Thanksgiving in Lorain – 1965

At Thanksgiving time in 1965, the Vietnam War was worsening with 240 Americans killed in one week, as noted in the lead story on the front page of the holiday edition of the Journal on November 25, 1965 (shown below).

As in the past, preparations for the Mary Lee Tucker Christmas Benefit Show were announced. The emcee for the benefit was revealed to be Don Webster, host of the Big Five Show on WEWS Channel 5 in Cleveland. Acts scheduled to perform included Dave C. and the Sharptones, teen-age singing idol Bruce Scott, and Coral Recording vocalist Bobbi Martin.

The Journal Page of Opinion was rich in Thanksgiving sentiment. The editorial provided a history of the holiday and encouraged Americans to display the flag as part of the observance. A column by Ralph McGill retold the story of the arrival of the Pilgrims and their first, terrible year.

The "Other Years" feature noted that ten years earlier on November 25, 1955, the longtime bottleneck in Vermilion (caused by US 6 zigzagging its way through town) was finally eliminated (which I wrote about here).

The traditional full-page holiday ad with a list of sponsors was on page 17, providing us with a roll call of local businesses. (As usual, only public utilities and successor banks are still around from the list today.)

Not a lot of choices to eat out in 1965. I saw only two ads: Amber Oaks and 333 Bar.

As for the preparation of a Thanksgiving feast at home, local shoppers had a wide variety of stores at which to select their turkey (or ham). 

And where did Mom get her birds? I've mentioned before that she used to fix a duck and a capon rather than a turkey. I'm guessing they were from A&P at the Lorain Plaza, as I distinctly remember her shopping there when I was a wee lad in the 1960s. Why do I remember? One of the A&P cashiers used to pinch my cheeks!

Speaking of A&P, it's amusing that the two-page spread contained not just the names of the A&P Bonus Bingo winners, but also their photos – and addresses! Unheard of today, that's for sure.

Thanksgiving in Lorain – 1955

Thanksgiving 1955 was celebrated against the backdrop of President Dwight D. Eisenhower making a comeback from a heart attack suffered on September 24th. Here's the front page of the Thanksgiving edition of the Lorain Journal of Nov. 24, 1955.

In Lorain, preparations were being made for the annual Mary Lee Tucker Christmas benefit show on Dec. 7th. Thanksgiving was observed in the Lorain City Schools with a re-enactment of the Pilgrim Thanksgiving by students at Fairhome School.

The November 21st edition of the Lorain Journal was stuffed with grocery ads. Below are the ads for Food Center Super Markets, Food Fair, Homewood Shopping Center, Meyer Goldberg and A&P so you can compare prices. Most of the ads have great Thanksgiving illustrations.

For those who wished to dine out that day, there were a few restaurant ads, including Gartner's Supper Club in Elyria and the Charcoal Pit in South Lorain.

There weren't too many ads in the paper with a Thanksgiving theme. Then – as now – the transition to Christmas was already taking place even as the turkey was being stuffed, so ads were more likely to feature Santa Claus. But I found a few Thanksgiving ads (in this case, one national, and one local).

The Editorial Page was graced with a insightful column reflecting on whether past Thanksgivings could really be described as taking place in the "good old days."

And lastly, only a few comic strips acknowledged the holiday – Dennis The Menace, and the always hilarious The Ryatts (which had only been launched the year before, according to this great article).

Thanksgiving in Lorain – 1930

Detail of a Hughes Provision Co. ad - Nov. 25, 1930

Thanksgiving is only a few days away. So, as usual here on the blog, we'll look back and see how the holiday was observed in the Lorain Journal in years gone past.

Let's start with Thanksgiving 1930 – just one year into the Great Depression.

A few days before the holiday, the Journal presented an interesting look at local turkey farms, including that of "Doc" W. G. Schaeffer of Amherst (of Beaver Park fame) and Mrs. L. A. McClellan of LaGrange. The article was written by John Love and appeared in the paper on Nov. 25, 1930.

In that same edition of the paper, it was reported that the cost of a typical Thanksgiving feast had dropped to $6, lower than previous years.

Also in that same paper were the grocery ads with everything needed for the big day. No multiple pages of store ads in 1930; they all fit on one page! (Yes, there's an unflattering caricature of a Black waiter toting a turkey in the A&P ad.)

But what if you wanted to enjoy a meal at a local restaurant that day? Perhaps because it was hard times, there weren't very many ads offering a special Thanksgiving meal. Here are two that I did find, both in the November 26th edition of the paper. Both had quite a menu.

That same November 26, 1930 had a special illustration on the front page.

Lorain was preparing for a 'quiet Thanksgiving' with businesses closed and church services scheduled. The prisoners at the city jail were going to enjoy roast chicken, dressing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pie. I wonder – did anyone got themselves deliberately arrested so they could enjoy that feast?

Lastly, the editorial page had a fine selection of Thanksgiving-themed columns, including a nice one by the Editor. 

Be sure to read the one by A. M. Hopkins (whose column I believe was nationally syndicated, as opposed to being a local one) – it's pretty well-written, and captures what it was like to spend a Thanksgiving with grandparents perfectly.

Detail of a Standard Home Utitlies ad – Nov. 24, 1930

Muir's Thanksgiving Ad – Nov. 20, 1945

Thanksgiving 1945 was only two days away when this full-page ad for Muir's Original Cut Rate Drug Store ran in the Lorain Journal on Tuesday, November 20, 1945 – a mere 80 years ago this week. As you can see, our old pal the Thrifty Scot was shown busy carving himself a turkey leg at the top of the ad.

It's interesting seeing all of the obscure brands in the ad, including Wildroot Cream-Oil Hair Tonic (before Fearless Fosdick became their spokesman), Lydia Pinkham Vegetable Compound and Minipoo Dry Shampoo.

There are plenty of products that are still popular today, including Similac and Gerber's Baby Foods, and Aqua Velva. 

Toni Home Permanent is there; I still remember the unpleasant smell when Mom was giving herself a permanent. Do they even make the Toni product anymore?

Then there are the really odd products in the ad, like K. R. O. (for killing rats). 

1946 magazine ad

At least the company that manufactured it was an Ohio business.

There aren't too many toys in the ad. Speaking of rats, the one toy that really stands out is the Mickey Mouse Drummer for 49 cents. These things are pretty collectible today. There are several for sale on eBay right now, with prices ranging from $14 (broken, with only two wheels) to well over a hundred.

The famous rodent looks pretty good here. It's an attractive, modern-looking rendering.

It looks much better to me than the current version of the cheese-eating Disney symbol, seen in a series of popular online shorts. 

The rest of the Disney menagerie (especially ex-orange juice salesmen Donald Duck) didn't fare so well either.