Midway Mall Sports, Vacation and Travel Show – March 4, 1976

Back in the 1970s when Midway Mall was truly the community gathering place for Lorain and Elyria, there was always something going on to attract shoppers. One of the most anticipated events each year was the Annual Sports, Vacation and Travel Show.

Above you see Sportsman Pierre, the mascot of the 1976 edition of the show. Hmmm... with that mustache, he bears a slight resemblance to Yukon Cornelius from the Rudolph Christmas special.

The Journal did a good job of promoting the show before its opening.

March 2, 1976 Journal

And here's a nearly full-page ad for the show that ran in the Journal on March 4, 1976.

Bob Jasinski promoted the show in his "Great Outdoors" column of March 5, 1976. Hey, that hunter & dog silhouette looks mighty familiar.

It's hard not to feel a little wistful seeing all this. Midway Mall was the place to go in the 1970s when I was in high school. It was the perfect place to take a date to see a movie because you could walk around and kill time before it started. 

Fifty years later, the whole concept of an indoor mall has inexplicably become obsolete, along with the newspaper that promoted its events. 

****

I've written about various sportsman shows before – featuring the 1971 American and Canadian Sportsmen’s Vacation and Boat Show; and Midway Mall's 1972 and 1973 Sports Show. 

I loved those old Sportsmen Shows. It was fun to pick up brochures for campgrounds, etc. I used to collect them as a kid and would even write to campgrounds, parks and attractions just to get one in the mail. It probably was the reason that I ended up in printing as a career.

****

It's interesting how "Paddling Pierre" (designed by well-known local C-T cartoonist Bob Lynch) from the 1973 Sport Show became Sportsman Pierre in the 1976 version.

March 3, 1966: Dennis the Menace for... Howard Johnson's?

When I saw this ad in the March 3, 1966 Journal featuring Dennis the Menace, I naturally assumed it was a Dairy Queen ad. Imagine my surprise when I realized the mischievous moppet was actually shilling for Howard Johnson's restaurants.

As you might remember, the Howard Johnson's restaurant in Lorain was located on West Erie Avenue (U. S. Route 6) just a short distance west of Leavitt Road. Today the building is home to Chris' Restaurant.

But getting back to the ad.

It's kind of odd seeing Dennis promoting a Clam Plate Special, as well as Clam Chowder, instead of ice cream. Maybe it was a Lenten thing (Easter was the second Sunday in April that year). But the tousle-haired tyke wouldn't begin his thirty-year gig as the official mascot for Dairy Queen until 1971.

I've been a loyal Dairy Queen customer since the mid-1980s. Even though cartoonist Hank Ketcham's most famous creation hasn't on the DQ paper cups and wrappers, etc. since 2002, it still seems weird to me. 

By the way, I once facetiously ordered an "M&M Floor Sweepings Blizzard" in the DQ drive-through (you know how the candy pieces are all broken into bits). I'm sure the DQ worker thought I was nuts.

****

Speaking of Chris' Restaurant, I enjoyed a great perch sandwich carryout this past Friday. I'm not Catholic but I still like fish on Friday. Plus it was Mom's favorite restaurant (and one day away from the third anniversary of her passing). The place was busy for dinner, and I noticed that Brenda, Mom's favorite waitress, was still gainfully employed there.

Lorain Journal Front Page – March 2, 1926

One hundred years ago today there was a lot going on in the March 2, 1926 Lorain Journal. 

As seen above, there was some fashion news – namely a preview of the latest style in men’s pajamas and robes being promoted at the Illinois Clothiers convention in Chicago. But the big story as noted in the screaming headline was the possibility of Logan Gas Company (predecessor of the Ohio Fuel Gas Co.) justifying a rate of more than $1 a thousand cubic feet. 

Also on the front page: a tragic accident in Elyria on the East Avenue bridge over the Black River; two Cleveland gambling kingpins that were driven out of that city setting up new operations in the former Avon Island Park dance hall; a Wakeman boy gets a tooth extracted from his lung by way of a vacuum; and the arrest of the first traffic law violator of the year (he was driving his “machine” at 35 or 40 miles an hour).

John Wayne Article – Feb. 15, 1976

The Duke as he looked in his final movie, "The Shootist"

The two Western cable channels – GRIT and Outlaw – have been playing a lot of great John Wayne movies lately (True Grit, Rio Bravo, The Searchers, Three Godfathers, McClintock, Chisum) so it's a good time for me to post this article from the Feb. 15, 1976 edition of the Journal. It's an interview with the Duke at the time he was filming his last movie, The Shootist.

As noted in past blog posts, I can't emphasize enough how much my brothers and I idolized John Wayne when we were growing up. Mom and Dad took us to see all of his new movies (including The War Wagon, Chisum, The Undefeated, The Cowboys, True Grit, etc.) beginning in the mid-1960s, usually at Amherst Theatre. A few we saw as part of the Summer Movie program (such as Hellfighters). Consequently, we first became familiar with him when he was already older (and fatter). Gradually we were able to catch his old movies on TV and see him at his best.

One of my recent favorites is El Dorado, with Robert Mitchum and James Caan (who is hilarious). It's often criticized as being just a rework of Rio Bravo, but I don't agree with that at all. The Duke is a sheriff in one and a gruff gunfighter in the other. But both movies have a dance hall girl as love interest for the John Wayne character, a drunken law officer, a grizzled deputy type, and a younger man helping in the fight against the bad guys.

Anyway, here is the Feb. 1976 interview. It's interesting that he was planning another sequel to Rooster Cogburn, which was already a sequel to True Grit. But sadly, he passed away before he was able to make another film.

It was great seeing James Stewart as the doctor who gives
John Wayne's character the bad news about his health.
Two film greats.

Railroader Retires After 49 Years With the B&O– Feb. 26, 1946

 

For many people nearing the end of their working careers, the idea of retirement is a no-brainer. They can hardly wait to retire, and will even quit working before reaching full retirement age despite the considerable reduction in Social Security benefits. Perhaps they are looking forward to enjoying some leisure time; traveling; pursuing some hobby; or just spending time with their grandchildren.

Other people enjoy their jobs so much – and working in general – that they delay their retirement long after they are fully vested.

George W. Ristine of Lorain was apparently one of those people. As noted in the interesting article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal back on Feb. 26, 1946 – 80 years ago today – he had just retired at the age of 72 after 49 years with the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. 

"Beginning in 1897 as a fireman, the bottom at which all aspiring railroad men must start, he was promoted to locomotive engineer in 1901 and held that post with the B. and O. until his final journey on Jan. 31 this year," it notes.

That's a nice long career. 

So why did he stay on so long?

As the story notes, "Ristine has been eligible for retirement for the past seven years, but stayed on during the war because of the manpower shortage and because he was "in no mood to retire."

I love his comment about finding time heavy on his hands after retirement. "I'm not used to loafing," he chuckled.

****

Mr. Ristine was mentioned in the "Log of Lorain" column on April 28, 1942.

Sadly, he passed away on August 14, 1953 only seven years after retiring.

At least he spent his life at a vocation that was the fulfillment of a boyhood dream. How many of us can say that?

"When Lorain County Stone Helped Rebuild Chicago" Article – Feb. 28, 1940

Here's an interesting article from the February 28, 1940 edition of the Lorain Journal. It tells the story of how the Amherst quarries played a big role in the rebuilding of Chicago after the devastating fire that started on the west side of the Windy City on October 8, 1871.

It notes,"When Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over the lantern more than half a century ago and touched off the dangerous conflagration which wiped out three and a half square miles of Chicago's most flourishing districts, the seed was sown for an unprecedented boom in activities about which the growth of young Lorain-co was then centering.

"Mute evidence of this can be seen in the abandoned quarry holes, near Brownhelm, the iron streak of rusty rails occasionally seen thru the woods north of Amherst and the piers of Oak Point.

"The Sandstone Center of the World," then a community larger than its neighboring village of Charleston, now Lorain, played a most important part in the rebuilding of the fire-ravaged city thru its unlimited supply of stone.

'Faced with the Herculean task of reconstructing the city, the undaunted people of the midwest metropolis discovered in Lorain-co the closest available spot where a sufficient supply of stone building materials could be obtained.

"Amherst sandstone was especially well fitted since it was easily worked, but hardened on exposure to air after construction.

"Shrewd business men, sensing the opportunity and also anxious to have this district play its part in rehabilitating the burned area, exerted every possible effort to turn out stone from the numerous quarries around Amherst at a rapid pace.

"The success and volume of this enterprise rested on cheap transportation which was provided by constructing a railroad from the quarries to Oak Point and a stone landing pier, projecting into the lake, from which stone was transferred off tiny cars into vessels Chicago-bound.

"The Clough Stone Co. was the owner of this railroad. It was a little, narrow-gauge road that ran from their quarry to Oak Point, just west of Lorain, where the company had the wharf.

"Besides stimulating the stone industry at Amherst, Charleston, the village to which shipbuilding was already bringing fame among Great Lakes communities benefited to a large extent thru the increase in vessel tonnage during the boom in stone business."

The boom in business lasted two years. But as the article concludes, "With Chicago rebuilt, normalcy returned to the "limestone center," many of the quarries were abandoned and the railroad to Oak Point together with the old piers were allowed to disintegrate.

"But the road kept running until the Lake Shore railroad made its rates so low that it was cheaper to ship by rail than water. Then the whole narrow-gauge outfit was sold to a Michigan lumber concern where the little engine continued its usefulness by pulling logs instead of stone.

"Amherst, however, has continued with its thriving stone industry which is known thruout the United States and Canada. Amherst sandstone many be found in some of the finest buildings in the nation."

*****

Interested in learning more about Oak Point?

Several well-known local historians undertook a Herculean task of their own by researching and compiling the definitive history of "Mysterious Oak Point."

Why 'Mysterious'?

As noted in Oak Point, Ohio - Beaver Park, Ohio - and Its Environs (which you can download here), Oak Point was a popular resort spot with facilities for boating, bathing, fishing, ball playing, dancing, and bowling. But that all changed in 1905 when a Columbus businessman came to town and began buying up nearby farms. What was planned for Oak Point? It was never revealed. 

But in Oak Point, Ohio - Beaver Park, Ohio - and Its Environs you'll find an incredible collection of articles, vintage photos, newspaper clippings, souvenirs, maps, then-and-now photos and biographical profiles of the people involved that will simply amaze you.

Be sure to download a copy and thank Matthew Weisman and Paula Brosky Shorf for all their hard work.

But you're not done downloading yet!

Historian and archivist Dennis Lamont personally created an Oak Point manuscript (which you can download here) in Word by transcribing a selection of vintage (and sometimes hard to read) newspaper articles in chronological order from 1890 to 2021 – including the 1940 article at the top of this post. I'll bet Dennis went through several bottles of Murine.

And if you're still in the mood for all things Oak Point, be sure to visit Drew Penfield's "Lake Shore Rail Maps" website where you'll find a nice capsule history of the resort on this page.

*****

Finally – waaaaaaay back in 2010 I wrote about the Oak Point Mystery back here.

Ice Fishing – Feb. 1976

It's winter again (ugh) so it's a good time to post some more articles about ice fishing.

Back here, I posted a full-page article from the Feb. 3, 1966 Lorain Journal about Journal Staff Writer Hank Kozlosk's first ice fishing trip. In his article he told about his trip to Middle Bass Island on the ancient "Tin Goose" Ford Tri-Motor and his fishing as part of a group at a 'shanty town.' He mentioned that he couldn't wait to go ice fishing again.

Ten years later, Mr. Kozloski went ice fishing again, and wrote about the experience in the Feb. 15, 1976 Journal. He had another ride over to Middle Bass Island on the Tin Goose but this time, well... I'll let you read his article.

Just a few days earlier on Feb. 13, 1976, the Journal ran a story on ice fishing on Sandusky Bay. The full-page article featured interesting quotes by ice fishermen Lloyd Pellerin, Louis Shukait, Kenneth Williams and George Boston.

As the article notes, "The ice fishing fever has turned into an epidemic. The reason is simple. Experienced fishermen say the ice from the Sandusky area to Port Clinton and the islands is the first solid formation in three to six years. In most places it's 12 to 18 inches thick, but melting this week with the warmer weather.

"Even "ice buggies' – cars stripped of just about anything which isn't necessary to make them run – have been driven over the white-gray crust from South Bass Island to Port Clinton.

"On any given day, but mostly on weekends as the sun rises, hundreds of men, women and children are lured onto the always mysterious ice in stalk of smelt, perch, crappie, blue gill, bass... and excitement."

Anyways, it's too bad that Kozloski had a 'crappie' day ice fishing.

****

At the bottom of the page with Hank Kozloski's article, there's a Uniroyal ad with a little graphic showing Uni, Roy and Al – the stunt drivers in those well-remembered commercials. Remember them?

Here's a great little promo film about Uni, Roy and Al – uploaded by the wife of Cliff Cudney, who portrayed 'Al.'

"Miracle on Ice" Hockey Game – Feb. 22, 1980

The U. S. Men's Hockey team celebrating their victory
over the Soviets in Feb. 1980

The U.S. Men's Hockey team beat Canada yesterday to win Olympic gold for the first time since the famous 1980 "Miracle on Ice" game in which the U.S. defeated the Soviet Union. 

It was exactly forty-six years to the day. Unbelievable.

Remembering the last time we won a gold medal in hockey brought back a lot of memories for me. I remember watching the 1980 game in my dorm room at Ohio State. It was a four-man room (we called it "the Quad"). We had a room full of people on that Friday night. I still have several photos from that get together. And I'm still very close friends with two of my roomies.

The U.S. victory in 1980 caused my roommates and me to experience a brief hockey frenzy, and we started going to OSU hockey games at the Ohio State University Ice Rink. They had a great team and season that year. Good times.

Anyway back in Lorain, here's the front page of the Lorain Journal from Feb. 23, 1980 the day after the U. S. men's hockey team defeated the Soviets.

****

Here's a nice account on the AARP website about the 40th anniversary of the "Miracle on Ice" in 2020.

Washington's Birthday – Feb. 22, 1926

One hundred years ago, George Washington's Birthday was still celebrated on the actual day: Feb. 22nd.  I think that's the way it should be, so its importance isn't diluted.

Below you see the front page of the Lorain Journal for that day in 1926. As you can see, it was a day to truly honor the Father of Our Country. (My apologies for the rather unpleasant headline and accompanying story.)

Next to the portrait of the President is a great story about his penknife – what it meant to him, and how it kept him from resigning from the Army.

(The most important part of the story is a little hard to read so here it is: Knox knew Its story, and without any utterance, gently pushed the keepsake under the clenched hands of General Washington. Washington flushed. Knox said: “You were always 1 to obey your superiors. No one has commanded you to cease leading this army.” Within half an hour the resignation was tossed into the log fire, and the great Washington carried on. The hatchet showed the truth-stuff of the boy; the penknife showed the stability of the man.— The knife should replace the hatchet, Dr. Bloomhardt says.)

Washington is also featured in the sidebar listing some of his famous statements, as well as in a story at the bottom of the page. That article debunks some of the attacks on his character (which seems to have been the subject of news stories at that time).

Also on the page: Lorain celebrates Washington's Birthday with no school, and with banks, courts and municipal buildings closed; a sad story out of Athens about two moonshiners who lost their lives as a result of being trapped in a cave; and a story about Lorain's third annual Auto Show.

The funniest story was that of Charles Baswell in Elyria, who needed a place to sleep after a night of drinking and found a cozy spot in a hog pen between two big pigs.

The Passing Scene – Feb. 19, 1966

It's been a while since I posted a "Passing Scene" comic strip from our old pal, cartoonist Gene Patrick. So here's one from sixty years ago today – Feb. 19, 1966. 

Gene was in his second year of producing the comic panel for the Journal. He pretty much had his style established (contrary to his earliest strips in which he was still experimenting with the format).

There's nothing too controversial in the Feb. 19th strip. The bridge to Canada was a pet project of Governor Jim Rhodes; the Journal cast a skeptical eye at the idea in a Feb. 16th editorial.

The idea of U S Steel 'perfuming' its slag operation gave Patrick the chance to poke fun at a popular perfume ad campaign.

Feb. 16, 1966

The last panel features an apparently youthful senior citizen who prefers the teen music show Hullabaloo to old Keystone Kop comedies.

****

And for those of you who like to see the "Passing Scene" strip in its proper context, here's the whole page. Hey! There's an Ohio Edison ad with our pal Reddy Kilowatt – what a coincidence!

Interurban Motormen Reminisce – Feb. 1956

The old interurban railway system hasn't received much attention on this blog for a while. To help make up for this grievous oversight, here's a great article from the Feb. 27, 1956 Lorain Journal. It tells of a special reunion of four Southwestern interurban motormen that was held on the 25th anniversary of the last run of the line.

The four veteran motormen – Tom Ferron, Edward Wilcox, Tom Marsh and Harry Searles – enjoyed themselves at a celebration in Oberlin that featured a special display of interurban relics prepared by Norman C. Muller. Muller was the owner of the Arlington Traction Company, featured in a series of posts on this blog.

A special cake with a 3-by-5-foot oval track complete with scale replica interurban cars was prepared by Harold Gibson of the Gibson Bros. Bakery.

****

Here are a few Lorain Journal articles that ran at the time that the Cleveland Southwestern went out of business.

Jan. 30, 1931

March 28, 1932

May 24, 1932

May 25, 1932

Tally Ho! Brownhelm Fox Hunt – Feb. 1947

Did you know that there was a Brownhelm Fox Hunt back in February 1947?

Here's the article from the Feb. 21, 1947 Lorain Journal with the story.

It notes, "More than 400 enthusiasts are expected to enter the first organized fox hunt in Lorain-co which will start Sunday afternoon in Brownhelm, officials of the Lorain-co Fish and Game club, sponsors of the hunt, announced today.

"The starting point of the hunt will be the John Henning farm, at the corner of Foster park and Sunnyside-rds.

"The reported purpose of the hunt is to destroy the red foxes in this section which farmers in Brownhelm have blamed for killing their chickens."

A follow-up reminder appeared in the paper on Feb. 22.

Alas, the hunters were, uh, outfoxed as this story from the Feb. 24th edition reveals.

"Searching a two-square mile area in the drive for an hour, the surprisingly large turnout of searchers flushed out two foxes who scampered nimbly to safety under the cover of the snowy blasts.

"Strange game shaken out during the hunt was an old tom-cat who was allowed to quit the area."

A return match with the foxes was scheduled for March 8, 1947. This one turned out even worse for the hunters. The red fox made 'big dummies' out of them, as noted in this article from March 10, 1947.

****

And for those of you who enjoy seeing the whole page of the paper, here's the Feb. 21, 1947  page with the initial report of the upcoming fox hunt. Hey, we even get a "There Oughta Be a Law..."

Presidents' Day 1971

Today is Presidents' Day – the day we honor any and all U. S. Presidents. Or is it?

You'll hear it referred to as Presidents' Day all day – on TV newscasts, as the theme of various store sales – but actually, it just happens to be the day that George Washington's Birthday is celebrated, instead of the actual date of Feb. 22nd.

The Mount Vernon website explains it nicely. It notes,"The road to what the majority of the public in the United States now recognizes as Presidents’ Day is a long and confusing one. After Washington died in 1799, his birthday was informally celebrated across the country. 

"It wasn’t until  January 31, 1879, that Washington’s birthday became a federally recognized holiday. 

"Until 1968, Washington’s Birthday had always been celebrated on February 22. It was tradition and a powerful reminder of the man who helped create what we have today in the United States.

"On June 28, 1968, Congress passed the “Uniform Monday Holiday Act”. This law was to provide uniform annual observances of certain legal public holidays on Mondays. The act was also created to provide federal employees with more three-day weekends. Under this new law, Washington’s birthday would be celebrated on the third Monday of February, partially losing the value and identity of the importance of his birthday. Washington’s birthday has not been celebrated on the actual day of his birth since the law took effect in 1971."

May 10, 1971

June 28, 1971

The initial rollout in1971 of the new Presidents' Day caused some confusion, according to this article that ran in the Journal on Feb. 11, 1971.

For some businesses, they merely ran their Washington's Birthday (or Brithday, in Arby's case) sales on Feb. 15th.

Feb. 15, 1971

Feb. 15, 1971

But the Style Center did something different in its ad that ran on Feb. 14th.

"They have changed the name from Washington's Birthday to Presidents' Day and threw-in Mr. Lincoln," the ad notes. But instead of commenting on the decision to rename the holiday, the Style Center hilariously decided that the throw-in of Lincoln was a good excuse to double the bargains. Oh well.

At least it didn't use clip art of young George with hatchet in hand.