Spaid's Sportsmen's Shop Ad – Dec. 20, 1946

I love this Christmas-themed ad for Spaid's Sportsmen's Shop, which was located at 116 Eighth Street in Lorain. The ad appeared in the Lorain Journal on December 20, 1946 – 71 years ago.

Look at the unbridled glee in the eyes of the man, who received a new Nydar Shotgun Sight. He's crazed with excitement as he looks forward to greater accuracy and bringing home more game.

Meanwhile, his wife looks pretty happy too, as she lovingly examines the tag on her new fur coat. (And please don't ask me what she's wearing under that fur coat.)

It's just a thought, but perhaps if she had bought him that Nydar shotgun sight sooner, he might have been able to blast the fur-bearing critter himself and have a custom coat made for her.

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Jack W. Spaid was the man behind Spaid's Sportsmen's Shop. The store carried Evinrude outdoor motors, fishing tackle, guns, ammunition and other hunting supplies.

According to his obituary in the Frederick News-Post, Jack W. Spaid "grew up in Lorain, Ohio, where he developed a life-long interest in boating, hunting and fishing.

"During W.W. II he proudly served as an officer of the U. S. Army Transportation Corp. in Australia, New Guinea and the Philippines. He received an honorable discharge in February of 1945. In 1950, he married his beloved wife (Phyllis) and they settled in Frederick in 1957 and raised their family there."

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But getting back to that shotgun sight in the ad. Here's a link to the forgottenweapons.com website, where you can take a look at a Nydar Model 47 sight, introduced in 1945.

I saw a 1940s ad online for a Model 47, which looks pretty much like the sight in the Spaid ad. The price? $27.45. That's about $350 bucks in today's dollars, which won't even buy you a fur muff.

I think the wife in the Spaid ad got the better deal.