1924 Lorain Tornado Centennial

Vintage postcard showing Lakeview Blvd (the curved road)
and US Route 6 at the bottom

It's hard to believe that today is the 100th anniversary of the Lorain Tornado of 1924. 

I remember first hearing about it when I was pretty young (and being afraid of tornadoes for a long time afterwards). My parents probably first made me aware of it at the time of the 1965 Palm Sunday tornadoes – which means the infamous Lorain tornado had only happened 40 years earlier. And now it's 100 years. Sigh. 

It would be pretty difficult to find anyone alive who remembers living through it. My father was almost three years old in 1924, but he had no recollection of it at all. Fortunately, he and most of his relatives all lived near Highland Park (now Central Park).

Below you can see the tattered remains of the front page of the Lorain Times-Herald of Monday, June 30, 1924. 

The Chronicle-Telegram from the same date (below) weathered the storm a little better.

On the one-year anniversary, the Lorain Journal marveled at the comeback the city had made in the past year since the tragedy.

At the five-year mark in 1929, the Lorain Journal observed on its front page that many fine buildings had replaced the tornado-damaged ones, greatly enhancing the appearance of the Downtown and surrounding area.

The twenty-fifth anniversary in 1949 was a little more muted.

As was the 50th anniversary in 1974, played out against the backdrop of a Downtown once again torn up – this time by Urban Renewal.

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The Lorain Tornado of 1924 had been a favorite topic on this blog over the past 15 years, with many "Then & Now" postcard/photo treatments, as well as front pages from other cities reporting the disaster. Click here to visit those past posts. When you scroll to the bottom, be sure to click on the 'Older Posts' link at the bottom right so that you don't miss any.

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Here's a final look back, written by Connie Davis for the Chronicle-Telegram of June 27, 2000.

Color Comics on Saturday – June 1954

Back on this post from last month, I made the observation that in 1954 there was no Sunday Journal yet (that wouldn't happen until August 1968) so consequently the paper didn't have any Sunday color comics. I noted that I remembered a comic section that came with Saturday's edition in the 1960s that had Moon Mullins and Lolly in it. In that same blog post's comments, regular contributors Rae and Wendy each said they remembered a color comic section in the Journal much earlier than the 1960s.

They were right!

As the ad above from the June 4, 1954 Lorain Journal notes, the paper's Week End Edition on Saturday included eight pages of color comic, including Dick Tracy, Smittie, Moon Mullins, Winnie Winkle, Terry and the Pirates, Little Orphan Annie, The Gumps, and Gasoline Alley. That was in addition to the paper's regular daily comics.

This ad below from the June 5, 1954 Lorain Journal promoting the Gasoline Alley comic strip by Frank King has a listing of the Monday through Friday strips. It's interesting that only Gasoline Alley and Terry and the Pirates were in both the daily and weekend comic sections.

I always liked Gasoline Alley (it helped that it ran on the comics page just a little below Li'l Abner). I liked its gentle, situational humor and likable characters. I remember that Skeezix (the adopted son of Walt Wallet) was the same age as my father, being born in 1921. For many years, the comic's gimmick was that the characters aged in real time, just like its readers.

Anyway, Gasoline Alley is still around – more than a hundred years after its debut. The beloved main characters are pretty old, but the current cartoonist happily has not made it a point to kill them off, although Walt became a widower in the early 2000s. 

Here's a Family Tree chart of the main characters. There have been some new ones added since this was created.

Here is a recent Sunday strip with Walt and Skeezix.

This strip kind of cracked me up because when my mother first went into a nursing home, she loved to watch Gunsmoke reruns. During my daily visits, we used to sit through several hours of it each day.

You can read Gasoline Alley online everyday – for free – here.

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For many years, I made annual trips to North Bay, Ontario (which is almost four hours north of Toronto). Once you hit Highway 11, there aren't a lot of gas stations. But there is a 'last chance' stretch of several service stations just north of Barrie that's called – you guessed it – "Gasoline Alley."

Read more about it here.

Peck's Vacation Cottages – Then & Now

It may seem quaint now, but for decades many families happily spent part of their summer vacation on the shore of Lake Erie at one of the small cottage resorts that dot the roadside from Vermilion to Port Clinton. These vacationers probably looked forward to relaxing and enjoying the cooling breezes off the lake, just as much as families do now that are anticipating the fun of a trip to Walt Disney World.

It was a different time. Above is an undated vintage postcard of one of these small resorts – Peck's Vacation Cottages – that captures that feeling. The back of it reads, "A complete vacation center on the shores of Lake Erie. 30 modern 1 to 5 room cottages, Heated Swimming Pool, Restaurant, Basketball, Shuffleboard, Horseshoes, Badminton, Ping Pong, Children's Playground on 4 acres of beautifully landscaped grounds. Located 5 miles west of Vermilion, Ohio on Routes 2 and U.S. 6.

(I first wrote about Peck's Cottages back here in a 4-part series.)

Here's my recent "Now" shot. Unfortunately, the pool is closed for the duration.

Today the former Peck's Vacation Cottages have been absorbed into Beulah Beach (which I also wrote about several times).

New Blue Streak Roller Coaster at Cedar Point – June 12, 1964

Sixty years ago, Blue Streak rollercoaster at Cedar Point – so-named to honor the Sandusky High School athletic teams – was brand new. Above is the Journal page from June 12, 1964 making the announcement.

As the article notes, "The new $250,000 Blue Streak roller coaster is one of hate new 1964 attractions which is helping make fun the keynote for this year's season at the Point.

"The roller coaster which was built by Cedar Point construction and maintenance crews is 72 feet high, 2,400 feet long, and travels at a maximum speed of 25 miles an hour. Each train of cars carries 24 persons on a two-minute ride.

"From the top of the Blue Streak's high hill, Cedar Point unfolds with a view to the left of the runway, the mile-long beach, the 1,000-room Hotel Breakers, the Sky Ride and the Sky Wheel.

"The updating of Cedar Point began after its purchase by Toledo real estate developer George A. Roose, and Cleveland financier Emile A. Negros.

"At that time plans were announced to convert Cedar Point into an exclusive residential area. The announcement loosed a storm of public protest. Private citizens and public officials did not want to lost [sic] Cedar Point.

"The new owners then assured the public that the resort would not close and plans were disclosed to rebuild Cedar Point into one of the finest recreation areas in the country."

Here's a vintage postcard of the beloved ride.

This April 2024 blog post explored the same 'new for 1964' theme, with an emphasis on the Mill Race.

I remember Brady family trips to Cedar Point in the 1960s in which the Blue Streak was seen as rather scary, with a few of us reluctant to ride it. The last time I rode it (about 8 years ago), I still thought it was a pretty good roller coaster.

Anyway, the page above includes ads for many restaurants, night clubs and businesses previously covered on this blog, including The Note, Manners, Colony Bar, Vian's, Lincoln Park, Maple Inn, Lorain Arena and the Sands.

Camp Iss-See-Kes Articles Through the Years

Summertime officially started last week. For many people, that brings back nostalgic memories of going to summer camp – specifically, Camp Iss-See-Kes on the Vermilion River.

Above is an ad for the camp that ran in the Lorain Journal back on June 22, 1954. Although this ad targets boys, Camp Iss-See-Kes was for boys and girls. Over the years, it hosted a variety of youth organizations in addition to its core Y. M. C. A. groups.

It's interesting to see the various mentions of Camp Iss-See-Kes in the Lorain Journal and other local newspapers over the decades.

Here are two early mentions in the paper from June and July 1925 – both for girls. The July article notes, "There will be sports a-plenty for the girls and the same councilors who have had charge during the ten day period just passed will continue for the remainder of the month. Woodcraft, hikes, swimming and a variety of "stunts" with an over-night hike and beach breakfast as the outstanding feature of the trip are on the program for the outing.

June 11, 1925

July 22, 1925

Here's a mention from the August 1, 1929 Lorain Journal. It makes reference to the camp being "on the Leimbach farm along the Vermilion River."

Here are the girls again, in this article from the front page of the August 28, 1930 Lorain Journal. What's interesting is that the continuation from page 1 reveals the meaning of the Indian phrase, "Iss-See-Kes."

The boys are heading off to camp in this article from June 30, 1931.

Here are two Journal mentions from 1932.

April 14, 1932

June 10, 1932

Some improvement in the camp are noted in this Journal article from May 15, 1935.

More improvements were planned, as noted in this Journal article from March 2, 1936.

The Girl Scouts were taking over the camp in this Journal article from August 6, 1938.

Boys from the Lorain Y. M. C. A. were taking their turn at the camp as noted in this Journal article from July 3, 1940.

Here's an ad from the June 26, 1947 Chronicle-Telegram with the well-remembered Indian head logo.

But the Journal art department apparently didn't have access to the logo for this ad for the camp from the June 21, 1948 Lorain Journal.

This Journal article from August 3, 1951 includes some nice photos.

There was a new pool at the camp as noted in this Journal photo from July 28, 1958.

This full-page article from the Journal of June 21, 1965 provides a great look at the camp at that time.

This article from the June 12, 1971 Journal reveals that all campers had to take swimming lessons.

But all good things must come to an end. This article from the Journal of August 16, 1986 announced the bad news that the camp was for sale. It notes that the camp was built in 1920.

Here is the sad classified ad from August 18, 1965.

The sale of the camp property was announced in the Journal on September 7, 1986.

Happily, the Indian head sign at the entrance to the camp on Vermilion Road survives to this day, a tribute to the many happy memories and good times associated with Camp Iss-See-Kes.

October 2023 photo

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I've devoted a few posts to Camp Iss-See-Kes over the years. This post includes some camp collectibles, including a patch and a postcard, while this one notes the damage to the camp's toboggan run that happened during the infamous July 4, 1969 storm.

Frostie Root Beer Revisited

The current logo

One of the reasons I don't remember going to the A&W Root Beer stand in Vermilion more than once or twice is because for many years, we had root beer floats at home on Saturday night. And while Mom bought a variety of root beers over the years (including Don Hilton's favorite: Hires), she bought a lot of Frostie Root Beer.

Here's an ad for Frostie Root Beer that ran in the Lorain Journal back on August 15, 1959 (the year I was born).

I always liked the little guy with the beard on the bottle. He changed a lot over the years.

Up until recently, the root beer bottle looked like this (below). It was a nice design, but with a little too much going on for my taste. And I wasn't crazy about the new rendering of the little old man. Sometimes things that are redrawn in Adobe Illustrator end up sort of flat – like root beer without its fizz.

Wisely, the owners of the brand decided to go back to one of the old designs from the 1960s for a retro look (below). I like it a lot. I also like the pure cane sugar in it. Like Hamm's Beer, it jumped into my shopping basket at Vermilion Farm Market.

How do I remember that Mom brought a lot of Frostie Root Beer? Because we sent away for these character mugs (below). We had a whole set of those things.

Anyway, I thought it was odd that one of the other pops that Mom bought regularly – Vernor's – also had a little guy with a beard. But he was supposed to be a gnome. 

As for the little old guy on the Frostie label, I'm not sure if it was just a frozen old man or an elf or – ?

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My previous post on Frostie Root Beer included some other renderings of the ad mascot over the years.