O Parma

Parma, in the old country, is a city and province of northern Italy, home of Verdi and Toscanini, and the world's most famous ham--prosciutto. In Ohio, it is the largest suburb of Cleveland; if it was separated by geography, its population would have it as one of Ohio's larger towns; but no town in or bordering Cuyahoga County exists independently from Cleveland.

After World War II, and especially during the 1960s, the population of Parma O. greatly expanded. For a time, it had the greatest growth of any town in the United States. It eventually reversed. During this great expansion, a local television programme, through Ernie Anderson, and Chuck Schodowski, poked fun at the phenomenon. Peyton Place was a very popular national television show, they made a recurring skit of Parma Place. That was part of the suburban success, and general American post war kitsch (chrome balls, pink flamingos) that was particularly identified with Parma.

Now, Chuck was Polish, so he had a recurring character, Stash*, who was a simpleton. Another character was the Kielbasi Kid. Many Poles were uncomfortable about this dumb Polack characterisation. So, instead the adjectival noun 'Polish' became 'Certain Ethnic'. And really, most Americans could not be bothered in differentiating the nationalities that came to Cleveland (and America). Of course, if certain other groups were depicted, uproar would have ensued. In the popular mind, even the national mind, Parma, Polishness, and goofiness became linked.

The United States is still suffering from the protracted economic depression of gwbjr and the Republican party. Older developed areas of population continue to suffer. Many advertising gimmicks have been tried to promote economic activity, one is the creation of art and signage to promote areas.

I have posted an earlier foto of this wall [click], which was then defaced. Since then the Warsawa scene has been flanked by the heraldic white eagle.
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*Stash is pronounced with the European vowel 'a', as many Americans would pronounce the vowel in 'dot', 'pot', 'lock'. Stash is a familiar form of Stanisław, Stanislas is the formal English spelling (borrowed from the French). Stanley is an accidental, somewhat similar, substituting English name. The English name was originally a surname, the original Slavonic 'Stanislav' has no shared etymology with it. In the 1920s, both Stanley and Stanisław were popular names in English and Polish speaking communities. The Polish feminine name Stanisława has become the English 'Stella'. On the show, Stella was Stash's wife.