Hunting for More Hunting Ads – October 1953

From the October 7, 1953 Lorain Journal.

I thought I'd close out the week here on the blog by taking a shot at posting some more hunting ads. As one commenter observed on an earlier post, hunting was a big part of the lifestyle back then in areas such as Lorain County. It's reflected in these ads, which all ran in the Lorain Journal back in October 1953.

Above is an ad for the Lorain Surplus Center, with locations at 515 Broadway and 2836 Pearl Avenue in Lorain. (You might remember the excellent 2018 post by blog contributor Rick Kurish about the military surplus stores.)

In the Lorain Surplus Center ad, there's everything you need for hunting: rifles, shotguns, knives, boots, mitts, gloves, ammunition, hunting caps, hunting bows and duck decoys.

The items that caught my interest were the Lohman Duck, Crow & Squirrel Calls. I'd heard of duck calls (from watching Daffy Duck cartoons) but the crow and squirrel calls were new to me. Lohman still makes squirrel calls; this one 'reproduces the squeals of young squirrels in distress." I wonder what the intention was of the squirrels being bamboozled by the call. Were they going to offer aid and comfort to another squirrel? Or rob him of any nuts he might have been carrying before his misfortune?

As for squirrel calls, it reminded me of something from my college days. Squirrels were all over the Ohio State campus, and my roommates and I used to make clicking noises to get their attention. Many times they would come a-runnin' as if to say, "Hey, that kid is speaking my language!" Others would approach slowly, trying to figure out what was going on. But the funniest incident I remember was when my roommate Hoob was doing the tongue clicking thing, and one squirrel came closer... and closer... and closer... and then LUNGED AT HIS LEG! I still remember Hoob trying to get that thing off him!

But back to the ads.

Here's one for Stroh's Bohemian Beer featuring a comely huntress and her retriever. It ran on October 13, 1953. I like the illustration in the background. 

The ad would be very appropriate today (according to the articles in my issues of American Hunter), as women make up a large portion of those buying guns for the very first time, as well as increasingly participating in the sport of hunting.

The bottle of Stroh's looks unfamiliar to me as I've never been a Stroh's drinker. Here's a closer look at the bottle from that era. It's on eBay right now.

Lastly, here's an ad for Sears specifically promoting the J. C. Higgins Model 30 .22 Automatic Rifle. It ran in the paper on October 7, 1953.

 

Looks like the squirrel in the ad is not long for this world. 

And speaking of things that aren't around any more, that would include Sears stores. While at one time there was one in Downtown Lorain, today there are only ten in the entire mainland USA. Unbelievable!

As for the J. C. Higgins Model 30 .22 Automatic Rifle shown in the ad, they are pretty popular with collectors. Here's a nice color photo of one.

Courtesy MaynardsFineArt.com