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Two gems from the (old) Cleveland Autorama
Memorable photographs from the depths of the Cleveland Convention Center!
Actors Martin Milner, facing camera, and Kent McCord, signing a publicity photo, while appearing at the Cleveland Autorama in the early '70s supporting their popular NBC Television police-action series, "Adam-12". Milner played Officer Pete Malloy and McCord played Officer Jim Reed in the series.
This was not Martin Milner's first visit to Cleveland. A November 3, 2008 Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper piece by PD reporter Chris Ball entitled "Get your kicks eyeing old-time Cleveland on 'Route 66'" tells of several episodes of the early 1960s television drama "Route 66" being set and filmed in Cleveland. Milner played character Tod Stiles in the series so he had visited Cleveland before, at least for the filming of those episodes.
What better name for a drag car from the Cleveland area? (February 1972 photo)
It should be noted that the Cleveland area has long been home to people of a great diversity of ethnic backgrounds. This has resulted in a wide variety of foods being associated with greater Cleveland. Because many people of eastern European heritage found themselves migrating to northeast Ohio to offer their skills toward the manufacturing and metalworking fields that were so highly active here at one time, sausage products such as kielbasa became closely associated with the area. In fact, long time Cleveland television personality "Big Chuck" Schodowski of station WJW fame, now semi-retired, created a character known as the Kielbasa Kid -- often featured in comedic skits included on a Friday night movie show Schodowski co-hosted for many years.
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The Cleveland Autorama (as of 2013 known as the "I-X Piston Powered Auto-Rama") is an enthusiast oriented auto show featuring custom show cars, "street rods", classic hot-rods and various types of racing cars invariably taking place in the latter part of winter.
The Autorama had traditionally been held at the Cleveland Convention Center in downtown Cleveland, as was the case when the above photos were snapped. In recent years, however, the show has been a feature of the International Exposition, or I-X, Center located next to Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in the southwest corner of the city.
It isn't to be confused with the Cleveland International Auto Show, usually scheduled a couple of weeks before or after the Autorama. The Cleveland International Auto Show, also calling the I-X Center home for many years now, displays offerings of the major auto manufacturers and is more geared toward the potential new car buyer.
In Cleveland the occurrence of both the Autorama and good ol' Auto Show signals there is light at the end of the tunnel regarding winter, even if it does seem to be attached to the front of a locomotive!
DFH photos. Revised 2007, 2008, 2009. KMA 367
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