Baltimore spent $500,000 for a new slogan ? “Get in on it” ? to attract tourists to the city?s treasures. I hope the campaign does not overlook presenting some of the quirky features of the city:
» One of the major arteries into the city?s downtown changes names four times. Starting off as Maryland Avenue, the southbound thoroughfare becomes Cathedral Street (as it nears and passes the Cathedral), then becomes Liberty Street (for several blocks), after which it becomes Hopkins Place (as it passes the 1st Mariner Arena) before ending at Pratt Street. Tell me one other city in which drivers have to cope with a street with four names.
» Three major media figures flopped here. Leon Uris, the novelist who wrote “Battle Cry” and “Exodus,” failed English three times while a student at Baltimore City College (which in characteristic Baltimore fashion is not a college but a high school). Barry Levinson, the movie director, graduated near the bottom of his class at Forest Park High School. And Oprah Winfrey was demoted as a news co-anchor and almost fired as a reporter while working at WJZ-TV. Don?t tell me Baltimore isn?t a tough town.
» The sculpture of Babe Ruth, the great homerun slugger and Baltimore?s favorite son, in the plaza in front of Oriole Park shows the left-handed hitter holding a right-hander?s glove.
» At the turn of the 20th century, Baltimore?s port rivaled New York City for handling the flow of immigrants. But whereas New York screened newcomers through Ellis Island, Baltimore welcomed newcomers at Locust Point. Where else but in Baltimore could a port of entry for immigrants swarming into this country have ?locust? in its name?
» Out-of-towners invariably misspell one of the city?s greatest benefactors. Johns Hopkins, the merchant, left a fortune that helped to build a world-class university and hospital. Not recognizing the unusual spelling of his first name (the “s” was based on an ancestor?s last name) marks someone as not from Baltimore. But lots of people make this mistake. A Google search of the incorrect ?John? Hopkins shows 4.8 million listings.
» The city has long been known for The Block, the red-light district featuring booze and beauties. In its heyday The Block stretched a number of blocks (so much for Baltimore-style math). But its most surprising feature may be its location. Baltimore?s Sin Strip sits across the street from the headquarters of the City Police Department. How wild can a city get?
» Baltimore almost became the home of the mayor of two cities. Theodore R. McKeldin, a native Baltimorean, twice served as governor of Maryland and twice as mayor of Baltimore. President Lyndon Johnson selected him as his first choice to be the first mayor of Washington, D.C., when Congress authorized the city in 1967 to have a mayor. But McKeldin, then in his last year as mayor, declined the offer, sparing Baltimore from becoming possibly the only city to lose its mayor to another city.
» But Baltimore has provided five other cities with their sports franchises. The Washington Wizards in basketball were originally the Baltimore Bullets. In football, the Indianapolis Colts descend directly from the Baltimore Colts. And, in baseball, the Orioles spawned the New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants (nee New York Giants) and Los Angeles Dodgers (nee Brooklyn Dodgers) when the team split up in the late 1800s, not to return to major league baseball until 1954. So in Baltimore, when you root for the home team, you have to ask which one.
I could go on, but I need to stop so I can “get in on it.”
M. Hirsh Goldberg is president of M. Hirsh Goldberg & Associates LLC, a Baltimore-based public relations and marketing agency. He has served as press secretary to a governor of Maryland and mayor of Baltimore. He is the author of five books and numerous op-ed articles and columns. His e-mail address is [email protected]
