Stories with Amos

It's the sixteenth and final episode of Stories with Amos. Amos will give a final review on his early life and provide a flyover glimpse on all the places he'd lived during his time on this earth as he closes the series. For this final episode, we'd like to extend a special thanks to all who made this series a reality: the friends and family that encouraged us to get this project off the ground; Holly, for having the wisdom and humility at a young age to take the time to listen to stories from her grandfather and record them for later listening; Ian, for the time investment to produce the series; and of course, the late Amos Campbell, for the wonderful memories and stories from those many years past. Thank you for listening!

The entrepreneurial side of Amos shines through in this fifteenth episode as he describes his original intention of expanding his popcorn business with a production center, his later-year experiments with more sweets and goodies (like chocolate-dipped fortune cookies), and spreading his gospel of taffy to a wider audience.

Amos will provide more detail in this episode about his involvement with the Ohio Drycleaners Association, as well as explain things he learned through the organization. He also will share his philosophy on bettering yourself--being the kind of friend you would want to have--and will explain a few details surrounding his move to Columbiana.

Amos tells Holly about his "encounter with an angel" in this thirteenth episode, and also recounts some other stories from his past, like accidentally setting a camping tent on fire and participating in flea markets. He'll also share his philosophy about accidents and learning from mistakes.

Amos will discuss more stories from his youth in this episode, re-telling the story of him going into a coal mine as a child without any adults being aware. He'll also share more details about growing up in a large family in the countryside, and recount tales about what it was like to grow up in an era of World War.

In this eleventh episode, Amos will talk about taffy-pulling, both as a youth and as a retiree; he discusses taffy-pulling as a courting ritual in his youth but also how he would do taffy-pull events formally at nursing homes and senior centers. He'll also tell Holly some songs and poems from back in his day, whether they were common tunes or his own writings.

It's popcorn time with Amos! In this 10th episode, Amos will discuss dipping pretzels in chocolate, creating giant popcorn structures like the "World's Largest Popcorn Ball", a popcorn house, and other creative ideas. He'll also reminisce about the different Karamelcorn locations and review other endeavors he had after leaving the popcorn business.

Amos has caught the popcorn bug; in this episode he discusses the business move of selling his drycleaners and getting into the retail popcorn industry. He'll explain the influence his Christian faith had on his financial decisions during that time, and how things fell into place to get into several mall locations—including Parmatown and Randall Park—during the booming era of malls.

After frustrations Amos endured managing at Isaly's, he decides to strike out on his own and gets himself into the dry-cleaning industry. He discusses some of his entrepreneurial endeavors in the laundry and steam-cleaning sectors, during one of the most booming decades for small family-run businesses; but at the end of episode, he soon learns of an entire different industry via influence of his step-brother, Miles, leading Amos to have a light bulb moment where he exclaims to himself: "Amos, you're in the wrong business!"

In this seventh episode, Amos recalls early fatherhood and explains the origins of each of his child's names. He'll also talk about the influence that work-life had on his family, and discuss the ups and downs of being a manager for the Isaly's franchise, eventually leading him to yearn for a career change.

Between some stories about raising chickens as a youth and his recounting time at Isaly's, Amos will recount more tales about his early work life, as well as some other memories from his marriage as a young man.

Amos looks at some old pictures with Holly and walks through his relationship with each person shown, as well as discusses the start of his career at Isaly's (an early chain of family-owned dairies and restaurants started in Ohio, with locations throughout the American Midwest from the early 20th century until the 1970's). 

It's taffy time: Amos will recollect some early memories of pulling taffy as child, and will walk down memory lane through other stories, including times when he directed traffic as a toddler, and was also hit by a car. Despite the problems in growing up in the depression era, he'll fondly remember childhood friends and fun moments like when the family would gather around their favorite radio programs—not unlike listening to a podcast, perhaps? Enjoy!

Amos recounts what happened to his childhood home after his father, Amos SR, passed away. He'll also tell stories about things he remembers doing for fun as a child, describes his amicable relationship with his parents, and discusses some family traditions he remembers from his youth.

In this episode, Amos will describe tent revivals, working in corn fields as a farm-hand, and his first "business" selling lead-soldiers. He also describes the unfortunate death of his baby brother, Paul; use discretion if listening with youngsters.

In this first episode of the series, Holly sits down with her grandpa, Amos, as he recounts tales from his youth, discussing one-room schools, raising chickens on a farm, and other adventures from his early life.