Win a Phone from Cap'n Crunch – August 1984

It's funny how our cell phones have become our most vital possession. 

Besides making it possible for us to be connected with family and friends 24/7, we use them for everything: banking, shopping, entertainment, etc. We wouldn't leave the house without our phone any more than we would without our wallets.

Who could have possible imagined forty or so years ago that phones would be so important to us?

Well, Cap'n Crunch for one. 

At least that's the impression I got when I saw how the good skipper of the S. S. Guppy was offering kids the chance to win an AT&T phone back in August 1984 in the Crunch Island Monster Phone Sweepstakes. The ad above ran in the Journal on August 1st of that year.

I wasn't sure what to think, seeing as the horned monster in the ad has a napkin tied around his neck. Is Cap'n Crunch on the menu (and I don't mean the cereal)?

Nah. As the commercial below shows, the Cap'n and a real live action kid who apparently needs to make a phone call were looking for a phone booth on Crunch Island. They find one, but a monster is using the phone – and then eats it when he's done yakking. 

It doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Unfortunately, by the mid-1980s, Quaker Oats had changed animation studios for Cap'n Crunch cereal, moving the account from the Jay Ward Studios (where it had been since 1963) to a new one. Cap'n Crunch was still being voiced by Daws Butler (who also did Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Quick Draw McGraw, etc.) but the design of the Cap'n, as well as the tone of the commercials, would change drastically in the years ahead.

Anyway, Cap'n Crunch was one of my favorite cereals when I was a kid. Fortunately for my siblings and me, Mom would buy whatever cereals we requested, usually about 3 or 4 boxes a week. Consequently we ate a lot of Cap'n Crunch. We could finish off half a box in one sitting!

One of these days I will have to feature my collection of Cap'n Crunch memorabilia on the blog, including vintage boxes, premiums, ads, animation cels, figurines, etc. He's one of my favorite cereal ad mascots, along with Sugar Bear and the Rice Krispies elfin trio.

The first box design

But I don't eat a lot of sweet cereals these days. It's mostly the Breakfast of Geezers®: Shredded Wheat, Cheerios, Grape-Nuts, etc.

Shady Rest Cottages – Vermilion, Ohio

Shady Rest Tourist Camp vintage postcard

Remember the classic TV show Petticoat Junction?

The beloved 1960s rural comedy about Kate Bradley, her three beautiful daughters and her Uncle Joe all played out at the Shady Rest Hotel, which Kate operated. It was located halfway between Hooterville (where Green Acres took place) and Pixley. The Hooterville Cannonball steam train ran between the two towns, and figured prominently in the story lines since it stopped at the Shady Rest.

Well, Vermilion had its own Shady Rest too, where guests could come to relax and enjoy some old-fashioned hospitality. But instead of a hotel, it was a tourist camp – a collection of cottages or cabins arranged in a row or a circle. (Tourist camps predated today's modern motels.)

So where was the Shady Rest Tourist Camp located? According to the back of the vintage postcard, it was "On Routes 2 and 6, 2 miles west of Vermilion, Ohio on the banks of Lake Erie."

I checked the Morning Journal's online archives and found a listing for Shady Rest Tourist Camp under "Vermilion" in the New Telephone Number listings for June 2, 1956.

The listing said that it was located at Stop 133 1/2 on W. Lake Road, which the Lake Shore Rail Maps website indicated was somewhere around today's Coen Road. But where?

I drove up and down Lake Road in that area, naively hoping that the buildings were still there – but with no success.

But then I got lucky. The Shady Rest Tourist Camp had somehow survived into the late 1970s (as Shady Rest Cottages) and began to show up in real estate and rummage sale listings.

Dec. 27, 1977

I was happy to see that a few of the listings had a street address of 12807 West Lake Road.

July 28, 1979

October 28, 1979

Shady Rest Cottages apparently received a new name – Lakeside 6 – in the early 1980s.

July 31, 1982

While the 12807 W. Lake Road address no longer exists, 12809 W. Lake Road does – and it shares common ownership with an empty lot next to it, to the west – which makes me think that perhaps the cottages were all removed at some point in the last 40 years and replaced by a house on the eastern portion of the property. The two parcels have a nice beach unlike most of the neighboring properties.

Here's a street view, courtesy of Google Maps, showing the empty lot. 

And a 2008 view (below) shows even more trees on the empty lot. 

Could some of those trees in the 2008 view be the same ones shown on the vintage postcard? If I have the location correct – maybe.

Anyway, if anyone knows for sure where Shady Rest Cottages/Tourist Camp was located or anything about the history of it, I'd be mighty obliged if you left a comment.

"Welcome to Lorain" Sign – August 2, 1977

Remember the huge "Welcome to Lorain" billboard on Leavitt Road?

For many years, a sign with that message was on the west side of Leavitt Road at Jaeger Road, roughly across from the Emerald Valley Golf Club. You would see it if you were heading north on Leavitt Road.

Although the welcome sign differed in design from time to time, the message was always the same – that Lorain was Ohio's 10th largest city and that it was the home of the International Festival. (Of course Lorain is now the ninth largest city.)

Above you see the sign being painted in a photo that ran on the front page of the Lorain Journal of August 2, 1977. (By George, I was getting ready to head off to college at that time!)

I posted a color copy of that photo before, clipped from the Journal by Raleigh McBride, one of the painters in the photo. Here it is.

His great reminisces about working for Ritter Signs was featured back here on a 2012 post.

Emerald Valley Golf Club Grand Opening – Sept. 1961

I heard that the Emerald Valley Golf Club clubhouse/nightclub was torn down last month, so I drove over to take a look over the weekend (above). It was strange not to see the familiar building that had been there since it opened in 1961. Here's a view from 2020 (below).

The golf course had opened with much fanfare in September 1961. Here's an article from the September 28, 1961 edition of the Lorain Journal about the impending opening. As we know from last week's posts about the Lorain Country Club, there was real enthusiasm for golf courses in Lorain.

And here's the Grand Opening advertisement from September 30, 1961.

I've featured the Kucireks many times on this blog, including a great Journal interview from 1969 in which the couple explain how they originally wanted to build homes on the site (the former Glen Mauer farm) – but ended up with a golf course.

Here's a YouTube video of part of the demolition. That's Joseph Kucirek, the grandson of Emil and Emily Kucirek, at the wheel of the excavator. He wanted to participate, as a way of honoring his grandparents and their legacy in Lorain.

And here are a few vintage ads of the nightclub and pro shop.

Oct. 9, 1964

Oct. 30, 1964

Nov. 6, 1964

Nov. 7, 1969

Dec. 28, 1970

Jan and Dean / Paul Revere's Raiders at Surf Side VI – Summer 1978

June 24, 1978 ad from the Journal

Do you enjoy going to see tribute bands?

Although it's a popular form of entertainment for a lot of people I know, they're not for me. If I was a really big fan of a band or group, then I probably saw them in their heyday, at Blossom or the Coliseum. I don't need to see a reproduction now. 

But then there are the bands that are still touring under their original name, but are missing key performers and talents who are no longer with their respective groups. There was a lot of that going on back in the 1970s and 80s, with groups that were originally popular in the 50s and 60s. 

A good example is the musical bill shown above for the well-remembered Surf Side VI nightclub back in the summer of 1978. The ad, which ran in the Journal on June 24, 1978 announces the upcoming appearances of Paul Revere and the Raiders, as well as Jan and Dean.

But is that who showed up at Surf Side VI to perform? 

Well, yes and no. This article that ran in the Journal on June 30, 1978 explains.

As the article notes, the group that called themselves Paul Revere's Raiders were six new faces, unknown to the audience. Singer Mark Lindsay and leader Paul Revere were nowhere to be seen. Paul Revere, according to the article, still performed with his namesake group but only at really large venues.

As for Jan and Dean, there were two gentlemen there with those names: Jan Berry, one half of the famous beach duo (who had been in a terrible automobile accident) and a guy named Dean Ruff – not Dean Torrance, the original member.

It sounds like the new members of Paul Revere's Raiders won over their crowd during their performance. Jan and "Dean" – not so much. But Jan was there, and that's what mattered.

Sadly, neither group is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

****

Note also the ads for Amber Oaks and Lannie's.

Artist Paul Henschke in the News 1961 - 1978

Local artist Paul Henschke, touching up 
Lorain's Civil War Soldier in Washington Park, 1960

One of the memories that my siblings and I share from the 1960s is the summer that we took art classes on Saturday morning with local artist Paul Henschke. 

I've written about this a few times. At the beginning of the course we met in a classroom at the old St. Mary's High School to work on our drawing. Then we shifted to outdoor sketching at different park locations, including Century Park, Lakeview Park and Washington Park. Mr. Henschke would circulate around the class, checking our progress and offering suggestions. I remember that it was difficult to understand him with his thick German accent.

I still suspect that sending us to the classes was Mom's idea, part of her plan to keep us from being glued to the TV set on Saturday morning, watching cartoons.

Anyway, Mr. Henschke enjoyed a fine career as an artist, and as an instructor for the Lorain Parks Department. He must have had a good agent, because he seemed to be in the Journal with some regularity, in photos showing him instructing students in Lorain or Elyria, or donating paintings. He also wrote the occasional Letter to the Editor, advocating better support of the arts on a local level and promoting park access for children.

Here is a selection of articles featuring Mr. Henschke beginning with the earliest I could find. All are from the Journal unless noted.

August 2, 1961

March 12, 1962

May 25, 1962

May 30, 1963
(Mr. Henschke later crafted a whole new head for the statue in 1965.)

June 21, 1963

Oct. 5, 1963 (Chronicle Telegram)

April 2, 1964

May 29, 1965 (Chronicle-Telegram)

July 31, 1965

March 31, 1966

April 30, 1966

July 22, 1966

August 4, 1966

April 12, 1967

June 26, 1968

October 1, 1968 (That's my younger brother in the middle)

Nov. 7, 1969

Sept. 22, 1970

This 1970 article is my favorite. It includes Mr. Henschke's philosophy of how to stay young, and is a nice look back at his life and career.

October 4, 1970

July 13, 1978