Broadway Feed & Supply Articles – Oct. 1972 and Feb. 1974

When reminiscing with other Baby Boomers about the Lorain we remember from the 1960s and 70s, I often find that it's the incredible selection of small family-owned-and-run stores that make up some of the more pleasant memories. Much of what you were looking for (with some exceptions of course) was available at such a store within city limits, where you very likely dealt directly with the owner or possibly a member of the family. 

While there are still many family businesses that are serving their customers and creating new memories for the current generation, we all have our favorites of the ones that are long gone. These might include Steve's Shoe Repair, Bob's Donuts, Rudy Moc Studio, Andy's Hardware, Paul's Auto Body, Garwell's Bait & Tackle, Harry's Men's Wear, Driscol Music Co., etc. The list goes on and on.

One business that many of us remember was Broadway Feed & Supply, located at 1605 Broadway. The business dates back to 1945, as noted below in the article written by Staff Writer Jeff Kades that appeared in the October 11, 1972 Journal.

A June 12, 1945 Journal ad

"The pizza arrives cold but the Rogers' – C.E., 47, wife Marianne, 45, and son Gary, 18 – gulp it down in between the usual Saturday rush of customers at their Broadway Feed and Supply store in Lorain.

"Those who drop in are no longer the farmers of Lorain County who came to buy hay, straw, horse and chicken feed, back when the store was first established by C.E.'s mom and dad, Mr. and Mrs. B. A. Rogers, in 1945.

"True, they still come around every once in a while, but Lorain County is now more urban than agricultural.

"Broadway Feed today primarily sells pets. Customers are little kids, big kids, animal lovers, and those who just want to talk about their German Shepherd's feeding habits, or the castration of somebody's cats.

"C.E. took over in 1954 after his dad, now 75, retired and moved to Florida. But C.E.'s pocketbook kept telling him the feed business wasn't what it used to be.

"He diversified. He started hawking hamsters, parrots, monkeys, mice and tropical fish, along with chicken remedies, insecticides, and feeds."

****

In 1973, Joseph and Irene Ceh became the owners and operators of Broadway Feed and Supply.

An April 27, 1973 Journal ad

The Cehs received their own business profile in the Journal on Feb. 24, 1974.

The Cehs were the owner/operators of Broadway Feed and Supply until its 2005 closing.

That's a pretty impressive run for a small, local business; sixty years, same location and only two different family owners. 

I remember going in there every once in a while to buy a bag of niger thistle seed for Dad and his bird feeder. It was always interesting to look around, and there was an old-time atmosphere.

I did a "Then & Now" of the streetscape outside the building looking north on Broadway back here.

The ominous view of the former Broadway Feed and Supply
building from yesterday afternoon

Dial 7 Digits for Lorain Telephone – Oct. 11, 1966

Fifty-eight years ago today, the Journal ran the above article explaining a big change about to take place when it came to making a local call with the Lorain Telephone Company.

"Beginning November 6, you will have to dial seven digits instead of five when making local calls within the Lorain Telephone Company system," the article notes.

"The Lorain Telephone Company is switching to all-number dialing. The new system affects 54,000 telephone subscribers in Lorain, Avon, Avon Lake, Amherst, South Amherst, Vermilion and Birmingham exchange areas.

"Now, for example, when dialing Cherry 4-1101 you need only dial 4-1101. Under the new system, you will have to dial 244-1101. The "C' on the dial is 2 and the "H" is 4.

"The program is part of a continuous development of the Lorain Telephone Company, officials said. The firm spent $6 million between 1963 and 1965 and plans to spend another $5 million this year and next for expansion.

"Officials explained that the shift from the two-letter, five-digit dialing system was due to increase in telephone subscribers."

It's funny, but I remember specifically asking Mom when we were about to move in late 1965 from W. 30th to E. Skyline Drive if our phone number was going to change. The last four digits of our phone number was 5687 – easy for a little kid to remember because they were almost in ascending order. As it turns out, as Mom explained, our number didn't change, we took it with us to our new house.

Nowadays, many people can barely remember their own cell phone number. And the days of a directory where you could look up somebody's number are gone forever.

Lake Erie Oil Ad – October 15, 1954

Lake Erie Oil, located at the intersection of Route 254 and Pearl at the railroad tracks, has been the subject of many blog posts over the years. It was a frequent advertiser in the Journal, promoting its Fleet-Wing products and later, Sinclair.

Above is a great seasonal ad for the company that ran in the paper on October 15, 1954, featuring yet another squirrel (a critter that pops up on this blog again and again, like in this recent post). It's kind of an odd ad that seems to have been cobbled together with different pieces of clip art, with some of it coming from a fire prevention collection. 

Is the squirrel hoping to roast his nuts while he warms himself? (By the way, one of the things that I like about the Lorain Country Fair is the nut booth that sells cinnamon roasted pecans, cashews, etc. in the little paper cones. I recently discovered that Poppin Around in Vermilion sells them year round.)

Anyway, the ad copy does a good job of tying together the whole 'get ready for winter theme.'

It's appropriate that the Lake Erie Oil ad features a squirrel, since there was a huge sign featuring Pearl, the shopping center squirrel. at that same intersection. I can still see it in my mind's eye – and would love to see a photograph of it.

Oberlin Memorial Arch – Then & Now

Sometimes after work, I loiter in Oberlin a bit before heading home – perhaps to stop at the bakery or just sit on a bench and enjoy the ambience of the college. It's a beautiful campus and there are plenty of photo opportunities.

I've admired the Oberlin Memorial Arch on Tappan Square for many years (shown above on the vintage postcard) but didn't know what it was commemorating. According to the Oberlin College Archives website, "The Memorial Arch was erected as a memorial to the missionaries of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions who lost their lives in the Boxer uprising in China in 1900. The cornerstone of the Arch was laid October 16, 1902, and it was dedicated May 14, 1903. The construction is of Indiana limestone. Two handsome bronze tablets perpetuate the names of the thirteen missionaries and of their five children who were massacred by the Boxers. 

"Oberlin was chosen as the proper place for this monument because all but four of those who suffered martyrdom were Oberlin students or members of the families of these students. The Memorial Arch is located on the west side of Tappan Square."

The Arch has been the subject of many postcards over the years, and thus provided me a good opportunity to create some Then & Now treatments. 

The Arch is beautiful from any angle. But it looks a little stark these days.

Like the Knights Who Say Ni, it is in need of shrubbery.

Hurricane Hazel Hits – October 15, 1954

The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season has been a busy one. 

Hurricane Helene has been in the news since making landfall on Sept. 26 at Category 4 strength, and devastating North Carolina with a tragic loss of life. Now Hurricane Milton is strengthening with 180-mph winds and heading towards Florida.

Seventy years ago, Hurricane Hazel came ashore near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, as seen in the front page of the Lorain Journal above from October 15, 1954. The report notes, "Hurricane Hazel, accompanied by torrents of rain, hit with a devastating punch that washed piers away at Myrtle Beach, popular coastal resort, and severed communications lines.

"New York and Boston were put on the alert."

The weather.gov website notes, "Hurricane Hazel was the deadliest and costliest hurricane of the 1954 hurricane season (Figure 1) and is the strongest and only Category 4 hurricane to ever hit the North Carolina coast.

"Hazel made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane near Calabash, North Carolina, close to the North Carolina/South Carolina state border, halfway between Myrtle Beach and Wilmington. The hurricane brought a storm surge of over 18 feet to a large area of the North Carolina coastline, producing severe coastal damage. 

"Intensifying the damage was the fact that the hurricane coincided with the highest lunar tide of the year. Brunswick County suffered the heaviest damage, where most coastal dwellings were either completely destroyed or severely damaged. 

"The official report from the Weather Bureau in Raleigh, North Carolina stated that as a result of Hazel, "all traces of civilization on the immediate waterfront between the state line and Cape Fear were practically annihilated." The December 1954 NOAA report on the hurricanes of the year states that "every pier in a distance of 170 miles of coastline was demolished".

"The damage from Hazel was not limited to the coast. With Hazel having a forward speed of as much as 55 mph at times, the Raleigh-Durham Airport reported sustained winds of 75 mph with gusts to 90 mph. With such high winds state-wide, heavy damage was caused to forests, and to property as a result of falling trees. In North Carolina, the most rain was received in the interior of the state: Robbins received 11.3 inches of rain, and Carthage received 9.7 inches.

"Nineteen people were killed in North Carolina, with several hundred more injured; 15,000 homes were destroyed and another 39,000 were damaged. Damages in the Carolinas amounted to $163 million. Beach property incurred $61 million of damage alone. Elsewhere in the eastern United States, damages were estimated at $145 million for a total of $308 million in losses from the hurricane."

I've never been to Florida or spent any time on the east coast or the Gulf, so hurricanes are pretty foreign to me. My older brother (who lives near Houston) has dealt with them and their challenging aftermath, with house repairs and insurance claims.

As for me, I think I'll stick with Ohio and its occasional blizzards.

Fire Prevention Week Ad – October 1954

Did you know it's Fire Prevention Week 2024?

The annual public awareness campaign been observed during early October for decades, thanks to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA). But how did the annual event get started, and why is it celebrated in October?

According to the NFPA website, "Since 1922, the NFPA has sponsored the public observance of Fire Prevention Week. In 1925, President Calvin Coolidge proclaimed Fire Prevention Week a national observance, making it the longest-running public health observance in our country. During Fire Prevention Week, children, adults, and teachers learn how to stay safe in case of a fire. Firefighters provide lifesaving public education in an effort to drastically decrease casualties caused by fires.

"Fire Prevention Week is observed each year during the week of October 9th in commemoration of the Great Chicago Fire, which began on October 8, 1871, and caused devastating damage. This horrific conflagration killed more than 250 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed more than 17,400 structures, and burned more than 2,000 acres of land."

And seventy years ago, this was the public service ad that appeared in the Journal on October 5, 1954 for the annual observance.

It's a nice, effective ad. 

What caught my attention is how the fireman is pointing to the reader (like Uncle Sam) and asking for help. It's the same basic gimmick I used to win the Lorain City Schools Fire Prevention Week poster contest (for my age group) in 1972. (I wrote about it back here.)

As usual it's interesting seeing who the ad sponsors were, 70 years ago. But it's all insurance companies, and sadly, I don't recognize a single one that's still around. 

Anyway, it's a good time to think about smoke alarms. That's the theme of Fire Prevention Week 2024: Smoke Alarms – make them work for you.

Here's the official 2024 NFPA video. Hey, good old Sparky the Fire Dog is in it!

Lorain Journal Front Page – October 4, 1954

 

Seventy years ago, this was the front page of the Lorain Journal on October 4, 1954.

There was a lot going on; some big local stories, as well as some tragic occurrences elsewhere.

Besides the fact that it was the eve of the christening of the George M. Humphrey (which I wrote about here), the big news was the purchase of some lakefront property by the village of Sheffield Lake.

As the story notes, "The village has purchased 409 feet of lake frontage for use as a public beach, recreation area and municipal buildings, Mayor Sidney Jordan announced today. The property cost the village $35,000.

"Added to 500 feet of adjacent property already owned by the village, the property, known as the Lewis estate, gives the village 909 feet of lake frontage.

"Mayor Jordan said the village has been trying for four years to purchase the property. The land is at the foot of Rt. 301."

(Back then, State Route 301 followed Lake Breeze Road, instead of Abbe Road as it does now.)

I wrote about the D. D. Lewis estate back on this two-part post, "Dr. B. W. Donaldson's Lake Breeze Memories, Part 1 and Part 2." D. D. Lewis was a Superintendent of the Johnson Steel Company. He purchased the old Lake Breeze House for use as a personal summer home and to entertain guests.

Elsewhere on the page, another major news item was the anticipated announcement of the construction of the Cedar Point Causeway across Sandusky Bay. It would become the preferred way for guests to access the popular amusement park. (I wrote about the Cedar Point Causeway, along with the Chausee, back on this post with a Part 1 and 2.)

I found the story about the Ohio Agricultural Experiment Station dairy farm out by Castalia kind of interesting. Here's a photo of it on the page 2 continuation of the front page story.

I thought it would be cool to take a drive out that way and grab a 'now' photo of the barn. Its location on Wahl Road west of Castalia put it very near the community of Crystal Rock, which I had visited before. So I did a little 'drive by' research on Google Maps. Certainly a 200 x 60 barn would be easy to find in an aerial view.

Unfortunately, despite 'driving' back and forth on Wahl Road, I couldn't find it. I consulted Dennis Thompson's Vintage Aerial website but came up short there as well.

Finally, I found it on the Historic Aerials website. There it was in the 1957 aerial (below).

It was in the 1969 view as well.

You know what's coming, of course. By the early 2000s, it was gone – under water.

It's now part of the Willow Point Wildlife Area.

****

Here's a 1972 aerial view of the farm, courtesy of the Vintage Aerial website.