October 1957 - O'Neil Halloween Ad

Here's a full-page ad that ran in October 1957 in the pages of the Lorain Journal. It was a pretty unique promotion for the well-remembered O'Neil Sheffield Center, featuring a series of weekly square dances in the parking lot leading up to a Halloween-themed dance on the 26th.

The music for the square dancing was provided by "Pappy" Miller and his Buckeroos.

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The other night, the spouse and I had reason to go out to Crocker Park in Westlake. We fought our way into the complex to the parking garage, and then walked through a drizzling rain to get to the particular store we were interested in. When our shopping was done, we hurried back through the rain to get to the parking garage.

I kept thinking – this is what's popular today shopping-wise?

And yet 1950s "open air" shopping centers like Sheffield Center were eventually done in by enclosed malls (like Midway Mall) because people didn't like to deal with the elements.