Tuesday, June 3, 2014

Grand Opening of Dixie Cream Donut Shop – June 3, 1960

Lorain Journal ad announcing the Grand Opening

1960 phone book ad
54 years ago today was the Grand Opening of the Dixie Cream Donut Shop at 2851 Broadway in Lorain, Ohio on June 3, 1960. The ad above appeared in the Lorain Journal the day before the big event.

The 2851 Broadway address means it was right next to the American Slovak Club – where the vacant lot is now, between the Club and the closed BP gas station.

Dixie Cream was probably never a real contender in Lorain; the national chain was undoubtedly K.O.'d by Bob's Donuts and other local favorites.

Dixie Cream never even appeared in the city directory, and only appeared in the Lorain phone book in 1960, before the address went vacant the following year. (The storefront sat empty until the 1965 listings, when the address became the home of La Bell Beauty Salon.

Although Dixie Cream didn't last too long in Lorain, amazingly the parent company is still around. Of course, I wouldn't plan a road trip to visit one of the stores too soon, because there doesn't appear to be any "official" locations in the U.S. There are, however, three in Saudi Arabia, and three in Egypt.

Here's the link to the company website. It looks like the company finally tossed out their smiling globe-headed mascot along with the day-old donuts. Presumably, he now resides at the Home for Retired Donut Mascots (which includes the original Mister Donut mascot, as well as the Spudnuts guy).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dixie can sound like Crispy?? Bob's has been all I ever knew. All else disappoints.

rae

Dennis said...

Bob's and Bill's
and you re right, all others do not come close !

Mike Kozlowski said...

The only place I've ever been to that comes CLOSE to Bob's is Murray's Donuts down the road from here in Sumter, SC - their motto is, "Donuts so fresh, their faces should be slapped!"

Mike

Wireless.Phil said...

I could swear that back in the 50s or
early 60s, that Bob's Donuts was further north on Broadway, possibly the in where the Gyro House is now.

Wireless.Phil said...

Wait a minute, why do they show a nice big ham sandwich on the main site when the menu only lists mostly sweet junk, and all the store locations are listed in the Middle East?

Sometings don't add up here.