Since today is Halloween, here's the last of the 1968 ads from Lorain discount stores highlighting that season's featured costumes and popular candy. This ad for
Kmart ran on October 23, 1968.
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| Courtesy Ebay |
It's strange thinking how the Kmart on Route 57 is long gone, with no evidence it was ever there. For a long time, it was the only one around. I remember going there with a high school girl friend and buying matching blue hooded sweatshirts (this was before they were called – ugh – "hoodies").
But back to the ad. It's filled with generic costumes; there's nary a licensed TV or movie character to be found in the ad, except for Mickey Mouse. I guess the designers of this particular line of costumes must have blown their budget writing a check to Disney. But the other costumes are still cute and fun.
It's funny seeing how the ad copy repeatedly encourages you to "charge it" when some of the items are only 33 cents!
I like the "blinking pumpkin lamp" in the ad. For many years, those things were pretty ubiquitous on Halloween. There's a few on Ebay right now.
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| Courtesy Ebay |
The candies in the ad are pretty much the same ones that are popular now – Hershey's chocolate bars, Baby Ruth, M&Ms. Milk Duds, etc. The only ones that seemed to have fallen out of favor are the now-politically incorrect candy cigarettes. (I wonder if bubble gum cigars are similarly frowned upon?)
Anyway, despite the predicted rain, here's hoping you have a great, fun Halloween!
3 comments:
Wow, another one I had no idea about...
My project in recent weeks has been trying to track down what Kmart stores are (and used to be) in Ohio. Any idea where exactly this one was and when it closed?
It was in a Lorain shopping center at the intersection of Grove Avenue (State Route 57) and Fairless Drive, which is located about a mile north of the highway interchange. I believe the Kmart became a Builders Square in the 1980s. Today, there’s just an empty space where the store used to be.
I believe the Lorain store closed when the one by the mall opened at the former Gold Circle which would have been in 1988
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