Spudnuts Come to Lorain – November 1950

Way back here in 2012, I told you about Lorain’s Spudnut Shop.

What’s a Spudnut? It was – and still is – a donut made from potato flour, and sold at a chain of stores with exclusive rights to the recipe. The original parent company that franchised the stores beginning in the late 1940s no longer exists, but there are still Spudnut Shops around – even in Ohio, believe it or not. 

Lorain’s Spudnut Shop was on 120 Eighth Street and was run by Michael and Jo Moldovan. 

With such a unique product, a little advertising was needed to introduce it to the area. So fifty years ago this month, the small ad below featuring Mr. Spudnut appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 14, 1950.

This ad was followed by another in the Journal on November 17, 1950, the eve of the official grand opening.

As the ad notes, “Be our guest as another beautiful SPUDNUT Shop opens! It’s Free Spudnuts and Coffee “on the house” – from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow. See SPUDNUTS made... taste their tantalizing golden goodness – and only then will you understand how honestly delicious... how DIFFERENT they are! Spudnuts are compounded with care to a secret formula, cooked at an exact temperature to a rich, golden brownness, then gently glazed, sugared or chocolate-iced – truly, an exciting new eating delight for every member of the family!” The kiddies received free Mr. Spudnut hats.

A few days later on November 20th, the store ran this thank-you ad.

After that, it was not uncommon to see the ad below in the Journal. This one ran on November 30, 1950.

According to my 2012 post, the Downtown Lorain store lasted until around 1956. There may have been a satellite location briefly in South Lorain, since the Lorain Spudnut Drive-in was listed at 3059 Pearl Avenue in the 1952 Lorain City Directory.

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In preparation for this post (field work is often critical for a blog to maintain its journalistic integrity), I paid a visit to Spudnut Donuts at 650 Prospect Street in Berea.

While making my selections, I asked the friendly young lady working at the counter if the store had always been a Spudnut location through the years. Unfortunately, the blank stare that she gave me indicated that she was not familiar with the history of the chain.

But the donut selection at the store was incredible, and I walked out with a bag containing three huge donuts that was as heavy as, well, a sack of potatoes.

The Spudnuts were as delicious as I thought they would be. It’s the donut that eats like a meal.

And while the Berea store’s appearance inside and out is pretty much devoid of any graphic connection to the chain’s history (except for the vintage script logo on a roll of stickers), the website is nicely designed and features Mr. Spudnut.

If you’re ever in Berea, be sure to stop by the store on Prospect Street and try a Spudnut.