Al Doane 1925 – 2021

It was very sad to learn of the passing of well-known local historian Al Doane.

I first encountered Al back in the 1990s at the old Spitzer Renaissance Hotel, where he was displaying a collection of vintage Lorain postcards. I was there with my parents, and was surprised when the gentlemen behind the event greeted my father by his first name (“Hi, Eddy!”). I guess everyone knew Al.

I officially met Al when I was just getting this blog off the ground. One day we were both in the local history area of the Lorain Public Library, and he struck up a conversation with me. He was doing some maintenance of his historical archives, which he had donated to the library to make them available to other researchers. His material filled a whole room of file cabinets. 

Al helped me a lot with my blog. In recent years, the first email of the day that I received was usually from Al, contacting me about something that I had posted on the blog that day. He was always graciously thanking me for writing about Lorain’s history, and usually provided some reminisce or information that I would then add to the post to make it more complete. There are many posts that were enhanced with Al’s generous help.

Al always wanted to share information with me. A couple of years ago, he invited me to his house in Amherst so that he could provide me copies of things he had in his home files that he knew I was interested in. I enjoyed the hospitality of Al and his wife that wintery night. He would also, right out of the blue, send me a package in the mail containing copies of old articles that he thought I might find interesting.

At least Al made sure that all of his knowledge of Lorain’s history would not be lost when he passed on, by collaborating on a series of books with his friends and fellow historians. (I wrote about one of them here.) There was even a book entitled, The Life & Times of Al Doane – Memories of Lorain, which he wrote with his friends Matt Weisman and Paula Short. 

Al was a nice guy and Lorain’s biggest champion of its history. He will be missed, and I offer my condolences to his wife and family.

Bye Bye Bait Shop

The view on Tuesday night

I read in the Chronicle-Telegram last night (here) that Lorain is planning to tear down the city-owned Hot Waters Bait & Tackle building.

It’s been decided that given the poor condition that the building is in, there is no reason to continue to lease the property to a tenant, or invest in rehabilitating the building.

Once again, Lorain can’t wait to tear something old down.

Courtesy Lorain County Auditor

And that’s a shame. Here you have an old, interesting little building that would be right at home in a New England harbor environment. If it was fixed up and returned to its former glory, it could be something that tourists would utilize.

I don’t know how many people still fish down at Hot Waters, but I’ll bet plenty enjoy the view of the Lighthouse. This building would be perfect to sell pop, coffee, hot dogs, or newspapers – or even hand out tourist information. Or sell souvenirs. In addition to its purpose of selling bait and tackle.

If this building gets torn down, it’s possible that nothing will take its place. And Lorain loses more of its real, nautical heritage.

Authentic heritage that can’t be replaced by pagan fish pageants.

When are the city and civic leaders of Lorain going to start thinking of the city as a tourist destination and make sure every move is geared in that direction – instead of just cutting costs?

Please, Lorain – leave something old standing for a change. Make this building a project. Find volunteers – grants – corporate sponsors – and fix it up.

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Got an interesting email from local historian and author Al Doane this morning about this building. Apparently it has a lot more maritime history than I thought.

Al noted, "I remember when that building housed the Lorain Yacht Club until the new club was built on Alabama Avenue, just north of East Erie Avenue, and just north of the East entrance from East Erie Ave. to the Bascule Bridge.

"I remember the old Yacht Club using this old building in the 1930's, 1940's and 1950's. It had a lot going for the building when a regatta was held there, for all the various close yacht clubs would enter the races."

All the more reason to try and save this building!

The Story of Bob the Parrot – November 23, 1923

Well, it’s November already. Before I get down to business with some planned updates of past posts, let’s have a filler or two to buy me some time.

First up is a cute story from the front page of the Lorain Journal of November 23, 1923. It’s about Bob, a unique parrot owned by the well-known Doane family of Lorain.

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Lorain Parrot Calls For Dog That Died Long Ago
Remembers Friend He Talked To When In Sandusky-co

Every day for the last two years Bob has called in vain for Brownie, his playmate who died long ago.

Bob is a parrot who had reached the age of 33 years and is the treasured pet of Mrs. C.E. Doane, 539 Washington-av.

Brownie was a little dog who was Bob’s playmate when the two were pets in the home of Mrs. Doane’s sister, Mrs. Minerva Miller, Jackson-twp, Sandusky-co., who has passed away.

When but a year old bird in a California home, Bob was shipped to Mrs. Meade McIntyre, another sister of Mrs. Doane, at Lansing, Mich., as a present to her daughter. He remained at that home five years and then went to other homes of the Dundore family of which Mrs. Doane is a member.

A.W. Dundore, Burgoon, O., a brother of Mrs. Doane, was owner of the bird more than seven years. From there he entered the Doane household two years ago.

Sings “After the Ball”
Bob has many accomplishments. He sings and whistles the chorus of that old-time song, “After the Ball,” written by Charles K. Harris, Milwaukee, when most of the men and women of today were children. In addition, he whistles “I Wish I Was in Dixie.”

In the warm spring months Bob’s cage is placed on the front page of the Doane home which is passed by hundreds of school children on their way to and fro from school. It is then that the bird is in his glory, for he takes much pleasure in mimicking conversation.

Bob is a joker as well as a mimic. One of his favorite stunts is to turn dogs that are on the trail of their way to and from school by a shrill whistle they mistake for that of their masters.

No Chance for Burglars
The Doane home need never fear from burglars’ visits, for no matter at what time of the night members of the household enter they are greeted by Bob with a loud “hello” and a piercing whistle that awaken those who are slumbering.

When friends call at the home Bob insists on interrupting the conversation and assumes a hostile mood which vanishes when they depart. Despite Bob’s two-year residence in Lorain, the home of sailors, the bird has never learned to swear. Yet he repeats again and again, “Bob is a bad, bad boy.”

In the matter of food Bob is partial to that of his native state and clamors for fruit. Old age is taking its toll from Bob’s friendly nature. Years ago he greeted strangers in a pleasant way. Now he meets them with feathers rustled and many squawks.

When visitors depart Bob mounts his perch, smooths his feathers, emits ha ha’s and winds up whistling something that sounds like “Good-bye forever.”

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I found this article back in 2013 and forwarded it to local historian and author Al Doane. He thanked me for sending it. “I had heard talk about a bird in the house, but never had the entire story told to me at that time, as I was the younger brother that was always getting in their way,” wrote Al. “And now there is no one living who knew of and had seen the parrot.”

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So how does “After the Ball” go? Well, let’s hear (and watch) it sung by the man who wrote it: Charles K. Harris.

Lorain’s Tucker Automobile Dealership

Last week I did a post about 939 Broadway, currently the home of Dabu Restaurant & Cocktail Bar, and for many years the headquarters of radio station WLRO. I’d mentioned in my post that there was a used car business at that location run by Arlington J. Popp in the early 1940s.

This triggered the memory of local historian and author Al Doane, who contacted me to point out something very interesting: that Arlington Popp had briefly operated a Tucker Automobile dealership at that same location.

It was pretty brief. An ad for the Tucker dealership only appeared in the October 1947 and October 1948 Lorain Telephone Company directories.

A 1948 Tucker Sedan at the Blackhawk Auto Museum
(Courtesy of Wikipedia)

Now, in case you’ve never heard of it, the Tucker Automobile was a revolutionary car conceived by Preston Tucker and known for its innovative design. 

Despite this, the car had only a brief life due to many controversial factors, and only 51 were produced before the company closed. (Preston Tucker and his cars were the subject of Tucker: The Man and His Dream (1988) starring Jeff Bridges and directed by Francis Ford Coppola.)

Al remembered one of the unique features of the car. “As the front wheels turned,” he noted, "the head lights also turned with the wheels.”

This is explained further in the Wiki entry on the Tucker 48 automobile. It states, “The most recognizable feature of the Tucker ’48, a directional third headlight (known as the “Cyclops Eye”), would activate at steering angles of greater than 10 degrees to light the car’s path around corners.” 

Not surprisingly – since so few cars were manufactured – Al remembered that the dealership “was never able to get one of the Tucker autos in their new showroom.”

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Al Doane was also able to tell me a little bit about J. Arlington Popp. Al reminisced, “Arlington was very much like a midget, very short in stature.

“He was so short that he would place a 2 x 4 to the car pedals so he could touch them and be able to control the car. He lived on Hamilton Avenue just to the west of Lorain High School.”

My mother remembered J. Arlington Popp as well, although she thought he might have been a dwarf. Nevertheless, Mr. Popp sounds like he was very well known character in Lorain, and successful at what he did.

J. Arlington Popp passed away on March 17, 1989 at the age of 75. He lived in Lorain all his life, and there were no survivors.

Al Doane Remembers: The Tourist Home at 1219 West Erie

Partial 1931 City Directory Listing of West Erie Ave. 

I received an interesting email from well-known Lorain historian and author Albert Doane concerning my post about the tourist home at 1219 West Erie Avenue. Mr. Doane has a unique perspective about the tourist home – because it was right across the street from where he grew up at 1224 West Erie Avenue.

"I knew the family very well," wrote Mr. Doane. "This home was owned by Mr. & Mrs. Smith H. Stone. The Stones had three sons and one daughter. Son John started work for my father's electrical business that was conducted at 1224 West Erie in the rear garage."

John Stone also figures in a cute story Mr. Doane relates about when he was born.

"John always remembered when he and my older brother Bob came home from school, John beat Bob into my house to claim that he got to see the new baby – me – first."

The former tourist home at 1219 W. Erie
(now demolished)

Smith Stone's tourist home was a busy place that was host to both celebrities and working men. 

As Mr. Doane noted, "I remember John Stone, son of Smith Stone, telling me that one time Al Jolson came to Lorain to do a show at the Palace, and he roomed at the tourist home at 1219 West Erie. John also remarked that in the summer, the Army Corps of Engineers would come to Lorain to do repair to the harbor breakwaters with a crew of men and their tugs, crane, and barges. There would be some men renting rooms at 1219 West Erie for the duration of their time in Lorain."

Mr. Doane noted that Smith Stone had other business endeavors besides the tourist home.

"Mr. Smith Stone had a cigar store Confection store in the basement of the Verbeck Theater at the time of its fire (December 1905). The Stone family made popcorn balls in the barn for sale on Broadway."

1905 ad from the Lorain City Directory

Thinking about the tourist home reminded Mr. Doane of other pleasant memories of growing up in that neighborhood.

The former Doane home
at 1224 West Erie Avenue

"I remember the constant running of the street cars on West Erie all the time, and the steady stream of trailer trucks traveling on the street," he noted. "Our dog never got hit by the trucks nor the street cars. West Erie was a nice street to live. It was a short block from the lake, where we kids grew up living at the lake most every day."

Although the tourist home at 1219 West Erie is gone, the barn behind it remains – and Mr. Doane has a memory connected to it too. 

"My brother Bob and Bob Stilgenbauer each built an 18-foot sailboat in the barn in the rear of 1219 West Erie, and, with the help of their buddies, lowered both boats by rope and sweat from the second floor of the barn to the ground."

Special thanks to Albert Doane for his reminisces.

Lorain Historical Society Open House

It was good to attend the Open House this past Sunday down at the Lorain Historical Society. The place was packed with visitors curious to see the remodeled first floor of the Moore House, as well as the museum's collection of historical artifacts on the second floor.

For me, the Open House was an opportunity to meet  – in person, for the first time – some of the fine people who I have traded many emails with over the many months while they helped me with research for my blog.

In this case, I had a chance to meet the authors of Lorain: The Real Postcards of Willis Leiter – Albert Doane, Bill Jackson, Paula Shorf, Matthew Weisman and Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr. – who were busy signing copies of their book. They seemed to be doing a brisk business, so apparently the book has been a big success.

(They autographed my book, even though it was a (ahem) freebie advance copy made available for promotional purposes.)

I also got to meet Sheffield Village Historical Society Director Dr. Charles "Eddie" Herdendorf, who has been helping me with some research for an upcoming April blog post.

Anyway, these are exciting times for the Lorain Historical Society with the upcoming move of the archives and many of the artifacts to the former Carnegie Library.

It's a great time to join if you're not a member already. Here's the link to the Society's website.

The authors busy signing books: (from left to right) Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr.,
Matthew Weisman, Bill Jackson, Albert Doane and Paula Shorf

Lorain: The Real Postcards of Willis Leiter Now Available

The secret is finally out – and it's good news for anyone interested in Lorain history that wants to add an invaluable volume to their bookshelf.

Willis Leiter

The book Lorain: The Real Postcards of Willis Leiter is officially on sale today from Arcadia Publising. It features the photography of Willis Leiter, who established a studio in Lorain in 1901.

Like many photographers, Leiter's business was creating charming portraits of local citizens that were suitable for framing. But much more importantly to today's historians, Leiter also documented the Lorain of the early 1900s – ship launchings, steel production, buildings, schools, churches, community events – through thousands of real photo postcards. Those postcards are the focus of the book, and with the best of them compiled into one volume, they provide rare, wonderful and unexpected views of Lorain.

The book was the labor of love of five people with the aim of bringing long overdue recognition to Willis Leiter: Albert Doane, Bill Jackson, Paula Shorf, Matthew Weisman and Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr.

The authors – (top row, from left) Paula Shorf,
Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr., Matthew Weisman, Bill Jackson;
(seated) Albert Doane

Albert Doane is the well-known local historian who helped found the Black River Historical Society (now known as the Lorain Historical Society). He helped compile Lorain Ohio, the first Arcadia Publishing book on Lorain, as well as being one of the authors of Lake Shore Electric, another Arcadia Publishing book.

Bill Jackson of Chardon, Ohio, has collected postcards for many years, with an emphasis on those produced by Willis Leiter.

Former Lorainite Paula Shorf of Concord, California is also a longtime collector of Willis Leiter real photo postcards. Paula regularly patrols Ebay in search of rare Leiter treasures to add to her growing archives.

Matthew Weisman of Elyria, Ohio is a longtime collector of Lorain Shipbuilding history and memorabilia. He also presents programs about Lorain Shipbuilding to historical groups. 

Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr., is a great-grandson of the photographer. He became interested in his ancestor's postcards when he saw a display of them at an exhibit depicting iron ore shipments on the Great Lakes.

How the book came to be is serendipity at its best.

Paula Shorf had been collecting Leiter real photo postcards since 2001 and had always hoped that he would get recognition for his work. At the same time, Paula and Matthew Weisman had been emailing back and forth about Lorain's shipbuilding industry, and the many Leiter postcards about that topic. A few years later, Bill Jackson – yet another Leiter collector – contacted the Black River Historical Society looking for information about the photographer. The Society put him in touch with Matthew, who introduced him to Paula. Before you knew it, the three were talking about writing a book. They were joined by Bruce Leiter Waterhouse, Jr. and Al Doane – and finally all of the players were onboard to make the book a reality.

The book can be ordered on Amazon and through the Arcadia Publishing website. It will be available locally at the Lorain Historical Society (which is currently closed for the winter).

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As part of the celebration surrounding this book, my blog this week will focus entirely on Willis Leiter – his life, his work and even his former home on East Erie in Lorain. Plus, more about the book!