A "Spike" in Interest in Collecting RR Memorabilia?

Photo showing the 1869 completion of the intercontinental railroad
(Courtesy of the Union Pacific Museum)

It was pretty interesting – and surprising – last week seeing how many people were excited about the famous "Big Boy" locomotive rumbling through our area. The event was a nice kick-off to our nation's 250th Birthday Celebration, which is coming up quick. And who knows? It might even stimulate some interest in collecting train memorabilia. There's a lot of it on eBay, including photos, patches, ephemera, coffee cups, etc.

Speaking of collectibles, while wandering around the tracks waiting for the train, I happened to find two old rusty spikes, which became my souvenirs of the day. (My older brother Ken humorously reminded me of how reckless I was being, poking around so close to the tracks, since both our great-great-grandfather and our great-grand uncle found that the 'end of the line' for them was directly under a choo-choo.)

So why did I pick those two rusty spikes up? I'm not sure. But after driving around with them on the floor of my front seat for almost a week, I decided to go online to see what people did with them.

I was surprised to see that people do collect them. But first, you have to clean them up! The suggested method was to soak them in white vinegar for 24 hours so that's what I did. (I even bought Heinz brand; no Great Value white vinegar for my spikes!) After letting them soak for the allotted time, I scrubbed them with a metal bristle brush. They cleaned up rather nice. And they're actually a little different from each other; one has 6U stamped on its head.

Anyway, it was a good time for me to refresh my memory about the Golden Spike used at the completion of the transcontinental railroad. There were actually four special spikes, and you can read about them here on the Golden Spike National Historic Park website.

The Golden Spike as depicted on an episode of "Quick Draw McGraw"

Lorain Entertainment Page Ads – June 10, 1966

It's Friday and the weekend is here! Will you be dining out or heading to a favorite restaurant or bar?

If this was 1966, here are some of the choices that were available to you back on June 10th of that year as seen on the Journal's entertainment page. Of course, I have to feature this ad for Sandy's, featuring my favorite lassie, Miss Sandy. Sandy's Hamburgers still symbolizes the Lorain of my youth, although hardly anyone remembers the small national burger chain any more.

Other 'fast food' choices included Chicken Delight (remember, no Kentucky Fried Chicken in Lorain yet at that time) and local favorite Mister S. I guess everyone was thinking of chicken back then.

For family fun, there was Cedar Point, which was catering to local teenagers by holding a teen dance, with Bud Davies of CKLW as the dj, and music by The Back Group.

For adult dancing, there was old reliable Lincoln Park Night Club (singles welcome) with Ronnie and the Rainbows; the Dewey Road Inn, where The Jet Tones were performing on Friday and Saturday; and Executive Club at 1788 E. 28th Street, featuring the Chantelles. Hey, that's our old pal Ed in the ad!

Here's the entire page, in case you'd like to peruse some of the other ads and read the Minute Movie Reviews. 

Hmmm... seems like movie mash-ups of the Old West and monsters were definitely 'in,' since two of the choices were Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter and Billy the Kid vs. Dracula!

It's hard to believe, but Billy the Kid vs Dracula features some well-known Western actors and actresses who appeared in John Wayne movies, including Harry Carey, Jr., Olive Carey (The Searchers); Bing Russell (Rio Bravo, The Horse Soldiers); and John Carradine (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance and Stagecoach) who plays Dracula!

Lorain Playgrounds Open – June 12, 1956

Back in a simpler time in the Post-WWII era, the City of Lorain's Recreation Department used to have a summer playground program for the kids. It gave the children something to do while school was out, and kept them out of trouble (hopefully).

And seventy years ago this week, according to the article below from the June 12, 1956 Lorain Journal, the city held the official opening of the 11 city playgrounds.

As the article notes, "All playground activities got underway on the opening day, including hand craft, a variety of sports and games.

"In the crafts program, children are making woven place mats, leather billfolds, comb cases, and such items. They also are learning to make and paint molds and to braid narrow plastic strips into attractive bracelets or neck chains.

"Baseball and softball leagues are being organized at the various parks and tennis instruction and games will result in a tournament among the parks at the end of the season.

"Other activities include basketball, volleyball, badminton, paddle tennis, horseshoes, picture puzzles, checkers, table tennis, story hour, croquet, chess and ring toss.

"There are also coloring books for the very small children.

"Playgrounds all have been equipped with swings, both regular and small, merry-go-rounds, climb-arounds, teeter totters, and slides."

It was an impressive amount of activities with something to appeal to every child. It all sounds so quaint. A little more than ten years later, my siblings and I participated in a special Indian-themed Lorain Parks event at Willow Creek (which I wrote about here). It was a day that I still remember fondly.

New Telephone Numbers – June 29, 1950

I'll probably never get used to not having a land line. It's been a couple years since I finally had it disconnected, and I still miss it.

It was so convenient. I gave my land line number to all of the businesses and organizations that didn't require direct access to me during the day. When I got home from work, I called back anyone that left a message.

Getting rid of it (to save money) meant that I had to give everybody my cell phone number. That means I get calls all day at work. Hilariously, I had my own land line at work the year I started. But my employer got rid of them within my first year to save money. 

One of the nice things about the good old days when everyone had a land line was that Lorain Telephone published a directory. Most everyone I know had a number that was listed. You didn't get crank calls back then. Spam was something Mom made sandwiches out of.

And in the 1950s, when Lorain was growing and Lorain Telephone was adding new interchanges, the company regularly published updates in the Lorain Journal with new telephone numbers. Below are the numbers that were published on June 29, 1950.

Hey, there's my father in there. Mom and Dad had gotten married at the end of April 1950, and had moved into a small house (Uncle Ben's old house) at 305 W. 30th Street that Grandpa gave them. So apparently it took Mom and Dad a little while to get a phone hooked up there.

There are several names and businesses that I recognize in the listings; well-known Lorain surnames; classmate's parents; popular Lorain businesses.

It sure was a different, simpler time, during which Lorain seemed like a small town.

Big Boy at Beaver Park

The scene at Beaver Park on Monday

Just by happy accident, I happened to have Monday off for a long-scheduled doctor appointment. So I was in the right place at the right time to catch Union Pacific's famed Big Boy No. 4014, the world's largest operating steam locomotive, as it rumbled by the Beaver Park crossing.

Here's a nice photo of Big Boy, courtesy of the Union Pacific website.

But getting back to Beaver Park.

It was kind of a festive atmosphere. There were only a handful of cars parked along the highway, and a few photographers setting up, when I drove by at ten to nine. But when I came by again on the way home around 10:00 am, there were dozens of cars parked on the grass just east of the crossing, as well as on both sides of Route 6. So I joined the growing crowd and tried to find a good vantage point close to the tracks.

After a few false alarms, ol' Big Boy finally thundered into view. (Sorry, a very low resolution version was all that Blogger let me upload. But really nice video of Big Boy and fantastic pix are all over the internet.)

It was fun taking part in something that has been in the news so much.

*****

Here's a little higher res version, but clipped to fit within the 100MB limit for uploading.

John Ryan and Athena Recording Co.

Athena Recording Company was mentioned a few days ago on this blog, as the record label on which musician Vern Terry released his only 45 RPM.

A little digging in the Lorain Journal online archives revealed that the company was owned by John (also spelled 'Jon') Ryan and began operations in the mid-1950s. For several years, its advertisements noted that it was the only recording studio in Lorain County. 

What follows are several ads that ran in the Journal beginning in 1956.

Nov. 20, 1956

June 28, 1957

Dec. 13, 1957

In 1958, John Ryan came up with an ingenious idea with educational appeal: produce and distribute records that a child could listen to while he sleeps as an aid to learning multiplication tables!

Feb. 7, 1958

This article from Feb. 15, 1958 tells the story about how Ryan came up with the "learn while you sleep" gimmick. The story also tells about the recording studio (it was only 22 by 15 feet) and how Ryan created some unique recording effects.

Feb. 15, 1958

It looks like Ryan managed to get the government interested in the records, just as he planned, as noted in this item from "Town Talk."

March 26, 1958

Ads coaxing Journal readers to make their own records ran for several years.

April 28, 1959

July 18, 1959

Aug. 23, 1961

Sept. 2, 1961

Sept. 8, 1961

Sometime in the mid-1960s, Ryan began what turned out to be a decades-long quest to be elected to a political office.

May 1, 1965

Anthem Recording Company was still in business near the end of the 1960s.

By the early 1970s, Ryan had made several attempts to get elected to various offices and attracted the attention of the Journal. This great profile of Ryan by Staff Writer Bob Cotleur provides a nice look at Ryan's life up to that point. The article tells how Athena Recording Co. got started with the purchase of a tape recorder, and how the business 'saved' him when he was down to his last buck (actually it was a buck and a quarter).

Jan. 14, 1973

More than twenty years later, Ryan was still a candidate for public office.

You have to admire a man with such dogged determination to try and help make Lorain a better place. But I think he already accomplished that – since his company undoubtedly produced keepsake recordings (such as the Vern Terry 45 RPM single) that are still cherished today.

Cedar Point Opens for the Season – June 1965

The San Francisco Earthquake Ride, new at Cedar Point in 1965

Cedar Point has been a favorite topic on this blog since the beginning. One of the posts, "Visions of Cedar Point 1966 Part 3" was one of the Top Ten visited posts for many years, but slipped to No. 11 at this point. 

Today's post features a full page of photos from the Journal's great photographer Norm Bergsma that ran in the paper on June 12, 1965. 

The year 1965 was a big one for Cedar Point, with many of its most iconic rides opening that year, including the San Francisco Earthquake ride, Turnpike Cars, Jungle Larry's Safari Island and the Space Spiral.

Although the Cedar Point of our youth is long gone, you can revisit it at the great Cedar Point Historical Museum in Downtown Sandusky. It’s located right inside the Sandusky Merry-Go-Round Museum in the former 1927 Sandusky Post Office – so you get to visit two great museums for one low price!

The Cedar Point Historical Museum has been open since December 2024. It’s an incredible collection of artifacts, photographs, posters, pennants, postcards, souvenirs and other memorabilia, all related to the park. It’s organized chronologically in display cases so that when you view the collection, it’s like visiting the park in a time machine, stopping at each of its eras.