The Reidy Scanlan Company has been a favorite topic on this blog, since so many of us shopped there over the years. Blog posts covered its timeline from when its building was under construction to its eventual (and inevitable) demolition.
Nevertheless, the firm was a mainstay of Lorain's central business district and a regular advertiser in the Lorain Journal. Thus it wasn't too hard to come up with some St. Patrick's Day-themed ads.
First up is one from March 1954. It's a fun ad with a nice gimmick, with the firm offering 20% off any item that has 'a bit of green' in it.
By the way, according to online dictionaries, "Begora!" is "an expression of surprise or emphasis," and a euphemism for "By God!"
It's kind of interesting that it really wasn't until the 1950s that ads with lots of 'clip art' (like the ad above) began to appear in the Journal. Up until then, there was a limited selection of tiny graphics that printers could use in a small ad or business card.
Here's the 1964 version. Note that it has a promotional tie-in with the 1964 World's Fair, which would open a little more than a month later.
Begora, that leprechaun lad in the ad still bears a wee resemblance to an ape (as theorized in this article, as well as this one). But that's okay, one of my favorite movie series is the original Planet of the Apes.
Lastly, here's Reidy-Scanlan's 1967 ad. Pretty much the whole ad was constructed using clip art – no furniture this time.
Back when I was in Gradual Skool, on St. Patrick's Day morning, I was in a dorm bathroom, shaving. Beside me was my good friend, an international student, Albert, from Ethiopia. By way of description, his skin was so dark, it was purple.
ReplyDeleteHe was completely unfamiliar with St. Patrick's Day and asked me why everyone was so excited by it. I explained it to him and why it was such a big deal to so many Americans.
"Today, Albert," I said, "everybody's Irish, including you."
He looked at me, then looked at himself in the mirror and said, "Funny, I don't look Irish."
My maternal grandmother was Irish, but I don't remember her or anyone else in the family ever making a fuss about St. Patrick's Day - wearing green socks, eating corned beef, decorating the place with shamrocks. The closest I ever got to celebrating was annually looking out my office window to see the St. Patrick's Day parade go by on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland. And then wishing my co-workers good luck as they sailed off to Moriarty's Bar after work.
ReplyDeleteNot that I have anything against the day or Ireland - lovely place!