Lorain Journal Front Page – July 2, 1954

Seventy years ago this week, Lorain was getting ready to celebrate Independence Day. Above is the front page of the July 2, 1954 edition, giving us a glimpse of what was going on at that time.

Holidays usually mean lots of people on the road, and unfortunately that often means many traffic fatalities during the July 4th holiday. The Grim Reaper is featured in an effectively macabre cartoon, eagerly awaiting the tragic consequences of careless and reckless drivers. The shovel and basket are a nice touch.

As is often the case around early July, the lake flies made the news. The story entitled, "Lorain Visited by Hordes Of Unwelcome Cracklers" notes, "This year's first big invasion of lake flies last night brought with it the usual reaction – upturned noses.

"The only consolation is that the flies, known by many names, are of the ephemeroptera family. This means they usually only live 24 hours, but a few last three or four days.

"Many people call them Canadian soldiers. Others call them American soldiers, Yankee soldiers, May, June, fish or shad flies. But no matter what they are called, the smell and the mess they make of city streets and homes to which they cling are still the same."

I remember Mom telling me that Lorain used to use front-end loaders to clean up the dead lake flies that had piled up in the streets. Mom also said that they were all over the sidewalks in Downtown Lorain and that people actually slipped on them. What's funny is that I don't think I ever experienced the full impact of the lake flies until I lived in Sheffield Lake.

In Vermilion, McGarvey's Restaurant was sponsoring the annual McGarvey Memorial Races, with thirty-five boats from Lorain, Cleveland, Chicago, Milwaukee, and Toledo competing. Street dancing in Vermilion was also going to be featured on Friday and Saturday nights

One small news item is pretty interesting, noting that "After nearly five years on the bottom of Lake Erie, the John S. McKerchy [sic] will float today. A crew from the L. A. Wells Construction Co. is expected to bring the sunken vessel to the surface today.

"Work at raising the sand sucker, which sunk off Lorain October 16, 1950, killing the Skipper, Horace Johnson, has been going on several weeks."

If you'd like to know more about the John M. McKerchey, click here to read about it on the Great Lakes BGSU website. You can also read the Coast Guard's detailed report about the ship and its sinking.

Seymour's Ad – July 2, 1954

Seventy years ago, Lorain Journal readers were getting ready for some Fourth of July fun on the shore of Lake Erie. And what's a trip to the beach without some music?

This ad for Seymour's Jewelers, which ran in the paper on July 2, 1954, recommended that readers bring some music along 'over the fourth' with a Motorola Console Tone portable radio.

"Here is a portable with 6 tube performance and power," the ad notes. "Largest, lightest speaker ever used in a set this size, gives console tone. Long life batteries. Handsome and lightweight in its streamlined bakelite case of green, grey or maroon."

The radio sold for a mere $49.95 (that's $583.19 in today's inflated greenbacks). Or, the purchaser could buy it with no money down for $1.25 a week (or $14.59 today).

"Sorry, kids – we couldn't afford to buy food for dinner tonight because we bought that radio! But we'll have fun at the cookout barbecue picnic beach tomorrow, listening to the radio while we scavenge for food in trash cans at Lakeview."

I like the illustration of the glove-wearing woman strutting along, swinging her expensive radio like a sack of onions.

The ad also includes another portable device: the new Motorola Porta-Clock Radio. Priced slightly less at $44.95, it boasted an "accurate, rubber-mounted clock built right into your powerful portable."

Seymour's even threw in a free, beautiful 3' x 5' beach mat with the purchase of either radio.

Regular readers of this blog know that I mainly post ads like this so I can try to find examples of the pictured items that have somehow avoided the trash can over the years. But seventy years ago is a long time. After a fruitless search on eBay using various descriptions, I finally noticed the model number 63L in the ad - and suddenly a whole lot of them appeared.

I even managed to find a Porta-Clock just in time. It's actually kind of cool looking.

Special thanks to the Radiola Guy and the Radio Museum websites.

Restaurant Ads – July 1, 1966

Well, it's the first day of July. Hard to believe, isn't it?

Fifty-eight years ago today, this was the restaurant and night club page of the Journal on July 1, 1966. Of special note is the ad for the Grand Opening of Dog 'N Suds on North Ridge Road. 

As I've noted on several blog posts, the July 1, 1966 Grand Opening was actually the second coming of the drive-in. It originally opened without fanfare in 1963 but closed (and disappeared from the city directory) by 1965. Then it reopened (under new ownership) in July 1966.

That's why there always seems to be so much doggone confusion as to how long it's been open.

Dog 'N Suds maintains a very active internet presence on Facebook. It's the only Dog 'N Suds in Ohio, and one of 20 in the whole USA, so they are working harder than ever to continue their success.

Elsewhere on the page are many ads for restaurants, drive-ins, night clubs and other entertainment venues that have been featured on this blog over the years, including Sandy's, Chicken Delight, Dewey Road Inn, Heilman's Ranch House, Hanna House, Perkins Pancake House, Emerald Valley Nite Club, Mister S, and Cedar Point.

That Perkins Pancake House up on North Ridge Rd. near Route 57 was a regular Brady destination. They had a promotion for a while that awarded a free dinner to kids on their birthday. I don't remember how often we utilized that particular special, but I do know I ate a lot of pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream back then. 

I really enjoy restaurant & nightclub pages from old Journals, because they provide a pretty good snapshot of what people liked to eat and how they liked to be entertained at that time. We also see some general indicators of a changing society, such as how most nightclubs provided music for dancing up until the early 1970s. After that, the older generation that enjoyed dancing (like my parents) were in their 50s by then and stayed home more, and the kids' taste in rock music dominated.