Thursday, December 20, 2012

1961 Whalens Christmas Ad

Here's a small Whalen Drugs Christmas-themed ad that ran in the Journal in late December 1961, a quaint reminder of those days (before Revco came to town) when you knew your druggist, and you went to your drug store for, well, for drugs! Today's modern drug store is a combination department store/grocery store.

Sadly, with so many regional and national drug store chains competing against each other and staking out their turf on almost every major street corner, the family-owned drug store is pretty much a thing of the past.

Whalen Drugs, though, is one of those places I can still see in the misty recesses of my mind. I've already mentioned in this blog the big advertisement for Bowman Ice Cream that was painted on the side of the building facing Meister Road.

Once inside, you could expect a cheery greeting from June Gajdos, who worked there in the back as a clerk for more than 25 years. She was outgoing and friendly, and always recognized me when I went in there to check out the huge comic book rack or buy a Bub's Daddy. "Hey, Brady!" she might shout at me. It made it nice to go in there.

Whalen Drugs closed in 1986, when the owners – Bob and Geraldine Whalen – retired, and with the shuttering of the business went another piece of Lorain's small-town personality.

Today, ironically, a CVS Pharmacy sits on the site.

1 comment:

Ken said...

The model train that carried the filled prescriptions from the back to the cashier in front is a happy memory. And the jar of penny pretzel sticks next to the register.