Here's a nice feature that the Journal ran back on May 30, 1963 – sixty years ago today. It's a collection of seven photographs that nicely document the wide variety of activities that were going on in the city of Lorain at that time. You might even recognize a name or a face of someone you know!
Starting from the top left (and going clockwise) we have local artist Paul Henschke (who has been mentioned on this blog before) doing repair work on Lorain's Civil War statue that used to stand in the park across from City Hall. The statue has been the subject of blog posts as well.
Next, we have a photo of the Polish Fishermen's Club of Lorain doing some renovation of their own of the launching ramp down at the Hot Waters municipal pier.
The photo at the upper right depicts a group of Troop 325 Scouts constructing a signal tower made of cut tree branches. The event took place at a Scout Exposition held at the National Guard Armory in South Lorain.
Below that photo is one of chemistry students at Admiral King High School; they're using ping pong balls, corks, rubber balls and styrofoam balls to make models that represent the atoms of molecules.
Down at the lower right we have a photo of a group of Ohio Fuel gas employees called the Dogpatchers (named for the hillbilly characters in Al Capp's Lil' Abner comic strip), who were to provide musical entertainment for the annual dinner dance of the Management Club of Lorain Works, National Tube Division, held at Aqua Marine.
At the lower left, we have the fifth grade class at Larkmoor School holding a Mexican Fiesta. The celebration included games, music, a bull fight skit, the Mexican Hat Dance and the breaking of a piñata, along with Mexican refreshments.
Lastly, we have an American Legion Auxiliary group presenting a check to the Lorain County Cystic Fibrosis organization.
The photos really capture the essence of a vibrant city.
I like the Leave It To Beaver type innocence of the early 1960s.Everyone looked happy and was so full of life and everyone had jobs.Then later on in 1963 JFK was killed,Vietnam started for real and the hippies took over America leading us to where we are now.I think I'd like to go back to that Leave It To Beaver type innocence and get away from todays drama.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to the Civil War statue?
ReplyDeleteHi Alan,
ReplyDeleteThis post tells the sad story of how it ended up in Sheffield Lake before it was finally scrapped.
https://danielebrady.blogspot.com/2012/06/george-wickens-and-civil-war-soldiers.html
The unemployment rate in 1963 was 5.6%; today it is 3.4%.
ReplyDeleteThe nation had just experienced the Cuban missile crisis. It was seriously afraid of nuclear war, and had been for years.
In 1963, 16 states still enforced de jure segregation. This represented about 30% of the U.S. population.
The US was about to embark on the Vietnam war, but major wars back then were frequent, encompassing both World War II and the Korean War within the previous 20 years - and World War I within my grandfathers' adulthood.
There was much going on beneath the placid surface - and even that surface was not terribly placid, more often than is acknowledged today.
If the Civil War statue had lived until today he would have been the sight of many a protest in todays climate.Protesters would have marched on City Hall and up and down Broadway.CNN would be here making Lorain famous for its "racial" past.People might have been killed.Then the statue would have disappeared unless City Hall tore it down.Rioters would have torched the park.I guess it was best that the statue was quietly retired and then laid to rest peacefully and with dignity.
ReplyDeleteThe unemployment rate might have very well been 5.6% back in 1963.But what jobs that were available were manufacturing jobs that you could live on.Steelmill.Ford Motor Co.Thew Shovel.Shipyard.Mascon Toy Co.Various machine shops.
ReplyDeleteNow the only types of jobs available are service type jobs.Big Lots,Walmart,Dollar Tree,Dollar General,Wendy's,lawn care services,etc.And you need to have 3 or 4 of those jobs in order to somewhat be able to make a living.
People can't and shouldn't have to do that.Not everyone can go to college and get a degree.That was just as true back in 1963 as it still is today.And even those people with degrees aren't guaranteed a job today.
The way Biden is provoking Putin,we may very well have to worry about a nuclear threat today.It's just like the Bay of Pigs and JFK all over again.
ReplyDelete1963 doesnt sound to bad after all.
ReplyDeleteQuaint time period. Admiral King chemistry students using ping pong, rubber and Styrofoam balls for molecular atoms. Today everything is electronic/digital, dependent on the Internet. Social Media. Ugh.
ReplyDelete