Lorain Journal Front Page – May 15, 1936

There's a lot of interesting things on the front page of the May 15, 1936 Lorain Journal. (The page 12 continuations are found just below it.)

For starters, a local landmark on US Route 20 near North Ridgeville burned down – Daniels' Villa. It was a popular roadhouse during the era of Prohibition, in addition to being the setting for countless social events.

Then there was the ongoing saga of the 1933 Arizona Ouija Board Murder. Dorothy Turley, a former New York City bathing beauty, and her daughter Mattie, were convicted of murdering Dorothy's husband in his sleep. Mattie said that the Ouija Board had told her to do it. Eventually, Mattie served six years and Dorothy only two. (You can read more about the murder case here on the American Heritage website.)

In Lorain, 125 mill workers put on the fifth annual "Old Timer's" Show in the dining hall of the main restaurant at National Tube. The 125 veterans had all worked at the mill for 25 years or more. The evening was basically a banquet with skits.

An article near the bottom of the page notes that a letter was received at the newspaper by Mrs. Marcia Lawler Charles, the wife of the man who founded one of Lorain's first newspapers, the Lorain Monitor. The Lorain Monitor was founded in 1878 and Mrs. Charles still had a copy of one of the first issues.

Also on the front page; Judge and Mrs. Findley's generous gift of 375 acres of land will give Lorain County the only state forest in north central Ohio; the car used in the $6,000 Wellington bank holdup was recovered – but not the bandit; a manhunt in Canton, where escaped prisoners were on the run from police and sheriff's deputies; and a fire alarm box in Lorain catches fire.

The funniest news item? In Arizona, a man convicted of murder and about to be executed in the gas chamber was asked if there was anything he wanted last. His reply? "You might get me a gas mask."

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Here are some additional clippings about Daniels' Villa. When the roadhouse burned down, it was replaced by the Daniels with a motor court – which eventually became a trailer park.

May 24, 1926

Feb. 11, 1932

Feb. 24, 1932

March 12, 1932

March 24, 1932

July 13, 1933

July 18, 1959

June 27, 1969

April 21, 1970

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As I've mentioned on past posts, we had a Ouija Board when I was a kid in the 1960s. It was just something else to play with, along with our Monopoly, Operation, Ka-Bala and Kreskin's ESP games. It was pretty creepy, usually resulting in one of us accusing the other of moving the pointer device. But then again, Mom had told us that as a little girl, she and her sister had played "Rise, Table, Rise" until her father got tired of it (supposedly the table did rise). We got tired of the Ouija Board as well, as we did all our games, and put it away for good – thank goodness. I wouldn't touch it today.