Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Manners Fish 'N Chips Ad – March 1970

It seems like Lorain was crazy for fish & chips back in March 1970. Or at least the restaurant chains thought so.

We’ve already seen that Arthur Treacher’s had just opened in Lorain at that time. And the Olde English Fish ’N Chip Shoppe on Oberlin Avenue had introduced the English delicacy to the local market the previous year.

Well, now it seems that Manners was trying to mussel, I mean, muscle in the fish & chips racket as well. The above ad ran in the Journal on March 14, 1970.

Unfortunately, bland typography and an unappealing description of the dish (“crispy golden coating over flaky, white-meated blue water fish”) doesn’t exactly make me want to reach for a bottle of malt vinegar. The realistic fish and lure clip art doesn’t do it for me either.

I think Manners did a lot better job with this October 1966 ad for good ol’ Lake Erie perch (even though it features the same fish art). It looks fun and you don’t have to squint at any fine print.

But then again, a real perch-loving Lorainite probably would have headed over to the Slovak Home if it was Friday.
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Manners has long been a favorite topic on this blog, including multi-part series on the Hoop/Manners Story, and The Restaurants of Richard W. Head.

5 comments:

  1. I am enjoying your Lenten series on fish-n-chips restaurants, even though I am allergic to seafood. For that reason, I prefer your looks back at old booze ads. Alcohol does not make me break out in hives.

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  2. Reminds me of the old tv commercial:
    "Manners Fish Fare....$1.95 feeds the family."

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  3. I can just taste that white-meated (as opposed to dark-meated?) blue water fish already.

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  4. I see the first ad included the SR254 & SR57 location and the second didn't. I remember when that location was built across the street from Perkins when I was a kid. It was a cool building with a stone façade entrance and lots of windows and of course the awesome the leaning sign.
    Chuck - Jackson

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  5. Hi Chuck! Here’s a post with a photo (although not a great one) of the SR 254 and SR57 Manners:

    https://danielebrady.blogspot.com/2018/07/manners-at-sr-57-sr-254-opens-july-1967.html

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