.

In 1952, a group of Texas millionaires led by brothers Giles and Connell Miller purchased the assets, including the roster, of the New York Yanks football team, which had been sold back to the NFL at the end of the 1951 season. The Millers...

Kiddieland Amusement Park in??Melrose Park, Illinois was home to several classic rides including the??Little Dipper??roller coaster. The park opened in 1929 but closed on September 27, 2009, however the sign for the amusement park can still be seen at the Melrose Park Public Library.

Sam's Sea Food and Hawaiian Village opened on the??Pacific Coast Highway in the Sunset Beach area of Los Angeles in 1923. It was started as a bait and tackle shop in nearby Seal Beach, it morphed into a tiki bar and moved up the...

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.

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...

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.

Bobo was a popular western lowland gorilla who lived at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo from 1953 until he passed away in 1968.

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 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...

The Los Angeles Buccaneers played in the NFL in 1926 and 1927. They represented Los Angeles in name only, and we're instead a travelling team based in Chicago, though it's roster was stocked with players from California.

Edgar Streifthau opened LeSourdsville Lake in 1922. Essentially a family picnic ground at first, the park featured a restaurant, dance hall, bathhouse, and cabins. It grew into a regional destination after World War II and provided lasting summer memories for several generations. In 1978,...

Charter members of the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1920, the Akron Pros were also that circuits first champions. Two years later the APFA became the National Football League. The Pros changed their name to the Indians in 1926 and folded at the...