Lawson's seems to be one topic that I have endless milked during the past year.
Why? For one thing, the convenient chain sponsored the ill-fated Issue 1 in the fall of 1962, attempting to do away with the Blue Law so the firm could be open on Monday. And Lawson's was a company that believed in the power of advertising, with huge ads pushing one main sales item, such as the ever-popular Dutch Loaf.
The full-page ad below is a little different in that it's not selling milk, orange juice or lunch meat; it's selling an idea – specifically that everyone was enjoying lower milk prices because of Lawson's. It appeared in the Lorain Journal on March 3, 1963.
It's an interesting feel-good ad, but I'm not sure if it won any new converts. I think they'd have been better off pushing hard salami on sale.
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It's funny how I feel nostalgic about Lawson's, despite the fact it probably helped put the local dairies out of business.
We drank a lot of milk in the Brady House when my siblings and I were kids. We had a glass of it with breakfast and lunch, and of course we put it on cereal, which we we had not only at breakfast, but also as a snack.
We were still having Home Dairy deliver milk in the late 1960s/early 70s. I can still see the wire milk holder in our garage next to the steps. But at some point, our milk man had come into the house (without knocking) and startled Mom. I think the story was that it was hot out and he wanted to put the milk in the fridge.
At that point, the time was ripe to drop home delivery and just buy it ourselves – probably at Lawson's, which was only a few minutes away.
Just wanted to put the milk away, huh? Sounds hinky.
ReplyDeleteWe had a Lawson's in my Pennsyltuckian childhood town, but we never went there. We also had an Isaly's, but didn't shop there, either. Both were avoided for the local mom-and-pops.
ReplyDeleteDad's dad (who was a union and union-organizing glass-blower his entire life) had a saying: "Patronize local industries." And we did just that. No chain-stores for us. Except Monkey Wards 'cause Dad's twin brother worked there.
We had milk delivered (outside the home) and placed into an insulated aluminum box. Far into the '70s as I recall. We bought large boxes of laundry detergent from them, too. The first home I bought, in Berea, Ohio, was a '50s brick ranch with a little pass-thru door in the back wall of the kitchen for milk.
I remember going to Lawson's with my parents.On most Fridays we would have a little ritual.After going to the Midway Mall we would swing by Lawson's and get some popcicles.There used to be one on Kansas Avenue in Lorain across from George May Ford.I remember they were crazy cheap,like .10¢ each or something like that.We would get a bunch for later Friday night we would watch the Hoolihan and Big Chuck Show on Channel 8.I can still hear that weird laugh now.And anytime I want now that we all have phones at our fingertips.Good times.
ReplyDeleteYeah. Milking Lawson’s.
ReplyDeleteSure.
Whenever my buddies and I would "camp out" in my backyard out the first stop after putting up the tent was to Lawson's for chip chopped ham for sandwiches, chips, 16 oz fruit punch carton and a lunch size brownie. We'd listen to the Indians game then sneak down the block to pick cherries off the neighbor's tree....what a bunch of hoodlums. Pretty tame fun compared to today but boy did we enjoy it! Todd
ReplyDeleteThat was mere childs play picking those cherries.The Generation Alpha's of today take fentanyl pills like Tic Tacs to get their jollies.To get their kicks nowadays,instead of your chip chopped ham and chips,kids will eat marijuana laced brownies or gummy candies and snort fuel injection cleaner.And instead of an innocent fruit punch they would drink a Mikes Hard Lemonade alcoholic beverage.And instead of stealing cherries from a tree they will break into someones house and steal their belongings that the victim paid for with their hard earned money.And the thing is if the Alpha's live long enough to enjoy old age they probably won't remember a thing that they did in their younger years.While you still have your non violent memories that you will remember forever.
ReplyDelete