Topper Bar Grand Opening – June 16 - 18, 1960

A little over a week ago, I featured an old Maple Inn Grand Opening ad on this blog. One of the commenters on that post (Rae) mentioned the former Topper Bar (at left), which was located just a bit little to the east along Route 254.

Well, here's the Grand Opening ad for the Topper Bar, which appeared in The Lorain Journal on June 15, 1960. The ad includes a great photo of the bar's iconic sign.

The ad lists the original owners as Andrew and Donald Shullick.

The bar sat back from the highway, but was one of those places that I watched for as a kid from the back seat of the family car whenever we went by there. I think it was because it shared its name with the Topper TV show that my siblings and I watched in reruns in the early 1960s (and the movie too, of course).

With its top-hat sign, Topper Bar had a real elegant air. As Rae noted in her comment, it looked like a fancy night club. I wish I had stopped in for a snort when it was open.

In more recent years, the former Topper bar has been the home of McCrann's Pub & Grille.

Today the property has a "For Sale" sign out front, but it's unclear if it is the restaurant, auto service company, or both that are for sale (below). If anybody knows, please leave a comment.

McCrann's is still open for business, however, and by the looks of their Facebook page they do a good business.