Not White Castles... But Blue Castles

From time to time, I receive photos and reminisces from people who graciously allow me to share them on the blog with my readers. Here's one of them.

The subject of the above photograph is a restaurant with Castle in its name. But it's not the Castle, or even a White Castle – it's the Blue Castle.

Linda Ellis sent me the above photo in a recent email. According to Linda, it's circa 1950 and depicts the inside of the Blue Castle restaurant in Lorain. Her aunt,  Helen Zagorsky Hendry, is standing to the right of the restaurant's owners, Edward and Loretta.

I'd heard of the Blue Castle, but it wasn't until I did a little research for this post that I discovered that there were several restaurants in the area by that name. The earliest appearance was the Blue Castle Sandwich Shop in the 1945-46 Elyria City Directory. The restaurant was run by Al Kaufer and was located at 588 W. Broad in Elyria.

October 26, 1945 ad from the Chronicle-Telegram

By the time of the 1947 directories, the Blue Castle name has disappeared from the Elyria book and resurfaced in the Lorain edition. The Blue Castle Sandwich Shop was located at 116 West Erie and was run by Robert L. Haff and Joseph S. Downie.

You can see the Blue Castle Sandwich Shop's neon sign
at the left hand side of the building; a bus is parked in front of it on West Erie

Strangely enough, in that very same 1947 edition, Eddie's Blue Castle – run by Edward and Loretta Easton – was listed at 723 Broadway.

May 24, 1946 ad from the Lorain Journal

October 25, 1946 ad from the Lorain Journal

Courtesy Paula Shorf Collection

By the time of the 1950 Lorain directory, the Blue Castle Sandwich Shop was still at 116 West Erie, but it looks like thar wasn't room enough in this hyar town for two Blue Castle's – so one had to go. Eddie Easton's business became listed in the book as Eddie's Confectionery. His business also moved to 611 Broadway.

Within two years, the Blue Castle name would disappear entirely from the Lorain city directories. The Butterfry (there's a healthy-sounding name for a restaurant) replaced it at 116 West Erie.

Thanks to Linda Ellis for sharing one of her cherished family photos.