The Restaurants of Richard W. Head – Part 3

Hula hooping behind the Hoop Drive-in on Henderson Drive
(Photo courtesy of Richard C. Head)

Richard W. Head believed in the power of advertising when it came to his restaurants. Above is a photo of a hula hoop promotion that took place in the parking lot of the Hoop Drive-in on Henderson Drive.

But there was an even more ambitious promotion that took place at that location in 1956 during the summer of a steel strike in Lorain. This promotion involved a flagpole sitter.

Here’s a photo (courtesy of Richard C. Head) of the installation of the flagpole.

Putting up a flag pole on the Hoop on Henderson Drive
 (Courtesy Richard C. Head)

So what was the story behind the flagpole sitter? An ad designed to resemble a newspaper article told the whole story (below) in the July 23, 1956 edition of the Lorain Journal.

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FLAGPOLE SITTER DRAWS 
BUSINESS TO RESTAURANT

A flagpole sitter has joined our midst. You’ll find him perched 40 feet in the air over the Hoop Drive-in restaurant.

Doing the sitting is Joseph Rhodes, nicknamed Dusty, of course. Dusty is 47 and a former carnival roustabout who once before sat on top of a flagpole.

“That was during the depression,” he reported through his sponsor, Richard Head, owner of the restaurant. “Dusty had nothing else to do, so he sat on a pole for 38 days.”

This latest sitting was inspired by the steel strike.

Dusty has nothing to do with the steel industry. But Head’s business began dropping off because of the strike, so he induced Dusty to sit on the pole in hopes of attracting a little business.

“It’s worked, too,” said Head. “Business has been improving since Dusty got up there.” That was last Monday night.

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A short bulletin at the bottom of the ad reported that “Dusty Rhodes, flagpole sitter at The Hoop Drive-in, came down from his perch this morning due to illness.” He had been up there about a week.

Curiously, the Lorain Journal covered the story of the sick flagpole sitter without mentioning the Hoop. This article (below) ran on the front page of the Journal on July 23, 1956.

The steel strike was officially over on July 28, 1956, so it doesn’t appear that Dusty Rhodes had recovered in time to resume his perch atop the flagpole.

Next: Manners