Saddle Inn Article – April 26, 1965

To close out the week (and April as well), here's another one of those advertisements masquerading as a news article that the Journal used to feature under the heading of "Lorain County Business and Industrial Review." It appeared in the Journal on April 26, 1965 and promotes the Saddle Inn, located in the shopping center in Avon Lake on Lake Road. (I've inserted a similar photo of the too-dark vintage one in my transcription below.)

It reads, "The story of the historic Saddle Inn, Avon Lake's famous restaurant and tavern, might well be captioned, "from carbarns to canapés."

"The handsome building of today was once the storage barn for the interurban streetcars that traveled between Cleveland and Toledo.

"The building, erected in 1893, has been, since 1939, the center of hospitality in the most pleasant of atmospheres for people from all over the world.

"The Saddle Inn offers more than a gourmet meal and accommodations to industry and business for conferences, luncheons, dinners and social occasions. Also available are motel accommodations which are not only comfortable but plush.

"The decor of the Saddle Inn's interior has changed little, despite the fire that struck the building in September, 1957. The building, as it is today, is the result of the modernization program that followed the fire. However, the Saddle Inn retained its charm and historic flavor, and today patrons may still sit in the saddles which form the bar stools, and gaze on the antiques which commands their attentions.

"These include the saber taken from a British officer at the Battle of Bunker Hill, and a more than 200-year-old scale model of the Santa Maria, flagship of Christopher Columbus' tiny fleet.

"Notables from all over the world stop at the Saddle Inn Motel. The motel registry reads like a map of the world, with far-off places like Japan, Australia, South Africa, Republic of Panama, Pakistan, Alaska and India appearing often.

"Host and Hostess of the Saddle Inn are Mr. and Mrs. Phil Tanner – known to almost everyone as Phil and Audre. Together, they create an atmosphere of congenial friendliness that is hard to match. Their long experience in the restaurant and tavern business assures all who stop at "The Saddle" of the best possible experience in dining out.

"The Saddle Inn, which will celebrate its 25th anniversary in May, today stands as the hub of a large shopping center, which includes a variety of shops and stores."

The former Saddle Inn building today

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The Saddle Inn has been the subject of numerous posts on this blog over the years.

To learn more about the Saddle's Inn's previous life as the Beach Park station of the Lake Shore Electric, click here to visit the Lake Shore Rail Maps website.

Chronicle-Telegram Front Page – April 18, 1953

I've written a few times about how Lorain repurposed its old U. S. Coast Guard life-saving tower for civil defense uses in the 1950s, specifically by the Ground Observer Corps. The tower sat behind Lorain City Hall for many years until being removed in the early 1970s.

Well, here's a photo showing the installation of the City of Elyria's civil defense tower. It ran on the front page of the Chronicle-Telegram on April 18, 1953.

It notes, "NEARLY READY FOR SKYWATCHERS – Yesterday afternoon the Ground Observer Corps skywatch shelter was put into place on its supports and now all that is needed are a telephone and power facilities and the skywatchers, part of the civil defense program, can go to work.

"At the base of the tower, which is located at Elyria's new recreation field on West street, are left to right, Douglas Nichols, supervisor of the Post; Dan W. Kothe, Elyria Safety Service Director; G. Ralph Terry, president of City Council. Directly in front of the tower is Paul Rouse, Chief Observer, who donated the crane and crew to put the shelter in position on the supports."

You never know, we may need to revive that Ground Observer Corps program someday.

Anyway, the front page has many other items of interest: unusually cold weather for Ohio, including several inches of snow; part of the profile of Charles W. Scheide, a photographer who recorded much of life around Elyria over the decades; a report on an atomic bomb test at Yucca Flat near Las Vegas; and a report of truce talks with North Korea in an effort to end the Korean War.

Sunnyside Golf Driving Range

Back when I was learning the game of golf, I used to supplement my lessons at Bob-O-Link Golf Course in Avon with stops at various driving ranges. It was kind of fun to hit a bucket of balls on the way home from work – even when the ball sometimes ricocheted around the small stall from where I was driving.

Back then, the driving ranges seemed to be all over the place. I remember one across from the Aqua Marine bowling alley; one on the west side of Abbe Road south of State Route 254; The Range at Avon on Route 83 where the huge shopping center is now near Chester Road; Hillcrest Golf Range in Westlake on Detroit Road; and many more. The aforementioned ones are all gone; the land they were on was too valuable to be used by golfers to practice driving. (I did a post on disappearing golf ranges back here in 2019.)

Add to the list of long-gone driving ranges one that was located in Vermilion: Sunnyside Golf Driving Range. It was located right on U.S. Route 6, just east of Sunnyside Road.

Here's a sampling of ads from over the years. The earliest I could find was from 1950.

From the July 28, 1950 Lorain Journal

Here's the 1952 version of the ad (below). A 1952 aerial from the HistoricAerials.com website is right below it, showing the location of the range. It's strange to see nothing in that area (which today is home to the Vermilion Farm Market) but the driving range.

From the May 9, 1952 Lorain Journal

Here's the 1953 ad.

From the April 22, 1953 Lorain Journal

Here's an ad from the mid-1960s. By then it was Jonick's Sunnyside Golf Driving Range.

From the April 16, 1965 Journal

And here's a 1969 aerial, courtesy of the HistoricAerials.com website.

By the 1970s, it appears that advertising for the golf range was scaled back, limited to a classified ad listing.

From the May 29, 1975 Journal

I'm not sure, but perhaps it was because the driving range wasn't as an important part of the property any more. The Jonick trucking business had started there in the late 1960s, and the tavern even earlier (dating back to the early 1960s).

An ad for the Jonick tavern from the Journal of October 17, 1975

By the way, the name 'Jonick' came from the first names of Jo and Nick Morog, who owned the tavern. Their son William began the trucking business in 1968.

On Area Screens – April 1953

One of the funnier things I've discovered when looking at old Journal theater pages is that my tastes in cinema are pretty much aligned with the B movies of the 1950s: westerns and Bowery Boys comedies. You'll find both on this page, which ran in the Journal back on April 4, 1953.

Let's look at some of the features that were uh, featured on the page.

The Tivoli and the Warner Bros. Palace had the biggest ads. At the Tivoli was Seminole, with Rock Hudson, Barbara Hale and Anthony Quinn. If you're looking for a typical Indians-are-the-bad-guys flick, this isn't it; the Seminole people are presented in a sympathetic fashion, picked on by the mean U. S. fort commander who wants to wipe them out. The Palace had Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in The Stooge, (one of the few features with the word 'Stooge' in the title that doesn't star Larry, Curly Joe DeRita and Moe).

For Westerns, we had Randolph Scott and Donna Reed in Hangman's Knot at the Tower Drive-in. It's a good one (I've seen it on GRIT TV) and it also has Lee Marvin – one of the greats – in it.

The aforementioned Bowery Boys (Lorain favorites) were starring in their latest feature, No Holds Barred, at the Lorain Theatre as well as the Elvira Theatre. This time, Sach has mysteriously acquired superhuman powers that Slip hopes to exploit in the pro wrestling arena. Unfortunately, the power seems to randomly travel to different parts of his body and they don't always know where it's concentrated.

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One thing that caught my eye on the Journal page is the photo of comedian Eddie Peddie at the top left, announcing his appearance at the Showboat in Downtown Lorain. The photo caption notes that he is named with Billy Kozak.

Peddie appeared on this blog before (here). By 1956, he was teamed with musician Danny Stanton; the team of Stanton and Peddie appeared at the Auto Show at the Lorain Arena.

Lorain Drive-in's New Concession Stand Opens – April 1958

A lot of the fun of going to a drive-in movie is hitting the concession stand to get some goodies. I'm partial to Sno-Caps, in addition to a glutton-size tub of buttered popcorn (hopefully with free refills).

Sixty-five years ago, the Lorain Drive-in was announcing the Grand Opening of its brand new cafeteria-style concession stand. Above is the full-page ad which ran in the Journal back on April 11, 1958.

According to the article below, which ran in the paper on April 10, 1958, the old concession stand had been destroyed in a fire on November 26, 1957. The new one was capable of handling 1,000 people in 20 minutes – which is pretty good, if you've ever been in a line during intermission.

The ad and the article reveal the names of the key people behind the theater operation: theater manager Richard Kline; concession manager Mary "Dolly" Henry; cashier Jesse Jeffrey; chief projectionist Henry Hoffner; Fieldman Jim Jeffrey; and field manager "AP" Williams.

Besides the movies (Island in the Sun, and The Lonely Man), there were some special incentives to attend the drive-in that night: 100 free pizzas; free flowers for the first 200 ladies; free popcorn and a free gift "for the kiddies"; a $10 cash prize "for the car with the most occupants"; a free treat "for doggie"; and Tricky Harry from WEWS TV "in person for the kids."

Tricky Harry?

Regular readers of this blog know that they're talking about Harry Albacker, who enjoyed a fine career as a professional magician and called Lorain home for a time. (Harry's been featured on this blog a few times.

Anyway, the concession building that was new in 1958 is still out there on the former Lorain Drive-in property. Today, it is the office for Hold-it Self Storage. Click here to visit its website, which has a special 'Drive In Nostalgia' page. (I have a storage unit there; the staff is terrific and the price is more than reasonable.)

Finally, here's a pair of aerial views where you can see the building. The vintage view is courtesy of the Lorain Historical Society; the lower one is from Google Maps.

Country Road Cathouse Causes Concern – April 1953 – Part 3

Two days after its expose about houses of prostitution operating on Surf Avenue, the Lorain Journal took another swipe at Lorain County Sheriff Carl R. Finegan with a front page cartoon. 

The April 17, 1953 edition of the paper showed its frustration over what it perceived as inaction on the Sheriff's part, because the cartoon features a bearded rustic with a large star pinned to his floppy hat, lazily reclining under a tree. The word balloon above his head reads "All I need is a little time to gather some evidence." In the background, one of the Surf Avenue 'bawdy houses' is doing a brisk business. The accompanying article recapped the previous two days' news, as well as noting that an upcoming meeting of the Black River Township Board of Trustees would also be attended by the Sheriff.

The Journal of April 21, 1953 included an account of the well-attended meeting of the previous night. The Sheriff predictably faced an angry mob. The funniest exchange occurred when the Sheriff was explaining why he didn't want to send one of his men into the houses to gather evidence. "All of our deputies are married men. We couldn't send them in there." One of the residents then asked, "Well, can't you find some crumb in your jail who will go in there?"

On April 22, 1953 the newspaper reported that the property transaction of Meister Road in the vicinity of the Surf Avenue had been completed. 

The April 23rd Journal reported that the Lorain County grand jury had issued subpoenas for ten people in relation to the prostitution activities, including John "Rocky River" Roberts, the key figure in the investigation. Unfortunately, he was listed as "missing," having apparently fled town. The grand jury returned no indictments, and it was believed that the Surf Avenue houses had closed.

That was not the case.

It wasn't until Saturday, December 12, 1953 that Sheriff Carl Finegan and his deputies conducted a raid on a Surf Road house of prostitution. Here's the front page of the Lorain Journal of December 15, 1953 with the story.

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Today, Surf Road (originally Avenue) is a nice area, with tidy, middle-class homes. The road is in excellent shape, with the pavement better than most of the roads on the west side of Lorain. 

Amazingly, one of the former 'bawdy houses' is still there. Remember the photo from the first page of the Journal's expose?

Well, in a fitting turnabout reflecting the changes that have taken place in the neighborhood, the cinder block structure on the left has been repurposed – from a 'house of ill fame' to a house of praise.

Country Road Cathouse Causes Concern – April 1953 – Part 2

Black River Township trustees demanded action from Lorain County law enforcement officials following the Lorain Journal's reporting on the prostitution ring operating on Surf Avenue.

An article on the front page (shown above) of the April 16, 1953 Journal noted, "Lashing out at Lorain county law enforcement officials, E. A. Braun, member of the three-man board of trustees of Black River Township, today called for an "all out war upon prostitution activities on Surf Avenue.

""We're facing organized crime," said Braun, a former Lorain mayor. "The only way to fight a thing of this nature is with an organized law enforcement group and Black River Township hasn't received proper protection," he continued."

Sheriff Carl R. Finegan defended the efforts of his department. In the article, he notes, "We've been working on this matter with the FBI for several months.

"We've been checking the area two and three times each night for the past several months, and we've failed to come up with anything in the way of evidence.

"It's part of a big ring operating between Pittsburgh and Detroit, that's why the FBI is working with us," he added.

In fairness to the Sheriff, statements by the Black River Township Board of Trustees (in the continuation of the front page article, shown below) seem to indicate that they'd been aware of the problems on Surf Avenue for a while – but didn't do anything about it.

Next: The Denouement

Country Road Cathouse Causes Concern – April 1953 – Part 1

Remember the 1980s TV show Miami Vice, which focused on two vice cops in their efforts to combat drug trafficking, prostitution and criminal kingpins in that coastal metropolis?

A Lorain-based version of the show in the 1950s might aptly have been called Surf Road Vice. Because on that country road, located just west of city limits, was where all the criminal action was taking place, back in April 1953.

Below is the story from the front page of the April 15, 1953 Lorain Journal.

As noted, "A prostitution business boom on Surf Avenue near Meister Road is currently undergoing growing pains un-noticed or unmolested by county law officials.

"Area involved is located one and one-half miles west of Lorain city limits. It's about as wide open as a red light district can get.

"Business of the world's oldest profession is so good that the leading procurer of women in the area is reportedly in the act of purchasing a five-acre tract of land which borders Meister Road 300 yards southwest of his empire of pleasure."

The article explains how a family of four currently residing on the Meister Road tract were in the process of being evicted, victims of the possible expansion program by John "Rocky River" Roberts.

"A daytime view of Surf Avenue," the story continues, "reveals a typical sleepy looking country road. It's sleepy all right. The "girls" are catching 40 winks to rest up for another big night of play-for-pay.

"Biggest play periods are on Saturday and Sunday nights when the country road takes on all the hustle and bustle of Grand Central Station. A seemingly endless stream of traffic, which includes a large percentage of taxicabs, raises a steady cloud of dust on the much traveled roads in the area."

And here's the Page 2 continuation of the story.

Next: Shaming the Sheriff

Windmill Along Route 58 – April 1953

Mention the word 'windmill' to most people, and they probably think of one turning in the breeze, with little Dutch kids clonking around in wooden shoes in front of it.

A Lorainite might even think of the bladeless windmill on Kolbe Road, which serves as a residence and was sold last year.

Well, here's another form of windmill that used to be a common sight on farms. The photo appeared in the Lorain Journal back on April 3, 1953.

The caption notes, "VANISHING AMERICAN – The Indian isn't the only phase of America and the American way of life to be rated as "vanishing." The windmill is gradually joining that same parade. The stately towers which provided water pumping power and in some cases helped generate electricity are becoming a comparative rarity on present day farms.

"The one shown above is located along Route 58 between the Oberlin city limits and Route 20 on the east side of the road."

The photo from the Journal is rather sad, with the windmill looking dejected in retirement. I think the blades are on the ground in front of it.

(No, I didn't drive out there to see if it was still there, rusting in the field.)

And here's a photo of one in a little better shape (courtesy of Pinterest).

Camelback Locomotive Stops in Lorain – April 1953

Although steam locomotives were largely replaced by diesel power by the 1960s, they continue to fascinate train enthusiasts. 

Lorain was a pretty good place for steam lovers. The city had its Nickel Plate Road steam locomotive No. 384, which sat in Oakwood Park (beginning in 1960) for many years.

And if one paid attention, they could see that a few vintage steam trains passed through the city on their way to somewhere else. Back here, I wrote about how in 1968, Nickel Plate Engine 759 crossed the Black River on its way to its winter home in Conneaut.

And fifteen years before that in April 1953, a truly unique steam engine of old – a camelback – made a pit stop in Lorain for repairs. Below is the photo that appeared in the Lorain Journal back on April 28, 1953.

The caption notes, "Bound for a St. Louis museum, this train locomotive from yesteryear developed mechanical difficulties along the way and was pulled into the Nickel Plate yard here yesterday for repairs in a 12-hour layover. 

"The engine, used during the latter part of the 19th century, is owned by the Lackawanna Railroad. It is known as a "camelback" and its power is only about one-fifth as great as today's locomotives. The journey to the museum started in Buffalo."

According to a Wiki entry, "A camelback locomotive (also known as a Mother Hubbard or a center-cab locomotive) is a type of steam locomotive with the driving cab placed in the middle, astride the boiler. Camelbacks were fitted with wide fireboxes which would have severely restricted driver visibility from the normal cab location at the rear.

"The Camelback's cab astride the boiler design raised concerns for its crew. The separation of engineer and fireman limited their ability to communicate with each other. Also, the engineer was perched above the side-rods of the locomotive, vulnerable to swinging and flying metal if anything rotating below should break; in many cases, the fireman was exposed to the elements at the rear. 

"While several states attempted to ban camelback engines, they were overturned due to Federal supremacy regarding railroad safety. The ICC held hearings on banning camelbacks, but they were never actually banned because by the time the hearings were held, the camelback was an obsolete design and were no longer being produced."

So what became of the camelback that rumbled through Lorain? 

Apparently it is one of five known camelbacks still in existence. Today, Delaware, Lackawanna & Western 4-4-0 No. 952, is still at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis, Missouri.

Courtesy Locomotive.fandom.com

Click here to visit No. 952's page on www.locomotive.fandom.com and here for the National Museum of Transportation's website (where they plastered an unattractive watermark on its photo for no good reason).

Vermilion Country Club & Beaver Park Ads – April 1953

Well, the warm weather is here – early – and it's time to start thinking about summer fun. Here are a few reminders from the pages of the Journal from April 22, 1953 that Vermilion and Lorain (just barely) are part of the Lake Erie Vacationland.

Above is an ad for Vermilion Country Club, which in 1953 had an address of Stop 134 (the old Lake Shore Electric stop number) on Routes 6 & 2. "Play golf on a wonderfully laid out golf course – right in the center of Ohio's vacationland!" reads the ad copy. "Whether you're a novice or a veteran, everyone is welcome at the Country Club."

That's good news to a duffer like me.

What's nice is that Vermilion Country Club is still around today with the same name. It has a website, as well as a modern address: 12210 West Lake Road. 

A cocktail lounge too? Make mine an Old-Fashioned!

Here's an aerial view.

Note that the Dairy Stop is located conveniently across from the Country Club on U. S. Route 6.

Our other summer fun ad from the same 1953 edition of the Journal is for Lorain's iconic Beaver Park.

The ad makes a great case for Beaver Park as a veritable vacation paradise – with bathing, boating, fishing and picnicking. Add to that cottages for rent and a restaurant, and you've got everything you need for a great getaway.

And Beaver Park is still around today as well. Beaver Park Marina is on the south side of West Erie, and Beaver Park Marina North is on the lake side. Membership is required to access most of Beaver Park North's amenities but I understand the restaurant is open to the public.

Golden Wedding Whiskey Ad – April 6, 1953

Like I've mentioned before, Lorain must have been a hard-drinking town during the 50s and 60s, when ads for hard liquor ran in the Journal every day. There had to be some sales justification for it.

I've posted many of these ads on this blog over the years, including these for Old Log Cabin Whiskey, PM Blended Whiskey, Schenley, Corby's and most recently, for Old Quaker.

And here's another example – an ad for Golden Wedding Kentucky Whiskey. It ran in the Journal back on April 6, 1953.

I'd never heard of this brand, which certainly had an oddly sentimental angle to its advertising with its image of a newly married couple and the tagline, "Choice of a Lifetime." It probably wouldn't work as well these days, with about half of all marriages ending in divorce. ("Choice of a Lifetime – Maybe" just doesn't have the same appeal.)

I love the offbeat visuals of the ad. The fedora-wearing drinker's grocery cart is loaded (just as he will be later) with various packages and cans, with a bottle of Golden Wedding jammed in there. 

Gee, didn't they have State Stores back in 1953? Or could you really pick up a bottle at your local A&P?

The copywriter's attempt to tie it all together with a 'marriage' theme is amusing too. "What a break for a married man's budget!" That seems contrary to the old adage, "Two can live as cheaply as one."

Anyway, if the gentleman in the ad keeps boozin' it up, I doubt that he'll be married long enough to eventually make the switch to "Old Grand Dad."

Low Sales Spell T-H-E E-N-D for Post Alpha-Bits

The final box design

Breakfast cereal is still a staple of many Americans' diets, although according to a recent poll, only about 12% of the public eat it every day.

I'm one of those people. And while nowadays I prefer the geezer cereals (such as Spoon Size Shredded Wheat), every once in a while I enjoy a bowl of the sugary stuff. I'm a kid at heart, you know.

But I recently discovered that one of my old favorites – Post Alpha-Bits – is no longer on the menu. 

A vintage box from the 1960s

How did I find out? In Lorain County, the only store that carried it was Marc's in Avon. But during a recent stop, I noticed it was no longer on the shelves. A trip to the Post website confirmed it was on the roll call of deep-sixed cereals.

As a Tweet from Post explained, "We are sorry to share that Alpha-Bits has been discontinued. Generally our products are discontinued due to lack of demand or to make room for the introduction of new products."

So Alpha-Bits joins another Post favorite – Post Toasties – on the extinct list. 

It may sound strange, but I have nostalgic feelings for Alpha-Bits. Back in 1966, I entered a coloring contest (which I wrote about here) featuring Lovable Truly, the cereal's goofy 'Postman' mascot that talked like Gomer Pyle. My siblings and I regularly watched The Linus the Lionhearted Show, which consisted of cartoons starring all the Post Cereal characters. And on this post, I explained how a commercial for Alpha-Bits was stuck in my brain for more than fifty years! 

Besides all that, Alpha-Bits was a good 'eating' cereal. The pieces were big enough to eat dry and not get all over the carpet. Oh well. 

As a replacement, at the store I picked up a box of Post Golden Crisp (originally known as Sugar Crisp). It's another good right-from-the-box cereal.

Plus I have to do my bit to keep Sugar Bear gainfully employed.

Ohio Edison Ad – April 6, 1973

So you're in your mid-40s and your employer seems to be giving you less work to do, and with less visibility. You're no longer seen as one of the bright young stars of your company. Naturally, you begin to wonder if you're being phased out. So what do you do?

If you're our old pal Reddy Kilowatt and it's the early 1970s – a time when no one needed to be encouraged to use more electricity – you might start looking for a side hustle. That's the feeling I get when I see Reddy in the ad below, which ran in the Journal back on April 6, 1973.

Ol' Reddy seems to be working as a private security guard. Oh, he still had the same gig shilling for the electric utility that he had since 1926, but just barely. But now to make ends meet, at night he's sitting in a booth at the entrance to one of those gated housing developments, munching on potato chips while staring at a closed circuit TV monitor. Once an hour he wearily makes his rounds, wishing that yards were lit better so as to discourage miscreants.

At least if he did have to chase a perp, he had a built-in taser. 

But I think Reddy deserved better. He'd hang in there with the electrical utilities for several more decades before finally losing what little power he had left and calling it quits.

Today, he's happily retired in Barbados, working part-time for Barbados Light & Power Company Ltd.

Clarkins Grand Opening – April 4, 1973

Fifty years ago this month, Clarkins held its Grand Opening on April 4, 1973. The store was located on the former Long's Airport property.

Just as it did with the opening of the Elyria store in 1971, the Journal dedicated a full page highlighting the various departments of the Lorain store. It appeared in the paper on Tuesday, April 3 – the eve of the opening.

As the article notes, Clarkins' president was E. E. "Hoppy" Hopkins. Consequently, a rabbit named Hoppy was schedule to appear in person at the opening and hand out goodies to the kids.

Maybe someone didn't get the memo, but another animal known for hopping had appeared in the full-page ad that ran in the Journal a few days earlier on April 1. The critter looks like he'd be at home hanging out with Winnie the Pooh.

On the day of the opening according to the Journal, "Hundreds waited patiently in the rain for the doors to open at 10 a.m. and hundreds more sat out the rain in their cars in the sprawling parking lot.

"First in line were Mr. and Mrs. Paul Kish of 3226 Oakdale Ave., Lorain, hunting for grass seed, shampoo and other specials. They arrived, Kish said, about 8:45 a.m. Next in line were four women from Vermilion, "Aunt" Faye Davis of 4693 Mapleview Drive, her twin sister, Dolly, with Janice White and Linda Frueh, all neighbors from Vermilion. Aunt Faye wanted tropical fish and her companions said she couldn't take more than 100 home with her or they'd be under water.

"By 9:45 a.m., the south parking lot was filled with cars and the north lot was filling quickly in steady bumper-to-bumper traffic which persisted even as the store opened.

"By 10:15 a.m., every department in the wide-open store was filled with shoppers.

"E. E. (Hoppy) Hopkins, president of Clarkins Inc. of Akron, a division of Unishops Inc., owners of the new store, was on hand for the grand opening. The store is giving away $5,000 in prizes, including a 1973 Chevrolet Vega."

Happy Easter!

Here's wishing all of you a Joyous and Happy Easter!

Above is the Brady traditional Lakeview Easter Basket photo, circa 1960. Mom's holding me (I was only a little over a year old) while my older siblings are watching something off in the distance.

Two years later, my Dad's still behind the camera – and the gang's all here. This time it's my younger brother who's only about a year old and held by Mom. Considering that Mom was the photographer 99% of the time, Dad didn't do too badly. By the way, my siblings and I still talk about that mural on the wall; I used to stare at that thing and get lost in its little world. It was gone when Mom and went through the house in 2006 when it was for sale by the same family we sold it to.

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As is the usual custom on the blog, here's the full-page sponsored ad that ran in the Lorain Journal in honor of the holiday back on April 4, 1953. It's a short line-up of advertisers, and most (if not all) of the companies listed live on today through successor companies.

Lorain Banking Company merged with National Bank of Lorain to form Lorain National Bank (now Northwest); the Ohio Fuel Gas Company became part of Columbia Gas; the Lorain Telephone Company went through a variety of acquisitions and name changes to become CenturyLink and eventually today's Brightspeed; and Central Bank Company merged with City Bank in the early 1980s but I can't quite figure out which bank (PNC or Huntington) its remains became part of.

But it's a pretty good mirror of what happened nationally with regards to banking and utilities, with most of the locally named institutions being merged with or absorbed into faceless, generically-named entities.