Riverdale Ghost
7 posts
Mar 05, 2010
6:17 AM
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Does anyone know anything about a place called (the) Gypsy Hut?
That's not Gypsy Gardens or anything, but Gypsy Hut. The place is/was in Dayton, but the people had a place in or near Xenia in the 1960's and I think there was at least one before that.
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Honest Communications Is The Foundation of Civilizations.
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hungarian mike
14 posts
Mar 09, 2010
3:40 PM
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Hi Riverdale Ghost -
By chance, do you mean the Gypsy Hut that used to be in the West Dayton Hungarian neighborhood at Conover and Dakota Street from the 1930s until the early 1980s?
The building, which was torn down a few years ago, had a cupola tower and was a popular place with a take out window.
I would love to find a picture of the building when it was a wooden frame building at that corner before it was torn down for the construction of a brick one.
I have never heard of such a place in Xenia.
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Riverdale Ghost
16 posts
Mar 30, 2010
6:00 AM
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I was to the place in Xenia twice. Unfortunately, I didn't do the driving and also didn't pay any attention. Seems like it must have been on the western side of Xenia as we came from Dayton and I don't recall going through the town itself.
The family name was Virag (Vi-rag).
Is there anyone from Xenia with any recollection at all?
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Honest Communications Is The Foundation of Civilizations.
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maxed out
150 posts
Mar 30, 2010
6:26 AM
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Ghost, Now you got me wondering. I grew up in Xenia. It just doesn't ring a bell. I was in high school in the 60's, graduating in 67. Was it a sit-down restaurant or takeout only?
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Riverdale Ghost
17 posts
Mar 30, 2010
3:57 PM
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Hi, maxed out!
Glad to meet you!
What I recall is a smallish place, maybe four or five booths for four people each, a jukebox, and a counter area maybe with an office behind that.
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Honest Communications Is The Foundation of Civilizations.
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Vesta
2 posts
Apr 13, 2010
1:52 PM
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Gypsy Hut and Hungarian Village were in the same area. One of them had a piano? organ? something with a Hungarian name. Does anyone know the name?
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Riverdale Ghost
30 posts
Apr 17, 2010
2:28 AM
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Vesta, I don't know a thing about the Hungarian Village.
I also don't know of any musical instrument that's strictly Hungarian, although there might very well be one (any inventive skills seem to be in other areas :-) I've heard). If you are really curious, there are Hungarian dictionaries online, some very good ones. You might try feeding in anything that seems likely (like piano or organ) and see what comes up.
Maxed out, if you were 17 or 18 in 1967, you were probably just a kid in grade school at the time. I'd guess at 1960-64 or thereabouts.
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Honest Communications Is The Foundation of Civilizations.
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Fran
8 posts
Apr 17, 2010
6:37 AM
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The Hungarian Village was on West Third Street before you get to the railroad tracks. The cymbalym (not sure of the spelling) was a keyboard type instrument that is still played at some of the Hungarian dinners.
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Fran
9 posts
Apr 18, 2010
4:34 PM
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The cymbalym was played sort of like a xylophone. It has a very unusual sound.
The Hungarian Village was right next door to my great grandfather's tavern/restaurant - at one time it was called the Little Hungary Restaurant - but changed it to Kender's Nite Club. And my cousin's family used to own the Gypsy Hut - located on Euclid Avenue.
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Fran
10 posts
Apr 18, 2010
5:10 PM
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Oops! Its spelled Cimbalom.
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Riverdale Ghost
35 posts
Apr 18, 2010
10:57 PM
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Gypsy Hut & Xenia
Due to circumstances beyond control, my knowledge is very limited; but, to the best of my knowledge one Johnny Virag born somewhere around 1906 or 1907 owned the Gypsy Hut in the 70's. And, he was my dad's first cousin. There was a place in Xenia in the 1960's (I was there). Among other things, I am trying to put together some family stuff.
Now, if he was my dad's first cousin his mother was the sister of either my grandmother, who died in 1929, or my grandfather, who died in 1916, since neither one had the surname of Virag.
My grandparents are listed in the Ellis Island records and I know the name of the "originating" village. However, none of the names I heard as (possible) relatives are clearly (time-wise) found in the Ellis Island records, never mind from the same village to West Side Dayton, Ohio, via the same port of departure. There was a Virag that was a remote possibility.
The place in Xenia seemingly didn't have a Hungarian bent of any sort.
Cimbalom
Well, Wikipedia ... many nations, central European ... Cimbalom is correct spelling, too, probably near to pure Hungarian and this url has a picture of a concert one. (One of these days I'll try posting with html, but not today as I have to look up how to do it.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cimbalom
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Honest Communications Is The Foundation of Civilizations.
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Riverdale Ghost
87 posts
Jul 21, 2010
9:19 PM
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There's evidently some new people here and I'm still looking for information, so I thought I'd move this up.
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 Honest Communications Is The Foundation of Civilizations.
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Curt Dalton
333 posts
Jul 25, 2010
8:59 PM
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There was a John Virag that owned a theater on Valley Street for a short time in 1930. He was also a cabinet maker. He was also an inventor (info of this is at the end of the info on the theater) Don't know if this is your guy, but here is some info on the theater:
Polish White Eagle- 406 Valley Street (1920): The Polish White Eagle Building Company bought an old fire engine house at Valley and Light Streets, rehabilitated the structure and turned it into a moving picture place. The following year the theater was turned over to Alfred E. Espy, who renamed the theater The Valley (1921-24). A year barely passed before Charles Peiffer bought the Valley and remodeled the building again.
At the peak of its heyday in 1924 Peiffer sold it to J. Delwin Fornshell, only to see it fail under less competent hands.
Peiffer reopened the theater, changing its name to New Valley (1925-32) so that patrons would know it was under new management. In 1930 he again sold the theater, this time to cabinetmaker John Virag. Unfortunately, the theater didn’t prosper under Virag and Peiffer once again bought the New Valley a year later.
The third time wasn’t the charm for Peiffer. The theater wasn’t equipped for sound. Silent films became harder to find as more ‘talkies’ took over the market. By 1932 the theater closed for good.
After sitting vacant for awhile, the building was remodeled by the Kosciusko Polish Literary Society . Patrons sat and read books where once they watched motion pictures.
The site of New Valley is now nothing but an empty lot.
To see John's patent on a railroad crossing signal and gate go to :
http://www.google.com/patents?id=dlxEAAAAEBAJ&pg=PA1&dq=%22john+virag%22&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q=%22john%20virag%22&f=false
Or go to Google's patent search and put in John Virag and it will come up.
Last Edited by on Jul 25, 2010 9:06 PM
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Riverdale Ghost
91 posts
Jul 26, 2010
5:07 AM
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Thank you so very much, Curt.
It is something to check out. "West Side Hunkys" were not immune to going to North Dayton. My dad and a friend owned a small grocery store in North Dayton in the 1920's.
In my understanding, "Virag" means "Flowers" or possibly "Garden." It's not a rare name except in some place like Dayton. And, it might also have been his father. I think his name was John, too.
Tip much appreciated! It figures in a way.
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Honest Communications Is The Foundation of Civilizations.
Last Edited by on Jul 26, 2010 5:09 AM
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Riverdale Ghost
103 posts
Aug 30, 2010
6:18 AM
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Moved up in case any of the new people know anything. It was a legitimate business and I'm not in contact with any of the people. I don't know where they are. The name of the place in Xenia is really long forgotten.
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Honest Communications Is The Foundation of Civilizations.
Last Edited by on Aug 30, 2010 6:21 AM
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RudolfKatalin
1 post
Sep 27, 2012
12:50 PM
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Hello,
I am researching my family tree. I found out that one of my ancestor's brother (John Bartos was born in 1884th Hungary Borsod County) was the owner of the Gypsy Hut restaurant in Dayton. I looking for descendants. He had a son Joseph (ca. 1911 -?) and a daughter Mary (ca. 1914 -?, was nurse). Mary get married Flavio Romero. They born a daughter Monica (ca. 1939). Then they lived in: 327 N. Conover St. Dayton, Montgomery, Ohio.
Do you know anything from the family?
I'm writing from Budapest, Hungary
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