Found on 7th St. between Vine and Race in downtown Cincinnati, on the same block as the Provident Camera ghost sign cornucopia. The Oskamp Nolting Distributing Co. offered diamonds, watches, silver, giftwares, housewares, sporting goods, and toys. All that remains is cool, ghostly lettering.
UPDATE: Digging Cincinnati History traced the history of the family that owned this company, including an incredible home in Westwood which is now a retirement community.
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I think this is my new favorite blog. i love the pockets of history in cincy, I feel sometimes like I’m finding ancient ruins from a once great civilization that vanished sometime in the 1950s. The clues are all around us. One day I’m going to go find all of the french deco water utility buildings scattered throughout the rolling hills.
Thanks so much! I love seeking out and documenting these historical bits that seem to hide in plain sight. BTW, your sunrise project is really cool.
Thanks a lot! It has been fun and rewarding so far. Thank you for checking it out, it means a lot. It is fun finding all the other cincinnati blogs. Let me know if you ever want to make the trip up to Ault Park in the morning, misery (and exploration) loves company! Take care -Blaine
You know, that sounds lovely but also maybe a bit too challenging! Now, if your project were about sunsets, I’d love to be a part of it.
Oskamp Nolting didn’t close it’s downtown store until aproximately 1979. The store that was on Colerain Avenue across from Northgate Mall closed in 1978. I worked there. My manager from Colerain took over running the downtown store after we closed and hired my niece as a cashier. He later married her. They had 3 beautiful children and are still married today.
Kim, thanks so much for filling in the story of this business.
Several years ago I was the successful bidder on three lots of sterling silver flatware, which consisted of 20 teaspoons and six dinner forks. When the seller mailed them to me, they were in the original very sturdy cardboard boxes from Oskamp Nolting Co., and were wrapped in pacific cloth bearing the Oskamp Nolting logo. The boxes had originally been mailed to a Mr. Langston in Wabash, Indiana. Postage on the smaller box was eight cents, and the two larger boxes were ten cents each. The mailing dates of the three boxes were July 20, 1939, July 31, 1939, and August 19, 1940. The outstanding condition of the boxes, to me, is as priceless as the beautiful old silver.
Wow, what a cool time capsule you’ve got!
My father purchased Oskamp Nolting in the early 60’s and sold it to Gordon Jewelry Corp. in the late 60’s. I worked there from 1963 – 1968. That’s where I got my formative training in diamonds and jewelry. It turned into a rewarding 50+ year career! I was surprised to see it will be part of the set for a new movie “Carol”, starring Kate Blanchette. Check this out: http://www.cincinnati.com/story/tvandmediablog/2014/04/22/carol-cate-blanchett-rooney-mara-oskamp-nolting/8000481/
Robert, that’s wild! I’ll bet you can’t wait to see the movie now. I’m looking forward to it as well, to see how many Cincinnati locations I’ll be able to recognize.