Start Your Day With the Sunny Morning Flavor of Schenley Whiskey – Nov. 1946

Well, the weekend is finally here. Time to relax and perhaps enjoy an adult beverage to reward yourself for surviving the week.

Since I haven't featured any booze ads here on the blog for a while, here's a few ads for Schenley Whiskey that ran in the Lorain Journal during the month of November 1946. 

Nov. 6, 1946

Nov. 11, 19

It's an offbeat campaign, stressing the concept of 'sunny morning flavor.' But I like the cartoon rooster, whose name is – what else?– Sunny.

The campaign with Sunny went right into 1947. Here's an ad with a winter theme that ran in January and February 1947.

What's interesting is that the campaign dates back to the early 1940s, when the ads featured a realistic rooster. Here's a sample of a magazine ad.

But someone must have realized that there wasn't much you could do with a rooster, creative-wise, except showing them crowing at dawn. Plus, if you've ever spent any time around a rooster (like at the Lorain County Fair), they're kind of creepy with their blank, soulless stare and jerky movements. So the decision was made to give the rooster a name and personality, and put him to work as a salesman.

The ads are quite attractive and attention-getting.

I've seen color ads with Sunny dated from the early 1960s, so the campaign must have been successful. But about that time, fast food chicken was beginning to take off, so perhaps Sunny flew the coop, or took a less visible job in Schenley corporate headquarters.

Seven-Digit Dialing Starts – Nov. 6, 1966

Remember these? I kinda miss them.

Sixty years ago tomorrow, Lorain Telephone Company transitioned from five digit phone numbers with a two letters exchange prefix to a seven -digit dialing system.

It was the end of the old two letter five-figure numbers that had been around since the mid-1950s. Here's an ad from November 1956 explaining that system when it was new.

But why the change in November 1966? The main reason was that since the first and last holes of the dial on the telephone phone have no letters, there simply wouldn't be enough combinations of two letters and five numbers to meet the demand in the ensuing decades. A series of ads in the preceding months made the case and got the dialing public ready for the change. 

July 30, 1966

Aug. 23, 1966

Oct. 15, 1966

Nov. 5, 1966

Nov. 5, 1966

Nov. 8, 1966

Fall Cavalcade of Color - 2026 Part 2

Vermilion Road

Although the fall foliage may have peaked in color in Lorain County, it's been a glorious autumn to remember.

Last week, I hit the road to check out the color around my area. Brownhelm Township, as usual, was gorgeous.

And since I hadn't been out to French Creek Reservation in years, I decided it was time. It was beautiful, but some of those trails running along the edge of the cliff overlooking French Creek were not designed for less-than-nimble aging bloggers.

And closer to home, I ended the day down in Bacon Woods on the Bluebird Trail Loop for my evening constitutional.

New Lorain County Freeway Dedicated – Nov. 3, 1966

Old highways and roads used to be my primary area of interest. I used to drive all over Ohio (and other states) just for the experience of driving certain old roads and trying to follow old alignments and bypassed segments using vintage maps. U.S. Route 66, the Lincoln Highway, the National Road... they all stirred my interest. And I've got the collection of old maps and photos I took to prove it.

Closer to home, my family spent a lot of time on the old 6 & 2 (U. S. Highway 6 and State Route 2) going to Vermilion, Huron and Sandusky. And in the mid-60s when Route 2 was in the process of being moved out to a limited access highway, I had a ringside seat. That goes the same for watching I-90 slowly march towards Cleveland. Both highways were built in chunks... one here, one there. And it took years to get them done – much longer than expected.

The news articles covering their construction have been the subject of many posts on this blog.

And here's another one. Sixty years ago today, a segment of State Route 2 from Baumhart Road east to State Route 58 (Leavitt Road) opened.

Here's the story that ran in the Journal on November 3, 1966.

It's interesting that the article notes, "Presently designated SR 2, the route will become IR 90 after 1972, according to Donald H. Timmer, deputy director for Division Three of the Ohio State Highway Department."

I remember shortly after the segment in the article opened, my parents pointed out to us that we would be able to get on that highway at Leavitt Road and take it all the way to Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota (which we had seen on a 1965 camping trip out west). As it turned out, the highway ended up remaining SR 2. But I-90 does indeed go to Rapid City, South Dakota, a little more than a 1/2 hour drive from Mt. Rushmore.

Lorain Journal Front Page – Nov. 1, 1926

Houdini

Well, it's the month of November already. When they said that time really flies when you get older, they weren't kidding. And we even had an extra hour today – go figure.

One hundred years ago, the nation was still talking about master illusionist, magician and performer Harry Houdini, who passed away in Detroit on October 31, 1926. The article about his passing on the front page of the Lorain Journal of Nov. 1, 1926 (below) isn't particularly big, being overshadowed by extensive local election coverage and some truly disturbing stories.

As the article notes, "In a bronze airtight coffin recently constructed for one of his myriad tricks, the body of Harry Houdini, America's greatest magician, will leave here tonight for New York.

"The "handcuff king," whose feats of legerdemain were known on both sides of the Atlantic, died here Sunday afternoon, a little more than a week after he became ill with appendicitis from which developed peritonitis.

"Until the end, Houdini confidently believed he would "get out of this the way I get out of everything else." It was that confidence which led him to go thru two stage performances after his illness took the turn which later proved fatal."

I remember my mother telling my siblings and me that for decades after Houdini's death on Halloween, there was an annual seance held on the anniversary of his passing to try and contact him from the Great Beyond. It was another creepy aspect of Halloween along with The War of the Worlds radio broadcast.

Here are a few clippings about the various attempts over the years by Houdini's wife and others to contact him. The date of the seances were apparently not confined to Halloween.

July 25, 1935

Nov. 2, 1936

Feb. 5, 1943

Oct. 16, 1948

Halloween in Lorain – 1966

Well, it's Halloween at last. Although it's a little late, here's a look at Halloween 1966 as it played out in the pages of the Journal from October 21 - October 31, 1966. 

Halloween goodies were promoted in several DeLuca Bakery ads, as well as Brady's Donut Shop and Lorain Creamery. Midway Mall held special festivities for the kiddies. And for the adults, there were special nightclub parties and social club events with a Halloween theme.

Best of all, there's a charming front yard Halloween display near LaGrange that the Journal deemed photo-worthy. Quite a contrast from the ubiquitous store-bought stuff that everyone has.

Oct. 21, 1966

Oct. 25, 1966

Oct. 26, 1966

Oct. 26, 1966

Oct. 26, 1966

Oct. 27, 1966

Oct. 28, 1966

Oct. 28, 1966

Oct. 28, 1966

Oct. 28, 1966

Oct. 29, 1966

Oct. 29, 1966

Oct. 31, 1966

Oct. 31, 1966