Friday, March 29, 2024

Battle of the Good Friday Fish Sandwiches – March 30, 1972

As noted on Christianity.com, "Good Friday, the Friday before Easter, is the Christian day to commemorate the crucifixion of Jesus and His death at Calvary.

"On Good Friday, we remember the day Jesus willingly suffered and died by crucifixion as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins."

As it is a Friday (Good or otherwise), that means no meat for Catholics. And back on Good Friday in March 1972, that provided an opportunity for two of the lesser fast food giants in Lorain to promote their own fish sandwich special and hopefully reel in some customers.

First up is my sentimental favorite: Sandy's. Sandy's offered its fish sandwich for a thrifty 25 cents each or 4 for a dollar. Here's the Journal ad that ran on March 30, 1972.

In case Sandy's didn't hook enough customers with its fish sandwich special, the restaurant chain reminded kids to stop in on Saturday for a free Easter egg give away.

Right next to the Sandy's ad in the same edition of the Journal was this ad for Burger Chef.

Burger Chef (seen in one episode of Mad Men) aimed a little higher creatively – naming its sandwich "Skipper's Treat™" and utilizing some maritime graphics. Unfortunately, its sandwiches were 3 for a dollar – possibly scuttling its hopes of torpedoing Sandy's promotion.

Oddly enough, McDonald's apparently stayed out of the Good Friday finny fray, perhaps hoping the two wannabes would sink each other.
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Although I'm not Catholic, I succumbed to all of the fish fry signs around town and carried out a tasty fish sandwich dinner from Chris' Restaurant on West Erie Ave. last week. Chris' was my Mom's favorite restaurant. I've noted before (on this post) how she often referred to it as Chris Cafe (which was the name of a restaurant in South Lorain). The name 'Chris Cafe' just stuck in her head and was re-assigned to the restaurant on West Erie.

4 comments:

  1. Those fish fry places have to be raking in the cash.A few weeks ago I went to the Slovak Club on Broadway with some family and friends.$24.00 for a perch dinner.That is a lot of cash for some fish.But they were packed out the door out onto the street.So evidently times aren't as bad as people say they are.

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  2. I had Catholic friends and so was familiar with the "no meat on Friday" thing, which as we all grew older, became sort of a dirty joke.

    I recall, that through Lent, our local skools served various iteration of fish and fish patties on Fridays. We didn't get it any other time of year, so it was something of a treat. Except the tuna salad in hotdog buns toasted heated in the oven with melted "cheese" on top. I didn't like those all that much.

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  3. No fish for me - been allergic to it my entire life. Being Catholic, I ate a lot of grilled cheese on Fridays.

    Have a great holiday, everyone!

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