Hello, my friends and welcome. It is that time of year again and we are celebrating another anniversary—a birthday of sorts. My Omaha Obsession is now seven years old. This is an unpardonable distraction on your Thursday night but a lazy March fire light gilds the paper as I type this missive and the air is heavy with illusions in my 1940’s house. What a year it’s been. To walk around Omaha with you has been a perpetual delight. You always say the unexpected thing and I adore you for it. We have looked for remnants of old Omaha and found quite a few in our years together.
Woman flyer, seated at desk at radio. Creator: Savage, John (1903-1989). Publisher: The Durham Museum.
I hope that you don’t mind– I’ve prepared some musical numbers.
To enjoy the beautiful sounds of Dinah Shore singing our Seventh Year Anniversary Song, please press the white arrow in the middle of the screen.
The Mayan Room of the Diplomat Hotel, April 28 1962.
Shortly after our birthday party last year, we were kicked off of Facebook after being hacked (The My Omaha Obsession Facebook Page Was Hacked) and although I had many fine plans and intense devotion to working my old cases, I will share with you that I found myself in a sad clump on the floor. Now I wouldn’t be Irish if I didn’t get morose with you right off the bat, so please understand. Deaths of a family member and my friends along with medical issues among friends and family further threw me into a burning heap, as they say. Did I mention the W. Dale Clark Library, my home away from home, was torn down in August? But they say this is life and just as I watch Omaha get torn down and rebuilt all around us, I work to accept all of what is.
To listen to Sil Austin play us our Birthday song, hit the white arrow.
Omaha trailer. April 1, 2014.
The loss of social media has been an eye opener. I miss the interactions there. Strangely the traffic to this My Omaha Obsession website remains high, although “comments” are down. I do appreciate you taking the time to share my work and what we do here with your family, friends and colleagues. Another odd shift is that while the blog’s public comments are down, emails to the detective’s office are at an all time high. I hope you understand that I cannot keep up with the inbox. It is my sense that we have a greater need to connect with like-minded people more than ever, or anyone with a pulse, but there seems to be a cultural change in people’s trust to disclose in a public forum. I haven’t figured it out. Just theories that I am assessing.
O’Donahue Redmond Co. May of 1906.
Renier’s Pianos & Keyboards at 4900 Dodge Street. 2011.
Eighteen inches of snow in 1965. Creator: Paskach, Robert (1927-2001). Publisher: The Durham Museum.
The Outpost Bar.
Through it all, investigating great properties and teaching myself about architecture remains a great passion of mine. I would like to get buried in my investigations and pull the research books, maps and old timber down around me. Alas I have a professional life and a full life-life that keeps me from moving into my detective’s office. I would like to recommit to knocking out many old stories that I had begun long ago—with the goal of focusing on domestic architecture.
If you’d like to hear the soothing sounds of the great Eddy Howard, please click the white arrow.
Car pulling snow plow on street. Houses are seen in the background. Creator: Savage, John (1903-1989). Publisher: The Durham Museum. Date: February of 1938.
David Rubinoff, “Blind Fiddler,” wearing hat and holding musical instrument case, and another man leave a building from a revolving door. A poster to their left features Bette Davis’s photo and reads, “Brandeis Now a Mort H. Singer Theater. Bette Davis. Dark Victory. Warner Bros.” A man inside the building looks out. Creator: Savage, John (1903-1989). Publisher: The Durham Museum. Date: April of 1942.
Creighton University Dentil School Employee with dancing girls inlays on front teeth. Creator: Savage, John (1903-1989). Publisher: The Durham Museum. 1954.
Storefront view of Kretschmer Camera Company at 315 South 17th Street; Omaha, Nebraska. Benny Davis Coffee Shop is next door. Creator: Savage, John (1903-1989). Publisher: The Durham Museum. 1961
Friends, I have cherished all that you have shared with me. I shall never forget our collaborative mysteries and I cannot wait to get on to my next adventure. A spirit of Nancy Drew curiosity and beginner’s mind seems to reverberate. May we always search and never know.
It is almost time to lay aside my pen, close down the old typewriter and meanderings and sleep on this sheepskin rug by the fire with these furry family members.
Thank You, Detectives.
Miss Cassette
I welcome your feedback and comments. Let us hear from you. Please share your additional clues to the story in the “Comments,” as we know more together. Everyone would love to read what you have to say and it makes the sharing of Omaha history more fun. You can use an anonymous smokescreen name if need be.
You can keep up with my latest investigations by joining my email group. Click on “Contact” then look for “Sign me up for the Newsletter!” Enter your email address. You will get sent email updates every time I have written a new article. Thank you, Omaha friends. Miss Cassette
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If you are looking for more architectural and Omaha history sleuthing fun, ask your local or bigbox bookseller for my book: My Omaha Obsession: Searching for the City. Also available everywhere online. Thank you.
Miss Cassette, you do an amazing job with every every project your tackle – the research, the investigation, the digging for more and more information. Every article you write is full of intrigue, suspense and is often full of good memories. Thanks so much for keeping Omaha history alive and flourishing!
So much of Omaha that I remember fondly is gone; but the loss of the Dale Clark Library is particularly poignant. I spent many hours when visiting Omaha helping my aunt, Bess Brodkey, sort books and prepare them for the used book sale; occasionally managing to schedule one of my visits to see family to coincide with the sale so I could help out. My shelves are full of books I collected at the sale; mostly history books that I used when researching material for Proper Ladies programs on women and music in Victorian era America.
Thank you for your column; it always brings back special memories of my years in Omaha. I guess you can take the person out of Omaha, but a bit of Omaha always remains; even after 60 some years.
Congrats on seven years! And thanks for a little Dinah Shore… made me think of the policeman in the MGM musical “On The Town” who, when they get a call on the radio that the dinosaur collapsed at the museum, turns to his partner and says, “Collapse! That’s terrible! She’s my favorite singing star, that Dinah Shore.” Trust me. It’s funny. Lol
It always makes me a little sad reading your investigations and studying the photos you gather. I think it’s because the face of the city is changing so much, and in my opinion not for the better. One used to adventure around town and still get a sense of the history. Now, again my opinion, at just about every corner everything is overwhelmed by these 5/1 buildings popping up everywhere. A city can’t be reinvented overnight, and certainly not character or history. The architectural history this city has thrown away is a tragedy that most will never understand.
I’m sorry to be morose. Lol
Cheers to your next seven years!
Thanks for all you do. I was happy to see the Outpost Bar, a place my late grandfather frequented back in the 1950s-60s. Does it still exist?
I especially enjoyed when you wrote about the Crooked Ear several years back. Any possibility you might also write about the other Omaha Coffeehouses of the time: The Third Man/Club Hootenanny, The Grapevine, The Shadows, or Council Bluffs’ Jolly Coachman?
since I look forward ton it, it is totally pardonable on a Thursday night
Jay Rosen
Oakland CA
Happy Anniversary, Muss Cassette! Your work is a delightful distraction (as well as informative!), and I certainly hope you don’t get the seven-year itch and leave us all in the lurch. Here’s to many more years together!!
Love everything about your stories. Looking forward to many o come. Thank you for the memories!!!!
So well done. Wishing you a better ’23. Cheers to your 7 years 🙂
Happy Anniversary! I am so grateful for the excellent information you share. As I research family history in Omaha, I appreciate being able to read this website and get a sense of how Omaha seemed in the days of my father and grandfather. Thank you!
I also am obsessed with Omaha and it’s fascinating history. I lived at 830 N 89 Circle for almost 25 years. That home and all it’s charm got me hooked on local history. I have many stories and documents pertaining to that property. I loved the results of your investigation of 830 and all the others Omaha past properties you have researched. I read all your publications with sheer fascination. Keep up the work. You are appreciated.
Happy anniversary! Here is to many more!
Happy Anniversary! I grew up on a farm, and each time I read your posts, it reminds me of the
Times my folks would take us into town for doctor appointments, visiting my aunt and uncle (who lived around 17th and Laird, I think), or just taking us on a drive “into town”. I remember the old downtown, my first ride on a city bus (to a 6 year old that’s pretty exciting!). Kilpatrick, Brandeis, etc. I thoroughly enjoy reading your posts and your book, and imagining what Omaha was like “way back when…” Thank you for all you do. I hope this year will be a much better year for you personally. Keep up the good work! Happy Anniversary!
9959 W Center Rd, Omaha, NE 68124
I live caddy corner to this beautiful Tudor home
And get the joy of looking at it everyday. I tried to post a pic but was not able to. The current owner has done a wonderful job of restoring its beauty. If only I could walk through it’s front door and discover all of its splendor. Do you know the history of this home?
I’m sorry for your loss. I am Irish as well and hold onto my mourning for years. It keeps them close to me
Thank you for all your sleuthing and all the hard work you put into giving us back a part of Omaha’s history. I grew up on a farm at 110th & center where Rockbrook School now is. On 112th & Center was the Dutch Mill Oil Company, a service station, garage, and motel. It was the forerunner of the Ginn Oil Company. I went to Oakdale School when it was a three-room schoolhouse. I remember them putting in the gas pipeline that runs from the interstate across Center (about 100th to 101st), then down the hill, and eventually crossed over the Papio Creek. I think at some time it was changed to under the creek. I remember the flood of 1962 or 3 when 90 & Center and 108th & center were underwater. The Sunset Valley Golf Club at 92nd & Arbor was just a field then but completely underwater. So many fond memories,
Leo Daly lived on the NW corner of 96th & W. Dodge. It was a beautiful property but someone tore down the house and the property is now vacant. That might be an interesting story for you sometime.
As a retired long time employee of Leo A. Daly, I also would be interested in any stories about his property.
Congrats on seven years – you’ve touched a lot of people and jostled their happy memories to the fore front. I know you’ve jostled mine. I still remember riding the last of the trollie cars in Omaha. I remember the football stadium on Creighton university campus. All of the old Queen Anne houses around town have left a lasting impression on me. These things buried deep in memory, come alive again every time you offer a posting Here’s hoping you find the elusive spark to re-ignite your strong and innate desire to search for the untold stories, and the stories behind the stories.
Sincerely,
John Sullivan
Thank you for your dedication to Omaha’s history. Happy anniversary!
Miss Cassette….Have you liked the Facebook Group “Omaha Nostalgia Project” ? If not, it has a lot on interesting pictures of Omaha history through the years.
Happy 7 years, and a tremendous Thank You!! I’ve looked forward to and read each and every story over these years. So greatly appreciated. ????
Happy Anniversary. I look forward and love each and every one of your articles. Thank you for what you do so well.