Vintage Lorain Restaurant Thanksgiving Ads

In honor of Thanksgiving, here are holiday-themed vintage ads for two Lorain restaurants that were neighbors on West Erie Avenue.

First up is an ad for the Castle that ran on November 10, 1956 outlining the restaurant’s holiday plans.

And what was on the royal menu? Fresh fruit cocktail; a heaping platter of tender, sliced turkey; candied sweet potatoes; garden-fresh green beans; a tossed green salad; relish trays; hot mince pies; oven-fresh rolls and butter.

Note that the graphic theme of the Castle-on-the-Lake ad is one of highways and detours. That’s because the long-awaited widening of Lake Road (U. S. Route 6) along that stretch had just gotten underway in March of 1956, making it a challenge for Castle customers coming from the west.

Today the Castle-on-the-Lake is home to Castillo Real Mexican Restaurant.

The second ad is for Howard Johnson’s, which ran in the Journal on November 5, 1966. (I’ve written about Lorain's Howard Johnson’s restaurant a few times on this blog, including its Grand Opening, its Thanksgiving 1957 fare, and some general memories of it. )

Strangely enough, its Thanksgiving dinner was only available through November 13th.

Its menu included: roast young turkey with giblet-gravy and savory celery dressing; creamy whipped potatoes; garden-fresh peas; cranberry sauce in lettuce cup; freshly baked roll and butter.

A “Take Home Three-Pack” included 1 can of New England style baked beans, 1 can of brown bread, and 1 can of date-nut bread.

I’m not sure if this canned trio of goodies was supposed to supplement a Thanksgiving meal, or if it was a standalone New England-style light snack. I hope the restaurant threw in a Hojo can opener!

Today of course, the distinctive Howard Johnson’s building in Lorain is home to the popular (see for yourself in the recent photo below) Chris’ Restaurant.