Terminal Bar Opens – Feb. 27, 1952

Seventy years ago this month, the Terminal Bar opened at 1603 E. 28th Street in South Lorain. Above is the full-page ad making the announcement, which ran in the Lorain Journal back on Feb. 26th, 1952.

There’s a lot going on in the ad, with photos of “the solid oak, hand-carved back bar and the 62 foot long counter bar” as well as the uniformed cuties. Beer and hot dogs both priced at a nickel seem to be the main draw.

Someone definitely had fun writing the ad copy. “Everyone (of age) welcome - bring the wife or girl friend (but not both)” is pretty amusing.

Geo. and Zana Koury were the owners and operators of the Terminal Bar, from its opening right up until the time of the 1977 Lorain City Directory. That’s when the addresses 1601-1605 E. 28th Street were listed as vacant, and the Kourys were listed as ‘retired.’

Today, the building is gone. A Google Maps view of the bar’s former location reveals its proximity to Lake Terminal Railroad Company.

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UPDATE

Longtime contributor Doug reminded me that a view of the former Terminal Bar building was available in Google Maps using the website’s older Street Views. I was very surprised to find out that the 1603 E. 28th Street address later became the longtime headquarters for Lorain's well-known Puerto Rican Home.

Entertainment Choices – Feb. 1961

Well, it’s Friday at last. To close out the week here on the blog, here’s a look back at some of the entertainment ads found in the Lorain Journal on Friday, February 17, 1961 – sixty-one years ago.

The subjects of several of the ads were featured on this blog over the years.

Over at the Lorain Arena, there was skating that night from 8:00 pm to 10:45 pm.

The Gypsy Fiddle Inn, successor to the Pueblo, was promoting its Flame Room (which eventually did go up in flames).

Over in Elyria on Lake Avenue, Carey’s Villa was touting its special Lenten meals, including fish, crab, shrimp and lobster. Jack Sikora and the Blue Jays provided the dance music.

Closer to home, there was dancing at the Lincoln Park Nite Club, which featured Billy “Wolf” and the Townsmen.

There was also dancing to the Kenny Lorence Trio at the Colony Lounge, located at the corner of Colorado and Kansas Avenues. (I had the pleasure of being in a big band orchestra with Kenny Lorence about 25 years after this ad.) I don’t see any seafood listed in the ad, but they had Chinese egg rolls!

If you weren’t looking for dancing, there was a social party at the Italian-American Veterans Center, located in the former Lorain Theatre at 3020 Pearl Avenue.

And lastly, if you felt like driving into Cleveland, you could take in the 25th Birthday Edition of the Ice Follies at the Cleveland Arena.

I wonder if the Skate Bunny shown in the ad convinced some males to hop in the car and drive to Cleveland to see the show?

Plan for Rebuilding Downtown Lorain – Feb. 1971

While Vermilion was ironing out the plans to make its shopping district look like a quaint shipbuilding, fishing and sailing community of the 1800s (as noted in yesterday’s blog post), its neighbor to the east was on a similar mission to revitalize its downtown. 

The difference was that Lorain’s plan looked forward, to a future that reflected anticipated population growth.

The article and photo below, which appeared in the Journal on Feb. 11, 1971, introduces a plan for a downtown area with several high-rise apartment buildings, including one to the west of the new City Hall and one to the south of Antlers Hotel.

Of particular interest is the concept of a two-story arcade with auditoriums at either end, located across from City Hall, that would “serve as the nucleus of Lorain’s rebuilt downtown area, with nearby high-rise apartment and office buildings dominating the skyline,” according to the article.

This Sept. 1973 Journal article follows the same idea and includes an illustration of what was envisioned. 

It was intriguing premise that, alas, did not become a reality. Instead, the scaled-down civic center was built, making many people nostalgic for the restaurants that were sacrificed for its construction.

Thus, instead of becoming the very heart of Downtown Lorain, the building became – for many Lorainites – just a place where you went to get your drivers license renewed.

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I’ve posted several articles about businesses lost to urban renewal, including Urbas Cafe (here and here) and Heilman’s Ranch House. This article shows an aerial view of some of the ones along West Erie Ave.

Vermilion “Harbour Town” Renderings – Feb. 1972

Vermilion’s “Harbour Town – 1837” district has been the subject of a few posts on this blog.

The whole concept of “Harbour Town – 1837” and the argument for pursuing a plan was presented in this post. The advertising campaign that was unveiled in November 1968 was featured in this post. And this 1970 Journal article envisioned “Harbour Town – 1837” as sort of a lakefront Williamsburg.

By 1972, drawings of what a revitalized downtown area would look like were being prepared. The two articles below revealed part of the proposed look.

It was quite an ambitious plan to revive the downtown area and make Vermilion a tourist destination. It took some time, as well as an ongoing commitment by the public and private sectors, but judging by the results fifty years later, the effort ultimately was a success. Even on winter weekends, I see people going from store to store along Liberty Avenue and Main Street even when there is no special event.

National Tube Old Timers Honored – Feb. 18, 1950

Here’s a nice slice of life in Lorain from more than 70 years ago, when the steel mill was the dominating force in the city. 

It’s a quartet of photos that ran on the front page of the Lorain Journal on Feb. 18, 1950, featuring a group of National Tube old timers that were being honored. 

The article under the photos reads, "When the National Tube Management club holds its Mid-Century Dinner Tuesday night at the American Legion Home, it will honor supervisors whose service at Lorain Works or other units of the U. S. Steel Corp. totals 1110 years, an average of 46 years and four months each. 

"Most outstanding record is that of the Bessemer group, upper left, including four supervisors whose service totals 193 years. Bessemer Supt. William Miller, right, has nearly 50 years of service. Others in the picture are John Browning, Albert Ego and Frank Fowler. 

"The largest group of old-timers is from the maintenance department, most of these men starting at the Lorain mill in the early days as electrical or mechanical helpers or apprentices. In the picture are Carl Clough, Charles H. Mower, Louis W. Long, John A. Daly, and Henry F. Mullen in the first row, and James D. Kauf, J. Henry Alexander and Robert P. Curley in the back row. 

"In the picture at lower left are George H. Jones of the engineering department, Henry Murray of the rolling mills roll shop, Leo J. Malson, butt mill operating, James G. Bramwell, seamless hot mills, and Rollin Hicok, accounting. 

"Ernest Price, “Gus” Bueche, Frank Bloedorn and Albert Prosser, in the picture at lower right, all started at Lorain Works before 1905 and all are veterans of the machine shop except Price, who is general foreman of the blacksmith shop. Also being honored but not in the pictures are Leo Kelley and Carl Wagner of the Accounting department and Daniel Cairns of the machine shop.

As most of these old timers were already, well, old – it might be unlikely that any of their immediate family members are still around and reading this blog. Some of them are from Pennsylvania as well.

But it’s nice to get their names out on the internet, because you never know.

George Washington’s Birthday Ads – 1961 and 1972

Today is Presidents’ Day. Up until 1971, George Washington’s actual birthday (February 22) was celebrated, but that changed when the Uniform Monday Holiday Act moved the federal holiday to the third Monday in February and all of the other Presidents (good, bad and mediocre) were honored as well.

In honor of the holiday, here are a few vintage ads from the Lorain Journal with the George Washington Birthday theme (sorry, Honest Abe).

The first one is a nearly full page ad for Hills Department Store that ran on Feb. 21, 1961.

As usual, Washington’s Birthday only meant one thing to lazy ad men struggling to come up with a slogan: stress the “I cannot tell a lie” line attributed to young George when confronted about his chopping down of the cherry tree. In this case, the slogan “To Tell the Truth” might have more likely conjured up thoughts of the TV game show.

Fast forward a little more than ten years, and here are a pair of ads from the Feb. 20, 1972 Journal. The first one is a blog favorite : Sandy’s.

Even though the old cherry tree myth was employed, at least the burger chain creatively offered a Free Cherry Pie with the purchase of any sandwich with French fries and a drink. (Now that’s what we Bradys grew up on – the idea of a dessert with lunch and dinner!)

Also on that same page of the Journal – right below the Sandy’s ad – was this one for Ponderosa Steak House. As expected, the steak restaurant served up all the not-so-rare Washington chestnuts.

But I do like the illustration of Washington as a true hatchet man, and the use of the phrase “by George,” by George!

WOBL Ad – Feb. 18, 1972

I’ve spent a lot of time in Oberlin on a regular basis lately, and for no special reason other than that, I’ve started listening to WOBL, Gold Country AM 1320.

It’s fun to listen to the country music classics while traveling. The music is timeless, and you can easily get wrapped up in a tune and forget that it’s the year 2022. Plus it’s nice to have actually heard of the artists and recognize a few tunes here and there. 

The DJs are great too, enhancing the listeners’ enjoyment of the music. I also like to hear radio ads for businesses like Fligner’s and Grobe Fruit Farm, places that I actually patronize.

I did a post last month featuring an early WOBL ad in honor of the station’s 50th anniversary. Well, here’s another one. It ran in the Journal back on February 18, 1972 – 50 years ago today.

It’s kind of nice to see an ad for a radio station with an illustration being the main component. It makes the personality of the station seem a little more personal and less ’slick.” It kind of reminds me of those old WMMS ads with the “Magic Mushroom” graphic that predated the Buzzard era.

Hugh Gallagher Review: John Wayne in “The Cowboys"

Promotional photo of John Wayne in The Cowboys
which appeared on the cover of Life Magazine

Fifty years ago, first-run John Wayne movies were still being shown in theaters, and one of them – The Cowboys – was reviewed in the Journal on Feb. 17, 1972.

Alan Hopewell’s favorite Journal movie critic, Hugh Gallagher, did the honors.

It’s interesting that Mr. Gallagher thought that the Duke was better in The Cowboys than he was in True Grit, which featured his Oscar-winning performance.

Back here on this post, I mentioned how I remembered seeing The Cowboys at Amherst Theater, and getting teary-eyed seeing the loathsome scumbag Bruce Dern murder the Duke. I haven’t been able to watch the movie on TV since. (Yes, I know that’s pretty goofy.)

(For the record, I didn’t mind seeing John Wayne get wiped out in The Alamo. After all, he was playing Davy Crockett and we knew in advance that everyone there was gonna die. At least he literally went out with a bang.)

Anyway, here’s the Hugh Gallagher movie review of The Cowboys.

Lorain Journal Front Page – Feb. 16, 1952

Seventy years ago today, this was the front page of the Lorain Journal. I posted it because of the great photo of the Arthur M. Anderson being launched at the Lorain yards of the American Shipbuilding Co. that day.

As usual, there’s plenty of news packed onto the front page of the Journal back then. Dominating the page is the sad story of two Vermilion youths who died in an accident at Elberta Beach, just a half-mile east of the Lorain-Erie County border.

National news stories included the fighting in Korea, as well as British retaliation against Egypt for the mining of a British oil train.

Locally, the applicants with the top scores for the civil service exams for Lorain police force were listed. On the other side of the law, there’s a report of a raid of the Lorain Elks Club on Sixth Street by state liquor agents. 

Gee, I wonder if my grandfather was there that day?

Thew Shovel Articles – Feb. 1952 & 1972

Thew Shovel has been the subject of a few posts on this blog over the years.

I posted a 1949 ad celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary back here; featured photos of the demolition of former Thew Shovel buildings here; and shared some photos of the Thew Mausoleum here.

Well, here are a few more bits of Thew Shovel history, both from the Lorain Journal in the month of February.

First up is an article from the Feb. 21, 1952 Lorain Journal about an old timer visiting Thew Shovel to reminisce about his experiences with Captain Thew and the company, and how he had the honor of testing two early models.

Operator of Shovel No. 1 Returns to Plant

Marvels at Thew Development

J. W. Taubler of Westlake recently visited The Thew Shovel Company here and reminisced with officials concerning his early experiences with Captain Thew and the first Thew shovels.

When Taubler went to work at the age of 14 on the docks of the M. A. Hanna Company in Cleveland it was shortly after Captain Thew had invented the first full revolving shovel, in 1895, and was using it to handle ore on the Hanna docks.

•  •  •

SHOVELS USED TO LOAD RAILROAD CARS

In order to get an acceptance for his invention, Captain Thew contracted with M. A. Hanna Company to load ore on a basis of five cents per ton. The Captain also operated the shovel and it was during this period that Taubler became acquainted with the Captain and was permitted to operate “No. 1.”

Later, when Captain Thew built and installed his third shovel with M. A. Hanna Co., Taubler also operated it.

At that time, the shovels were used to load railroad cars from stockpiles on the docks. The daily production per shovel was about 1,500 tons. Taubler also recalled that his wages at that time were $3.40 per 10-hour day.

Taubler visited the shops and inspected today’s models of Thew Lorains. He commented on the many design and construction changes and improvements that have been made over the years. He cited one point in common between the first Thew and today’s in that Thew “No. 1” shovel was powered by a single engine and “No. 3” was powered by three engines while today’s modern machines are again all powered by a single power source.

Taubler is now retired and resides at 901 Columbia Road in Westlake.

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Fast forward twenty years and Thew Shovel was now the Lorain Division of the Koehring Company. But sadly, the announcement had just been made to move the division’s headquarters and part of the production of the Lorain Division to Chattanooga, Tenn.

Here is an article from the Feb. 2, 1972 Journal making the announcement.

And here is the Journal editorial from the next day.

Mastodon Bones in Lorain County – Feb. 1952

This mastodon once roamed Prehistoric Forest
on the Marblehead Peninsula in Ohio

Bones seem to be a reoccurring topic on this blog, whether they were uncovered in a road bed or plowed up in a field by a farmer.

But those were human bones. Here’s a report of some mastodon bones being turned up on a farm. The story ran in the Lorain Journal back on Feb. 11, 1952.

Scientists Identify Portions of Skeleton as Remains of Eight-Ton Animal

Bones of Huge Mastodon Uncovered in Lorain County

Bones believed to be part of the skeleton of a huge Mastodon which roamed Lorain County in prehistoric days have been uncovered on a Columbia Township farm.

The bones were turned up on the farm of Ray F. Petch, West River Road, late last summer but not until last week did scientists identify them as parts of a Mastodon, eight-ton forerunner of the elephant, which became extinct 6,000 years ago.

Only portions of the beast’s tusk have been recovered so far but further excavation is scheduled for this spring at which time it is hoped the complete skeleton will be found.

A series of coincidences led to the discovery of the bones in the first place and their subsequent identification as valuable scientific items.

The Petch family, who are associated with Mrs. Petch’s father, Willard Keyse, in the operation of a greenhouse business, cast an eye toward a swampy portion of their farm last August when they needed a new water supply.

Early in September they arranged with a contractor to excavate a circular pond about 90 feet in diameter and six feet deep. A “back hole” machine bit into the earth and a bull dozer pushed the earth to the side of the pond.

Petch found the bone fragments lying on top of the excavated earth but dismissed them as of little value. However, later his 10-year-old son Russell brought one of the pieces into the house and left it on the porch.

“Ray planned to take it into Prof. Surrarrer (Prof. Thomas C. Surrarrer, head of the department of biology at nearby Baldwin Wallace College who had been one of Petch’s undergraduate instructors) but never got around to it” his wife recalled today.

Then last week Mr. and Mrs. Petch visited the home of a friend, Dale Hummon, and the conversation turned to geology. Hummon showed them bone fragments he had picked up on a recent Alaskan trip and Mrs. Petch remarked that they looked like the fragments found in their bog.

“Mr. Hummon got very excited,” said Mrs. Petch, and rushed over to the Petch household to examine the bones. Then Prof. Surrarrer was summoned and after examining the fragments said “almost without a doubt” they were parts of a mastodon.

Mrs. Petch said William F. Scheele, director of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History, planned to come to the farm tomorrow to examine the fragments and arrange for further excavation.

“I imagine they will wait until spring or summer when the ground softens to continue the digging,” Mrs. Petch said.

The area in which the fragments, one of them 25 inches long, were found has always been swampy. Apparently it was a prehistoric bog. Mrs. Petch said waiter was struck after only three feet of digging last summer.

Generally, it is in swampy earth of this nature that well-preserved prehistoric animal reminants are found. The animals, which roamed the earth before the dawn of recorded history, became entrapped in the bog and died. The muck preserved their skeletons.

The digging halted just on the edge of where the tusk fragments were discovered. It is expected that further digging will uncover the rest of the skeleton.

Petch, and his wife the former Anna May Keyse, met while both were students at Baldwin Wallace. Petch, 29, is a native of Berea. The couple, which went into business with Mrs. Petch’s father, are the parents of three children, Russell, 10, Leroy, 13, and Ruth, 7.

Keyse has been operating his greenhouse in that area for 21 years. He raises tomatoes.

Mrs. Petch is thrilled about the discovery of what may turn out to be a valuable scientific find at her home, but has only one worry.

“I am keeping my fingers crossed” she said. “I hope the scientific digging won’t destroy our pond. We want to use it as a swimming hole.”

Thomas Edison 125th Anniversary Editorial – Feb. 1972

Portrait of Thomas A. Edison by Ellis M. Silvette in 1926
(Postcard Courtesy of eBay)

Today is the 175th anniversary of the birth of Thomas Alva Edison.

Fifty years ago on the 125th anniversary, the Journal ran a special editorial tribute to the great inventor. It’s particularly well written and includes an interesting Lorain connection to the Edison family that many people might not be aware of.

A Man Who Changed the World

TODAY IS THE 125th anniversary of the greatest inventor the world has ever known, Thomas Alva Edison. He was born Feb. 11, 1847, in Milan, just 25 miles from Lorain.

His fame was international. His more than 1,000 inventions, including electric lights, the movies and the phonograph, remade the world.

Now, with the passing of time, his achievements are gradually being partially forgotten. But the memory will never completely fade. Helping to preserve it are the Edison National Historic Site in West Orange, N.J., and the impressive historical display at Edison’s former winter home in Ft. Myers, Fla.

The home where the inventive genius was born is preserved in Milan. Also, there is good cause for Thomas A. Edison to be remembered in Lorain because of the close family ties that existed here.

A cousin of the inventor, F. W. Edison, a hardware dealer, was mayor of Lorain in 1876-77 and again in 1884-86. His home, once a showplace of the city, was located on the 8th and Broadway site now occupied by the Ohio Edison Co. His store, located at 5th and Broadway, was purchased by C. E. Krantz, and became the Lorain Hardware Co.

A bit of history which can appropriately be reviewed on this anniversary is the story of why the Edison family happened to settle in Milan.

Thomas Edison’s grandfather, John (who was the great-grandfather of two second cousins of Edison who lived in Lorain), was a leading citizen of Vienna, Ontario, in the 1830s when Canada was divided over allegiance to the British crown. In 1837, the year Queen Victoria ascended the throne, rebellion was raging and Samuel (son of John and father of Thomas), then a young keeper of a hotel in Vienna, became a captain in the ranks of “McKenzie’s Insurgents,” embittering his father, who stood for the cause of the crown. The son, however, was fired with the spirit of a grandfather who had fought in the Revolution in the United States against the British. 

The cause of John Edison was victorious while that of Samuel met defeat. Faced with exile in Bermuda, Samuel, with his wife, the former Nancy Elliott who came to Canada from New York, fled to the United States. They finally settled in 1842 in Milan, then one of the most thriving communities in Ohio.

Thomas Edison was born there five years later and the world was on the threshold of the Age of Electricity.

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I’ve written about Thomas Edison before, including this two-part series (here and here) about the 1947 Edison Centennial, as well as this post featuring a 1959 Edison Birthday article.

And don’t miss the profile of a man whose claim to fame was explored in this post entitled, “He Cut Edison’s Hair,” or this post about my family’s visit to Edison’s birthplace in 1962.

Journal Hockey Game Bus Trip – Feb. 7, 1972

Hockey has been the subject of many posts on this blog.

I posted a 1949 Journal ad promoting the Cleveland Barons versus the Buffalo Bisons back here, including some images of Barons memorabilia; a 1949 P.O.C. Beer ad in which the brewing company sponsored Cleveland Barons Hockey Casts on WEWS; a 1950 Van Wagnen’s Hardware ad with a special on hockey sticks here (a post that also included a tribute to George Armstrong, “The Chief,” Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs during their Golden Years); a 1967 Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Program; and a 1968 Journal article about the possibility of Lorain building an ice hockey arena.

Back here, I posted three 1970 newspaper ads in which the Journal sponsored bus trips so that its readers could see the Cleveland Barons play the Montreal Voyageurs, as well as the Hershey Bears. 

Well, today’s post is another Journal bus trip, this time to see the Barons play the Cincinnati Swords. The full-page ad ran in the paper on Feb. 7, 1972.

The ad is a little amusing, with its strange mix of different illustration styles. The couple shown in the ad illustration look like they’re right out of a Higbees or Penneys ad.

I thought the ‘Swords' name was a little hard to swallow, but once I read about their history (how they were an AHL affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres) it made sense.

The Cincinnati Swords weren’t around very long. They had only been founded in 1971, and after a stab at success, folded after the 1973-74 season.

The Projects Take Shape – Feb. 1959

Growing up on the West Side, I was certainly aware of “the Projects.” As a kid, I never understood why it was called that. I just knew that it was one of many places in Lorain that it probably wasn’t a good idea to ride my bike through. That’s just the way it was.

I never knew how long the public housing development was there, either, until I saw the photo at right, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on Feb. 10, 1959. The caption reads, “The 150-unit, $1,730,000 Westview Terrace housing project being built on Leavitt Road., between W. 23rd and W. 24th streets, is rapidly taking shape. 

"The Victory Construction Co. of Dayton started work on the project last summer for the Lorain Metropolitan Housing Authority. The low-rent apartments are expected to be ready for occupancy next summer."

Drive through “the Projects” today, and I think you’ll find that the passing of sixty years has been kind to the area. The buildings were updated with the addition of dormers, new siding and landscaping, and they look quite nice and well-maintained. The trees tower over the development now, and they add to the overall effect of a stately old neighborhood.

Boston Drug Store Ad - Feb. 2, 1972

I’ve written before (here) about how Downtown Lorain had two separate stores with the ‘Boston’ name. One was Smith and Gerhart, which started out in 1893 originally known as The Boston Store, before switching to its more well-known monicker in the 1920s. 

The other store was Boston Drug, a drug store/vitamin store that first appeared in the early 1960s at 362 Broadway. It eventually moving to Fourth Street in the early 1970s (which is where I remembered it) and became more of a discount store.

And here’s an ad for that store that appeared in the Lorain Journal on Feb. 2, 1972 – fifty years ago this month. As you can see, it was still mainly promoting vitamins in its ads.

The inclusion of Chocks in the ad caught my attention. 

What were Chocks? Ah, I guess you’d have to be a Baby Boomer to remember them.

Chocks Vitamins was an early attempt at a daily vitamin for kids. My mother bought them for my siblings and me for a while. I can still remember the chalky taste.

Here’s a great photo of the Chocks bottle (one featuring Charlie Chocks), courtesy of Todd Franklin and his Flickr page.

And here’s an early version, courtesy of Pinterest.

Chocks seemed to have the market to itself for while. Eventually, however, Flintstone Vitamins (introduced in the late 1960s) became popular and, consequently, the de facto vitamin for kids. 

As a result, Chocks disappeared. Now nobody remembers them except aging Baby Boomers (like me) who might think of them as they pop a variety of bad-tasting vitamins.

Smuggler's Cove Ad – Feb. 5, 1972

Although I live in a condo, I never really thought about them until I became one of the few people in American who watched the TV show Condo in the early 1980s starring McLean Stevenson. Fortunately the mercifully brief series didn’t turn me against the concept years later.

Well, back in 1972, Avon Lake had itself a brand new condominium development: Smuggler's Cove, located just off Miller Road on Electric Boulevard. The ad above appeared in the Journal on February 5, 1972.

Curiously, the ad has a pirate theme. As the ad notes, “Matey have you heard thar be a new place to hide called Smuggler’s Cove? It has everything a Cap’n and his crew would want.

“Smuggler’s Cove features three types of condominiums for your pleasure.

“All are very ultra modern. For recreation the crew may swim in a pool or play tennis and shuffleboard. There is even a children’s play area. And for fun there is a party house. Your cook will prepare meals that would delight the King himself in a completely modern all-electric kitchen for pure comfort and carefree living at its best.”

The King? Was the ad referring to Elvis?

Anyway, it would have been more true to Avon Lake’s history for a development with a ‘smuggler’ name to have a gangster/rumrunner theme.

Nevertheless, Smuggler’s Cove remains an attractive and impressive condo community.

Old Log Cabin Whiskey Ad – Feb. 6, 1952

Earlier this week, my first post about the Wilson-Baldauf house noted that Ebenezer Wilson built a log cabin for his wife and and three children upon their arrival in what was then Black River Township, to serve as a home until he could build a permanent home.

Well, today’s post is about another log cabin – namely, the one featured in Old Log Cabin Whiskey ads, a favorite topic on this blog. National Distillers Products Corporation ran a lot of ads for Old Log Cabin in the pages of the Lorain Journal beginning in the late 1940s and continuing right into the late 1960s.

I’ve featured several ads in the late 1940s/early1950s series that had the clever theme: “There’s bourbon enjoyment inside.” Well, here’s another ad – a “lanky” – with a new theme: "Follow the Trail to Old Log Cabin.” It ran in the Lorain Journal back on February 6, 1952 – 70 years ago.

I like the dog sled graphic, which reinforces that whole, rugged “North Woods” appeal. It’s in sharp contrast with Kentucky Bourbon advertisements, which often had Kentucky Colonels, horses, etc. as their theme.

Modern advertisements lack the charm of these vintage ones, which required the consumers to use their imaginations.

This colorful cardboard sign (currently on eBay) provides a closer look at the Old Log Cabin label.

Ed Mullinax Ad – Feb. 3, 1972

Fifty years ago, Ed Mullinax Ford in Amherst kept the Groundhog Day celebration going with this full-page ad, which ran in the Journal on February 3, 1972.

Although my family was into Oldsmobiles, I had a few high school buddies whose fathers worked at Ford. Consequently, I became familiar with their family's cars, including a Maverick that Scott Welko drove. So I can appreciate the lineup of iconic Ford automobiles in this add.

And speaking of Ed Mullinax, here’s an article that also ran in the Journal during February 1972, a little later in the month on the 27th. It provides a nice history of his dealership, as well as a brief profile of the man and his business philosophy.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Well, it’s Groundhog Day 2022. To kick off the celebration, here are a few vintage postcards (all culled from eBay) in honor of the holiday.

According to the back of this card, this is Punxsutawney Phil at the Civic Center Zoo, instead of his usual digs at Gobbler’s Knob. He looks a little cranky. I like his little groundhog grotto, though.

This 1970 postcard (below) is labeled "PUNXSUTAWNEY, Pa. – Headquarters of the Groundhog.” Phil looks a little younger in this one. Maybe he had a few swigs of his magical punch that keeps him eternally young?

Suspiciously, this postcard with an identical groundhog has the inscription “Greetings from MINERAL CITY, Ohio.” Buckeye Chuck lives in Marion, so I’m not sure who this guy is.

And here’s another Groundhog muscling in on Phil’s turf. The back of the card reads, “Meet “Jimmy the Groundhog” emerging to make his Feb. 2nd prognostication. Resident Celebrity, Jimmy lives in Sun Prairie, WI – The Groundhog Capital of the World!"

And here’s one last groundhog glossy. The caption on the back of this postcard reads, “Yep! I’m a ground hog as any one can plainly see. Nope! I didn’t come out to see my shadow. I do that only on Feb. 2nd.”

But Dan, you might be wondering – where is Phil’s forecast from 1972?

Ah, unfortunately that was one of the years when the Journal completely ignored the festivities in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. 

So here’s the 1952 report from seventy years ago instead. It ran in the Journal on Groundhog Day 1952.  It includes a photo of Punxsutawney Phil and his prediction, but also has a local angle in which a Journal reporter interviews a groundhog. It’s pretty funny how the groundhog showers him with abuse for bothering him.

And from that same edition of the Journal, here’s a cute ad for Employee Transit Lines with a great groundhog illustration.

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For a real dose of Groundhog Day déja vu, be sure to visit my past posts on this topic.