Wednesday, April 28, 2021

Canada Dry Ad – April 26, 1951


Seventy years ago, Lorain had a facility on the east side that bottled Canada Dry Ginger Ale. So it's not surprising to see Lorain Journal ads for the fizzy concoction like the one above, which appeared in the paper on April 26, 1951.

My blog entry about the Canada Dry bottling plant at 1251 Colorado Avenue in Lorain continues to be the second most-visited post since the blog began in 2009. Here's the link to that 2013 post that has had more than 27,000 views. 

I’ve made several pleas over the years trying to find out just what brought visitors to that post. I’ve come to the conclusion that it was Mr. James R. Edwards, mentioned in the post as the well-known owner/operator of the Corner Store (where he sold and repaired model trains) at the former bottling location.

But getting back to the 1951 ad. 

It’s always nice to see old pop bottles from the days when they had the graphics printed on them, and they could be returned for a deposit. It was a much more environmentally friendly system than what we have now. (Plus it gave those of us who went looking for old pop bottles in fields a little pocket change, after we washed the mud out of them and returned them.)

The Canada Dry bottles were especially attractive, with the map of Canada and the regal graphics. Here’s one from the early 1950s, similar to the ones in the Journal ad.

And here’s another ad from the “Best of Them All” campaign. This one ran in the Journal on November 30, 1950.
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Canada Dry has been the subject of many posts on this blog.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

James used to campaign a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 at Norwalk Raceway Park back in the 1970s.It would run in the low 12 seconds.Very good for the time as a newer Dodge Challenger Hellcat will do low 10 seconds now,and this is some 45 years later.James passed away in 2002.He was only 60 years old.

LHS Blazer Man said...

Dear Mr. Brady,

Your recent focus on things Canadian 🇨🇦 brings to mind this musical quiz:

Q: What was #1 on the Canadian Hit Parade when "Wake Up Little Suzie" was #1 on the American Hit Parade?

A: Who knows. But six months later it was "Wake Up Little Suzie."

(Courtesy of The National Lampoon Radio Hour © 1973)

Larry P said...

Growing up in the 60s in Sheffield Lake I used to rummage around the neighborhood for pop bottles to return to a mom n pop store across the street from us on Lake Rd named Gangs. Canada Dry bottle were frequently used to fund my trek across the street to fulfill my thirst for gum, candy and baseball cards back then

Dan Brady said...

Hi Larry! Yes, I remember doing the same thing, looking around various fields and vacant lots around our area looking for pop bottles. I’m surprised that whatever grocery store we took them to even accepted them, as some of the bottles were old, with the printing on them all faded or marred. As for Gang’s, that was a pretty good location for a neighborhood grocery store. Dollar General must have realized that too, since they built a store right next door.