The Bengals bring out the best in sports fans. While typically conservative in nature, Cincinnatians expose their inner tigers when rooting for the Bengals. Approaching game days, everywhere you look from the suburbs to downtown, you’ll see the team’s orange and black colors. “Who Dey?” has turned from rousing chant to a daily greeting and fans growl all week after a loss.
The town shuts down for opening day. At the beginning of each new calendar year, Opening Day is marked by many as a “personal day off.” Truancy is rampant but most schools have grown to accept this seasonal 24 hour “flu.” Home of the first team in professional baseball, Cincinnati won’t let the world forget. The people turn out in droves to watch as the city opens its arms to the baseball season. In 2014, just like the past 94 years, the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade kicked off to usher in the boys of summer. “The whole town’s batty about Cincinnati. What a team, what a team, what a team!”
When the rest of the United States hears “red and blue” regarding Cincinnati, they think politics. All Cincinnatians thinks is about is basketball. The Xavier University Musketeers (blue) and The University of Cincinnati Bearcats (red) have a local basketball rivalry that became so intense a few seasons ago it prompted a name change. “The Crosstown Shoot Out” name was changed after an on-court brawl left an ugly public image problem for both schools. Now branded “The Crosstown Classic” the rivalry remains among the most rabid in Division I men’s basketball.
The German heritage of countless Cincinnatians is the focus of the city’s biggest downtown festival and, by some accounts, the largest Oktoberfest in the United States. Organizers say Oktoberfest Zinzinnati is home to the World’s largest Chicken Dance. Festival goers by the thousands join on Fountain Square to flap their arms and move their legs in unison to the polka band music. Six downtown blocks are shut down for three days to play host to beer steins and lederhosen. Another major highlight is the running of the weiner dogs. Vas you ever in Zinzinnati?
Sourc: Wikimedia user wholton No one cares where you went to college in Cincinnati, "Where did you go to school?" is ALWAYS a question of your high school alma mater. Why does it matter? It’s a sneaky way of asking what side of town you’re from, East or West? That is the real question Cincinnatians want answered. It’s also a good conversation starter leading to you know someone who knows someone. Think big city social networking with a small hometown feel. “Pete Rose went to Western Hills.” “Barry Larkin went to Moeller.” My dad went to St. X.” “My aunt went to Anderson”—all examples of common phrases heard during casual introductions around Cincinnati.
Stop right there. A Cincinnatian’s idea of a three-way is Cincinnati style chili over spaghetti topped with cheddar cheese. From Price Hill to Camp Washington to Blue Ash, from Empress to Skyline to Dixie, Cincinnatians can all point you to the closest chili parlor. This soupy meat based “sauce” created by Greek and eastern Mediterranean immigrants has evolved in to a cultural culinary mainstay of Cincinnati. So, many locals call it “Greek chili.” But, you’d be hard pressed to find it anywhere near Greece. The taste is driven by spices like cinnamon and chocolate. A few native Cincinnatians don’t like the flavor, but they know it’s best not to voice their displeasure in public.
The local dialect is mostly vanilla Midwest with a few twists. Around Cincinnati, when someone says “Please?” they mean to say “what?” More polite interpretations include, “Excuse me?” meaning “could you please say that again.” This typically throws visitors, especially non-English speaking visitors, for a spin. While confusing to some, it beats an ill-mannered slack jawed “huh?” every time.
While originated by German immigrants in Cincinnati, you likely won’t find this breakfast staple in Germany--or anywhere outside of the greater Cincinnati area. Made from pork, steel cut pin oats, onions, celery and spices; this concoction is stewed for hours then cooled and formed into loaves. Traditionally, goetta is sliced and fried to sit alongside eggs and potatoes on your breakfast plate. Recently, Cincinnatians have been forming it into patties and links to be served as satisfying sandwich treats.
According to local historians, the people of Cincinnati have long loved to brew and drink beer. By some accounts in the late 1800s and into the early 1900s the average per capita beer consumption of Cincinnatians (young and old) was nearly 40 gallons per year--over twice the average per capita of the rest of the country. From the 1960s through the 1980s, the boom of national breweries like Anheuser Busch and Miller crushed the local brewers by supplying beer at low cost. Lately, there’s been a small brewery resurgence. Led by the return of Christian Moerlein Brewery, nearly 15 breweries have sprung up in the last four years. And their tap rooms are flowing. Cincinnatians: they brew and they drink.
If a Cincinnatian doesn’t work at Procter and Gamble or have a family member who works there, you know someone who does. The company, who brings the world bright teeth, fresh breath, clean clothes and close shaves, among other personal conveniences, has stood behind the people of Cincinnati for nearly 200 years. Founded in Cincinnati during the early 1800s, P&G continues to employ and support thousands of people in the Cincinnati area. And the loyalty goes both ways. Cincinnatians love their Crest, Tide, Old Spice, Secret, Gain, and Head and Shoulders, not to mention a load of other brands you didn’t know are P&G’s. Cincinnatians who, along with most Americans can’t go without their dose of daytime TV, know soap operas originated from a hometown stalwart – Procter and Gamble.
