Portland Oregon Fun Things

I went around Portland today just to explore and see some fun things. I had a lot of fun from Hippo Hardware, Ota Tofu Company, and Beverly Cleary Sculpture Park.

Hippo Hardware was officially established in 1976 and is an eclectic building salvage store specializing in hardware, lighting, architecture and plumbing from 1860-1960. They offer assorted collectibles, trinkets, whatnots, and whatszabobs depending on what they get in. The spirit of Hippo Hardware is to rejoice in the individual, the unique, and the original.

They offer the following services:

• Customizing - They do their best to make sure it looks just right. Their lighting shop can customize length, finishes, plating, and configuration. Their plumbing department will coordinate refinishing with local companies. The hardware department is able to darken, refinish, clean, and rebuild. Their services can vary depending on staff so please contact them with your project details.

• Returns - Accepted for any reason within 2 weeks of purchase. That means if it doesn't fit, if your sweetheart doesn't like it, if it doesn't match your paint scheme. Receipt required. Returned to you the way you paid, and items MUST be in original packaging and condition. Defective or damaged items will not be eligible for a refund.

Mortise lock repair - Hippo is the only hardware store in Portland that offers full mortise lock repair--including French Door mortises and closet mortises! Their repair shop can diagnose and repair your mortise lock or perhaps they have a replacement if a repair is not an option. Shop prices are $80/hour. Please call the store and ask for Colin to speak about your repair!

Online shopping - Conveniently browse their online section of items! Please note: their online section is much smaller than the store selection, they do offer returns for online purchases but do not refund original shipping or provide return shipping. They also only ship on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

Trade in - Bring in what you have, and they will offer you in store credit or cash. Email pictures first if you'd like to talk about it before you get here.

Hippo Hardware has three floors and 30,000 sq feet of building salvage to explore. Their inventory, and staff, is divided into four departments: Hardware, Lighting, Plumbing, and Architecture. They do their best to highlight their inventory full of unique items and reproductions on their website, but most of their stock is not online yet. Please contact them if you're looking for something you don't see online.

They even have unique bathroom items for sale.

They strongly support community projects, teachers, artists, adventurers, dreamers, and one-man-bands. Here are some of the organizations they support: NARAL, Planned Parenthood, Portland Women's Crisis Line, Benson High School, Sunnyside Environmental School, Junk to Funk Recycled Fashion Show, SE Works, Vision Northwest, Multnomah Playschool, Union Gospel Mission, Community House, The Friendly House, Marylhurst Childhood Center, Portland Lions Club, Sabin Elementary School, Oya No Kai supporting the Japanese Magnet Program, Lee Owen Stone Preschool, Public Interest Law Project, Jefferson High School for the Performing Arts Theater Department, imago Theater, Reynolds High School, David Douglas High School, and Milagro Theater.

You can find them at Hippo Hardware & Trading Company. Their phone number is 503-231-1444. The store location is 1040 East Burnside ~ Portland, OR 97214. If you prefer you can also send them an email at hippohardware@gmail.com. The store is only open Wednesday through Sunday from 1000 - 1700.

The Beverly Cleary Sculpture Garden, located on the west side of Grant Park in northeast Portland, consists of three bronze statues grouped around a splash fountain. The figures represent three beloved characters from children's author Beverly Cleary's books: Ramona Quimby, Henry Huggins, and Henry's dog Ribsy.

Beverly Cleary grew up in the neighborhood and played in Grant Park as a child, and many of the events in her books take place in the park and on neighboring streets. Klickitat Street, where Henry and his friends live, is located a few blocks north of the park.

They mention that Beverly was born in McMinnville Oregon, and this is incorrect. She was actually born and raised in Yamhill Oregon which is a small town about 20 minutes outside of McMinnville.

Creating the sculpture garden took five years of fund-raising efforts. Children all over the United States held penny drives to raise money, and contributions came from every state as well as several Canadian provinces. The sculpture garden is one of the few memorials in the United States dedicated to a children's author.

Ota Tofu is America’s oldest tofu company. Ota Tofu is a small, family-owned business in Southeast Portland that over 108 years has a built reputation as the producer of the finest, freshest tofu in the region. Ota is a hidden gem in Portland’s vibrant food scene that provides a hand-crafted staple for NW groceries and restaurants providing demanding customers with quality, healthy and tasty ingredients in their meals.

Tofu is a soybean curd that dates back more than a thousand years ago, getting its start in China and making its way to Japan a couple of hundred years later. Benjamin Franklin is the first American known to mention tofu, including a mention of it in a letter he wrote in 1770.

When the Ota family started their business in 1911, it provided a healthy taste of home for Portland’s thriving and rapidly growing Japanese immigrant community. Ota Tofu is now the oldest producer of tofu in the United States and one of the oldest in North America.

The first Ota Tofu blocks were cooked in gas-fired brick ovens and except for a four-year period during World War Two, they have been a mainstay of the Asian-American community even since. During the war, the Ota’s, along with tens of thousands of Japanese Americans along the west coast, were forced to give up their homes and businesses and forced to move east or live in internment camps spread across the western US. Fortunately for the Ota family, a sympathetic landlord protected their original location in Northwest Portland and at the end of the war the Ota’s were able to resume producing Tofu for Portland’s Asian-American community.

It took a little longer for the broader community to come to appreciate value and flavor tofu can bring to your meals and diet. In 1986, USA Today declared it the most loathed food in America. Today, tofu is a prized ingredient across a variety of cuisines and the star of increasingly popular vegetarian and meat-alternative recipes in American restaurants and kitchens!

As Portland’s (and the Northwest’s) food scene continues to grow in national and international stature, Ota Tofu itself has established a reputation for producing quality tofu that adds a fresh, natural element to salads and meals. Ota Tofu products are available at more than 150 restaurants and food carts serving a diverse line of ethnic cuisines including Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Thai, NW farm-to-table and Mexican.

They make the tofu in 55-gallon drums. Their website is www.otapdx.com and are located at 812 SE Stark St, Portland, OR 97214. Their phone number is 503- 232-8947 and are open Monday through Saturday from 0800 until 1700.