Reddy kept busy back in December 1955, appearing in Ohio Edison ads almost every day, making sure we had lots of gift ideas that were sure to light up the faces of our spouses. Gift suggestions included a Westinghouse Laundromat, a Westinghouse Refrigerator, and a Tappan Electric Range (what, didn't Westinghouse make one?)
Here are a few ads that ran in the Lorain Journal in December 1955.
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| A detail from a 1955 Kroger ad featuring our pal Toppie the Elephant |
Perhaps it was due to the popularity of the clip art books produced by such companies as the Harry Volk Corporation, which regularly issued collections of themed, license-free artwork that could be reproduced or actually cut apart (or clipped) for use in ads.
Thus a newspaper like the Lorain Journal had this new artwork being made available along with the older illustrations that the paper already had on file.
Here's an ample sample (what else?) of how Good Saint Nick appeared in ads that ran in the Journal just in time for Christmas 1955.
First are a few traditional renderings.
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| Looks like Santa replaced his reindeer with our favorite pachyderm |
But no matter how he's rendered, somehow Santa is always recognizable.
If this was 1958, and you were looking for ideas, this ad for the Downtown Lorain stores was for you. It ran in the Lorain Journal on December 17, 1958.
The ad's A-Z theme is kind of neat, with each letter representing either a gift idea or a store name. The challenge of coming up with a gift suggestion using the letter X, however, apparently was too difficult and it was conveniently left off. This also resulted in a nice, clean layout grid of five rows of five letters.
That's one offbeat looking cartoon Santa in the ad. But that was the style back in the late 1950s, with this style of simple, nebbish-like characters often appearing in TV commercials.
Anyway, did you take a squint at the fine print of the ad block for the letter P?
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| Barnaby, flanked by his buddy Woodrow the Woodsman (left) and WEWS personality Captain Penny (right) |
Well, it really wasn't Barnaby per se. It was Linn Sheldon, the man who portrayed the straw-hat-wearing, elf-like character who hosted a children's show on the Cleveland NBC affiliate beginning in the late 1950s. Barnaby lived in the Enchanted Forest with his invisible parrot (Long John), showed Popeye cartoons and engaged in gentle banter directed to his audience of kids. What local Baby Boomer doesn't remember Barnaby's daily heartfelt sign-off, and the haunting theme song (A La Claire Fontaine)? I still get choked up when I hear it.
Anyway, around 1958 Linn Sheldon – who was a talented all-around performer and musician – released a Christmas novelty song: "Boofo Goes Where Santa Goes." Boofo is Santa's little dog, who stays by his side and accompanies him on Christmas Eve.
They've been piped into the stores since Halloween, so you've had plenty of time to enjoy them (or get sick of them, as the case may be). I know for me, I've got to be in the mood to listen to them, otherwise I tune them out.
Sometimes my family used to have them playing in the background while we trimmed the tree. I think Republic Steel used to sponsor a nonstop, commercial-free Christmas music marathon on FM radio back in the 1970s and we might have tuned into that. Either that or we had Herb Alpert's Christmas album (a Brady favorite) playing on the stereo in the living room.
Anyway, my all-time favorite Christmas tune is one that really isn't a Christmas tune at all, but it might as well be because it's only played around the holidays: Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride."
Why? Because it's timeless. It's come to symbolize the holidays for me.
As a little kid, I remember listening to it being performed at various holiday programs by a choir and enjoying the clippity-clop sound resembling a horse. Later, I remember either playing it and/or singing it at Masson in the various bands, orchestras or choirs. And even later, we performed it at Admiral King High School with my brother Ken doing the horse whinny on his trumpet at the end. So it's the one melody that seems to tie together every Christmas over the years for me. I never get tired of it and I always get a little teary-eyed when it comes over the radio, because I feel like a kid again.
As for some of the other Christmas tunes that come over the radio, I must confess that I'm pretty burned out on many of them. "Santa Baby" is one that is played a little too often; same thing with "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." But who doesn't break into a smile when they hear Burl Ives singing "A Holly Jolly Christmas?"
Be sure to leave a comment about your favorite Christmas melody.
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| Detail from a Journal ad |
The year 1985 was a big year for me. It was my first full year in my apartment at the Lorain Overlook (after moving out of my parents' home in late 1984). I also started working at the Downtown Cleveland printing company that would be my home for the next 35 years (until Covid hit).
The Journal didn't seem to have very many holiday-oriented ads in the days leading up to Christmas. Here is a not-so-ample sample. I love the Fotomat ad, having forgotten all about those things.
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| Not bad – Tom & Jerry AND Woody Woodpecker cartoons! |
The December 24, 1975 edition of the paper contained three full pages of these ads, as well as one partial page.
The pages are all fun to look at, and contain businesses from all over Lorain County. I'm sure you'll recognize a few businesses that you may have patronized, but forgotten about due to the passing decades. The cost of appearing in these pages must have been very reasonable to achieve such incredible participation.
A look at the movie pages of that December 24, 1975 Journal really drives home the realization that it was a long time since the 1950s, and that the 1970s were half over.
