Millbrook Bread "Snoopy for President" Campaign – Sept. 1976

Remember when the act of running for President was sometimes done as a gag, or as part of an advertising campaign?

Older readers of this blog remember when comedian Pat Paulsen ran for President in 1968.

I even remember when Yogi Bear ran for President. 

His opponent was Magilla Gorilla (of the Green Banana party?). I even had this coloring book (below).

 

That was a dirty trick by Magilla. The big ape probably rented a bus and drove all the animals in Peebles' Pet Shop to the polls too.

Anyway, Snoopy of "Peanuts" fame got into the act too as part of a special promotion by Millbrook Bread. It was an aggressive campaign too, with multiple small ads placed in the same edition of a local newspaper. 

As an example, all of the ads below ran in the Journal on Sept. 20, 1976.

Despite all the 'bread' spent on his campaign, Snoopy lost to Jimmy Carter. 

However, the ever-popular beagle had the last laugh. The campaign stickers enclosed free in the packages of Millbrook Bread are highly collectible today, and graded like baseball cards. There are several on eBay right now.

I guess the little blank boxes were there so you could write-in your own local candidate, and the position they were running for (although dog-catcher would have been somewhat inappropriate).

Arthur Treacher's Tries Something New – Sept. 1976

It's interesting how Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips has made a recent comeback.

Just a few years ago, there was only one store left in the entire seafood chain, located in Cuyahoga Falls. As of this writing, there are four, with a location in Lakewood that I might just have to visit sometime.

Many Lorainites have pleasant memories of the restaurant on W. 21st Street across from Westgate Shopping Plaza. I've devoted two previous posts to it on this blog.

Back in the summer and fall of 1976, Arthur Treacher's had a great Tuesday special that it ran for months: "a complete meal of fish & chips, creamy cole slaw & choice of beverage for only $1.59.

But the chain was also experimenting with new menu items. Do you remember the Krunch Pup™?

As the ad above from the Sept. 9, 1976 Journal notes, it was an 100% beef hotdog dipped in a secret batter with the result that it had a "krunchy" outside. Although I love corn dogs, a hotdog with the Arthur Treacher batter coating sounds pretty good.

The restaurant had already introduced Chicken & Chips in August. Here's the ad that ran on August 21, 1976.

I don't know if either of these two offerings were a success. 

Many fast food outlets today offer just about anything under the sun to draw in new customers, even if it means weakening their original brand. It's been many years since Arby's just pushed its trademark roast beef sandwiches. Perhaps Arthur Treacher's was ahead of its time.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see if the Krunch Pup or chicken eventually make it onto the current Arthur Treacher's menu.

Old English Parlour Ad – Sept. 16, 1976

So you've just been to a high school football game (either as a spectator or as a member of the marching band like me) and now you're looking for somewhere to go afterwards. You're not old enough to drink (not even 3.2 beer) so where can you go to hang out for a while?

It might sound like something out of Archie comics, but a good choice would be an ice cream shop. And back in September 1976 (the fall of my senior year) that would have been Old English Parlor, which was part of the Lorain Creamery.

Here's an ad for the restaurant that ran on September 16, 1976 in the Journal.

As since a game day was usually a Friday, the ad encouraged a pre-game visit for an all-you-can-eat fish fry.

My family was pretty partial to the Parlour. My sister worked there for a while in the early 1970s, so we would go there knowing she would make extra-large sundaes for us. She even made it into an October 28, 1973 article about ice cream parlors written by the great Lou Kepler.

The Old English Parlour (both the one in Lorain and the one in Avon Lake) remained a good place to take a date for many years. The Avon Lake location closed first (in the late 1980s or early 90s) and the Lorain one followed a couple years later.

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Interestingly enough, the Lorain Creamery made its first attempt at having a parlor in the spring of 1968, as you can see in the full-page ad below from the May 29, 1968 Journal.

But Avon Lake was first to have an Old English Parlour, which opened in mid-October 1970. The Lorain Old English Parlour store followed in June 1973.

Givner's School Jackets Ad - Sept. 16, 1976

Remember the classic high school jackets?

If you grew up in the 1960s and 70s, these wool jackets were pretty important items in a high school student's wardrobe. In a town like Lorain with three public high schools (plus one Catholic high school), these jackets helped define who you were. They were part of your identity.

If you saw a crowd of kids gathered at a public place like McDonald's or Burger King, the school name on their jackets immediately let you know if you were in enemy territory or not. It was one way of communicating whose hangout it was.

Nowadays, Lorain has just one high school. So I'm not sure if the jackets serve the same function – or if they are even manufactured and sold at all.

But back when my siblings and I were students at Admiral King, we all had the school jackets with 'Admiral King' on the back. They were our fall and winter coats. And if I remember correctly, my parents bought them at Givner's in Downtown Lorain. Here's an ad that ran in the Journal on September 16, 1976.

I had forgotten all about Givner's. 

A short history of the firm in the June 21, 1955 Anniversary edition of the Journal noted that at that time, it was called Givner's Tuxedo Rentals and was located at 1706 Broadway. "Founded 38 years ago by Joseph Givner," it said, "the store is operated by Givner's son-in-law Marvin H. Lieberman, a World War II veteran, who served with the U. S. Navy and is a past commander of the Lorain County Jewish War Veterans, Post 222.

"The founder still owns this store and another one at 962 Broadway."

Over the decades the two stores apparently merged into the one at Tenth & Broadway shown in the 1976 ad that offered luggage, jewelry and some apparel.

Here's a photo of my younger brother and me wearing our jackets during the bad winter of 1976-1977. As you can see, we're standing in front of one of the many Brady Cutlasses.

Of course, after I went away to Ohio State, my Admiral King jacket went into the closet for good. I came home that fall of my freshman year wearing so much Ohio State gear (a red school jacket and a baseball cap) that my best high school friend (who was still residing in Lorain) teased that I looked like Woody Hayes.

But what about my Admiral King jacket?

Looking for it in the closet during one of my visits home, I discovered that Mom had gotten rid of it! When I asked her why, she replied that "You weren't going to wear it again, anyways."

I was somewhat upset. 

I guess I was unhappy because it really drove home the point that my high school days were over, and gone forever.

 

Manners Ad – Sept. 15, 1966

Manners has been a favorite topic on this blog since its beginning, with multiple posts devoted to how the Northeast Ohio Big Boy franchise bought and rebranded the chain of Hoop Restaurants. For those of us that grew up in this area, the name 'Manners' was synonymous with the famous double-decker burger.

There were several Manners Big Boy locations in our area. By the end of the 1960s, there was one at the end of Oberlin Avenue at Cooper Foster Park Road; one on Henderson Drive on the east side; one at the corner of Leavitt Road and West Erie (Route 6); and a new one on North Ridge Road near Route 57. There were also outlets in Vermilion and Elyria.

We favored the two nearest our house, the one on Oberlin Avenue and the one on West Erie – mainly to get our free Big Boy sandwiches for getting all A's on our report cards.

Anyway, in 1966, there were just three Lorain locations as noted in this ad that ran in the Journal on September 15, 1966. 

Although the ad is promoting its all-you-can-eat perch dinners, the Big Boy is included in the ad as a subtle reminder of their specialty.

It's still fascinating to me how Manners developed its own version of the mascot. I still prefer him over the two versions that are used today – a Bob's Big Boy version and a Frisch's Big Boy version.

A recent discussion at work about Oh Boy's and Big Boy's planted that (sesame) seed in my mind about having a double decker burger soon. So when I recently found myself at dinner time just a short ten minute drive from the Big Boy on Brookpark Road, I just had to stop.

I love the fact that the well-known statue is on the roof, a veritable beacon for burger lovers.

And another statue is inside and well-protected from pranksters who might have kidnapping in mind.

As I experienced on previous visits, my carry-out order was prepared quickly by the well-managed, friendly staff. It's always fun to sit at the counter while waiting, and watch the warm interaction between the team of employees and their regular customers. And as expected, my Big Boy was great.

Bicycle Ads – Sept. 1966

Before we were old enough to drive, bicycles were how we got around. They were our ticket to freedom, enabling us to go anywhere we wanted to go (locally, that is). Even when we did get our driving temps, there wasn't always a spare car available to borrow on the Brady Used Car Lot (consisting of our garage and driveway). So we rode our bikes.

My friends and I rode our bikes all over Lorain and beyond. I've written before how we went to Mill Hollow a few times. My first visit to Dog N Suds was on my bike. I even remember going over the High Level Bridge on my bike (along with my girl friend at the time) to go to James Day Park in Sheffield for a picnic.

We rode our bikes past the houses where the girls that we 'liked' lived. Once in a while we even ran into them on their bikes. It was a real heyday for bikes.

I rode my bike to the library a few times on a Saturday afternoon. One bike was stolen right from the rack outside (the thief cut the chain). On another trip, I was going down Oberlin Avenue and some big kid on a bike (from Lorain High) came up behind me and grabbed my bicycle chain (which was hanging around my neck) and towed me for a while. I didn't wear my chain around my neck after that.

One good friend – Scott Welko – loved to tinker with bikes. We seemed to always be taking ours apart, painting them, etc. That meant lots of trips to see Bicycle Bill at the Lorain Schwinn Cyclery on Oberlin Avenue in the same shopping strip as Willow Hardware and Whalen Drugs.

Times have changed. I rarely see kids – or anyone – on a bike. When I do see one, it's been modified with a motor so no pedaling is needed!

I have to chuckle whenever I go into Lorain these days. West Erie Avenue (US 6) was modified a few years ago, adding a bike lane, a center turning lane, and making the highway two lanes with no passing (even though it was a big deal when it was widened to four lanes in the 1950s). I have yet to ever see anyone riding a bike in the bike lane.

Anyway, bikes were part of everyday life in 1966. Remember that I mentioned "Bicycle Bill" Schetter? He didn't have his Schwinn store on Oberlin Avenue yet; he was still managing Atlas Cycle on 28th Street. Here's an ad that ran on the Journal business page on September 12, 1966.

Bikes were even promoted as a way to get to school back then. Here's a Sears ad from September 14, 1966.

The ad is downright quaint with its depiction of a suburban utopia. But it's not really that unrealistic.

I tried riding my bike to school a few times. All I remember was that I got grease from the chain on my pants, and I was always worried about the bike getting stolen.

Lorain Drive-in Dusk to Dawn Show – Sept.1956

The Lorain Drive-in movie theater has been the subject of many posts on this blog. It's become kind of a symbol to me of Lorain in the 1960s. My family only went there a few times (we saw most of our movies at Amherst Theater) but it still looms large in my memory. 

I remember that whenever we came home late at night from Cedar Point on the old 6&2, we always went by the drive-in. My siblings and I would be watching to see if we could get a glimpse of what was showing on the big screen.

Anyway, seventy years ago this month, Lorain Drive-in had a great promotion: a Dusk to Dawn program with five features, followed by coffee and donuts for all who stayed until the end. Here's the ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on September 1, 1956.

The films are a real grab bag. The night started off with a Western, Apache Ambush, at 8:50. 

I'd never heard of Bill Williams. But Richard Jaeckel –who was in The Dirty Dozen as Sgt. Bowren, one of the three soldiers who survived the mission (along with Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson) is always great.

Hit No. 2 (as the ad says) was a war film, Three Stripes in the Sun, at 10:30. Hey, Dick York – the original Darrin on Bewitched – is in the cast.

The third film that night (which started at midnight) was a film noir crime film, Over-Exposed with Cleo Moore. 

I just remembered the lovely Cleo Moore because of a role she had in a Joe McDoakes comedy, So You're Having In-Law Trouble. She played a "kissin' cousin" of Joe's who did a little too much kissing, much to his wife Alice's annoyance.

Hit No. 4 at 1:30 was The Long Gray Line with Tyrone Power and Maureen O'Hara and directed by John Ford. 

Somehow it just doesn't seem right to see Maureen O'Hara with anyone other than John Wayne in a John Ford film.

The last movie shown that night as part of the package was Count Three and Pray, a Western with Van Heflin and Joanne Woodward.

I was never a big Van Heflin fan (although he was great in the original 3:10 to Yuma). Oddly enough, over the weekend I happened to fall asleep early on Saturday night, and woke up around 1:00 a.m. After brushing my teeth, I turned on the TV and guess what was on? You guessed it: Count Three and Pray! What I saw of it was really good, it even had Nancy Kulp (Miss Hathaway on The Beverly Hillbillies) in it.

Unfortunately, I eventually had to go to bed and miss the ending. So no coffee and donuts for me.