Interurban Motormen Reminisce – Feb. 1956

The old interurban railway system hasn't received much attention on this blog for a while. To help make up for this grievous oversight, here's a great article from the Feb. 27, 1956 Lorain Journal. It tells of a special reunion of four Southwestern interurban motormen that was held on the 25th anniversary of the last run of the line.

The four veteran motormen – Tom Ferron, Edward Wilcox, Tom Marsh and Harry Searles – enjoyed themselves at a celebration in Oberlin that featured a special display of interurban relics prepared by Norman C. Muller. Muller was the owner of the Arlington Traction Company, featured in a series of posts on this blog.

A special cake with a 3-by-5-foot oval track complete with scale replica interurban cars was prepared by Harold Gibson of the Gibson Bros. Bakery.

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Here are a few Lorain Journal articles that ran at the time that the Cleveland Southwestern went out of business.

Jan. 30, 1931

March 28, 1932

May 24, 1932

May 25, 1932

Tally Ho! Brownhelm Fox Hunt – Feb. 1947

Did you know that there was a Brownhelm Fox Hunt back in February 1947?

Here's the article from the Feb. 21, 1947 Lorain Journal with the story.

It notes, "More than 400 enthusiasts are expected to enter the first organized fox hunt in Lorain-co which will start Sunday afternoon in Brownhelm, officials of the Lorain-co Fish and Game club, sponsors of the hunt, announced today.

"The starting point of the hunt will be the John Henning farm, at the corner of Foster park and Sunnyside-rds.

"The reported purpose of the hunt is to destroy the red foxes in this section which farmers in Brownhelm have blamed for killing their chickens."

A follow-up reminder appeared in the paper on Feb. 22.

Alas, the hunters were, uh, outfoxed as this story from the Feb. 24th edition reveals.

"Searching a two-square mile area in the drive for an hour, the surprisingly large turnout of searchers flushed out two foxes who scampered nimbly to safety under the cover of the snowy blasts.

"Strange game shaken out during the hunt was an old tom-cat who was allowed to quit the area."

A return match with the foxes was scheduled for March 8, 1947. This one turned out even worse for the hunters. The red fox made 'big dummies' out of them, as noted in this article from March 10, 1947.

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And for those of you who enjoy seeing the whole page of the paper, here's the Feb. 21, 1947  page with the initial report of the upcoming fox hunt. Hey, we even get a "There Oughta Be a Law..."

Presidents' Day 1971

Today is Presidents' Day – the day we honor any and all U. S. Presidents. Or is it?

You'll hear it referred to as Presidents' Day all day – on TV newscasts, as the theme of various store sales – but actually, it just happens to be the day that George Washington's Birthday is celebrated, instead of the actual date of Feb. 22nd.

The Mount Vernon website explains it nicely. It notes,"The road to what the majority of the public in the United States now recognizes as Presidents’ Day is a long and confusing one. After Washington died in 1799, his birthday was informally celebrated across the country. 

"It wasn’t until  January 31, 1879, that Washington’s birthday became a federally recognized holiday. 

"Until 1968, Washington’s Birthday had always been celebrated on February 22. It was tradition and a powerful reminder of the man who helped create what we have today in the United States.

"On June 28, 1968, Congress passed the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act”. This law was to provide uniform annual observances of certain legal public holidays on Mondays. The act was also created to provide federal employees with more three-day weekends. Under this new law, Washington’s birthday would be celebrated on the third Monday of February, partially losing the value and identity of the importance of his birthday. Washington’s birthday has not been celebrated on the actual day of his birth since the law took effect in 1971."

May 10, 1971

June 28, 1971

The initial rollout in1971 of the new Presidents' Day caused some confusion, according to this article that ran in the Journal on Feb. 11, 1971.

For some businesses, they merely ran their Washington's Birthday (or Brithday, in Arby's case) sales on Feb. 15th.

Feb. 15, 1971

Feb. 15, 1971

But the Style Center did something different in its ad that ran on Feb. 14th.

"They have changed the name from Washington's Birthday to Presidents' Day and threw-in Mr. Lincoln," the ad notes. But instead of commenting on the decision to rename the holiday, the Style Center hilariously decided that the throw-in of Lincoln was a good excuse to double the bargains. Oh well.

At least it didn't use clip art of young George with hatchet in hand.

Valentine's Day Ads – 1956

Valentine's Day is tomorrow. How about some gift ideas for your sweetie from the pages of the Lorain Journal around Valentine's Day 1946 and 1956?

Lorain Telephone Company just dialed it in with this not-very-romantic suggestion of a new phone on Feb. 8, 1956 . Boy was that a wrong number!

Rusine's suggested a good book in this ad from Feb. 9, 1946. How about the book Kitty that's highlighted in the ad?

It's not exactly the Good Book. Kitty is described as, "The wildcat of the streets who set her cap of curls for the bluest blood in England. There never was another like Kitty – with her satin skin, melting flesh and tremulous mouth. Kitty with the lithe body of a wildcat... tongue of a teamster... the greed of a girl of the streets. Kitty – the saucy strumpet of the streets, who became most talked about Duchess in England."

The book was made into a 1945 movie starring Paulette Goddard as the 'saucy strumpet.'

Not too surprisingly, these ads from Feb. 11th, 1956 stressed wholesome Valentine gifts: candy and flowers. Advertisers include Brownell Pharmacy, Faroh's Candy Shops, and Rusine's (again).

Feb. 12th was a Sunday – so no Journal. But the Feb. 13th edition continued with the gift ideas. How about an exquisite gift from Ted Jacobs?

But if something from Ted Jacobs was too rich, our old pal the Thrifty Scot from Muir's had some ideas.

But in the end, ya can't go wrong with candy, as this Kutza's ad suggests.

Abraham Lincoln's Birthday – Feb. 12, 1926

One hundred years ago today on Feb. 12, 1926, the Lorain Journal commemorated the birthday of President Abraham Lincoln on its front page (above), juxtaposing the cabin in which he was born with the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D. C.

The caption notes, "Down in Kentucky, in a distant, secluded district of the rolling foothills, there stands a rude, primitive log cabin. It is a desolate little building, almost a hovel; and yet it is one of the greatest buildings in the world.

"In Washington, fronting a wide, placid pool of water, rises a building which is everything the log cabin is not. It is spacious, stately, beautiful, built of marble to endure for centuries. And it was raised to honor the memory of the man who born in the squalid cabin.

"The log cabin was Abraham Lincoln's birthplace; the building at Washington is the Lincoln Memorial most beautiful of all the capital's monuments." 

The cabin in which Lincoln was born is the subject of many postcards. The earliest show the cabin outdoors; later versions show it indoors at its location in the Memorial Building at the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Park in Hodgenville, Kentucky.

Here's an ample sample of postcards depicting the cabin. They're not necessarily in order; a few include the postmarked date found on eBay samples or close equivalents.

1941

1942

1945

1956 & 1958

It's odd how the proportions of the cabin (or the angle at which it was photographed) changed in the more recent photos.

Later research revealed that the cabin is not really the actual birth cabin but a reconstruction of sorts. But the "Symbolic Birth Cabin" accurately depicts the kind of structure that the Great Emancipator was born in.

Thomas A. Edison Birthday Tidbits

Today's the birthday of the great inventor Thomas A. Edison, who was born in Milan, Ohio on Feb. 11, 1847.

I'm not sure if his birth is even acknowledged any more in the media. The Lorain Journal used to occasionally honor the great man with front page news stories on his natal day, but not every year. The 100th anniversary of his birth in 1947 was a big deal, which I wrote about in a two-part post here and here.

Nevertheless, the seven blog posts I wrote about him have pretty much covered the big anniversaries (his 100th, and his 125th) and the restoration of his birthplace. But he still popped up in the Journal now and then, and I collected a few of these items and present them here today.

Edison was still alive on January 17, 1923 when this small item about him appeared on the editorial page as part of a series entitled, "Poor Boys Who Became Great."

Edison passed away in 1931. A mere five years later, his birthday was being commercialized to sell light bulbs! (The 'Mazda' brand here was a trademarked name used by General Electric.)

Ten years later, Ohio Edison ran this ad on Feb. 9, 1946, featuring some interesting quotes by the great man.

And ten years after that, Edison popped up in two unlikely places: the "Stranger than Science" column by Frank Edwards, and humorist Bennett Cerf's "Try And Stop Me" column!

Aug. 27, 1966

Nov. 1, 1966

I celebrated Edison's birthday by replacing not one, but two bulbs in the overhead light/fan in my bedroom. They both burned out yesterday. Weird!

Rescue of the Antinoe – Feb. 10, 2026

It's another "100 Years Ago Today" post (they're very convenient to generate when I'm stuck for a topic). But today's post features a major news story: the rescue of the sinking British cargo ship Antinoe by the S. S. President Roosevelt.

Surprisingly, it didn't even make the front page – it's at the top of page 2. But here are both pages, since they're fun to look at and packed with news items.

The photo caption reads, "The photograph shows the sinking British steamship Antinoe just after the last of her crew of 25 men had been saved in mid-Atlantic by the American liner President Roosevelt. The view is from one of the rescue ship's gangway entrances. To reach the reeling water-logged, and doomed Antinoe, the President Roosevelt fought for 84 hours a nerve-wracking battle with hurricane-like winds and mountainous seas. Two of the President Roosevelt seamen paid for the gallant victory for their lives. King George of England awarded decorations to Captain George Fried of the President Roosevelt and the other rescue heroes, and their courage was acclaimed around the world.

Press photo of Captain George Fried

To read a truly excellent account of the heroic rescue, click here to visit the Mariners' Museum and Park website. Jeanne Willow-Egnor, the Curator of Maritime History and Culture, tells the exciting story in detail, including great photos and even vintage newsreel footage of the crew of the  President Roosevelt  receiving a heroes' welcome.

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Also of interest (to me, at least) is the article on page two reporting that the plans for the Lorain Overlook Apartments were now complete. The article notes, "The 10 summer cottages now located on the site are to be moved and grouped around a small park on the lake shore.

"A large house on the site will also be moved a few hundred feet east."