Library Program

Sept 7 --Wheeling: Then & Now

I booked myself! It was easy! Catch the humiliation in person! It's FREE!

The Lunch With Books program at the Ohio County Public Library scheduled for Tuesday September 7 at noon, will feature a new local photographic history book from Arcadia called Wheeling: Then and Now. By placing historical images side by side with contemporary photographs, Wheeling Then & Now explores a city still recovering from the trauma of drastic economic changes, a city with a proud past and an uncertain but hopeful future. Author Sean Duffy will make the presentation on behalf of photographer Paul Rinkes, who will be unable to attend. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and $1.00 will be donated to the Ohio County Public Library for every book sold. Proceeds will also benefit the Wheeling Area Historical Society. Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.

Kings of All Media (Upper Ohio Valley Edition)

Larger versions of some of the most interesting then and now comparisons from the project, done expertly by the staff at the Artisan Center.

Eat your heart out, Howard Stern! Seán and I were the Toast of Wheeling last weekend, as I rolled into town for a book signing event and a radio appearance for "Then and Now: Wheeling" (which, by the way, is still available here ... and here ... or email me if you want a signed copy.)

I was honored that so many people came to our event Thursday night. My co-author has been down this road before, so he knew what to expect – the crowds, the groupies, etc. It was all new to me, though. It was nice that the Wheeling Police Department closed 14th Street in front of the Artisan Center, no doubt anticipating the crush of well-wishers and history buffs. And the event was well attended, including some of the stars of the book, on hand to tell their stories.

On Friday we did a segment with Sherrie and Lola on WKKX in Wheeling. That might be the highlight of the weekend for me, mainly because I'm so smooth on the air ... it was a lot of fun and Sherrie was almost bubbly about the book. She begged us to stick around and take over the rest of the afternoon drive, but Seán's voice was giving out and I forgot my cowbell and whoopie cushion, two elements necessary for successful radio talk show hosting.

Dr. Niess, whose collection served as an important foundation for the "Then" photos for the project.

Seán and I flanking Jack Syphers, one of the last two living Wheeling trolley car men. The other, Augie Oglinski, was with us in spirit.

"Let's see ... is 'masterpiece' one word or two?"

Seán and Mary Eleanor Colvin, who attended both the original opening of the Capitol Theatre in 1928 and the reopening in 2009.

Neither me nor my dad knew there was a Kaiser-Frazer dealership near where Straub Honda now sits.

Seán and Kathryn Snead, one of the last living teachers from Lincoln School and a decorated educator.

"Why yes, Sherrie, we can stick around for a few more segments."

New Companion Exhibit!

The book was officially released yesterday, August 23, 2010.

This Thursday, August 26, from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM, there will be an opening reception for a companion exhibit on the third floor Loft Gallery of the Artisan Center at 1400 Main Street in downtown Wheeling. The event is open to the public. Both authors will be on hand to sign copies.

The exhibit, which will run until September 30, will feature enlarged photographs from the book. Call the Artisan Center at 304-232-1810 for more info.

Special thanks to the Wheeling National Heritage Area Corporation (especially Chris Villamagna) for making this event happen.

The Perils of Now

Seán and I made a point to be faithful to recreating our "Then" photos – mainly this meant one of us (read: not me) doing tons of historical legwork, finding modern-day locations of ancient buildings now all but unrecognizable, thanks to the ravages of time, economy and in some cases plain bad taste.

Occasionally it meant risking life and limb to get the photo just right.

This was on the first day of the project. Seán and I had met over coffee and swore a blood oath that we'd compose every "Now" photo exactly as the "Then" photo. We even got "Historically Accurate Photographer Lyfe" tattooed on our lower abdomens, a la Tupac Shakur. We were serious about getting the shot right the first time.

And then we went to Chicken Neck Hill and almost got destroyed by oncoming traffic.

How To Be Historically Accurate Photographers
(1) Find the location (note: not as easy as it sounds)
(2) Have Seán stand watch in the middle of a busy four-lane road on a blind turn, while
(3) You stand about 50 yards away, camera in hand
(4) He screams "It's good!" which means nobody's flying around the bend
(5) You jump out in the road, take a quick picture, and then
(6) Run back to the safety of the sidewalk as fourteen pickup trucks recreate "Talledega Nights" on National Road
(7) Confer with the 3-inch LCD on the back of the camera, compare that to a full-size photocopy of the "Then" photo

(8) Shake your head. (Extra credit: mutter "Geez, I don't know ... that's so small ... maybe we got it ... are you sure you know how to use a camera?")
(8) Decide you got the angle wrong, so do it all again.

(9) Months later, decide not to use that photo at all.

Repeat this about 20 times and you have successfully Brought History Alive™ without needing your health insurance card, or explaining yourself to a Wheeling police officer.

Web-exclusive History!

How We Started Down This Path

So how did two suave, handsome and genial history buffs end up producing a book like Then and Now – Wheeling?

Iron butts to sort through photos, fingers that refused to get frostbitten and (in the photographer's case) memorizing every decent gas station exit on Kentucky highways.

Paul: I've long been fascinated by my hometown, which technically is Martins Ferry, but I think that if you're from anywhere in the Valley, you're from The Valley.

I guess what got this started was The LaBelle Nail Works, located where W.Va. 2 hits Interstate 470 in south Wheeling. I passed it on one of my return visits home, and I got to thinking – how many of these factories and plants litter both sides of the Ohio River from Steubenville down to Moundsville? How many are active? What's happened to them? What do they look like inside?

I had no idea that LaBelle was still active, or that I'd get a chance to see inside the venerable plant. At the time, I thought "I've got to photograph that." And of course the next thing I thought was "I wonder if Duffy could do all the hard work for me and yet let me take half the credit." And thus the book was born.

Sean: I knew Paul would try to grab credit for the idea. The truth is I launched his photography career. When I noticed his intriguing digital closeups of fruit and toenails and such, I said, "Paul, you have a gift. Don't waste it like you wasted your talent for ..."

I got stuck at this point. He suggested "football." I started laughing.

"No, seriously, you should take pretty pictures and charge people money," I told him. Next thing I know, he thinks he's Annie Leibovitz. But he really is good. Take a look at his website if you don't believe me.

Anyway, I then came up with the idea for this project independently of Paul's little factory idea. What we soon discovered, unfortunately, is that there's not a lot of room for creativity when you have to stand in exactly the same place as some guy did in 1890 and photograph a parking lot where a nice building used to be. I think this frustrated Paul. But he was a trooper.

Paul: When I saw the final version of the book (buy one here if you're so inclined, and I pray you're so inclined), I realized just how creative the project really was, because you had to pay homage to artists from the past. That was hard work, and I think the final result shows a great respect for Wheeling.

Sean: We harbor no delusions about the importance of this book. It's not an academic history. Neither of us are professional historians. But I am a professional researcher and Paul is a professional photographer, and we took the initiative to get this done. What we've created is a tribute to our hometown; an ode to what we once had but lost; a celebration of what has been saved; and hopefully, something that will inspire a few people to treasure and preserve what is still standing, but endangered. Finally, we've captured a few moments in time so that future generations might have a glimpse of what Wheeling looked like circa 2009-2010 through the eyes and cameras of two caffeine-addled, largely unhealthy, middle-aged men with limited talent partially mitigated by an unlimited passion for the subject.

Paul: "Caffeine addled" pretty much nails it. And the opportunity to work with Sean? That was nice, too, I guess ...

In all honesty: Sean's passion for local history is unrivaled. It was quite a lot of fun to work with him, because I learned so much about Wheeling, and I very much admire his tenacity in deciphering those unknown old locations. And I'd never have eaten at the Lebanon Bakery had it not been for him. I honestly am upset that I didn't learn about that place until long after I'd left the Valley.

I mean, I worked two blocks away from the bakery and had no idea it was even there. The chocolate pistachio baklava might be Duffy's lasting legacy of Wheeling: Then and Now.

Sean: Yes, Lebanon Bakery Does Rule. Excellent spinach pies and unrivalled pita bread.

What I liked most about working with Paul was his car. I drove a 93 Subaru Legacy whose most luxurious feature was an FM radio. Paul drove some kind of car that a Saudia Arabian dictator might drive through the desert. I think parts of it were made of gold. It featured a rearview parking camera, hands free Star Trek communication system, and religion-changing seat-warming technology. Loved that car. Hated getting out of that car to hold copies of old photographs while Paul took thousands of pictures in the bitter cold and rain, but I loved that car.

If I ever do another book, I hope Paul will agree to drive.