Chef Boyardee
The good chef was born in Italy, I believe in 1897, and at the age of 16 found his way to New York City. He quickly became a chef at the Ritz Carlton in New York and worked at The Greenbrier in West Virginia as well. His culinary talents were legendary. Chef Boiardi accepted the job as head chef at the Hotel Winton in 1917 which happened to be a popular hotel in Cleveland. This magnificent hotel was located at 1012 Prospect Avenue. The Hotel Winton was a well-know hotel on a national level and held one of the first radio programs that was broadcast out of the Hotel’s famous Rainbow Room featuring the Rainbow Room Orchestra. (There were even “ice shows” at the Winton - where a large ice rink would be built in a restaurant and as patrons ate there would be a number of ice skaters to entertain.) Today, we know it as the Carter Manor which serves as housing for the elderly.
As the Head Chef at the Winton, Boiardi began serving a lot of Italian fare. And his spaghetti dinners were becoming all the rage. Many of his patrons would ask for his recipes (which were not forthcoming from the Chef) and for samples to take home (which he sold in abundance). He would often provide his spaghetti sauce in milk bottles. In 1924, the good chef started his own restaurant the famous Giardino d’Italia. By 1928, take-out orders were so robust that Boiardi started factory production of his products. What was once a local, then regional, delicacy was now a national phenomenon and this prompted the change to the now signature Chef Boy-ar-dee. In 1938, Boiardi moved the factory to Milton, PA (I have actually heard a number of rumors that suggest a rift between the budding entrepreneur and local leaders which prompted him to move the factory).
However, Boiardi kept interests in Cleveland too with the opening of Boiardi’s, a new Italian restaurant, in 1931. He sold the factory operations after WWII and invested in the Milton Steel Company which he sold for a hefty profit. Amazingly, Boiardi died in Parma, OH in 1985! Few people believe me when I say that Chef Boyardee got its start in Cleveland. But it’s true.
Chef Boyardee Slideshow
http://www.slide.com/r/CyYSoIxo4z-pL8XwvPU_Xk06I-HVWOdY?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original
A fantastic idea for a blog! Saw this on the CPC blog. I’m sure you have no shortage of material but if you ever are lacking…
Langston Hughes
League Park
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster create Superman
Cleveland Orchestra
Cleveland Art Museum
First Windmill
First Electric Street Car
First Streetlight
Life Savers Candy
Karamu Theater
Shaker Square(2nd oldest outdoor retail mall)
Jesse Owens
Elliot Ness
Heisman’s Birthplace
Bob Hope
Toni Morrison
Michelson - Morley experiment
The list goes on and on and on….
-GW
GW:
Great stuff. I know a lot of the context of your list with the exceptions of Toni Morrison and the Michelson - Morly experiment. Can you privide me some detail on these?
Michael DeAloia
mdealoia@mac.com
Tech Czar,
Toni Morrison: http://www.clevelandartsprize.org/lit_1978.htm
Michelson–Morley
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson-Morley_experiment
Here’s an engineer’s attempt at physics:
People once believed that light required a medium (ether)in order to travel or propagate. (Such as sound does: air, solids, liquid… note: no medium in a vacuum = no sound)
The MM experiment disproved that there was any apparent medium or stuff or ether out in space, much to the disbelief of the establishment (including Michelson). But the data was there.
This sets the stage for a new shift in thinking about physics, light, and ultimately relativity.
Some interesting facts are:
Case (wait… I mean CWRU) had the MM experiment apparatus on display in Crawford Hall.
Michelson was the first American Nobel Prize Winner.
All corrections can be sent to:
Geoff Wopershall
gwoper@yahoo.com
Isnt it supposedly true that JD Rockefeller had issues with City leaders and that is partially why he pulled out of Cleveland as well. True or not (and on a different scale to be sure!) it does seem like a recurring theme lol. Great history lesson here and thank you. Carole Cohen
i love your blog, will keep looking you blog every day.
I am very envious of your blog.
I never met Chef Hector,but his widow,Helen,lived in Shaker Hts,and I used to make deliveries to her quite often.She was a real sweetheart,and yes,she had a picture of Hector,chef’s hat and all on the mantle.
Your and every online version of how Chef Boyardee began is inaccurate. There were four founders. The original canning was to provide a meal for WWII soldiers - AND the conception for it began at my relatives New York restaurant at a dinner with Roosevelt and some less-then-legally aboveboard Italians. That’s OK & that’s the truth - history gets distorted over time. Shame really. The true history is amazingly fascinating!!