Little Tom Bottling Co. Ad – October 20, 1966

Remember Little Toms – the small (6 oz.) pops that came 30 bottles in a wooden case? They were bottled in Cleveland from the late 1950s until 1980. Little Toms were pretty popular, especially for family gatherings and special occasions. Flavors (according to AI Overview) included grape, root beer, lime and cream soda.

I don't remember the Bradys ever having Little Toms on hand, although I think I might have seen a photo of one of us kids holding a bottle of one in the family album. Our tastes in soft drinks were more along the lines of Pepsi, Vernor's, Frostie Root Beer, etc. Plus we didn't have pop all that often anyway. But I do remember seeing wooden crates of Little Toms in the garages of some boyhood friends.

(I always thought that the "Tom" in the name referred to Tom Thumb, because of the puny size of the bottles. But the top-hatted chap on the bottle doesn't look like he came from a storybook.)

Anyway, sixty years ago this week, the ad below for Little Toms ran in the Journal on October 20, 1966. 

It's more of a corporate ad, since it doesn't say where you could buy them. But a quick look in the Journal online archives reveals they were primarily available at beverage stores located in shopping centers. 

March 18, 1964

Gallo's Beer Dock on W. 21st Street became the distributor of Little Toms on Lorain's west side in July 1965.

Here's a link to the Little Toms Facebook page, where the last owner of the company has posted some comments. He also has some rare bottles to sell to serious collectors.

Convenient Food Mart Halloween Ad – Oct. 21, 1966

Halloween is coming up soon, so it's a good time for this seasonal ad for the late, great Convenient Food Mart chain that was based in Elyria. It ran in the Journal back on October 21, 1966.

Looking at the ad, I immediately recognized that the cartoon at the top of the ad had to be the artistic work of the Chronicle-Telegram's great, longtime editorial cartoonist, Bob Lynch. 

Bob also designed the Elyria sports mascot Petey the Pioneer, and some of his illustrations have been featured on this blog a few times over the years. Lynch probably created the Convenient Food Mart king mascot as well, now that I think of it.

The ad has lots of popular favorite food items, including Sugardale Bacon, Hills Bros. Coffee (my parents' favorite), and Sunshine Farms Ice Cream.

I'm not sure about the Nestlé's King Bar. I think it was Nestlé's answer to the classic Hershey bar. 

It's funny how the popularity of various candy bars have changed over the years. The Hershey bar used to be regarded as the gold standard in candy bars, the best there was. Nowadays, I think the Kit Kat Bar has usurped its throne. As for me, I love Mallow Cups and their sister product, the Smoothie Peanut Butter Cup.

And it's odd seeing Royal Crown Cola in the ad – only because it's been known as RC Cola for so long. I buy it once in a while. Same thing with Faygo Cola. But I never buy Coke. If I'm going with a name brand, it's got to be Pepsi with Real Sugar (the one thing I'm addicted to).

Anyway, sometimes I miss the Convenient Food Marts. They had that unique local flavor – the great Sunshine Farms milk and other dairy products, good prices on their groceries and the best rotisserie chickens ever. And nice people running them.

Fall Cavalcade of Color - 2026 Part 1

Fall is my favorite time of year. During this particular one, I've gone out of my way to savor each day. I've enjoyed the sights, sounds and smell of autumn by going for a walk each night – usually in Mill Hollow. And for something different during this past weekend, I made the trek out to another favorite spot: Findley State Park in Wellington. The fall colors are incredible, and hopefully my photos below will do them justice.

So for those of you who perhaps no longer live in this area, let this post be your balm to ease your longing for Autumn in Lorain County.

I'm always pleased that there's some nice color around the old quarry that's located right behind my condo in the Woodlands. (Speaking of the Woodlands, I'm lucky that my condo building is up the hill from where it looks like Paul Bunyan swung his mighty axe and turned the Woodlands into the Wastelands.)

And it was late afternoon on Saturday that I paid my visit to Findley State Park. I had Picnic Point all to myself. (By the way, my picnic was a McDonalds double cheeseburger.)

 

Sunday I was right back at Mill Hollow.

On the trail, I saw this little fella. I told him, "Hey! The Woollybear Festival was weeks ago, pal!"

Mill Hollow Clippings: 1931 Charles Bacon Interview Recalled

The view last evening

We'll close out this look back at various news clippings about Mill Hollow with perhaps the most interesting article of all. 

You might remember that yesterday I posted a small article from April 1931 noting that Miss Blanche M. Jenne, Amherst correspondent for the Lorain Journal, had written a special feature for the Cleveland Plain Dealer about the old taverns of Lorain County. For that article, she had interviewed Charles Bacon, whose forefathers (including his grandfather Frederick Bacon) owned 300 acres of land around Mill Hollow.

Well, in September 1958, shortly after the land that includes Mill Hollow and Bacon Woods was donated to the Lorain County Metropolitan Park System, Blanche M. Jenne wrote a special article for the Journal recalling that 1931 interview. 

The information gleaned from her interview of Charles Bacon included a pioneer history of Mill Hollow and the various mills located there, the history of the Brownhelm Inn, and colorful stagecoach stories.

It's all fascinating information directly from a Bacon family descendant that would be hard to find today.

Thank goodness the Journal made it a priority back then, in a rapidly changing era, to document local history.

Here's the article that appeared in the Lorain Journal on September 29, 1958. Note the great photo of the hairpin curve of North Ridge Road leading down into Mill Hollow. It really was a steep angle back then, before it was altered in the 1990s.

Mill Hollow Clippings: 1920s- 1940s

The view back in early October

As I noted before, Mill Hollow seemed to be mentioned in the Lorain Journal a lot during the 1920s, 30s and 40s. 

There was a variety of reasons. That part of the county was still rugged and a great place to hunt; the hairpin curve of North Ridge Road leading down into the hollow from the east and the hill as the road exited to the west was a regular focus of county engineers; and the rich history of the area, with living descendants of the family that operated the mill, and buildings and houses dating back from stagecoach days, made it a fascinating window to the past.

Here, then, is a potpourri of articles from the pages of the Lorain Journal that each mentions Mill Hollow in some context. Articles include: the obituary of Sarah Bacon, whose father Frederick Bacon owned the flour mill and operated the tavern; an Amherst pioneer's reminisces; and the test drive of an Olds going up the famous Mill Hollow hill.

Jan. 12, 1925

April 17, 1925

June 1, 1925

June 3, 1925

Sept. 3, 1926

Nov. 13, 1926

March 31, 1928

March 19, 1930

April 23, 1930

Sept. 12, 1930

Oct. 6, 1930

Dec. 31, 1930

April 13, 1931

June 22, 1939

March 6, 1940

Aug. 1, 1941

Jan. 31, 1944

April 26, 1948