52 1/2 Anderson - Dave’s Midwestern Ohio Memories

A Series of Guest Blogs by an out-of-state Fish Report reader originally from this area about fond memories of growing up in Midwestern Ohio during the 50’s & 60’s.

52 1/2 Anderson

52 1/2 Anderson, Dayton, Ohio

Last week’s blog referenced University of Dayton’s Final four run back in 1967 while I was living with three UofD students at 52 1/2 Anderson, just east of campus off Stewart Street. One of those guys emailed me after seeing the blogpost and shared some memories of the place that I had forgotten about. We rented the second floor while the owner and his family lived below. That’s why there were two addresses for the home, with us in 52 1/2, the upper floor. There was a back stairway to access the upper level without bothering (too much) the family below. The place is still there as shown in the current photo above. I sure don’t remember the big tree in front, but 50 years ago it was likely just a sapling, because I do recall the four of us on the first warm day of spring crawling out the front windows and sun bathing above the porch. The shade from that big tree wouldn’t allow that today.

The second level had two bedrooms and a small kitchen, so needless to say we were squeezed tightly into the place. The bedroom walls were plastered with posters, pretty much like shown above. The three other guys actually rented the place from the landlord, so whenever I crashed with them during my work stints at Frigidaire while attending General Motors Institute, I threw some cash for rent into a fish bowl that we used for beer and food money, in that order! The photo of the home shows an attic with a third floor window; I’ll have to ask the guys about that the next time we get together. The attic could have been our man cave as envisioned below!

We all hated doing dishes, so naturally as the semester rolled on, the dirty dishes piled up in the sink, countertops and elsewhere, just about as pictured on the left. One of our parents might occasionally visit, and the first thing our Mothers would do was wash the dirty dishes, making us dry them. As a result, she had us captive and could hold a decent conversation with us; trying to divulge if we were staying out of trouble and keeping up with our studies. Needless to say, this inquisition was a painful way to get the dishes washed, but obviously less disagreeable than doing it ourselves!

Two of us were tall and thin while other two were on the stocky side. Literally, we looked like a pair of hippy Mutt and Jeff cartoon characters from yesteryear, as we strolled around campus and hung out at the local hot spots on Brown St., imagining taking some sweet young co-ed up to our mythical man cave without them catching sight of the dishes piled up in the sink. Right!

Somehow we survived those days, with all of us marrying up, having wonderful children and successful careers in spite of the inauspicious start as college roommates. Three of the four of us spend time in Florida so we get together each winter to connect up, play some golf and reminisce about those old times at 52 1/2 Anderson. Then we sometimes call the fourth guy who winters in Texas. Our wives claim the stories seem to get stretched more and more each year. Definitely not true! For example, here’s one story documented in this blog post about the 52 1/2 Anderson roommates that’s definitely true describing our road trip to Virginia Beach and beyond.