Carling Black Label Ads – November & December 1955

Yesterday I noted that Johnny Risko had Carling Black Label Beer on tap in his Sheffield Lake tavern in 1940.

Well, seventy years ago this month, Carling rolled out a major marketing Schlitz, er blitz for Black Label Beer. Its popular "Hey Mabel – Black Label" campaign (featuring the lovely Jeanne Goodspeed as Mabel the waitress) was pushing sales of the beer to new heights. Consequently, a series of newspaper ads appeared in the pages of the Lorain Journal during November and December 1955 as part of the campaign.

Here are a few of them. All of them play up the catchy and fun "Hey Mabel" tagline.

Nov. 17, 1955

Dec. 1, 1955

Dec. 8, 1955

The last ad notes, "In 1949, Carling was 62nd in sales among the nation's brewers. Today it is in the top ten! And the enormous and ever growing popularity of Carling Black Label Beer tells you why."

The charming Mabel campaign – which worked well on radio but even better on TV – no doubt attracted new customers. But the taste and price must have been just right for sales to explode.

Of course these days tastes have changed. I always chuckle at how the arrival of Great Lakes Christmas Ale is a big event, with lines of people waiting. To each his own, I guess.

As for me, I'll stick with Mabel and the Hamms Bear.

In my fridge right now, purchased at the Brownhelm Store

Johnny Risko on the Comeback Trail – Dec. 1937

Johnny Risko has been a favorite topic on this blog. Why? Because the beloved heavyweight boxer owned a gas station and cottage in Sheffield Lake for many years, and some of his early fights took place in Lorain.

And back in December 1937, Risko was trying to make a comeback after a long career dating back to the early 1920s.

What follows are some clippings about Risko, from his fights in the fall of 1937 to his last fight in 1940, followed by a short Army career and a wartime job in Lorain.

Nov. 13, 1937

Nov. 18, 1937

Dec. 10, 1937

Dec. 18, 1937

Feb. 1, 1938

July 26, 1939

Aug. 17, 1939

Dec. 15, 1939

Jan. 30, 1940

The fight against Tony Musto would be Risko's last.

Feb. 20, 1940

Well, we now know Carling's Black Label was on tap at Johnny Risko's Sheffield Lake Bar.

Aug. 8, 1940

Aug. 13, 1942

Sept. 1, 1942

Sept. 1, 1942

March 27, 1943

March 31, 1943

June 12, 1943

Sept. 15, 1943

Dec. 16, 1943

Jan. 19, 1944

Dec. 20, 1946

First Church in Oberlin

A 1971 View

For just about four years now, I've been commuting to Oberlin, and it's always interesting to drive through the campus area. I've passed the First Church in Oberlin many times and wondered about its history, and whether it ever had a steeple (or spire, if you want to get picky).

Thus I was pleased to see that the Lorain Journal featured a photo of it in its December 21, 1939 edition, along with a capsule history. 

The caption reads, "This red brick building, the First church at Oberlin, was once the largest church in Ohio. It is the oldest public building in use on the campus at the present time, and was built in 1842."

Two websites provide more detailed information. The Architecture of Oberlin College website notes, "First Church in Oberlin, originally First Congregational Church, was built from plans by Richard Bond, a prominent New England architect whom Charles Grandison Finney met while recruiting faculty in Boston. 

"Building the church was a massive community effort, directed by Deacon Thomas P. Turner, a Vermont-born craftsman. The construction of First Church was begun in 1842, and the building was enclosed that year. The commencement exercises were held in it in August 1843, although it was still unfinished. It was completed in August 1844, and at that time it was the largest building west of the Allegheny mountains. It was built of brick and was characterized by rare simplicity and proportion. 

"The tower, taken from an Asher Benjamin pattern book, was added in 1845. 

"The audience room furnished seating capacity for 1400 people, and upon many occasions more than 2000 people have been crowded into it to hear the famed sermons by Charles Grandison Finney, the church's pastor and professor, then president, of Oberlin College. It was used for church services, the Commencement and other public exercises of the Institute and College, and for town meetings. It was the church home for all Oberlin people from 1843 to 1860. 

"In 1860 a membership of 1545 seemed to make necessary a division, resulting in the organization of a second church, called the Second Congregational Church. In 1908, and again in 1927, extensive repairs, alterations, and replacements were made. First Church was listed as an Oberlin City Landmark in 1975, and on the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Oberlin College thematic nomination in 1978.

The National Fund for Sacred Places website provides a well-written history as well. "Oberlin, Ohio, was founded in 1833 as a utopian, racially integrated community in which the church, college, and town were jointly governed with a commitment to abolition, women’s rights, and universal suffrage," it notes. "The town attracted notable preacher Charles Grandison Finney, who called for the construction of a meetinghouse for the growing community in 1841. Finney commissioned architect Richard Fifield Bond, whom he met in Boston while recruiting faculty for Oberlin College, to design the Greek Revival church. 

"At the time of its completion in 1844, the meetinghouse was the largest building west of the Alleghenies. Defining events in the history of abolition occurred at First Church, including debates with Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison. A century later, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke at the church following the success of the Montgomery bus boycott. 

"First Church in Oberlin continues to be a major cultural center for its community. The church shares space with more than 75 groups, including interfaith coalitions, low-income family support, health initiatives, continuing education classes, community theater, and music groups. The church led the formation of the Coalition for Oberlin History, which pulled together members of Black history groups, leaders of the local African American community, and other community leaders to explore opportunities to further cultivate the city’s understanding of its own history and illuminate difficult narratives."

First Church in Oberlin has been featured on a few postcards over the years.

Postmarked 1953

Postmarked 1955

Here's an October 2025 view, courtesy of Google Maps.

Harriet Wibur's Passing and the Swift Mansion

Anyone who's lived in Lorain County for a while has heard all the legends and stories about Gore Orphanage. It's the legend that never dies.

And it all started with the mansion (above) built by Joseph Swift in the early 1840s along the Vermilion River.

As explained in an article by Staff Writer Jeff Hamill that appeared in the Journal on August 8, 1968, "The common belief that the area is haunted by the spirits of dead children stems from a separate story, that of the Swift Hollow House. Joseph Swift, a former Connecticut soldier during the War of 1812, came to ’New Connecticut,’ a parcel of land set aside in Ohio for war veterans. He was given 150 acres by the federal government on the Vermilion River and added to it. 

"His farm prospered and by 1840 he was wealthy enough to build a house. He engaged Oziah Long, an Elyria judge, to build a “Greek Revival” style house. The home when completed had columns, French windows, fourteen rooms and six fireplaces. 

"In 1865, Rosedale, as it was called, was sold. The Nicklaus Wilbur family bought the house and lived there a number of years. Being spiritualists, these people often claimed to have been able to raise the spirits of some children who had been buried along the river. This led to the belief that the home was haunted. 

"Eventually, the home was vacated and finally in 1923, it burned to the ground. Because the Swift House was located at the bottom of the hill that the orphanage that the orphanage was later to be built on, the stories of the two places mixed, resulting in the rumors of ghosts and children screaming."

Why am I writing about this now? Because it was 95 years ago this month that the funeral for Harriet Wilbur was held on on November 19, 1930. The notices below appeared in the Lorain Journal on the 19th and the 20th, respectively.

Harriet Wilbur had married into the Wilbur family (spelled 'Wilber' in her obituary) and lived in the former Swift mansion during her early married years. The sad occasion of her passing resulted in the old stories told again about the Wilburs (who were Spiritualists) and Harriet's four children who died during a diptheria epidemic. (I wrote about the Wilburs in Part 4 of my series about Gore Orphanage.)

On Nov. 25, 1930 the article below appeared in the Lorain Journal about Harriet Wilbur's will. The loss of her four children no doubt affected her deeply and led her to generously provide for the poor and crippled children of Vermilion and the surrounding area.

The Gore Orphanage legend has been a popular topic of this blog, with twelve posts dedicated to it.

Reddy for Thanksgiving

Here's wishing all of my readers and great contributors a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm genuinely thankful that so many of you make this blog a part of your day and leave great comments as well.

Thanksgiving is a good time to visit with friends, and that includes our old pal Reddy Kilowatt. As you can see above, he's checking on his Thanksgiving turkey to see if it's, uh, ready. I'm assuming he's not cooking with gas.

Although Reddy is using a conventional oven, for many years he encouraged Ohio Public Service customers to consider purchasing an electric roaster. Here's Reddy in his younger days promoting Westinghouse Electric Roasters with a free turkey with purchase in an ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on November 1, 1939.

I like that Reddy remembered to say Grace. If it was a long one, at least the heat radiating from his light bulb schnozzola kept his food warm.

A year later, Reddy was still plugging electric roasters in a November 5, 1940 Journal ad. Westinghouse was apparently in the Dog House, because this time the brand was Proctor.

Reddy's serving up a drumstick worthy of King Henry VIII in the ad.

A few weeks later, Reddy grabbed his megaphone to make sure Journal readers got the message to include "smart, modern electrical gifts" on their Christmas shopping list in this ad from November 22, 1940.

And by 1945, Reddy was riding the range and looking much like he does now in this ad.

Thanksgiving in Lorain – 1975

Looks like the hunter became the hunted
in this illustration from a Lawson's ad

For my last installment looking back at Thanksgivings of yesteryear, let's drop in on 1975. 

The big story on the front page of the Thanksgiving edition of the Journal on Nov 27, 1975 was the $2.3 billion bailout proposal by President Gerald Ford to rescue financially ailing New York City. 

Elsewhere on the front page was the traditional kickoff of the Clothe-A-Child campaign, which replaced the Mary Lee Tucker Christmas Benefit Show in 1969. (I've written almost two dozen posts about the Mary Lee Tucker program, including a 5-part series about its history starting here.)

The Page of Opinion included another well-written and inspiring editorial about Thanksgiving.

For eating out on the big day, there were more choices than in previous years, including the Elyria Holiday Inn, the Oberlin Inn, the Showboat in Huron and – a favorite of the Brady Bunch – the Brown Derby on Kolbe Road. For several years around that time it was our special place to celebrate a big event.

However, if you were thinking of a nice Thanksgiving Roast Beef Sandwich, you were out of luck, pardner.

If you wanted some entertainment beyond Thanksgiving TV specials, you could head out to The Joker at Midway Mall and see the Michael Stanley Band in concert.

For those that prepared their own Thanksgiving meal, the grocery and convenience stores ran the usual ads about a week before. Looking at the A&P ad, I had forgotten about the goofy Price and Price campaign.

Good to see Lawson's was offering its iconic Dutch Loaf for those that planned a more eclectic Thanksgiving menu.

And for those who wished to enjoy a cocktail, the late great Cotton Club offered a coupon towards any of its products, including Less Sweet Ginger Ale (with Big Ginger on the label) and 50/50 – two favorites in our house.

Lastly, the days of the Thanksgiving-themed ads seemed to have ended in the mid-70s. I had a hard time finding any at all around the holiday, until I found an old reliable: First Federal Savings of Lorain.