Easter 1936

There weren't very many ads in the Lorain Journal with an Easter theme leading up to Easter 1936. Perhaps the holiday wasn't quite as commercialized in 1936 as it would be twenty years later. At any rate, the Easter ads were generally pretty subtle with little use of imagery.

One of the few ads with a bunny illustration was this one (below) for Smith & Gerhart, which appeared in the paper on April 7, 1936.

This ad for Peoples Service Drug Store, from the April 9, 1936 edition of the paper, has Easter candy and toys for sale. 

I was incorrect, comrade, when I noted in a previous post that the chain would have been right at home in Moscow with a name like that. It was actually based in Alexandria, Virginia. Click here to read a well-written history of the chain.

There are a couple interesting items in the ad. One is the Donald Duck pull toy for 25 cents. "Dapper Donald Duck rides around on his platform and flaps his wings and quacks with glee, as you pull him," notes the ad.

Not surprisingly, there's one on eBay right now, although this duck's flapping days are over.

This illustration accompanying the "Dyes for Easter eggs" listing is downright disturbing: an egg-headed uniformed warrior boiling an egg in a cauldron over an open fire, while a rabbit watches from a safe distance. Is that the head of someone he conquered?

Anyway, to close out this post, here's the front page of the Good Friday edition of the Lorain Journal from April 10, 1936, as well as the one from Easter Eve. The Good Friday paper is kinda of chilling, with the story and photo concerning the German dirigible Hindenburg. The tragic accident involving the airship would take place about a year later.

Marsha Hunt, the actress in the choir robe in the Easter photo, lived to the ripe old age of 104 years old, passing away in 2022.

Easter Parade of 1946 Ads

Easter-themed ads in the Lorain Journal during the 1946 holiday season are a mixed bag (or basket if you prefer). The era of the big royalty-free clip art books (like those produced by Harry Volk Corporation) didn't really begin until the 1950s. So some ads have what appears to be artwork created by a professional artist at an ad agency, while other ads seem to have illustrations that were done locally, perhaps by a Journal staffer in the newspaper's art department. 

In either case, it is all fun to look at.

So here is – what else? – an ample sample of ads that appeared in the Lorain Journal around Easter 1946. You'll find ads from Sears, Smith & Gerhart, the Reidy Scanlan Company, Sutter's, and others.

April 10, 1946

April 15, 1946

April 15, 1946

April 17, 1946

April 18, 1946
The name of this drug store makes me think it would be
more at home on Red Square than Downtown Lorain

April 18, 1946

April 18, 1946

Lorain Journal Front Page – Easter Eve 1926

Easter was celebrated on the front page of the April 3, 1926 Lorain Journal – one hundred years ago this week – with a variety of articles and illustrations. Note that reverence for the holiday was maintained by the header, which read, "In Keeping With the Spirit of Easter, Crime News has been Barred from Page One of this Issue of The Journal."

A particularly well-written Editorial near the bottom eloquently notes, "Easter means more than new hats and colored eggs.

"It is a time symbolic of the resurrection in the Christian church and of physical resurrection in nature. It should be a time of resurrection of hope, ambition and confidence in man.

"Tomorrow, Lorain churches will hold elaborate services in recognition of the resurrection of Jesus. Thousands of people will participate in these services.

"If the weather is nice, colors of spring will appear in the costumes of the church goers and those who will promenade the streets in the afternoon.

"But if the sun refuses to shine, or a flurry of snow settles over the city, there is no reason to be gloomy. The resurrection of the trees, the grass, the shrubs, the fish, is at hand. All nature is aroused in new life.

"Bearing this in mind, let us make Easter a season of resurrection. Let us revive our love of man, our patriotism, our trust in God. For it is in doing for our souls what God did for His Son that we can best observe Easter Day."

Also on the front page: "Easter Habits Had Origin in Distant Persia," which explains the history behind many of our Easter customs; an article about how Lorain City Council was originally considering building a High Level Bridge at 14th Street; a weather forecast that included the chance of snow on Easter Day; a short article on Easter fashions out of England; and a report on a Lorain fireman who had suffered a recent head injury and disappeared from his home in Axtel, south of Vermilion.

Here's Page 2 of the same edition of the Journal with  the continuation of the front page stories, as well as the crime stories that had been barred.

But what about the lost fireman? Thankfully he was found, after he wandered for 18 hours and ended up at the home of Charles Hahn on Lake Road. Here's the story from the April 5, 1926 Journal.

Easter Parade of 1966 Grocery Ads

Have you thought about your Easter menu yet?

I'm not sure what I'm doing this year. Last year I ordered a Honey Baked Ham online. But when I went to the low budget 'seasonal' store at (what's left of) Midway Mall, they said, "Sorry, Charlie – no ham for you!" They pointed out that I should have taken a squint at the fine print – that there was something that said they reserve the right to sell my ham to someone else. That literally left a bad taste in my mouth.

Sixty years ago you might have been perusing the grocery ads in the Journal while trying to decide what to serve on Easter Sunday, such as ham vs. kielbasa. (I know a lot of people who served ham for Thanksgiving, so maybe they're stuffing a turkey for Easter.)

Anyway, here's a not-so-ample sample of supermarket ads, all from the Journal of April 6, 1966. They include IGA, Pick-n-Pay, Fisher's, Food Fair and A&P. Most of the ads have some great Easter clip art. And it's fun to compare ham prices.

You hear a lot about food anxiety these days. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of it in Lorain County right now. In Lorain, the Apples store on Meister Road (Mom's favorite) closed last year, and the brand new Grocery Outlet on Leavitt Road that opened last fall is already shuttered. In Oberlin, the IGA on State Route 511 near my place of employment closed as well. So there are fewer choices than ever. 

I go to a lot of places for particular things – Marc's, Giant Eagle, Walmart, Meijer and even Drug Mart. Once in a while I would go into Lorain to the Apple's and get some of their chicken tenders, which I thought were better than Raising Cane's.

Easter Parade of 1956 Ads

Easter is almost here – so let's take a look at an ample sample of Easter-themed ads from late March 1956 – 70 years ago.

Muir's Cut Rate offered its usual assortment of Easter candy and toys in this ad from March 22, 1956. Our friend the Thrifty Scott offered us a choice of a plastic egg-laying duck, or a "natural" duck – a "once alive duckling, taxidermy preserved. Downy, life-like."

A few of the toys shown in the ad are still available on eBay, including the egg-laying duck and the wind-up bunny.

Rigbee's Kiddieland had already offered its selection of "pre-Easter" toys back on March 15, 1956. Most of the toys don't seem very Easter-like (a telephone, a wheel barrow, a doll house, etc.) but the ad copy explains it away by noting that they are "Summer & Easter Toys."

The traditional Easter parade (which Mom used to tell me about) was still a real thing back then, so many ads were focused on helping people get prepared for it.

March 23, 1956

March 23, 1956

March 29, 1956

There was Easter dinner to think about, and the decision whether to serve ham or perhaps kolbassi, as noted in this ad for Food Center Super Markets. 

March 29, 1956

Kids could enjoy an egg hunt at O'Neil-Sheffield Shopping Center on the Saturday before Easter, as shown in this ad that ran on Friday, March 30, 1956.

Lastly, if you didn't feel like preparing an elaborate Easter dinner, you could enjoy a fine meal at Johnson's Restaurant, "opposite Lorain Drive-In Theatre." 

(I wrote about Johnson's back here on this 2013 post.)

Big Boy or Fish Fare – March 1966

Well, it's finally Friday. For many of us, that means it's time to start thinking about maybe fish for dinner. I'm not Catholic, but I still like fish on Friday. I haven't been to Slovak Home in recent years, but I've carried out from Chris' a few times this Lent season, as well as once or twice from Long John Silver's.

Sixty years ago, you might have decided to stop at Manners and try their Fish Fare, as promoted in the Journal ad above from March 31, 1966. While Lake Erie perch is usually the popular local choice, Manners was offering a special deal of twelve ocean perch and a pound of French Fries, plus a pint of cole slaw for only $1.95.

Back then, there was only the Manners on Henderson Drive (the former Hoop Drive-in). But within a few years, there would also be restaurants on West Erie Avenue, Oberlin Avenue and near the intersection of Rts. 254 and 57. We would carry out from the one on Oberlin Avenue.

I don't know, but I would have had a tough time back then (or now) walking into Manners and not buying a Big Boy. It's a good thing I'm not Catholic after all.

It's still interesting to me that there were two versions of the Big Boy mascot, the "West Coast" version (the fat one) and the "East Coast" version, which is the one that was used by Manners). (I wrote about them here). 

I always liked the Manners version of Big Boy. He's running away with his namesake sandwich and he already took a bite out of it! He's armed with a slingshot, perhaps in case anyone tried to stop him. 

If you look on eBay, there are a lot of "East Coast" Big Boy items for sale.

Anyway, I happened to be in Fremont last weekend. When it was dinner time, a Frisch's Big Boy conveniently loomed into view on State Street and solved the problem of where to eat.

 

Consequently a fine meal of – what else? – Big Boys was enjoyed. 

The restaurant manager mentioned that she had been forced to find a new supplier for the trademark Big Boy white sauce. I think she said it was due to some issues caused by the ongoing lawsuit.

Nevertheless, I always look forward to my next Big Boy sandwich, whether it happens to be in Port Clinton, Cleveland, or wherever.