Get Moody With Hudy!

And Other Cincinnati Ballpark Concession Delights

Mar 28, 2023

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Opening Day in the Queen City is upon us!

So let us take a historical look at some of the most important parts of a trip to the old ball orchard:

The concession stand!

Of course we all know that Cincinnati is the birthplace to professional baseball as we know it. And we know that Union Grounds was home to our beloved Red Stockings.

But did they have concessions?

Indeed, they did.

Now convention says they sold homemade lemonade, candies, cigars, beer, but evidently no “spirituous liquors” were allowed.

Of course, concession items didn’t change much throughout the history of 19th century Cincinnati ballparks, but one thing is for certain: Beer was king, until it wasn’t. Before prohibition, Moerlein was a popular choice.

Moerlein Beer ad on fence of League Park - 1900

Ad for Rooter’s Cafe, which sold Moerlein

As the ballparks changed from League Park/Palace of the Fans to Redland/Crosley, local brews like Bavarian, Wiedemann, and Burger to name a few, flowed like water at Findlay & Western.

And if you patronized Crosley Field from the 40s-60s, you most likely heard a beer vendor yell “Get moody with Hudy!”

Notice the Hudepohl Beer sign beyond the outfield at Crosley.

Beer is great and all, but let us not forget that essential part of the trip to the concession stand…

Chewing gum.

This was a popular item in the late 19th and early 20th century. And White’s Yucatan Gum was sold exclusively at the ballparks.

Besides the standards like Coke and Pepsi over years, Crosley Field also offered root beer, mineral water, and orange drinks.

Some of these items carried over to the Riverfront years. And speaking of Riverfront, what’s a trip to the park without a Big Red Smokey?

I’ll be going more in depth on concession items in my upcoming film Findlay & Western.

So as you head to GABP this season, make sure you support the local concessions, take out a second mortgage, and request that they start selling some Yucatan Chewing Gum!