New Harry Christiansen LSE Book – March 1965

As I've noted before, I don't write too much on this blog about the Lake Shore Electric (LSE), the interurban system that ran between Cleveland, Toledo and Detroit. It's a specialized area of interest that I leave to the experts: Drew Penfield and his Lake Shore Rail Maps website, and archivist and historian Dennis Lamont. If it wasn't for their hard work documenting the history of the LSE on Drew's website, much of its story would be lost to time. Sadly, there just aren't a lot of people these days who remember the LSE from utilizing it to travel.

But that wasn't the case in 1965. The LSE system had only ceased operations in 1938, so it was less than thirty years earlier. Memories were still fresh, and there was enough interest in the LSE and interurbans that Cleveland transit expert Harry Christiansen wrote several books about it.

Back on this post, I wrote about the release of his first book, The Lake Shore Electric, which came out in the spring of 1964. Well, in March 1965, Mr. Christiansen issued his second book, with the rather cumbersome name Northern Ohio's Interurbans and Rapid Transit Railways – Trolley Trains Too!! (That's the cover at the top of this blog post.)

The Lorain Journal featured a nice article about the book by Ralph Neumeyer, which was published in the paper on March 4, 1965.

The photo in the Journal article is of the Beach Park pavilion, located where Avon Lake's now demolished power plant was formerly situated.

Since the Journal photo of the pavilion is a little dark, here's a better photo of it from Drew's Lake Shore Rail Maps website. 

It's exciting to contemplate how the site will revert back to its pre-power plant days. The first step was the demolition, which took place back on December 19, 2024.

Here's a series of screen grabs of the demo. If I was still living in Sheffield Lake, I would have wandered over there to see it in person.

By the way, the Harry Christiansen book is on eBay right now (several copies in fact) and is pretty cheap.

Old Dutch Bock Beer Ad – March 4, 1965

Sixty years ago today, Old Dutch Beer fans in Lorain were celebrating the announcement that Old Dutch draft bock beer was now available in bottles. As the ad above from the March 4, 1965 Journal noted, "Now you can get that glorious dark brown brew in all its hearty flavor – draft beer all the way – either in bottles, or on tap in your favorite tavern."

Speaking of taverns, Old Dutch Tavern, 2219 E. Perkins out in Perkins Township near Sandusky reopened in early January with new owners. The tavern, which originally opened in 1956, had been shuttered and for sale for some time according to a story in the Sandusky Register. Extensive renovations and improvements were completed, but the original comfortable atmosphere has been preserved. Longtime regulars are ecstatic that their hometown bar is back, and especially pleased that the Thursday burger night special has been revived.

Strangely enough, the story makes no reference to Old Dutch Beer, the likely source of the tavern's name. I guess the beer really is fading in the public consciousness, despite my never-ending blog posts about it.

But getting back to Old Dutch Bock Beer.

Here's a look at the label on the bottle in the 1965 ad. 

It's not that different than the regular Old Dutch Beer label at that time. 

I kind of like this earlier version of the Bock Beer label (below) better – with a photo-bombing billy goat. (The word "bock" means "goat" in German.) I like the way the couple spread out to make room for billy at the table. What, no Old Dutch Beer can for him to munch on?

I've never been much of a bock beer fan myself. I'll just keep enjoying my Hamm's from the Vermilion Farm Market, and the annual Guinness on St. Patrick's Day – which is coming up fast.

Meet Erica Melchior and Her Marionettes

Professional entertainers are a rare breed, earning a living while doing something they love – all while bringing pleasure to others through their talents.

Many people start out with that goal in mind, only to find that it is a difficult path to success, fraught with obstacles. Others achieve the goal, even if that really wasn't what they set out to do.

Erica Melchior of Lorain seems to have been one of the latter. What started out as a hobby – performing a marionette show to entertain her daughter – blossomed into a career that took her all over the world with the Melchior Marionettes.

And it all started on Lorain's east side at her home on Hafely Drive. 

This article below from the May 11, 1953 Lorain Journal by Mary Lee Tucker covers one of Erica's first major gigs: bringing joy to the children of Gates Crippled Children Hospital in Elyria. Marionette characters included a witch on a broomstick, a frog prince and an octopus, Jojo the monkey and Happy the Clown.

The Lorain Journal seemed to be filled with small blurbs about each local performance, such as one for the Lorain Camera Club. The article appeared on June 10, 1953.

Halle's auditorium in Cleveland was the next stop, as noted in this item from the August 18, 1953 edition.

This article below, from the October 29, 1953 Lorain Journal, provides a nice detailed background of how Erica got started, as a hobby to entertain her four-year-old daughter Peggy. The article notes that originally the marionette troupe included Mrs. Robert L. Johnson and Mrs. Robert Hibbard. The performance at Gates Crippled Children Hospital was actually a test to see how the act would play in front of a live audience. The positive reception spurred Erica on to even greater creative heights.

At Christmas time 1953, the Melchior Marionettes put on a special performance at Lorain Surplus Center.

The year 1954 was a busy year, including performances locally at the County Workshop Theater, the Wellington Fun Festival, and the Mary Lee Tucker Christmas Benefit Show.

March 30, 1954

October 6, 1954

Dec. 4, 1954

Television finally beckoned in 1955, with a live performance on the Alice Weston Cooking Show on Channel 8.

The 1950s newspapers were filled with publicity for the Melchior Marionettes performances. Here's an article from December 19, 1956 reporting on a show for  a Christmas party sponsored by the Lorain Kiwanis Club.

Even though the Melchior Marionettes were often on the road, they were still bringing joy to local audiences. Here's a blurb about an appearance at a PTA meeting that ran in the Journal on April 18, 1958.

This photo from the May 22, 1958 Journal includes Seedy-Beady, the "pop-eyed" rabbit.

And this article from May 23, 1958 notes that Erica now had approximately 100 puppets and marionettes. "She performs with them in schools, night clubs and on TV," it notes.

This account from April 30, 1960 reveals that Erica "has entertained throughout the midwestern United States and has played many night spots in Europe." Pretty impressive for someone who originally just wanted to entertain her daughter!

Erica and Seedy-Beady are shown in ths photo from July 10, 1962. They were performing during the second day of Frontier Week in Amherst.

A performance at the Lorain County Fair was a highlight in 1964.

This 1960s photo (courtesy of Steven Hart) shows Erica and daughter Peggy backstage at a performance.

And by 1969, the torch was being passed to a new generation. Erica's daughter Peggy was now assisting, as noted in this article from Feb. 17, 1969.

Erica passed away in 1977, but her marionettes live on. Today, Peggy, Peggy's daughter Heidi, and Heidi's daughter Nevi continue to please audiences with the Melchior Marionette Theatre in Indiana. Here is the link to its website and Facebook page.

Who in the World is Reading My Blog?

I'll close out the week (and the month as well) with another peek at some stats related to my blog. Yesterday we saw which posts were the most visited since the blog was launched back in 2009. Today, we'll examine just who is reading this tripe fascinating material.

As it turns out – amazingly – there are readers in countries all over the world.

Here's a map with an accompanying key showing the geographical areas where the majority of my visitors come from.

As expected, the good old U.S.A. comes in first. But surprisingly, France is second. I guess it's a good thing after all that I took all those years of French class at Masson and Admiral King, in case I want to tailor some specific French content for mes amis dans ce pays.

But then it gets kind of weird going down the list to the next in line. Singapore? Austria? Germany? All in the thousands?

Next are Canada and Hong Kong, which are evenly split with 84. I do write a lot about Canada, with posts about Niagara Falls, the Post Shredded Wheat factory, Billy Bee Honey, the Toronto Maple Leafs, Tim Hortons, etc. (All on a blog supposedly about Lorain County, Ohio – yeah, right.) But I'm not sure why Hong Kong has the same identical number.

The rest of the countries are a curious mix.

I'm kind of bumming though. I used to get a lot more hits from Russia back in 2016. I'm not sure why I've losing some of my comrades readers there.

At least some of my relic-tives in Ireland must have read my post about my Irish ancestors.

What Are My Most Visited Blog Posts?

One of the fun things about writing a blog for more than 15 years (!) is discovering which posts are the most popular – or at least, the most visited. I monitor this statistic every once in a while, and I'm always a little surprised at what I find.

Here's the latest rankings, as of yesterday.

As you can see, the all-time champ is my post about the American flag painted on the old quarry rock overlooking Route 2.

Number 2, strangely enough, is the post about the building at 1242 Colorado Avenue that was once home to a Canada Dry bottling plant, and later, The Corner Store model railroad store.

The "little bar on Lake Road" in Avon Lake was next, followed by my comparison of Kellogg's Corn Flakes and Post Toasties.

The well-remembered Ontario department store rounded out the top five. That post has 71 comments!

Next were posts about Travelodge's Sleepy Bear, our local beloved Dog 'N Suds, and Max, the freakishly long-necked Forest City Auto Parts mascot. Max has generated 45 interesting comments, mainly by ex-Forest City employees.

Finishing up the top ten were my posts about Yes-Yes Cookies (which as of this date has 33 comments by people like me who remembered the tasty treat) and "Visions of Cedar Point 1966 Part 3."

The next posts, in order, include Anson Titus House in Avon Lake, Donald Duck Orange Juice being discontinued, Cedar Point's Chaussee and Causeway Part 2, and Joseph Ule's windmill on Kolbe Road.

And there you have it. As you can see, there is a nice mix of local and national items of interest.

Sorry, Reddy! Maybe one of your 61 electrifying posts will make the Top Ten next time.

Penneys Catalog Ad – Feb. 24, 1965

Seeing this ad for the 1965 Spring-Summer Penneys Catalog really reminded me how much shopping has changed in the last sixty years. Or has it?

The ad, which ran in the Journal on Feb. 24, 1965 advertises tens of thousands of items 'at your finger tips.' You merely phoned in your order from the comfort of your home, and the sales personnel did all the paper work to process it. Your items were then shipped to the local catalog center; you just had to go pick it up.

Here's a color version of the Penneys catalog in the ad, along with that of its greatest competitor: Sears. 

Today, online shopping has largely replaced most catalogs. It's still all about convenience. The difference is now you pay for shipping, but your order is delivered to your home.

What I don't like is that most brick-and-mortar stores like Walmart just don't bother having a lot of stock on their shelves anymore. Their website probably has what you want, but gone are the days when you can just go there and buy it.

Sooner or later, Amazon will be the only place where you can find what you want. For instance, last year I attempted to jump in my car and go buy a pair of sunglasses. I went to my old standby – Drug Mart – and came away empty-handed. I went to a lot of other stores and discovered that unless I wanted to buy a really goofy looking pair, I was out of luck. I ended up buying a pair on Amazon.

Also last year, I dropped my watch (which I had for over 20 years) and broke the band. The watch itself wasn't in great shape either (the crown liked to fall out) but it still worked. Do you think I could buy a replacement band or a new watch in a store in Lorain County? Forget it. I found a new Timex on Amazon (the ones on the Timex website were more than I paid for some of my furniture).

Anyway, it's nice to think back to the days when Mom had all her catalogs – Sears, Penneys, Esco – on a shelf in the hall closet. We bought a lot of clothes, towels, toys, etc. from those books. It was a simpler time.

Passing Scenes – Jan. to Feb. 1975

Gene Patrick's biweekly The Passing Scene comic strip continued in the Journal right into 1975. 

I'm curious just how long he kept it going. We know that he had already taken a break from the Journal around 1972 when he launched his own business (Gene's Hobby Hub). When that business endeavor ended, Gene took a detour out to Los Angeles for a while, eventually coming back to Lorain and reviving The Passing Scene. I guess he was a restless spirit.

But for now, however, we'll take a look at his cartoons from the first two months of 1975. The January 4th strip references Lorain's plan to purchase 232 acres in Sheffield Village for use as a landfill.

Jan. 4, 1975

Jan. 11, 1975

Jan. 18, 1975

Feb. 8, 1975

Feb. 22, 1975

It's fun watching Gene create his own comic universe over the years, similar to classic TV sit-coms of the 1950s. Wives are either cheerful or shrews; either way, they spend too much money. Long-suffering husbands are the undisputed head of their families. Teenagers are often smart-alecks looking for an angle. Very young children are completely innocent types.

Stan Laurel Passes Away – Feb. 23, 1965

Sixty years ago yesterday, Stan Laurel, one half of the beloved comedy team of Laurel and Hardy, passed away. Below is the obituary that appeared in the Journal the next day on Feb. 24, 1965.

Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy were always big in the Brady house. The compilation films (such as When Comedy Was King) featuring their early silent shorts were often shown on TV in the 1960s, usually on a Sunday afternoon. That was my first exposure to their comedy.

My father was a fan. Dad told me once that he remembered seeing their films at the Dreamland Theater, where his father was manager for a time. So I guess I became a fan as well.

I remember watching the Laurel and Hardy TV cartoons that were made by Hanna-Barbera. The cartoons weren’t great, but at least captured the flavor of their comedy enough for little kids to appreciate, and be curious about the comedy team's actual films. I even had the comic book below.

Unfortunately, when my siblings and I first did see their talkie films, they were the not-so-good ones made late in their career that were shown on Saturday afternoons on Channel 61. Most of these movies from the 1940s are a not-so-fine mess. I remember being disturbed by the nightmarish ending of The Bullfighters, where they were skinned alive by the thuggish villain. Apparently Stan Laurel liked these freakish endings.

It wasn’t until the 1970s that I got to see Laurel and Hardy's best films from the 1930s and 40s, when they were shown late-night on The Houlihan and Big Chuck Show. I still have my favorites: Block-heads, Saps at Sea (which was also a favorite of Sir Winston Churchill) and A Chump at Oxford.

I also remember attending a program with my parents at the Lorain Public Library about the Lorain Tornado, that included a silent Laurel and Hardy short at the end. I believe it was Two Tars.

Although a lot of once-popular movie comedians seem to be fading in the public consciousness, that doesn’t seem to be the case with Laurel & Hardy. Happily, the lovable comedy team consisting of a fat one and a skinny one has achieved that rare status where their best comedies will live forever. 

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Saps at Sea was mentioned on this blog before, at the bottom of this post about the Oberlin College Conservatory of Music. It was the movie that inspired me to teach myself how to play the slide trombone!

Feb. 21, 1955 Ads

Seventy years ago, the concept of Presidents Day didn't exist yet. Thus Washington's Birthday was celebrated on the actual day: February 22nd. Above you see our old pal Reddy Kilowatt in an Ohio Edison ad that ran on Feb. 21, 1955 in the Lorain Journal, announcing that Ohio Edison would be closed that day.

Here are some more ads that ran in that same edition of the Journal.

It was a holiday, so there was no school. So what were mothers supposed to do with the kids? Why, take them shoe shopping, of course!

But what about the adults who were lucky enough to have the day off? Well, they could go shopping for a used car at Bob Beck Chevrolet. Remember the distinctive OK Used Car graphic shown in the ad?

Days off are always a good day to get some tasks crossed off the list. Perhaps your TV was on the fritz; you could get it repaired by Nelson and Fain Teleclinlic, located at 1755 Oberlin Avenue – the same location much later as the well-remembered, popular Biggy's Pub and Eatery.

Thinking of those poor kids that were forced to go shoe shopping on their day off from school; maybe their mothers felt guilty later, and treated them to the big cartoon marathon at either the Lorain Theatre on Pearl and the Ohio Theatre.

I'll bet the Disney bigwigs would not have been too happy to see Donald and Goofy sharing the bill with what they probably considered lowly cartoon riff-raff: Porky Pig, Woody Woodpecker and Popeye. What, no Tom & Jerry? (Hopefully the theaters didn't pull a bait-and-switch and subject the kids to Casper and/or Baby Huey.)

And for the average Lorainite who wished to celebrate the birthday of the Father of Our Country at the movie theater, there was the city's apparent favorites, the Bowery Boys, at the Dreamland starring in Bowery to Bagdad (as part of an odd double bill with The Caine Mutiny).