Election Day – November 4, 1924

Well, it's Election Day 2024. I don't know who's going to win, but I will be mighty glad to turn on the TV tonight and not see political ads.

One hundred years ago was a Presidential Election as well. Above is the front page of the Lorain Journal of November 4, 1924. I recognized Calvin Coolidge, but never heard of the rest of them. It turns out that the running mate of each presidential candidate – Calvin Coolidge (Republican), John W. Davis (Democrat) and Robert M. Follette (Progressive) – was positioned next to him on the page layout.

This Wiki page described the election as follows. "The 1924 United States presidential election was the 35th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 4, 1924. In a three-way contest, incumbent Republican President Calvin Coolidge won election to a full term. Coolidge was the second vice president to ascend to the presidency and then win a full term.

"Coolidge had been vice president under Warren G. Harding and became president in 1923 upon Harding's unexpected death. Coolidge was given credit for a booming economy at home and no visible crises abroad, and he faced little opposition at the 1924 Republican National Convention. The Democratic Party nominated former Congressman and ambassador to the United Kingdom John W. Davis of West Virginia. Davis, a compromise candidate, triumphed on the 103rd ballot of the 1924 Democratic National Convention after a deadlock between supporters of William Gibbs McAdoo and Al Smith. Dissatisfied by the conservatism of both major party candidates, the newly formed Progressive Party nominated Senator Robert La Follette of Wisconsin."

"Coolidge won a landslide victory, taking majorities in both the popular vote and the Electoral College and winning almost every state outside of the Solid South (while still making headway by winning Kentucky). La Follette won 16.6% of the popular vote, a strong showing for a third-party candidate, while Davis won the lowest share of the popular vote of any Democratic nominee in history. This was one of only three elections with more than two major candidates where any candidate received a majority of popular votes cast, the others being 1832 and 1980. This is the most recent election to date in which a third-party candidate won a non-southern state. This was also the US election with the lowest per capita voter turnout since records were kept. 

The Journal did something interesting to provide election results. The newspaper sponsored an Election Party on Seventh Street between Broadway and Reid Avenue. "A special corps of reporters will compile returns at election headquarters in Lorain and Elyria," it noted. "Forty messengers will cover the various precincts and as soon as the vote has been counted in each precinct the results will be phoned to the Journal office. Both the United Press and the United News bureaus in every state capitol and big city in the United States will start sending returns over telegraph wires into the Journal office starting at 6 p. m. Tuesday. All returns will be flashed by a moving picture machine onto a screen across the street from the Journal office."

And if that wasn't enough, there was even entertainment planned. "Thruout the evening the Italian Boys band will entertain the crowd at The Journal Election Party."

And here is the front page of the Journal from the next day.

Remember Streetcars? – November 1963 Article

Do you remember the streetcars and the interurbans?

Probably not. My father, who was born in 1921, did. But my mother, who was born in 1927, did not. She lived close enough to Downtown Lorain to walk there. By the time she was old enough to use public transportation on her own in the 1940s, the streetcars were gone and buses were the norm. Plus she didn't get out of town much as a child either, so she never had an opportunity to take the Lake Shore Electric anywhere. So streetcars and the interurbans were just not part of her memory.

Nevertheless, that's the question being asked in the above article that ran in the Journal on November 15, 1963. It's a well-written article by Ralph Neumeyer with a lot of interesting local touches about Lorain and Avon Lake. I'll leave it to our resident experts who read this blog to determine its accuracy.

By the time of the article, it had been 25 years since the Lake Shore Electric had only ceased operations in 1938, so a look back was probably in order. Like this similar article written two years later by Neumeyer, a book is referenced that seemed to have triggered the proceedings.

Anyways, time marches on, and there are fewer and fewer people who remember riding the streetcars and the interurbans. That's why it's important for websites like Lake Shore Rail Maps to educate the public about them, and make sure their place in transportation history isn't forgotten.

Snowstorm! – Nov. 1, 1954

It sure has been the typical crazy Northeast Ohio weather lately.

Four or five days ago, I was sleeping with my Reddy Kilowatt-approved electric blanket on high. But the last two days, I considered turning on my air conditioner in my condo. We did at work!

Seventy years ago today, however, Lorain and its neighboring cities were dealing with the aftermath of a snowstorm. Above is the front page of the Lorain Journal from Monday, November 1, 1954.

"An estimated 7,000 homes in Avon Lake, Bay Village and Cleveland today were still without heat, light or refrigeration, Bay Village and Avon Lake schools were closed, and property damage was estimated at $250,000  to $500,000 as the result of a freak weekend storm which dumped snow and ice from Lorain to Painesville, "noted the article.

"Two thousand homes in Lorain, Sheffield and Sheffield Lake had electricity restored today after being without power several hours Sunday.

"Telephone service knocked out by the snow was restored today to approximately 500 customers in Lorain, Sheffield, Sheffield Lake, Avon and Avon Lake.

"In Lorain the storm dumped nearly a foot of heavy wet snow on the East Side, and an estimated four inches on the west side.

"The snow ended just east of Lorain at about Meister Road and extended south as far as South Amherst.

"Ohio Edison Co. officials in Lorain said damage to their lines was all in Lorain's East Side, Sheffield and Sheffield Lake."

I had just mentioned to a co-worker earlier today that sometimes we have already had snow by Halloween. And today it was still warm enough that you could get by without a jacket.

One ominous note, however – I saw my first snowbird (junco) outside at my feeding station tonight!