Christmas Tree Clippings

Detail from a 1926 ad

Christmas trees were – not surprisingly – a popular news subject in the Lorain Journal over the years beginning in November. The arrival of the first load of Christmas trees on the train was big news each year and often warranted a photo.

It's interesting reading about where the arriving trees were from.

Once the trees hit the market, however, there weren't a lot of ads advertising their sale, at least in the oldest online Journal archives from the early 1920s. And it seemed that many different businesses sold them, including grocery stores. Eventually there were even early versions of 'pop up' stores selling them.

By the time of the 1950s, there were many more ads for Christmas trees for sale, including both real and – gasp! – artificial.

What follows then is an ample sapling sample of articles and ads about Christmas trees that I collected from the pages of the Lorain Journal.

Dec. 1, 1923

Dec. 6, 1924

Dec. 19, 1924

Dec. 17, 1926

Dec. 11, 1930

This article is kind of cute. It features a group of talking Christmas trees that are discussing what it was going to be like to be sold in Lorain.

Dec. 23, 1931

Dec. 20, 1935

Dec. 15, 1939

Nov. 26, 1940

Dec. 20, 1940

Nov. 14, 1951

Dec. 11, 1952

Dec. 17, 1952

Dec. 5, 1953

Dec. 1, 1955

Nov. 30, 1957

Nov. 22, 1958

Dec. 17, 1958

Lastly, this article from November 23, 1961 nicely sums up the Christmas Tree market, with information about the number of artificial trees sold at that time.

It's interesting how many of the ads are selling trees about a week before Christmas. That seems to be the timeframe that my parents adopted towards putting up and trimming the tree. We did it a few days before Chistmas. Nowadays, many people see it as a chore to get out of the way as soon as Thanksgiving is over.

*****

I wrote about the arrival of the first load of Christmas Trees for 1949 on the B&O railroad back here.

Toy Detective

While scanning some old family Christmas photos from the 1950s and 60s in preparation for a post about Christmas trees, I was sidetracked when I got to the photo above. It's my sister at Christmas 1955 (back in her only child days) in my parents' first house on W. 30th Street near Broadway – the house that Dad's Grandpa gave to them.  

My first thought while looking at the 1955 photo was, "Wow, that is one odd-shaped tree, with several extra-long branches jutting out." The tinsel seems to be concentrated on the upper part of the tree as well, contrary to Mom's usual quest for tinsel placement perfection.

But then I started looking at a few of my sister's toys strewn around here and was intrigued. What were some of those things? Did any of them manage to avoid the landfill?

I started my usual detective work on eBay, hoping to identify some of them, just as I did with Lanky Long, as well as the Soda Pop Fountain. It took a while, experimenting with different ways of describing things. But eBay (and various hoarders) didn't let me down.

First up was the Jack in the Box. 

It was pretty easy to find, as there were a few on eBay.

That's one disturbing clown. I'm not sure what is worse, his grooming habits or his fashion sense. Fortunately, this nightmare-inducing toy was gone by the time I came around four years later.

Now for the real detective work. What was the green thing next to my sister? The head-on angle made it hard to see just what it was supposed to be.

I figured it was a caterpillar but couldn't find it using the eBay search engine. I finally found it on eBay via Google. The seller wasn't sure either if it was a caterpillar or an inch worm.

He's potential nightmare fodder as well.

I couldn't find the rocking horse toy, which I remember well. 

The horse was in our basement at 1604 W. 30th. (When I was a year old, Mom wanted to take a picture of me sitting on it while wearing a cowboy outfit. She said I furious and refused to stay on it. She eventually had to photograph me on a smaller wooden horse with wheels.)

But getting back to the 1955 photo.

I was able to identify the last "mystery toy."

I thought it was a dog, because of that brown thing that looks like a floppy ear. But the body of the thing seemed to be green with spots – like a frog.

As it turned out it was a frog: a Jolly Jumper by Fisher Price.

I have no idea what that brown thing was in the photo,

Penneys Toyland – 1965

Ad from the Journal, November 25, 1965

Do you have to do any Christmas shopping for kids these days?

I'm glad I don't. I wouldn't have the slightest idea as to what kids want for Christmas. I'm guessing it would be some kind of high-tech toy or gaming system.

But things were a lot simpler when it came to shopping for us Baby Boomers in the 1960s. There were plenty of TV commercials with the latest and trendiest toys; the Sears catalogue could be counted on to have an incredible selection; and lastly, there were lots of gift ideas right in the newspaper ads, since everyone read the paper each night back then.

And above you see what Penneys was offering, toy-wise, at Christmas time in 1965.

It's an interesting selection. 

Secret agents were very much in vogue back then, with James Bond on the big screen and Get Smart and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. on the little TV screen. So we have the Secret Sam Spy Outfit.

Talking dolls were still big, even though it had been five years since Mattel introduced its first talking doll (Chatty Cathy) in 1960. For 1965, we had Chester O' Chimp – an "animal yacker" that makes "11 different smart remarks." (As someone of Irish heritage, I'm not sure whether I should be a wee bit offended or not.)

Ideal Toys gave us Tigeroo, to make a bike sound like a tiger, I guess. 

I like how the ad copy slightly appropriates the Humble "Put a Tiger in Your Tank" slogan.

Of course there were the usual toys geared specifically to boys or girls. Boys were expected to be interested in cars and trucks, so there was Duffy's Daredevils and the Johnny Express tractor-trailer (and its various accessories).

For girls, of course, there was.. Baby First Step! Over the years she had various 'do's and eventually became as gabby as that yackin' simian, Chester O' Chimp.

Lastly, the most boring game hands down being pitched by Penneys had to be, er, Hands Down!

All toy photos courtesy of eBay. 

A Hundred and One Years Ago Today in Lorain...

I had wanted to do one of those "A Hundred Years Ago Today" posts for today, but the online archives of the Lorain Journal for 1925 was missing the last five months of the year. So we'll do one hundred and one years ago instead.

So above is the front page of the Lorain Journal for December 9, 1924.

The Simon Langell

As you can see, the big story is the weather. As the main story notes, "The Steamer Simon Langell, on its way to Cleveland with a load of Christmas trees and lumber, was forced to seek the protection of the Lorain harbor last night from the 45-mile gale that swept across Lake Erie and Lorain and brought to Lorain people the fear of another tornado.

"The high wind brought a drop in temperature of 32 degrees between noon yesterday and noon today.

"Many, however, who went thru the tornado of June 28, hearing the howling of the terrific wind, arose to dress or rush to the windows in nightclothes to reassure themselves that all was well.

"The only damage caused by the wind resulted when the trolley wire over E. Erie-av fell.

"Hundreds of people were treated to a display of pyrotechnics while the broken wire dangled along the street from Maine-av to Century Park."

There was a lot going on elsewhere on the front page. 

Of particular interest to me is the report of George Wickens opposing the apparent plan of the City of Lorain to move the fountain with the statue of the civil war soldier from Washington Park to the intersection of 17th Street and Broadway. The fountain and statue have been a favorite topic on this blog, with a capsule history of it posted here.

Other items of interest: the upcoming Mexican holiday of "Guadalupe Day" in Lorain; a piggie runs loose in Elyria; unlicensed dogs running loose in Lorain; a rear window broken in the "machine" (car) of Charles Ferguson of 6th Street; a pardoned former convict to speak to Lorain's men's organizations; and several high-profile courts cases involving murder.