Wednesday, November 13, 2024

Blog Break!

Howdy, folks. Just wanted to let you know I'll be taking the rest of the week off here on the blog. I'd like to say that I have to go away on a top secret mission and thus won't be able to write (the excuse Yossarian used in Catch-22 to get out of having to keep in contact with everyone he previously wrote to.) But the real reason is some personal business that will unfortunately keep me away from the computer for a few days. Sorry about that, Chief. But hopefully by this weekend I will able to get back to posting more Reddy Kilowatt ads creating some new and interesting content!

Please, no need for comments, as I''ll be deleting this post when I'm back. I'll see you soon, Pardner! 

Economy Sales Ad – November 4, 1964

Back in the 1960s, many stores ran Christmas ads highlighting potential gifts in early November.

Why? One of the reasons was that back then, layaway was a very popular payment option. Many families (including the Bradys) utilized it. So making those purchases early made sense.

That's the idea behind the nearly full-page ad above for the well-remembered Economy Sales stores, which ran in the Journal back on November 4, 1964. The ad is nicely divided between toys and gifts for adults.

Economy Sales was the Amazon of its time. It carried a wide selection of items and each store was like a little warehouse. You perused the showroom, decided on your purchase, filled out a little card and submitted it. Then, a few minutes later, your selection came chugging out from the back on a little conveyor belt.

(I've written about Economy Sales several times.)

At the time of the 1964 ad, the Oberlin Avenue location wasn't open yet. It wouldn't hold its Grand Opening until November 1965. So the Lorain store was still out in South Lorain, in the former Lorain Street Railway car barn.

Anyway, many of the toys shown in the ad have survived to this day and are available on eBay. Here are a few of them.
And of course, who doesn't recognize the fruit of Fred Flintstone's loins: Pebbles Flintstone. 

Tuesday, November 12, 2024

Fisher's Ad with Wampum Specials – Nov. 4, 1964


For more than half a century, grocery stores have used a variety of creative tactics to get shoppers to regularly patronize their establishments. 

In recent years, the loyalty card programs have ruled. Giant Eagle, for example, uses fuel discounts at its GetGo stations as an incentive for their card holders to keep coming back.

Back in the 1950s and 60s, Top Value Stamps were popular, and helped Kroger's maintain market share. There were also various programs at other stores in which shoppers could assemble a set of encyclopedias, or even a set of dishes, one each week.

But here's a program that I've never heard of, used by the local Fisher's chain of stores: wampum coins. 

I had originally planned to post the above Journal ad from November 4, 1964 because of the funny illustration of the kid with the apple and the roll call of brand name products. But while reading the ad copy, I saw a mention of Orange Wampum Specials and became curious as to how the incentive program worked.

I found this explanation that ran in the paper on June 20, 1964. It seems that the Orange and Blue Wampum coins were earned by spending money at the store. The coins could then be used as money on weekly specials that were color coded to correspond with them.

In this full page ad from June 18, 1964, we get a look at one of the coins (the Native American is holding one.)

The whole Wampum coin gimmick enabled Fisher's to feature a lot of cartoon Indian clip art in its ads.

July 15, 1964 ad
July 29, 1964

Of course, today the whole Wampum program would be seen as politically incorrect and in bad taste, and rightly so. But in the more innocent times of the early 1960s, after a decade of TV Westerns dominating the airwaves, it was just a way to have some fun while saving money.


Monday, November 11, 2024

Armistice Day 1924 and 1938

One hundred years ago today, World War I had ended a mere six years earlier, and Lorain – and the rest of the world – was observing Armistice Day. Then as now, the Armistice is commemorated at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

Above is the front page of the November 11, 1924, Lorain Journal. As you can see, there is no special header or graphics in honor of the observance.

Under the heading "Nation Turns Back Pages of History," the report from Washington, D. C., notes, "The nation today turned its thoughts back six years to another Armistice Day and paid reverent homage to those who gave their lives on the altar of history.

"Throughout the country memorial services for the dead were held, and patriotic exercises, parades, and other ceremonies appropriately observed the day.

"Two shrines here received thousands of visitors – the tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington and the chapel beneath which lies Woodrow Wilson, war time president.

"President Coolidge led the observance with a pilgrimage to Arlington to pay simple tribute to the Unknown warrior who symbolizes the nation's war lead by laying a wreath on his tomb.

"Congress may be asked in December to take up the matter of declaring Armistice Day a holiday, it appeared here today following President Coolidges's decision that he has no authority to order work stopped in government departments on that day."

(Armistice Day would not become a legal holiday until 1938. And after World War II, November 11th was changed to Veterans Day in June 1954 to honor American Veterans of all wars.)

But getting back to Armistice Day 1924.

In Lorain, according to the article entitled, "Armistice Day is Observed by Vets," Lorain's ex-service men, officials, citizens and school children today joined in observing Armistice Day and the sixth anniversary of the end of the World War.

"Lorain Post, No. 45, American Legion, will hold a military ball at Hotel Antlers this evening. 

"Mullen-Murray Post No. 451, Lorain Veterans of Foreign Wars, J. J. Misco, Commander, will celebrate Armistice Day with a military ball held at the H. and R. dance hall this evening. Carr's orchestra will play."

United Press Staff Correspondent Webb Miller contributed a report from 'the old American battlefront' in which he directly addressed the veterans who fought in the War. "Probably, sometimes today, your thoughts will turn backwards to that day six years ago, with a tug at the heartstrings for the Buddies left behind under the little white crosses and undoubtedly with a strange incomprehensible twinge of homesickness, or whatever that feeling is," he wrote.

"But it is a safe bet that you would not recognize today most of the smashed, deserted villages you marched thru those last few days, chasing the Boche back out of the Argonne. The peasants have come back – about 80 percent of them – and have cobbled up the ruins or rebuilt them and are today busy spreading fertilizer in the fields for the spring crops. Many villages were wiped out and never will be rebuilt. They are only memories, or names on the old war maps."

****

Twenty years after World War I ended, with another world war conflict brewing, the November 11, 1938 front page of the Lorain Journal included one article about the observance, entitled "Anxious World Marks 20th Armistice Day."

"Lorain paused today with an anxious world to reflect on peace and disillusionment on Armistice day, 1938 – 20 years after the "war to end war."

"The 11 a. m. hour of the Armistice passed in the schools without the two-minute period of silence observed in former years. All schools, however, had special Armistice day programs this morning. At Lorain High school, a movie depicted horrors of future wars."

The Journal editorial page contained a special message from the Editor, as well as a commemorative artwork by cartoonist Vernon Greene.

Friday, November 8, 2024

Pete & Millie's Revisited

Pete & Millie's was a popular restaurant located on the southeast corner of West 21st Street and Leavitt Road (where the Family Dollar store is today). It was owned and operated by Peter and Mildred Flontek. As I noted back on this post, it first showed up in the city directory in the 1949 edition. But I found an ad from a year earlier that appeared in the Lorain Journal on Sept. 3, 1948 (below). Like many restaurants at that time, it started out as a seasonal drive-in, with curb service only.

However November 10, 1951, this large ad announcing the opening of their new dining room, which enabled them to be open all year round.

It was quite an ambitious menu, with its 'sensational new crab burger,' along with old favorites like Chicken in a Basket. Note that Restemeier's Potato Chips was the brand sold there.
Courtesy Alan Richer
The year 1952 was a big one, with regular ads running in the Journal. My original post featured ads from late January and early February. These two ads (below) also ran in February, keeping the momentum generated by the new dining room going.
Feb. 12, 1952
Feb. 26, 1952
And then, about two years later, it was all over, with Pete & Millie selling out to the Standard Oil Company. I guess the location was just too desirable for Standard Oil to resist. 

Jan. 21, 1954 Journal transaction
Vic's Sohio Service Station would take over the location. Below is the Grand Opening ad that ran in the Journal on August 20, 1954.





Thursday, November 7, 2024

Election Follow-up – November 1924

Just like now, stories related to the election results dominated the news exactly one hundred years ago after Calvin Coolidge was elected. But thankfully not all of the news was about politics.

Above is the Thursday, November 6, 1924 Lorain Journal. I already posted the front page from the day after the election, but this one had some interesting non-election-related tidbits on it.

One article about kids playing hookey sounded like it was right out of a Little Rascals episode. The difference was that in this case, Municipal Judge J. F. Strenick had a pretty harsh solution. "Responsibility for educating children goes with the raising of them and this responsibility rests on the shoulders of parents. If their offspring had been raised right instead of petted and pampered there would be no difficulty in getting them to obey.

""What is needed is a whipping post for some of these hoodlums and rough-necks who play hookey and who refuse to attend school.""

The article even includes the names of the miscreants and their home addresses.

An article about the newly elected woman governor of Wyoming includes a gracious congratulations by her opponent. Mrs. Nellie T. Ross had run for the office after her husband, Governor William Ross, had passed away. Upon her election, Mrs. Ross became the first woman to serve as governor of a U. S. state.

Elsewhere on the page: a well-written Journal election editorial; a story about an motorist running wild on Elyria Avenue and doing a lot of damage; a bit about a "booze offender" being fined in court for smiling; and an announcement about Cross Word Puzzles appearing three times each week in the Journal.

Wednesday, November 6, 2024

"Night Club Queen Convicted" – November 1934

The various businesses located at 3700 Oberlin Avenue – the home of today's Mutt & Jeff's – has been the subject of many blog posts over the years.

While many of the previous modern era nightclubs and restaurants located in that same building that is still there today are well-remembered (such as Sherwood Inn), the ones dating back to the 1930s are not so well known. Penny Morgan's – a notorious brothel – is one of them. (I've written about Penny Morgan's several times.)

Another is the 400 Bridge Club, which was the scene in 1934 of a tragedy involving the nightclub's two business partners. As I described it back on this blog post, "It happened in early September 1934. Florence Lee, a divorcee and co-owner of the club, had been attempting to keep her partner, Michael Carreo, from driving home as she believed he was drunk. She took his keys and, for her trouble, received a beating from him, including a punch in the face.
"He drove off with Joseph Yankowsky, the manager of the nightclub, who lived nearby. Furious, Miss Lee arrived at Yankowsky's residence shortly thereafter and shot Carreo several times with a .38 automatic pistol.
"Then she drove directly to Lorain police headquarters and gave herself up. Carreo died later that day.
"When told that her partner was dead, she was quoted as saying, "Why did I do it? Oh, why did I do it? Forgive me, Mike. I must have been crazy, Mike."
In November Florence Lee was found guilty of manslaughter by a common pleas jury. Here's the front page of the November 1, 1934 Lorain Journal with the story, as well as the continuation.
During sentencing, Ms. Lee received quite a tongue lashing from Judge Webber. I'm not sure his speech would go over too well today. Here's the article with the story from the November 3, 1934 Lorain Journal.