Oak Hills Country Club Ad – March 29, 1963

One of the things you learn when you're a kid is that there are different classes of people – rich, poor and in-between. 

In our block on E. Skyline Drive in Lorain, it was all solid, middle class families. Many of the fathers worked in a factory, either Ford Motor Company, U. S. Steel or BF Goodrich. The homes were all ranches and split levels built about the same time. It was a nice neighborhood (except for the occasional rock fights).

But no one was rich. The only example of the wealthy was the Davidsons, whose property bordered almost the whole length of the north side of E. Skyline Drive. We could see their mansion between the trees, and hear their peacocks in the early morning. It wasn't until many years later that I learned that Mr. Davidson (a well-known local lawyer) graduated from Lorain High School with my Dad's Uncle Ben).

Since the fathers in our neighborhood were mostly blue collar workers, I don't think the ad below for Oak Hills Country Club would have interested any of them. The ad promoting New Memberships appeared in the Lorain Journal back on March 29, 1963.

The ad is interesting, with the private club accepting "a limited number of memberships for 1963." The prices weren't cheap; adjusted for inflation, the "Man & Wife Golf Membership" would run about $2,113 bucks today.

Memberships for the swimming pool and cabana club were separate from that of the country club. And the Oak Hills Restaurant and Bar was operated as a Supper Club (meaning it was only open at dinner and was a little more formal that the average beanery, with a limited menu).

The whole thing kind of reminds me of the movie Caddyshack. Even the Membership prices included a special rate for clergy, reminding me of the Bishop in that movie who gets struck by lightning.

Anyway, if there were any golfers among the dads on Skyline Drive, I'm guessing that they would have more likely golfed at Emerald Valley, just a few minutes away on Leavitt Road.