Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing all of you a safe and Merry Christmas! 

Thanks for stopping by here regularly to see what's going on, and for leaving all of the great comments that make it all more interesting and fun. 

I'll be taking my usual holiday break. It's a nice breather for me from the pressure to create content five days a week. The break also frees me up to spend a little time working on some more elaborate posts that have been 'post'-poned for a long time.

Anyway, thanks again and I'll be back in time for the usual New Year's Eve hi-jinks.

I still can't believe it's going to be 2026. When I did get old? 

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I'd like to send a special Merry Christmas greetings to my three siblings. 

Since I currently have custody of the Brady family photo albums, I thought it would be fun to post a picture from the first Christmas that each of us experienced.

Here's my sister at the time of her first Christmas in 1955. (In 1954 she was only a few months old when the holidays hit.)

Three years later, my older brother Ken (First Baby in Lorain for 1958) was experiencing Christmas 1958. My sister is thinking about something.

A year later I made the scene in time for Christmas 1959. Hey, where's my yellow sweatshirt?

And two years after that, my younger brother made his appearance in time for Christmas 1961. I'll bet he's wondering what that thing is he's holding – a wheel with a suction cup on it? Or a horn? Meanwhile, I was leaning on a box containing a Tonka Toys Fisherman truck (appropriate, since Dad and Grandpa Bumke were both fishermen). My sister just unwrapped some Flintstones Giant Checkers.

Happy days. Wish I could do them all over again someday.

Christmas Eve 1955

It's Christmas Eve. Hard to believe it's here already!

Seventy years ago on Christmas Eve 1955, this was the front page of the Lorain Journal.

Terrible flooding of the Feather River forced the evacuation of 10,000 residents near Marysville, California as the headline notes. Elsewhere on the front page was a report of hurricane-like winds hitting eastern Colorado cities; a woman swipes a $138 mink dyed marmot cape from Ted Jacob's; Elyria's bus line was experiencing money troubles; and an Editorial describing the holiday as a Christmas To Remember, with local employment at an all-time high.

Here are a few more pages from that Christmas Eve edition. There was no paper the next day so this edition was crammed with holiday greetings from advertisers, including some full-pagers. We also get a nice Editorial column with a sprinkling of poems, carols and eloquent sentiments.

The Christmas Eve edition also had two interesting photo features – one about the last ship of the season to arrive to be "put to bed" at the Lorain yards of the American Ship Building Co. and one about the record volume of mail handled by the Lorain Post Office.

This last group of pages includes a movie & entertainment page; a page of classifieds; the comics page; and finally, the television and radio grids.

Note the small ad for the Grove movie theater showing three of my favorites: She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (with John Wayne); Jail Busters (with the Bowery Boys); and The Man From Laramie (with James Stewart).

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Just think; over in Brownhelm Township tonight, Santa Claus is visiting homes, just as he has since 1932. It's been a favorite topic on this blog, with a variety of posts dedicated to it including the news of the very first Community Christmas in 1932.

Here's the 1955 mention of it in the Journal from November 29, 1955.

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For more holiday fun, visit this post of mine from 2010 in which I reminisce about believing in Santa Claus.

And don't forget to drop by the two blogs of my regular commenter Buster. His Swinging Singles blog (which focuses on 45s and 78s) has an interesting post about the 1944 Christmas Seal Radio Spots; and his Big 10-Inch Record has several great holiday posts. Buster includes links so you can download the music and enjoy it on your own device.

Don't miss his past post on A Dragnet Christmas. It's terrific (and downloadable) and includes the 1950s Christmas TV episode, the singles, the parodies, newspaper clippings and photos. Thanks, Buster!

Reddy for Christmas 1955

Christmas is a time for visiting old friends, and on this blog that includes Reddy Kilowatt.

Reddy kept busy back in December 1955, appearing in Ohio Edison ads almost every day, making sure we had lots of gift ideas that were sure to light up the faces of our spouses. Gift suggestions included a Westinghouse Laundromat, a Westinghouse Refrigerator, and a Tappan Electric Range (what, didn't Westinghouse make one?)

Here are a few ads that ran in the Lorain Journal in December 1955.

1955 Christmas Ads: The Many Faces of Santa Claus

A detail from a 1955 Kroger ad featuring our pal Toppie the Elephant 

It's interesting how Santa Claus has been depicted in ads that ran in the Lorain Journal over the years. The year 1955 seems to have been a year in which the traditional image of the jolly old elf clashed with more modern, stylized renderings.

Perhaps it was due to the popularity of the clip art books produced by such companies as the Harry Volk Corporation, which regularly issued collections of themed, license-free artwork that could be reproduced or actually cut apart (or clipped) for use in ads.

Thus a newspaper like the Lorain Journal had this new artwork being made available along with the older illustrations that the paper already had on file.

Here's an ample sample (what else?) of how Good Saint Nick appeared in ads that ran in the Journal just in time for Christmas 1955.

First are a few traditional renderings.

Then there are the more 'cartoony' illustrations. I really like these.

Then there are the ones where Santa is a little more stylized. Some of these are cool.

Looks like Santa replaced his reindeer with our favorite pachyderm

Lastly are a couple Santas that are out of this world. Check out the crosslegged Santa in the Boston's ad! I wonder if he wears mules (whatever those are)?

But no matter how he's rendered, somehow Santa is always recognizable.

Downtown Lorain Christmas Ad - December 17, 1958

Do you have all your Christmas shopping done? Christmas is only a few days away.

If this was 1958, and you were looking for ideas, this ad for the Downtown Lorain stores was for you. It ran in the Lorain Journal on December 17, 1958.

The ad's A-Z theme is kind of neat, with each letter representing either a gift idea or a store name. The challenge of coming up with a gift suggestion using the letter X, however, apparently was too difficult and it was conveniently left off. This also resulted in a nice, clean layout grid of five rows of five letters.

That's one offbeat looking cartoon Santa in the ad. But that was the style back in the late 1950s, with this style of simple, nebbish-like characters often appearing in TV commercials.

Anyway, did you take a squint at the fine print of the ad block for the letter P?

Yup, the "Christmas Favorites 45 RPM Records" that Kresge's was advertising included "Boofo Goes Where Santa Goes." It's interesting that the record came out at the same time as the beloved "The Chipmunk Song" (also known as "Christmas Don't Be Late) featuring Simon, Theodore and Alvin.

But back to Boofo.

The Boofo Facebook page includes a link to a 2015 WKYC interview with Joseph King, the man who wrote the tune. Apparently the record was a huge hit, selling 30,000 copies in ten days! Forty years later, King added to the Boofo mystique with the book illustrated by Dick Dugan.

Barnaby's Christmas Record

Barnaby, flanked by his buddy Woodrow the Woodsman (left)
and WEWS personality Captain Penny (right)

Did you know that the beloved Cleveland TV personality Barnaby released a Christmas-themed single back in the late 1950s?

Well, it really wasn't Barnaby per se. It was Linn Sheldon, the man who portrayed the straw-hat-wearing, elf-like character who hosted a children's show on the Cleveland NBC affiliate beginning in the late 1950s. Barnaby lived in the Enchanted Forest with his invisible parrot (Long John), showed Popeye cartoons and engaged in gentle banter directed to his audience of kids. What local Baby Boomer doesn't remember Barnaby's daily heartfelt sign-off, and the haunting theme song (A La Claire Fontaine)? I still get choked up when I hear it.

Anyway, around 1958 Linn Sheldon – who was a talented all-around performer and musician – released a Christmas novelty song: "Boofo Goes Where Santa Goes." Boofo is Santa's little dog, who stays by his side and accompanies him on Christmas Eve.

It's quite catchy and features Sheldon on his ukulele. But I gotta warn you – it might get stuck in your head permanently.

In the late 1990s, Boofo became the subject of a book written by Joseph P. King (the man who wrote the tune) and E. Del Thomas and illustrated by well-known Plain Dealer cartoonist Dick Dugan.

Part of the marketing surrounding the publication of the book apparently included this cute Boofo plush doll.

So what was on the flip side of the Boofo record? A cute, little tune sung by Sheldon entitled, "Rabbits Have a Christmas."

Christmas Carol Contemplation

Do you have a favorite Christmas carol or holiday tune?

They've been piped into the stores since Halloween, so you've had plenty of time to enjoy them (or get sick of them, as the case may be). I know for me, I've got to be in the mood to listen to them, otherwise I tune them out. 

Sometimes my family used to have them playing in the background while we trimmed the tree. I think Republic Steel used to sponsor a nonstop, commercial-free Christmas music marathon on FM radio back in the 1970s and we might have tuned into that. Either that or we had Herb Alpert's Christmas album (a Brady favorite) playing on the stereo in the living room.

Anyway, my all-time favorite Christmas tune is one that really isn't a Christmas tune at all, but it might as well be because it's only played around the holidays: Leroy Anderson's "Sleigh Ride." 

Why? Because it's timeless. It's come to symbolize the holidays for me.

As a little kid, I remember listening to it being performed at various holiday programs by a choir and enjoying the clippity-clop sound resembling a horse. Later, I remember either playing it and/or singing it at Masson in the various bands, orchestras or choirs. And even later, we performed it at Admiral King High School with my brother Ken doing the horse whinny on his trumpet at the end. So it's the one melody that seems to tie together every Christmas over the years for me. I never get tired of it and I always get a little teary-eyed when it comes over the radio, because I feel like a kid again.

As for some of the other Christmas tunes that come over the radio, I must confess that I'm pretty burned out on many of them. "Santa Baby" is one that is played a little too often; same thing with "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." But who doesn't break into a smile when they hear Burl Ives singing "A Holly Jolly Christmas?"

Be sure to leave a comment about your favorite Christmas melody.

Christmas 1985

Detail from a Journal ad

Before I scurry back to the safety of the warm and fuzzy 1950s and 60s, let's sneak at peek at Christmas 1985.

The year 1985 was a big year for me. It was my first full year in my apartment at the Lorain Overlook (after moving out of my parents' home in late 1984). I also started working at the Downtown Cleveland printing company that would be my home for the next 35 years (until Covid hit).

The Journal didn't seem to have very many holiday-oriented ads in the days leading up to Christmas. Here is a not-so-ample sample. I love the Fotomat ad, having forgotten all about those things.

The Journal was still running the Christmas greeting pages (as regular contributor and ex-Journal employee Todd described them). There was only one full page and two half pages of them that ran in the Christmas Eve edition of the paper.

The movie ads were getting a little skimpier. As you can see, Back to the Future was the big movie of the season.

Not bad – Tom & Jerry AND Woody Woodpecker cartoons!

Lastly, the Journal delivered a great editorial on Christmas Eve.