Grab Bag of May Ads

Well, May is almost over, so here's a potpourri of miscellaneous ads that ran in the month of May for businesses that aren't around any more. (Think of them as Blog Leftovers – not enough for a full meal individually, but enough to fill you up if digested as a group!)

First up is this ad (below) for the Corral Drive-in. It ran in the Lorain Journal on May 25, 1962.

The tagline in the ad – Buy'em by the Sackful – sure makes me think of White Castle's longtime slogan, Buy'em by the "Sack." (Maybe that's why the Corral wasn't around very long.)

I first wrote about the Corral Drive-in back here. Note the mention in the ad of Jay's Sparkle Market.

Next up  – from the very same newspaper on May 25, 1962 – is this ad for Golf Arena.

Golf Arena? I hadn't heard of it either. The ad says it was located on Route 611 between Abbe Road and Miller Road.

It must have been some kind of franchised business, unique enough that Joe Bialko, the owner and distributor was about to use the registered trademark symbol for his Golf Games®.

So where was this place located? I don't know! When I went to the library to look it up in the directory to get its address, I was disappointed to find out that Sheffield Village wasn't included in any of the vintage city directories – or even the county ones. The books skip right over that chunk of Colorado Avenue and picks it up at either end!

Here's hoping someone enjoyed some hearty Golf Games® back in the early '60s, and can tell us what it was like and where this place was. I take this stretch of highway on the way home every night and I have no idea where it could have been.

Last up – call it the Cheesecake Department – is this ad for Lorain Country Club out on Beavercrest Drive on the west side of Lorain.

The ad ran in the Journal on May 2, 1971. I wonder if the model was the photographer's girl friend? I'm guessing the photo and layout was part of a package of clip art or ready-made ads that the Journal had available in their art department.

Anyway, it's interesting to remember the days when all those local swim clubs (including the Carousel and the Riviera) were competing for members. Maybe it's because there wasn't much of a beach at Lakeview Park in those days (and the water was polluted anyway.)

Please don't ask me about any of the swim clubs. Although I had a buddy or two that belonged to them, my family did our swimming down at good ol' Findley State Park or East Harbor State Park.

Master Model Home – May 16, 1931

Whenever I'm scrolling through old newspaper microfilm at the library, I usually like to save a copy of any old model home ads or articles that I run across, like the one above. Why? Because it gives me an opportunity to do a "then and now" photo comparison (and when you have been doing them as long as I have, you need some "fresh meat" once in a while).

The house above at 1086 Hawthorne Avenue in Lorain was quite special when it was featured in the Saturday, May 16, 1931 Lorain Journal. It was referred to as the Master Model Home and even received its own section of the paper that day. (The above photo and caption is only a sample of the ample news coverage.)

1931 Reo-Royale Eight ad
(Courtesy www.atticpaper.com)

Constructed by local contractors Ule, Ule and Ule, the house was considered the "last thing in modern construction." It was fireproof and built with a steel framework, which was probably a big selling point since the infamous 1924 Lorain Tornado was still a recent memory.

All rooms were sound-proof. The basement had a finished recreation room separate from "the working part."

In the garage and on display for visitors to see on the day of the Open House was a Reo Royale Eight, furnished by Frank S. Rathwell Motor Sales Agency of Lorain.

I drove by the Master Model Home last weekend and grabbed my "now" shot. I was happy to see that it's still as attractive as it was when it was introduced to the public back in 1931, 83 years ago this month.

Anchor Lodge Hotel Opening Ad – May 28, 1948

Here's the ad announcing the opening of the new Anchor Lodge Hotel on West Erie Avenue. The ad ran in the Lorain Journal on May 28, 1948 – 66 years ago today.

I first blogged about Anchor Lodge back here.

The article below also ran in the Journal on the same day and provides some background information.

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'ANCHOR LODGE' OPENS SUNDAY

Vintage postcard showing a room

Unique in every detail, Anchor Lodge, believed to be the only apartment-hotel of its kind on the entire length of U. S. Route 6, will be open for public inspection Sunday.

Built by Dr. J. R. Busek at a cost of $325,000, the lodge is located on the bank of Lake Erie one mile west of Lorain.

The 28-apartment, two-story building was designed entirely by Dr. and Mrs. Busek. Mrs. Busek will act as manager.

Apartments range in size equivalent to one to four rooms. Each is complete with tiled bathroom, in-a-door bed and store, refrigerator and sink in one unit. All rooms are carpeted and all windows are draped and equipped with venetian blinds.

Vintage postcard showing a lobby
and fireplace

There are two spacious lobbies, one on each floor. Each lobby as large windows overlooking the lake and the highway and each has a fireplace.

The building is air-conditioned and in cold weather is heated by a radiant heating system. Accommodations include maid service.

The lodge is open to traveler-transients as well as permanent residential people. After the public opening Sunday, it will be open for business Sunday night, Dr. Busek said.

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Here's a color postcard of Anchor Lodge that shows up regularly on Ebay.

Undated vintage postcard

And here's the "now" view (below) of the former hotel, now Anchor Lodge Retirement Village, a part of the Sprenger Health Care Systems.

Now Open – Brady's Dairyland

1965 city directory listing
for W. 21st Street

In case you're wondering, the above ad is not a plug for some business endeavor of mine!

The ad is from the Lorain Journal of May 25, 1962 – 52 years ago this month – and promotes the opening of Brady's Dairyland. I first mentioned Brady's Dairyland on the blog back here.

I'm betting that most of my readers don't remember two different Brady businesses operating in the same area at the same time (I sure didn't.)

I still get confused with the fine folks who ran Brady's Restaurant. As recently as last month. I was asked if my family was the one that ran the restaurant – which tells you how well-remembered that place is.

Maybe if I keep this blog going for the next twenty years, someone will ask me, "Hey, are you the one who does the blog?"

I kind of doubt it, though. No one has ever asked me yet!

Corporal John Danley and Lofton Henderson

In honor of Memorial Day, here's a pair of articles that appeared adjacent to each other (as shown) on the front page of the Lorain Times-Herald on May 7, 1919 – 95 years ago this month.

The top article is about the location of the final resting place of Corporal John Danley, who according to the article was "the first Lorain man to give his life for the freedom of the world." Danley had been killed on the World War I battlefield at Bellau Wood on June 14, 1918. He is buried in a graveyard in France near Lucy-le-Bocage.

Right below the Danley article on the front page of the Times-Herald is an article about a Victory bond sale being conducted by the Boy Scouts. None other than young Lofton Henderson – who would years later also give his life for freedom and become one of Lorain's best known hometown heroes during World War II – had the honor of selling the largest number of bonds so far in the drive.

Let's all keep in mind the true meaning of Memorial Day: to remember and pay tribute to the brave men and women who died while in active military service to our country.

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By the way, I noticed the other day that Henderson Drive is still identified as Henderson Avenue on signs at the intersection of Route 611 and Kansas Avenue. (I first called attention to this back here on the blog. I also contacted the Mayor of Lorain through his website at the time.)

Well, I sent another email through the Mayor's website last week to remind them that it's been almost a year since my last email.

Wouldn't it be great if a replacement sign with the correct street name also included the full name and likeness of Major Henderson? There's plenty of room on that pole for a bigger sign.

Come to think of it, I'm not even sure that there's a sign over on Danley Square honoring Corporal Danley. I guess Lorain might need two signs made.

How about it, Lorain?

Lawson's Ad – May 25, 1962

A few days before Memorial Day 1962, this ad for Lawson's  – almost a full page in size – ran in the May 25 Lorain Journal. Besides promoting a special on half-gallons of ice cream for 49 cents, it also mentions that it's the convenience store's 23rd anniversary.

The ad is attractively designed – uncluttered and with appealing typography. The clip art of the woman is a nice touch too. (Hey, me spouse just bought some specs that look like that – really!)

Chief Wahoo is in the ad too, to stress the fact that you could purchase Indians tickets at Lawson's and earn some free milk.

No mention of Big O Orange Juice. Perhaps it wasn't really marketed that way until later. No chipped chopped ham, either – our favorite lunch meat from Lawson's! But there's plenty of hearty and healthy summer cookout fare, like wieners, buns and popsicles.

The fine type lists some weird brands: Spunky Dog Food, Tops Nuts, Kenny Pork & Beans, Kenny Stuffed Olives, Kenny Kosher Dills (by George, that Kenny made everything), Ocoma Turkey Dinner, etc.

At least they have at least one fine Canadian product listed, although its spelling seems mangled: Dares Petite Buerre Cookies.

Anyway, here's hoping you have a great Memorial Day!

8-Pages of Sunday Comics – May 22, 1919

Here's an ad that's a little bit older than what I usually post. It's from the May 22, 1919 Lorain Times-Herald – 95 years ago today. It's a promotion for the Cleveland Sunday News-Leader and its 8-page comic section. Apparently the Cleveland newspaper was hoping to pick up some Lorain subscribers, since the Times-Herald did not have a Sunday edition.

It's fun seeing what comics were popular back then as shown in the ad. They included Bringing Up Father (with Maggie and Jiggs), Krazy Kat, Little Jimmy, And Her Name Was Maud!, and Shenanigan Kids.

Shenanigan Kids? But aren't those characters in the ad actually The Katzenjammer Kids?

For those of you who aren't into vintage comic strips, here's an explanation. The Katzenjammer Kids was a comic strip about two mischievous little German boys – Hans and Fritz. The strip was started by Rudolph Dirks for the William Randolph Hearst newspaper chain. When Dirks left the organization, he was allowed to start a new strip called The Captain and the Kids with the same identical characters.

(Courtesy toptenz.net)

Meanwhile, The Katzenjammer Kids was continued by an artist named Harold Knerr. Shortly after World War I, anti-German sentiment was still a factor and the strip was briefly renamed Shenanigan Kids.

The two comic strips with the same identical characters competed for years. The Captain and the Kids finally ended its run in 1979. Amazingly, The Katzenjammer Kids is still going, making it the oldest comic strip in syndication.

In case you're wondering about some of the other strips in the ad, Bringing Up Father (which used to appear in the Sunday Journal years ago) completed its run in May 2000. Interestingly, in Bringing Up Father, the owner of Jiggs' favorite tavern was named Dinty Moore. The name was later used for a line of Dinty Moore canned goods still marketed today by Hormel. (I know, I buy the beef stew regularly for use as a backup meal.)

Krazy Kat (drawn by George Herriman) ran from 1913 to 1944. Of course, local Baby Boomers remember the Krazy Kat animated cartoons produced in the 1960s by King Features that ran regularly on Cleveland television. (The TV package also included Beetle Bailey and Snuffy Smith cartoons.)

Monument to Mayor Leonard Moore

I meant to post this a few days ago – right after my Lakeview Park fountain item – but I'm just now getting around to it. Sorry about that.

It's a small article that appeared on the front page of the Lorain Sunday News on May 18, 1947 and it shines the spotlight on a little-known monument in Lakeview Park that was dedicated on September 17, 1939. It honors Lorain Mayor Leonard Moore, who had the foresight to convince Lorain City Council to acquire the lakefront property that would become Lakeview Park.

What's interesting about the monument is that it was dedicated by the youth of Lorain, with the Boy Scouts playing a primary role.

In the Sept. 18, 1939 Lorain Journal coverage, it was noted that "Lakeview park today had a monument dedicated to Leonard M. Moore, the late mayor under whose administration the city obtained Lorain's No. 1 beauty spot. Youth turned out 200 strong and adults in the same number to pay tribute to the former city executive at the "unveiling" ceremonies yesterday afternoon. Asst. County Prosecutor William Wickens praised Moore's accomplishments in the principal address of the dedication program."

Here is the tablet (below). The inscription was originally planned to be longer than the final version. The Lorain Journal reported that it read, "Memorial to Leonard M. Moore during whose term as mayor of Lorain, 1916-17, this property was purchased for public park purporses. Dedicated by the youth of Lorain, Sept. 17, 1939."

The article also stated, "Nineteen Boy Scouts troops, including one from Elyria and one from Grafton, approximately 20 Girl Scouts and the Girls band of the Lorain Moose lodge took part in a parade from Washington Park to Lakeview preceding the dedication. Mrs. Leonard Moore, wife of the late mayor, and her two daughters, Misses Ruth and Helen Moore, were introduced by Scout Commissioner William Knerim, chairman of the program. Richard Pazder, eagle scout, led the oath of allegiance, and the band played "America," as the program concluded."

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The Moore monument originally occupied a prominent position near the Rose Garden and facing West Erie Avenue (below). 

Unfortunately, an arbitrary decision was made to relocate several monuments located in the park – including the Moore monument – to a new location adjacent to the Lakeview Park War Memorial. 

Thus, the 1939 Moore monument, the replacement 1922 Quincy A. Gillmore tablet, and a small marker inscribed with the City of Lorain's founding date are clustered together – completely out of historical context – and with no regard for the citizens and civic groups that made the effort to erect and dedicate the monuments in the first place.

The relocated monuments

The Vanishing House at 32990 Lake Road in Avon Lake Part 2

It turns out that I wasn't the only person who felt that it was important to get a few photos of this house before it was entirely gone. While getting my shots, I noticed another person with a camera walking along Lake Road down at the west end of the property.

The friendly Avon Lake resident felt the same way as I did. She was sorry that it was being torn down and felt the urge to document it. She also knew a few of the people who had lived on the property.

Actually, I had met of the residents of the house being demolished. While I was photographing the Peter Miller house a few years ago, a gentleman had ridden up on his bike and chit-chatted with me about old houses. He remarked that he lived in the old house down Lake Road to the east with the black iron fence in front of it. He was a nice, gregarious guy and apparently is well-known around town.

The woman with the camera also pointed out that there had been several old houses on the huge property at the same time, and that all had been torn down except the one remaining. She also noted that most, but not all, of the trees had been selectively cut down.

You can see the other houses, as well as a few other small buildings, in this Bing Maps aerial shot (below).

The large, distinctive red house just to the east of the house currently being demolished was already torn down. It had an address of 32972 Lake Road, and was sold to the same buyer. According to the website, the red house's date of construction was 1898.

Anyway, here are some of my shots from Sunday afternoon.

It will be interesting to see what is eventually built on this property. At least it seems that some of the old trees will provide some shade and beauty for the new residence.

If any readers have any knowledge of this property (the houses, the residents, etc.) be sure to leave a comment.

The Vanishing House at 32990 Lake Road in Avon Lake Part 1

Lately, I've been setting new records for being late to work. Just call me Dagwood Bumstead.

There's a variety of reasons why: trains blocking the RR tracks; long lines of traffic due to construction at the Route 611 highway interchange; and general congestion on I-90 resulting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on perfectly sunny, accident-free days. So, last Friday I decided to start taking Lake Road to Clague Road, and picking up the interstate there for the last leg of my commute.

There's something timeless and relaxing about taking that stretch of two-lane U.S. 6 to work. Lake Erie looms into view occasionally, and there's an interesting mixture of residences – cottages, century homes, 1950s and 60s ranches and ridiculously huge modern mansions  – to make the route through Avon Lake and Bay Village interesting.

The view on Sunday afternoon

Sometimes, however, a view that you've gotten used to for years can suddenly disappear. An old house is torn down, a new one goes up, and you soon discover that you can't even remember what was there before.

But that's progress.

Which brings me to today's topic: namely, the house at 32990 Lake Road in Avon Lake (just a little west of Route 83). I noticed it on Friday, and my heart sank.

That's it (at left).

The house is slowly being demolished – but not in the usual way. Instead, it is more of a surgical removal. It looks like it is doing a vanishing act – the way termites reduce a house to sawdust in an animated TV cartoon.

Apparently the whole property had sold last fall.

I've never researched the house behind the spiked iron fence (and I don't intend to, either) but it was obviously from the 1800s, which was confirmed by the Lorain County Auditor website.

Here's what it looked like in happier times (below), courtesy of the Auditor website.

When the Lakeview Park Fountain was New – May 1936

Late 1930s view

Everything is new at some point, including Lorain's landmarks. The article above, which appeared on the front page of the Lorain Journal and Times-Herald on May 16, 1936 – 78 years ago today – announces the upcoming unveiling of the iconic Lakeview Park fountain on Memorial Day, May 30th.

The short article points out that the fountain would provide 60 changes of water design and color effects every six minutes while in operation. It also notes that the fountain was a federal aid project, built with sandstone from the Amherst quarries.

The fountain – like the park's Easter Basket – looms larges in the collective memories of Lorain's citizens. I remember many times my parents would pull into Lakeview Park and er, uh park, so that my siblings and I – sometimes in our pajamas – could watch the fountain change colors.

Also like the Easter Basket, the fountain has been the subject of many postcards over the years.

Lorain's First Catholic Church to be Razed – May 1917

I seem to spend a lot of time on this blog writing about old buildings – especially old buildings that aren't around any more. That's why this item from the Lorain Daily News caught my eye.

It ran in that paper on Saturday, May 5, 1917 and tells the story of the impending demolition of the city's oldest Catholic church building to make way for a new central electric power station for the Lorain County Electric Company.

The church originally had been erected in 1873 at Reid Avenue and Eighth Street as a place for St. Mary's parish to worship. In 1883 it was moved to the rear of the property and replaced by a new building.

Eleven years later the newer building was destroyed by fire, and the original structure was pressed back into service for a year until a new St. Mary's was built in 1895. The old church building was then sold to Anton Schmidt, who moved to the rear of his property on Second Street. There, it was used to store ice.

The property, and thus the old church building as well, changed hands a few times during the ensuing years. Its last owner before being sold to the Lorain County Electric company was A. E. Willis.

I like the fact that 97 years ago the newspaper saw the significance of a historic structure and paid it an appropriate tribute on the front page with a well-researched article.

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According to this article on the Morning Journal's website, St. Mary Church was originally forced to merge with Holy Trinity Church on Elyria Avenue as part of Cleveland Catholic Diocese Bishop Lennon's 2009 edict. The merged church was called Mary, Mother of God. The Vatican later overruled the edict and restored the St. Mary church name in 2012 – which was only fitting for Lorain's oldest Catholic Church.

Hill Climb at Mill Hollow Hill – May 16, 1931

I'm sure many of my fellow Baby Boomers recall childhood trips to Mill Hollow near Vermilion, and the steep hill where North Ridge Road entered the park at the eastern end.

I remember being fascinated when, after a family picnic or weekend of camping, Dad had to put the car in low gear as we slowly climbed the steep grade to exit the park. It always made for a memorable end to the day.

Years later, when my high school chums and I rode our bikes there, I used to dread the ride home and having to try and get up that hill on my Schwinn. Many times, we had to just walk it up part of the way.

That's why it was interesting to me to see this ad, which ran in the Lorain Times-Herald on Saturday, May 16, 1931. It advertises a motorcycle hillclimbing competition that took place on that well-remembered hill.

It all seems very modern to me for something that was held in 1931– 83 years ago this month.

Anyway, I can't remember exactly when the hill leading into Mill Hollow was rerouted and "improved" during the last few decades, but the drive into the park was never quite the same to me. Much of the route's natural beauty was lost when the bend in the road was broadened. Plus, the elements of historical charm and drama were gone forever.

Looking at an aerial view of the hill today (below), it's easy to see where the road used to go. You can see the ghost of the old road bed if you look closely (click on the photo for a larger view).

Beaver Park RR Crossing – Then & Now

Courtesy Lorain Historical Society

I found this undated photo of the infamous "Killer Crossing" – the railroad crossing at Beaver Park – down in the archives of the Lorain Historical Society. The wintery view is looking west, with West Erie Avenue visible at the left edge of the photo.

It's kind of hard to come up with a time frame for the photo without any vehicles.

Anyway, here's my corresponding shot from last weekend (below). I was very careful when I stopped on the tracks to get it!

As you can see, the bridge on the right has been replaced, and the Beaver Park Marina building at 6101 West Erie on the south side of the highway is visible.

The one thing that's consistent in both photos, though, is the presence of billboards along U. S. Route 6.

You might remember that railroad crossing lights and gates were finally installed in 2007 thanks to the efforts of a little girl who sadly lost her father there at the crossing in 2006. You can read the story of Jennifer Bracken here on the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen website.

Cedar Point Frontier Trail Opens – May 1971

Well, Cedar Point opened for the season over the weekend, so it's a good time to post this article.

Courtesy www.rollercoasterfreak.com and Ebay

It's from the May 21, 1971 Lorain Journal and it announces the premiere of the new Frontier Trail. The addition of the Trail offered park visitors another way to get to Frontier Town (besides the now long-gone Frontier Lift and the train). It also provided some historical and educational entertainment with its recreation of Fort Sandusky, as well as various mills, a blacksmith, a trading post, glass blowers, etc.

What I didn't know (as the article explains) is that many of the pioneer buildings along the trail – the old cabins, barns and the grist mill – are the real McCoy, not recreations. The mill came all the way from Franklin, North Carolina; the 140-year-old barn came from Findlay, and the cabins came from Bucyrus and the Findlay-Galion area. It's a nice touch of authenticity that I certainly wouldn't expect.

Of course, having a trail that enabled you to walk to Frontier Town hastened the demise of the Frontier Lift, which lasted through the 1985 season according to this Cedar Point historical timeline website.

Benny's Restaurant Part 2

Benny's Restaurant at the time of the shooting

The front page of the Lorain Journal of Monday, July 25, 1966 summed up the sad story in a headline: Ben Hart Slain; Suspect Jailed.

According to the story written by Ron Royhab, Ben Hart was shot five times and killed in his own night club, Benny's, by a Sheffield Lake man over a bar bill.

Ben Hart's last words were, "Oh my God, he killed me. My wife and kids.."

After he was shot, his wife, Elaine ran to his side and stayed with him until the Lorain Rescue Squad took him to St. Joseph Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m.

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According to the article, one eyewitness explained that Hart had been acting strangely that night. The eyewitness said that Hart "dragged a man from the lounge into the bar area" and was slapping the man across the face with the front and back of his hand. Hart allegedly knocked the man against the juke box and the man didn't even try to fight back.

Then a gun barrel appeared and shots were fired. Apparently the fight started because the man wanted to pay his bill by check.

Mrs. Hart's version of the story was slightly different. She stated that the bartender had told her that the man didn't want to pay his bill, and she was asked by the bartender to intercede. She asked the customer to pay his bill, which was $19.02. The man went through his pockets, scattering papers all over and Mrs. Hart helped him pick them up. The man then produced a checkbook and Mrs. Hart filled out the check for him. When the check was brought back to him for signing, however, he refused and pushed Mrs. Hart. That's when she got her husband involved, with the result that the man produced a gun from his pocket and shot Hart.

The man ran out the front door, and was later arrested in Oberlin after his car went left of center. During his test for intoxication, he admitted that he just shot a man at Benny's in Lorain. He had a speedy arraignment on Sunday – the first ever on a Sunday in Lorain.

He later admitted that he was in the bar that night because he was separated from his wife and thought that she and her boyfriend would be there that night.

He eventually was allowed to plead guilty to a charge of first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to one to twenty years in the Ohio Penitentiary.

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Mrs. Hart kept the nightclub open for a few more years. It eventually closed, and later became the home of Tiffany's Steakhouse in the early 1970s.

Benny's Restaurant Part 1

September 12, 1968 ad from the Lorain Journal

Benny's Restaurant – also known as Benny Hart's – first appeared in the Lorain City Directory at 4900 West Erie Avenue around the mid-1960s.

Before that, the business was located in Downtown Lorain and was known as Ben Hart's Show Bar at 651 Broadway. (I wrote about the nightclub here and here.)

The move out to the West Erie Avenue location seemed to occur shortly after the relocation of the Ed Blahay Transportation from 4900 West Erie out to E. 28th Street in South Lorain. Ben Hart apparently took custody of the motel on the property as well, as Benny's Motel appeared in the directory about that time.

Several restaurants preceded Benny's at the 4900 West Erie location, including Page's Restaurant (in the late 1940s), Stan's Truck Stop (in the early 1950s) and Smith's Restaurant (late 1950s until early 60s). It's unclear whether they were located in the same building as Benny's.

Like Ben Hart's Show Bar, Benny's was a nightclub that featured a variety of acts including exotic dancers. Some of them (like Little Egypt, show in the ad at the top of the post) had popular careers. Others (such as Jerri Carr, shown in the July 23, 1966 ad from the Journal at left) left a very small internet footprint and are almost impossible to research.

Tomorrow: the sad tale of Benny Hart's murder

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By the way, the performer known as Little Egypt featured in the ad at the top of this post had a pretty good career belly dancing on television.

Her real name was Lorraine Shalloub. She was the great-granddaughter of the original Little Egypt, who created such a sensation at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893.

Miss Shalloub performed on a variety of shows on the 1960s and 70s, including the Tonight Show and even Batman (at right), in which she danced at a campaign rally being held for the evil Penguin, who was running for Mayor of Gotham City.