Get the Chronicle at Your Cottage – 1936

Last week I posted a 1938 ad that explained to Lorain Journal subscribers that they could get the paper delivered to them while they were on vacation. The assumption was that readers would not want to miss what was going on the Popeye comic strip while they were on summer vacation.

The ad wasn’t very specific as to how the Journal was going to get the paper to them; I just assumed that it was going to be mailed.

Well, thanks to regular contributor Rick Kurish, we can see how the Journal’s competition – the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram – dealt with the same promotional gimmick in a very clever manner.

Rick wrote, "When I saw your "Take Popeye on Vacation" blog the other day it reminded me of a similar service offered by the Chronicle-Telegram at about the same time. I first ran across the ads for the service some time ago while looking for something else.

"The Chronicle-Telegram would deliver the newspaper the same evening it was printed to apparently select vacation cottages on Lake Erie --- and the delivery cost was only 18 cents a week! Just thought you might like to see the ad.

"The attached ad was in the Chronicle-Telegram of May 23, 1936.

"Imagine what the people who used the service in 1936 would think of getting their news instantly on an iPad!” observed Rick.

It’s a great ad (thanks, Rick!) and a nice snapshot of nearby cottage and resort communities at the time, including: Vermilion; Linwood; Crystal Beach; Elberta; Vermilion-On-The-Lake; Sunnyside Beach; and Nakomis [sic].

Click here to visit Rich Tarrant’s "Vermilion Views" website to learn more about Nokomis Park development. That particular issue of "Vermilion Views" also includes some great Lake Shore Electric photos near Vermilion, courtesy of – who else? – Dennis Lamont.