Happy Mother's Day!

Panel from The Passing Scene – May 7, 1966

Here's wishing all of my readers a Happy Mother's Day! 

If you're lucky enough to still have your mom with you, I hope you can celebrate the day with her. If your wife is a mother herself, I'm sure you will be treating her royally, like my two brothers are no doubt doing with their respective spouses.

And if your mother has passed on, then it's a good day to honor her and recall all the unconditional love and support she gave you. That's what I'll be doing – not spending the day being sad, but remembering the good times with Mom over the years.

In honor of Mother's Day, here's an ample sample of Lorain Journal clippings and ads from over the years.

H. P. Nielsen Jewelers suggested buying Mom a diamond in this May 7, 1926 ad.

Sadly – Anna Jarvis, the founder of Mother's Day wasn't doing too well on Mother's Day 1946 as noted in this clipping from May 11, 1946.

The Style Center recommended giving Mom the royal treatment in this ad from May 8, 1953.

Old Stone Villa had a great menu for Mother's Day 1956.

May 12, 1956

The Citizen's Home and Savings Association's ad depicted Mom relaxing in a chair and reading her 'favorite book' – a savings bank book!

May 12, 1956

Mother's Day 1966 played out against the backdrop of Vietnam in this well-written 'letter to Mom.' It was written by a war veteran to sum up the feelings of every soldier that wished he could be home on Mother's Day, rather than fighting in a war.

May 7, 1966

And here's the whole "Passing Scene" panel of May 7, 1966 with the Mother's Day acknowledgment.

Not everybody could afford an expensive meal out on Mother's Day 1976. So Burger Chef came up with a great promotion: The Rancher Dinner™ – consisting of a three-quarters sirloin, golden French Fries, a crisp salad and Texas toast! Hey, where's Burger Chef and Jeff? Celebrating with their respective mothers, I guess.

And Midway Mall reminded shoppers that the stores there had a great selection of fashions and gifts for Mom in this ad from May 5, 1976.

The Passing Scene – April 1966

Gene's solution to prevent the theft of the Lakeview Park
Easter Basket's eggs: hide a cop inside one

Let's end the week with a few laughs. Here are all five of Gene Patrick's "The Passing Scene" comic strips that ran in the Journal back in April 1966. Enjoy!

The April 2nd edition humorously addressed a late March 1966 UFO sighting in Lorain.

The April 9th strip mentioned sonic booms – something that I remember from being a kid, as well as something that we experienced a few weeks ago.

The April 16th comic contains Gene's hilarious Lakeview Park Easter Basket cartoon.

The April 23nd edition gave Gene the opportunity to do a nice rendering of Hotel Antlers.

And finally, the April 30th strip foreshadowed the eventual replacement of Lorain City Hall and includes a cameo appearance by Batman and Robin.

The Passing Scene – Feb. 19, 1966

It's been a while since I posted a "Passing Scene" comic strip from our old pal, cartoonist Gene Patrick. So here's one from sixty years ago today – Feb. 19, 1966. 

Gene was in his second year of producing the comic panel for the Journal. He pretty much had his style established (contrary to his earliest strips in which he was still experimenting with the format).

There's nothing too controversial in the Feb. 19th strip. The bridge to Canada was a pet project of Governor Jim Rhodes; the Journal cast a skeptical eye at the idea in a Feb. 16th editorial.

The idea of U S Steel 'perfuming' its slag operation gave Patrick the chance to poke fun at a popular perfume ad campaign.

Feb. 16, 1966

The last panel features an apparently youthful senior citizen who prefers the teen music show Hullabaloo to old Keystone Kop comedies.

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And for those of you who like to see the "Passing Scene" strip in its proper context, here's the whole page. Hey! There's an Ohio Edison ad with our pal Reddy Kilowatt – what a coincidence!

The Passing Scene – May to August 1965

This drawing from August 1965
is just as timely now, 60 years later.

The year 1965 was the first year that Gene Patrick's The Passing Scene comic strip appeared in the Journal. During that year he was still finding his way, experimenting with the graphic format. 

I posted the strips from April 1965 back here. So, continuing my quest to post the entire run, here are the panels that ran from May 1965 through August 1965. They're a nice, lighthearted mirror of what was going on in the Lorain area at that time.

I really like his comic with the 17-year locusts.

May 1, 1965

May 8, 1965

May 15, 1965

May 22, 1965

May 29, 1965

June 5, 1965

June 12, 1965

June 19, 1965

June 26, 1965

July 3, 1965

July 10, 1965

July 17, 1965

July 24, 1965

July 31, 1965

August 7, 1965

August 14, 1965

August 21, 1965

August 28, 1965

Great Horny Toads! It's the Passing Scene – July 3, 1965

I haven't posted one of Gene Patrick's The Passing Scene comics in a while, so here's one from sixty years ago this week. Above is the strip that ran in the Journal on July 3, 1965.

Normally, I just post the comic without delving into the news stories being referenced. But not this time, you lucky reader.

The third panel with the horned toad story interested me. (My only familiarity with them up to this point was hearing Yosemite Sam mention them in one of his outbursts).

But as noted in the comic, the appearance of a strange looking horned 'monster' in South Lorain caused a stir. Here's Doug Warren's story from the June 24, 1965 Journal.

The reporter was somewhat bummed to find out that the 'monster' was just a horned toad. But at least the article helped identify the critter as the missing pet of a six-year-old boy.

Article from June 29, 1965 Journal

As you can see, "Horny" (the pet's name) almost ended up living at Mill Hollow. But the story of a boy and his horned toad had a heartwarming ending.

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And in case you're interested, here's the miniature submarine story.

From July 1, 1965 Journal

Passing Scenes – Jan. to Feb. 1975

Gene Patrick's biweekly The Passing Scene comic strip continued in the Journal right into 1975. 

I'm curious just how long he kept it going. We know that he had already taken a break from the Journal around 1972 when he launched his own business (Gene's Hobby Hub). When that business endeavor ended, Gene took a detour out to Los Angeles for a while, eventually coming back to Lorain and reviving The Passing Scene. I guess he was a restless spirit.

But for now, however, we'll take a look at his cartoons from the first two months of 1975. The January 4th strip references Lorain's plan to purchase 232 acres in Sheffield Village for use as a landfill.

Jan. 4, 1975

Jan. 11, 1975

Jan. 18, 1975

Feb. 8, 1975

Feb. 22, 1975

It's fun watching Gene create his own comic universe over the years, similar to classic TV sit-coms of the 1950s. Wives are either cheerful or shrews; either way, they spend too much money. Long-suffering husbands are the undisputed head of their families. Teenagers are often smart-alecks looking for an angle. Very young children are completely innocent types.