Update: Some amazing pictures of the Kenner buildings have been added. Scroll down to see the buildings in all their glory.
If this is your first time seeing our Kenner Tour of Cincinnati, start the tour here!
The next stop on our tour of Kenner’s Cincinnati, Ohio locations is 912 Sycamore Street. In the mid to late 1940’s, the Steiner Brothers moved the offices of their soap and novelty/beverage business east from Kenner Street over to 912 Sycamore Street. The location was comprised of three buildings side by side, in the block between E. Court Street and E. 9th Street.
Sycamore Street is where the brothers began focusing on toys. According to a September 8, 1961 Cincinnati Enquirer article by William Styles, inspiration for the move into toys came in the form of a young boy waving a bubble wand through a soap solution. “Al (Albert Steiner) thought it would be a great idea if we could develop a gun to shoot soap bubbles,” recalls Philip Steiner, “and it was no sooner said than done.” The brother’s first toy was a metal bubble blowing gun called the Bubble-Matic.
Here is a link to 912 Sycamore Street in Google Maps.
To give you an idea of the size and location of the buildings, here is a map from the late 1930’s. Kenner initially occupied the top two buildings in the red outlined area. The latest addition to Kenner’s Sycamore Street location was in 1961 when they expanded their total manufacturing to 210,000 square feet by moving into the southern most building, also know as the Rauh Building. The top two buildings on the block were not present during Kenner’s time on Sycamore.
- Kenner 1973 Toy Fair Catalog
One of the most iconic images from Kenner’s time on Sycamore Street is an abstract mural that was painted on the north side of the northern most Kenner building. The mural is of a child playing marbles, and is featured on the cover of the 1973 Kenner Toy Fair catalog. The mural was also used on several other internal Kenner items around the mid-1970’s. What might be a surprise to a lot of Kenner fans, is that the mural was not just on the north side of the building, but continued down the front of the buildings along Sycamore Street. This mural was designed by Barbara & David Day.
Thanks to Barbara and David Day, here are some pictures of the Kenner buildings that were taken in 1972:
Kenner occupied the 912 Sycamore location and used it as their headquarters up until 1976. The Kenner buildings and property were purchased by Hamilton County in 1974 for $2.2 million dollars as part of the county’s plan to build a new corrections center. The city leased the buildings back to Kenner while the company finalized plans to move to another location.
The city’s plan for the corrections center was put on hold in 1975 due to a lack of federal funding, so in the summer of 1977, the two southern most buildings that Kenner previously owned were torn down to make way for a parking lot. The parking lot was a temporary use of the land while the city worked out the finances and red tape. After the parking lot was completed, the sole reminder that Kenner occupied the block was the colorful mural of the boy playing marbles on the northern most Kenner building. The county clerk of courts’ title office and the county auditor’s license office moved into the northern most building with the mural. In 1982, the city tore down the final building and finally began construction on the Hamilton County Justice Center.
Here is a picture of what you will see now standing at the corner of East Court Street and Sycamore. This is a view of the Hamilton County Justice Center. The view of the southern end of the block is an approximation of where the Kenner buildings once stood.
Here is a view looking across Sycamore as if you were stepping out the front door of Kenner.
We have been lucky enough to talk with an ex-Kenner employee who was at the company when it was located on Sycamore. The wonderful lady’s name is Beverly, and here is what she shared with us:
“I worked for Kenner Products at 912 Sycamore Street in 1968 right out of high school. I had various jobs starting out in the mail room and then working for Mr. Henry S. I worked the switch board for a while and then moved up to the interoffice printer department. I became a manager over the office services department and left in 1983. My husband worked in quality control at 912 for Mr. Charlie M.
Working in the office services department for many years I once had a ton of (Kenner) stuff but much of it was tossed. I ran a printing press for many years for all interoffice use, things like stationary, envelopes, interoffice memos. One year I ran an interoffice phone book with a 7 color cover to match the mural that was on the side of the building at one time. Bernie Loomis even liked it.
For the first year that Stretch Armstrong was in production I ran the band-aids for any leaks he might get while being played with. I had to print his name on the back of each strip to be put in the packaging. I would get up at 3:00 in the morning and leave for work and work on that till 8:00, and then start my day job. I received overtime pay, which was great for the family budget. Wow, I haven’t thought about that in say 37 years.
- Previous Location of Pat’s Cafe on Sycamore Street
The old Kenner building at 912 Sycamore was torn down to make room for the Hamilton County Justice Center. Where the Bails Bond Agency is now, was once Pat’s Café. That’s where everyone went to get lunch. The old 912 building was once the Ryle Shirt Company and Tom Collins Soft Drink Company. Grandpa’s Soap Company at one time was also in with Kenner Products because Grandpa was a relative of the Steiner’s. Grandpa (Benjamin Pritz) was something else, he use to make me stand in front of him each day while he went through his mail to make sure it was all his!!
You could enter the building from the street and open the next door right into the switchboard area. The room couldn’t have been over an 8 x 10 area. Open the next door which took you into an area of 50 secretaries typing away all lined up row after row. Steiner was the head man and his office was right in front of everything. His office was all enclosed in frosted glass and you could hear him give everyone ….when he wasn’t happy. His secretary’s name was Norma I., and she was a pickle!! Beverly”
An example of the Kenner letterhead with the 912 Sycamore address on it can be seen here.
Another look into the 912 Sycamore Street location comes from an article from the August 3rd, 1969 Cincinnati Enquirer. It gives us an insight into the work ethic and dedication of Kenner employee’s during this time. Development Engineer Frank C., a one time inventor who was hired by Kenner after buying one of his inventions, was quoted as saying “I can’t say enough about the Kenner model shop crew. If I get here at 3 a.m. and work out the design, they’re working for me before I’ve completed the design.” The article goes on to mention that even though employees have access to the company’s facilities day and night, Kenner has a strict security program in place in order to protect its’ future ideas and products.
Thank you to Beverly, David Day, and the very helpful ladies at the Cincinnati Historical Society for making this story possible.
If you have any pictures of the inside or outside of the buildings, or have any memories you would like to share, I would love to add them. Thanks!
Part three of the tour can be found here!