Lawson's Labor Day Ad – Sept. 1966

Do you have everything you need for the traditional Labor Day cookout tomorrow?

Sixty years ago, Lawson's really had its finger on the pulse of customer shopping habits when it came to Labor Day picnics. It knew what people wanted and put those items on sale. Here's its full-page Journal ad from September 1, 1966.

It mirrors my shopping list for today: hot dogs, buns, potato chips and potato salad. It just seems like that's what the menu should be on Labor Day. And maybe some baked beans on the side.

I like the Harry Volk clip art; those artists always did a nice job of capturing of moment and making it seem real. But I wonder if anyone ever really wore a chef's hat when barbecuing?

I know they did in cartoons.

Back to School Ad – Sept. 3, 1956

We'll close out the week with a final Back to School ad, since today is the first day of school for the daughter of a woman I work with. The daughter is starting kindergarten in the Firelands school system. It's an odd day to start, right before the long holiday. But I guess it's the school officials' way of slowly easing the new students into something that's going to take up the next twelve years of their young lives.

Speaking of kindergarten, I wonder if the kids still have to bring a mat to school to sleep on? During my kindergarten class at Charleston Elementary, I remember having a nap time in a darkened room. We talked about this at work the other day, and my co-worker (who is in her early thirties) Googled it, and determined that nap breaks are a thing of the past. 

Anyway, this Back to School ad is sponsored by the Lorain County Deputies Association. It ran in the Lorain Journal on September 3, 1956 and features some great clip art of kids and a policeman.

Although there's no Grim Reaper illustration, the tagline in the ad is still rather jarring: Don't Meet Your Maker By Accident. It also doesn't make a lot of sense, since the goal of the ad is to keep drivers from running over kids.

At least the little cartoons on the right side of the ad still pack an important message in as capsule format, seventy years after the ad was published. 

It's always surprising to see drivers confused as to whether or not they have to stop for a school bus that is picking up or dropping off kids in the opposite direction on a four lane highway like Liberty Avenue (US 6) in Vermilion. 

The answer? They don't. The kids are never put in the position of having to cross a four lane highway.

But many drivers stop anyways and are shocked when I don't. 

The traffic person (Jamie Sullivan) on Channel 19 News used to review this issue every year when school started, to try and eliminate the confusion, and I think it was a very good idea. 

Down State Beer Ads – Aug. 1956

Beer has been a favorite topic on this blog since its beginning. I've written a lot about Old Dutch Beer, which for many years was Mom & Dad's favorite. They would even bring me a six pack of Old Dutch when they came down to Ohio State to visit me in the dorm. It was like having a little bit of home right in my mini-fridge.

It was in the dormitory that I soon realized that there were a lot of beers out there that I'd never heard of. Just as we had our regional favorites in the northern part of the state – especially those brewed in Cleveland – Southern Ohio had their preferred choices too.

Hudepohl was one of those beers I wasn't familiar with. It was founded, and is still brewed, in Cincinnati. That's why it's strange to see a large ad for Hudepohl in the Lorain Journal on August 31, 1956.

I like the use of cartoons at the top of the ad. But it's odd to see the TV schedule for the Cincinnati Reds (here listed as Redlegs) in the lower right hand corner. 

It's a neat campaign, positioning the beer as a golden brew because of its 14 K process. The golden theme is mirrored (literally) in these can designs that are similar to the one shown in the ad.

Another down state brew that I'd never heard of is Burger Beer, another Cincinnati favorite. And it too showed up in the Lorain Journal in an ad on August 29, 1956.

I like that mascot. He reminds of the Monopoly guy.

It would seem that at least one ad campaign over the years would have to be based on the idea that Burger Beer goes well with burgers.

Oddly enough, Burger Beer ended up under Hudepohl ownership and for a time was Hudepohl's budget priced brand.

Today, Burger Beer is still around – sort of. Its logo is slapped seemingly as an afterthought on the back of cans of Muskie Lager. Retail sales of Muskie Lager support Xavier University's varsity sports. But it's too bad that the classic Burger Beer bottle and can design isn't used.

Anyway, both of these down state beers showed up in the Journal right before Labor Day Weekend 1956.

Don't forget to stock up on your favorite beer – whether it's an up state or down state brand – to enjoy during this upcoming long weekend.

Back to School Ads – 1966

Although school has been in session for many school systems for several weeks now, many of my readers remember fondly when school did not start until the first week of September. It made for a nice, clean transition from August to September.

And with school starting later back then, the back-to-school ads didn't begin to appear until the end of August. Many (if not most) of them seemed to focus on school clothes, specifically shoes. 

We never wore our 'gym shoes' to school when we were little – it would have been unthinkable. (Remember bringing them to school in a gym bag along with a towel and gym shorts?) Nope, we wore shoes that had to be polished and tied. I don't remember a lot of slip-ons.

Anyway, here's a not-too-ample sample of ads from 1966 with a back to school theme. This first ad for Gray Drug Stores has a neat transistor radio giveaway.

Aug. 31, 1966

Amazingly, some of those radios have survived. You can see one on the radio museum website. Here are a few poached pictures courtesy of that website.

Hills usually had some great clip art in their ads, but the illustration in this one is a little odd. I'm not sure what you would call the young boy's hairdo. Maybe he was a Cesar Romero fan.

Sept. 1, 1966

And as I mentioned, there were tons of shoe ads. I like the little dog illustration in the Hageman Shoes ad.

Sept. 2, 1966

I've never heard of Lazy Bones Shoes, but apparently they were popular enough to run four color ads in magazines well into the 1970s. And the cute dog mascot was featured prominently, which is doggone nice.

1977 ad

1978 ad

Other shoe ads featured the old Brady favorites: Nobil's and Pic-Way.

Sept. 1, 1966

Sept. 1, 1966

On Area Screens – Sept. 1, 1966

I never realized it until a few years ago, but Mom and Dad sure took my siblings and me to a lot of movies when we were growing up in the 1960s. 

We saw almost every Walt Disney movie from about 1964 on until the early 1970s. They also took us to almost every John Wayne movie as well from roughly that same time period.

And we saw other movies as well. This movie page from September 1, 1966 – sixty years ago today – includes a few. 

The big movie event for us was Help! featuring the Beatles. 

The album that was played over and over again

We were big fans of the Beatles (before they went all hippie/druggie/psychedelic) because my older sister had all their albums, which were played on the stereo in the living room. We watched the Beatles cartoons, played the "Flip Your Wig" game and each had a favorite Beatle and matching doll. (Mine was goofy Ringo.)

I may be wrong (I'm 67 years old after all), but I'm pretty sure my parents surprised us by taking us to see Help! at the Lorain Drive-In. We were probably down at Lakeview Park first, seeing the fountain lights, and Dad then drove west out of Lorain and then teased us about whether we'd like to see the movie – and then turning in to the Drive-in. At least that's the way I remember it.

The other movie that we saw for sure was Walt Disney's Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. starring Dick Van Dyke and cute Nancy Kwan. I even had a little novelization of the movie (see photo below).

This is the book version that I had

I can't remember whether I enjoyed the movie or not. I did like the part where he had to consult a survival handbook while drifting at sea in his raft. Here's a brief clip. I seem to recall the book telling him to stand on his head (on a raft?) to cure hiccups.

As you can see, the handbook actually 'talked' to him, which was kind of funny. (The book's voice was provided by Richard Deacon, who played Mel Cooley on The Dick Van Dyke Show.)

At the end of the movie, Lt.. Robin Crusoe is rescued from his South Seas paradise, and saved from having to marry Nancy Kwan's character. Even as a kid, I wondered why he wanted to be rescued!

One movie on the page that I first saw on GRIT a couple years ago is The Night of the Grizzly, starring Clint Walker. It also features Leo Gordon, who's always great as a villain. Although the movie comes across as a cheapie made-for-TV flick, it's pretty good and even has a redemption theme, which I like.

Lastly, I like the Giant Back to School Show at the Palace: "5 Big Color Cartoons Plus 2 Hilarious Three Stooges Comedies." It may be 1966 but the illustration of the two kids looks very 1930-ish. And it doesn't say which Stooges shorts were shown, but I hope they were Curlys. (Yeah, a young Don Hilton would have walked out, disgruntled at the lack of Shemps.)

I wonder if Alan Hopewell still has his Giant 8 Piece Handy, Sturdy Pencil Box?

It's great to see Tom Cat in the ad, although we don't know which cartoons were being shown. They could have been lame Loopy De Loops, or Woody Woodpeckers.

Tom looks kind of funny in the ad, with the grey tint over his entire body – instead of a white muzzle, chest and patch between his eyes.

Admiral Ernest J. King Lays Cornerstone of War Memorial – August 30, 1942

A closeup of the monument today

Eighty-four years ago today on August 31, 1942, the front page of the Lorain Journal featured the participation of Lorain-born hero Admiral Ernest J. King in the laying of the cornerstone of the war memorial in Lakeview Park on the previous day. The ceremony was just part of King's visit to his hometown during the three-day "Home Front" celebration with a "Blast the Enemy" theme.

I've written about the monument before, as well as the Home Front celebration (with Parts 1, 2 and 3).

Here's the front page article and its continuations on pages 2 and 11 of that edition. As you can see, the Admiral was a busy man during his visit, with many appearances, speeches and a parade.

It's interesting that the continuation of the article about the dedication of the monument on page 11 mentions that King "was assisted in laying the cornerstone by William Kratt." In a previous post about the monument, I posted a photo that was provided by a Kratt family member of Mr. Kratt posing in front of the monument. He had worked on the masonry when the monument was made.

I noticed that the photo is inscribed Amherst Memorial Studio. The firm is still around, and has done all of the Brady family headstones going back to my father's grandparents. 

Lorain Journal Front Page – August 28, 1926

One hundred years ago today, this was the front page of the Lorain Journal on August 28, 1926. As you can see, there was a lot going on, and it was all reported dutifully in the paper.

The big news locally was the upcoming dedication of the new First Congregational church in Downtown Lorain. (The earlier version of the church was destroyed in the 1924 Lorain Tornado. This one (unlike the other) was built with brick. "A masterpiece of modern church architecture" is the way it is described in the article.

It's still a beautiful structure, one hundred years later.

The big international headline was "Millie" Gade Corson becoming the first mother – and second woman – to swim the English Channel. (Here's the Wiki entry with the details.)

Elsewhere on the front page were the usual reports of crime, mayhem and tragedy – you know, the kind of news that sells papers: National Tube employees robbed at knife point; a huge prison break (24 convicts) in Ionia, Michigan; police chase and capture a man in Elyria by firing a shot in the air; also in Elyria, one woman hit by a car and another woman stabbed; a lawsuit against Bauer Dairy involving a boy and a milk truck; a trio of auto accidents in Lorain; fatal auto accidents in Dayton; a gas station coupon book scam.

Human interest stories included the burial of screen star Rudolph Valentino, and his brother's unsuccessful attempt to get there in time for the funeral.

There were also the 'lighter' stories: "Miss Lorain" getting ready to go to Cedar Point and compete for the honor of representing Miss Ohio at the Atlantic City beauty pageant; the impending beginning of school in a few weeks; an unusual 86 degrees temperature in Lorain; and the return of D. J. Boone, the superintendent of Lorain Schools, from his vacation in New York.