The Journal Front Page – Sept. 2, 1961

Well, it’s Labor Day – and longtime readers of this blog know that means it’s time for a grim reminder to drive safely.

And so here’s the front page of the September 2, 1961 Journal with a UPI Unifax photograph of the Grim Reaper himself riding shotgun. (It’s kind of a cool photo, and I’m sure it did its job to catch the attention of readers.)

“Don’t let this be you,” reads the caption. “The unseen ‘hand of death’ will, if past statistics are reported, rest on many a carefree shoulder this Labor Day weekend. The great enemy is thoughtlessness. Remember that your auto can be a deadly weapon, and operate it accordingly.”

Those are wise words even in our time, in which it seems like every driver is peering at a cell phone as they barrel down Lorain County’s wretched highways.

Elsewhere on the front page, there was plenty going on in the world sixty years ago: resumption of U.S. nuclear talks with Russia after the Russkies exploded a nuclear test device; an early morning fire at Lorain City Airport; an earthquake off the coast of South America; heavy snow in Yellowstone National Park.

Ironically, the 'Today’s Chuckle’ was ripped right out of the headlines: “The hydrogen bomb has made one great contribution to democracy. With it, all men are cremated equal."

Saddest of all on the front page was the article explaining that JFK – a little more than two years before he was assassinated – was being put under extra protection due to threats from a heavily armed mental patient who had vowed to kill the President.