From Oberlin Frozen Food Center to Oberlin Community Center – July 1964

We'll finish up the week here on the blog back in Lorain County, in the city that I work: Oberlin. 

Above is an article about the donation of the former Oberlin Frozen Food Center building at 80 S. Main Street by the Nord family, for use as the Oberlin Community Center. The article ran in the Journal on July 9, 1964.

The building was located immediately south of the Oberlin Post Office. You can see a little bit of it in this vintage postcard.

The building was pretty close to being ready at the time of the article below, which appeared in the Journal on October 14, 1964.

The completed building enjoyed decades of use, housing non-profit agencies until 1996. 

Courtesy Oberlin Heritage Center

After the Oberlin Community Center was in a new home, its old building at 80 S. Main Street was demolished in January 1997. Here's the "now" shot showing the property today, which is owned by the Oberlin Heritage Center and is now a green space.

Of Humpty Dumpty and Potato Chips

My post yesterday about Story Book Forest in Ligonier, Pennsylvania included a postcard (above) of the classic nursery rhyme character Humpty Dumpty.

A few of my younger co-workers, upon seeing this image, remarked that he looked fairly creepy.

I had to agree with their observation about the ill-fated hen's fruit. Perhaps it's his carefree smile, and his apparent obliviousness to his precarious position. We know that after the inevitable fatal fall, poor Humpty ends up looking like one of the ingredients in a Denny's Grand Slam Breakfast. Thus he evokes uneasy (or over easy) thoughts.

Humpty's double over in Don Hilton's Fairyland Forest in Conneaut Lake, Pennsylvania has the same insipid grin on the postcard below. (I love that the kids are all wearing the same pointed chapeau and standing in front of him as if in a hypnotic trance. "We will obey you, Grade A Farm Fresh Master.")

Anyway, all this talk about Humpty Dumpty reminded me of an article that I wrote for a house organ more than twenty years ago about famous Canadian advertising brands, which included Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips. I first encountered the popular salty snack when I started making semi-regular visits to Canada in the late 1980s. 

The chips have an interesting history. In my article, I wrote, "Humpty Dumpty is the mascot for a popular brand of Canadian potato chips. He first appeared in 1948 when Dorothy and Phil Cole founded Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips in Maine."

Here's an early mascot logo, and one of the cans in which they were distributed.

"When the couple divorced in the 1950s, however, the company was cracked in two, forming two separate companies, one Canadian and one American. 

"The Canadian company was purchased by Ohio-based Borden Inc. and by the 1980s, Humpty Dumpty was the No. 2 potato chip in Ontario. The company was returned to Canadian ownership in 1994 when Small Fry Snack Foods purchased it from Borden. 

"The American company in Maine, however, scrambled to stay in business. Although its chips were a regional favorite, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2000. Fortunately, Small Fry Snack Foods purchased the company’s assets, putting Humpty Dumpty back together again! 

"The Humpty Dumpty mascot has received several makeovers. While the American version remained largely the same through the years, the Canadian version was redesigned in 1999, after being absent from the packages for five years. The redesigned mascot was hatless, with a sleepy look and wry smile.

"The nursery rhyme icon was updated again in 2003, when he adopted his current “hats off” party-animal appearance. 

In 2006, the company and brand was purchased by Old Dutch Foods, which rebranded the product as Old Dutch potato chips. 

As a result, in Canada the Humpty Dumpty brand name is used for other non-chip snacks, such as a popular Party Mix.

However, you can still buy Humpty Dumpty Potato Chips in Maine as well as a few other New England states where they are still hugely popular. You can even order them online.

And if all this egg-cites you, here's the link to the Humpty Dumpty products page on the Old Dutch website.

Story Book Forest in Ligonier, Pennsylvania

A ticket stub that my parents saved

For many families, a trip to Disneyland or Walt Disney World provides an opportunity for both kids and adults to create cherished memories. Besides enjoying all of the rides and attractions, children can connect with their favorite fairy tale characters (such as Snow White and Cinderella), while their parents share their fun and act like kids again themselves. 

But what if a family wants the same kind of experience, but much simpler – and without all of the excess thrills and trappings (as well as cost of admission) of a huge amusement park? 

The answer: they can consider a visit to Story Book Forest in Ligonier, Pennsylvania. It's been there since the mid-1950s and is still there today, part of Idlewild Park.

This article in the Pittsburgh Press from August 5, 1956 tells the story of how the fairy tale park was the brainchild of Arthur "Happy the Clown" Jennings. The clown performer and magician had the idea that some swampland located next door to Idlewild Park (where he worked) could somehow be transformed into a park where nursery stories could come to life.

At the time that the article was written, the park had only been open for a few weeks. Apparently it had gotten some great publicity, because my parents took my sister (who was only two at that time) there in September 1956.

Here are a few photos from the Brady photo album from that visit to Story Book Forest (which also include a side trip to Fort Ligonier). By George, my parents sure had a lot of trouble with their camera!

The Bradys paid a return visit to Story Book Forest in the summer of 1966, so that my brothers and I could see it too. (Your humble blogger is at the far left.)

And here's a nice selection of vintage postcards of Story Book Forest, including its iconic, walk-through story book entrance.

Of particular interest to me was the Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe. According to my copy of Roadside America (1986), the woman who portrayed her did it for 20 years – before retiring and turning over the job over to her own daughter! Note that the woman on the postcards below is the same woman in the photo with my mother and sister. She must have really enjoyed her job making kids happy.

And here's a vintage brochure.

Click here to visit the Story Book Forest website.