Oberlin Avenue Putt-R-Golf and other 1960's businesses

I was recently reminiscing about Lorain of the 1960's with a librarian at the Lorain Public Library main branch, and she happened to mention, "Remember when there was a miniature golf course on Oberlin Avenue?"

As soon as she said it, I remembered it. I vaguely remember playing there at least once as a kid, although none of my siblings or I were ever very good at miniature golf. It was fairly routine for our balls to go rolling into the parking lot and beyond. (That's probably why no one in our family is an avid golfer today, although I tried it for a few years.)

I did a little research and found the miniature golf center in an old city directory. Beginning in 1966, Putt-R-Golf was located at 4354 Oberlin Avenue. In 1968 the address changed to 4290 Oberlin Avenue. By 1969 it was gone, replaced by a Taco Kid restaurant.

From what I can tell, Putt-R-Golf was a chain similar to the more well-known Putt-Putt Golf. A quick internet search seems to indicate that there are still a lot of miniature golf centers that use one or the other of these names.

Looking in the city directory listings for that stretch of Oberlin Avenue brought back memories of other businesses that used to be there in the 1960's. 

There was Esco (or Economy Sales, if you prefer) at 4630 Oberlin Avenue, where my family bought an awful lot of gifts and presents through the years. The gimmick was that the whole place was a showroom. After you found what you wanted to purchase either in the showroom or the catalog, you filled out a small order form with the item's number and handed it to an employee. A few minutes later, your item would appear like magic on a conveyor belt from the warehouse in back.

Esco was a great place because it was minutes from our home and really simplified shopping. Today the old Esco building is home to the Lorain County Board of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities.

Open Pantry Food Mart was another business listed in that area, at 4450 Oberlin Avenue. It had a little different feel than a Lawson store. More seedy, perhaps? (If you want to read more about Open Pantry, here's a link to another blogger's post about the long-gone chain.)

I can see that I'm going to have to research businesses along this stretch in the near future and take some pictures. I haven't even mentioned Lum's yet! Mmmm... I can just taste that hot dog steamed in beer right now!

Economy Sales Company – Part 2

Here are some more pages from that 1959 Economy Sales catalog. It’s fun to see some of the things that were offered.

Some of the managers associated with the original Lorain store included: Robert A. Dobosz (1960); Bernard L. Barak (1962); and Fred M. Belch (1964).

By the time of the 1966 Lorain phone book, Economy Sales had made its move to its new location at 4360 Oberlin Avenue. Patricia Gerhardt was listed as the manager at that time in the city directory.

New locations for Economy Sales included the aforementioned Mayfield Heights, Brunswick, and Akron stores.

Here’s a 1963 catalog, currently on Ebay.

I first mentioned Economy Sales in a March 2010 post about 1960s Oberlin Avenue businesses. At the time I wrote, "There was Esco (or Economy Sales, if you prefer) at 4630 Oberlin Avenue, where my family bought an awful lot of gifts and presents through the years. The gimmick was that the whole place was a showroom. After you found what you wanted to purchase either in the showroom or the catalog, you filled out a small order form with the item's number and handed it to an employee. A few minutes later, your item would appear like magic on a conveyor belt from the warehouse in back.

"Esco was a great place because it was minutes from our home and really simplified shopping.”

I think that with its no-frills shopping experience and large selection of merchandise warehoused on-site, the store was ahead of its time – anticipating later stores like Sam’s Club.

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Economy Sales Company was in business on Oberlin Avenue until around 1984, finally disappearing in the 1985 edition of the phone book. In one of its last phone book listings, its name was “ESCO FLEA MARKET.”

Today the former store building – after much remodeling – is the home of Murray Ridge Center of Lorain.

Oberlin Avenue Construction Then & Now

Courtesy the Morning Journal and the Lorain City Engineer

Seeing the barrels along Oberlin Avenue during its current repaving reminded me of this photo (above). It shows the view of Oberlin Avenue during its widening in the early 1970s.

Apparently the widening started in 1973 and finished in 1975. Why don't I remember that at all? Maybe it's because the construction coincided with my freshman and sophomore years of high school and I had other things on my mind.

The photo's vantage point obviously is from Tower Boulevard looking south. In the background you can see Big Town, Pizza Hut, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and off in the distance, Esco.

Hard to believe all of those establishments are gone, replaced by businesses more in tune with Lorain's economic downturn such as Cashland.

Here's the current view from this past weekend.

Although there are no national restaurant chains along that stretch any more, I'm glad that a national retailer like Big Lots is in the old Big Town space. It's one of our favorite stores.

Now if it only stocked peanut butter-filled pretzels more often.

Penneys Catalog Ad – Feb. 24, 1965

Seeing this ad for the 1965 Spring-Summer Penneys Catalog really reminded me how much shopping has changed in the last sixty years. Or has it?

The ad, which ran in the Journal on Feb. 24, 1965 advertises tens of thousands of items 'at your finger tips.' You merely phoned in your order from the comfort of your home, and the sales personnel did all the paper work to process it. Your items were then shipped to the local catalog center; you just had to go pick it up.

Here's a color version of the Penneys catalog in the ad, along with that of its greatest competitor: Sears. 

Today, online shopping has largely replaced most catalogs. It's still all about convenience. The difference is now you pay for shipping, but your order is delivered to your home.

What I don't like is that most brick-and-mortar stores like Walmart just don't bother having a lot of stock on their shelves anymore. Their website probably has what you want, but gone are the days when you can just go there and buy it.

Sooner or later, Amazon will be the only place where you can find what you want. For instance, last year I attempted to jump in my car and go buy a pair of sunglasses. I went to my old standby – Drug Mart – and came away empty-handed. I went to a lot of other stores and discovered that unless I wanted to buy a really goofy looking pair, I was out of luck. I ended up buying a pair on Amazon.

Also last year, I dropped my watch (which I had for over 20 years) and broke the band. The watch itself wasn't in great shape either (the crown liked to fall out) but it still worked. Do you think I could buy a replacement band or a new watch in a store in Lorain County? Forget it. I found a new Timex on Amazon (the ones on the Timex website were more than I paid for some of my furniture).

Anyway, it's nice to think back to the days when Mom had all her catalogs – Sears, Penneys, Esco – on a shelf in the hall closet. We bought a lot of clothes, towels, toys, etc. from those books. It was a simpler time.