Chicken Delight Ad – April 3, 1964

Lorain old-timers remember when Chicken Delight had a store on W. 21st Street near Leavitt Road. It held its Grand Opening in Feb. 1964, and was one of the first (if not the first) fast-food chicken restaurants on Lorain's west side.

 

(Minnie Pearl's Chicken restaurant opened a few years later on Leavitt in September 1969, and Colonel Sander's Kentucky Fried Chicken didn't show up on Oberlin Avenue until April 1971.)

A few months after it opened, Chicken Delight ran this ad (below) in the Lorain Journal on April 3. 1964.

It's a fairly amusing ad now. People (usually an insufferable boss and his wife) dropping in for dinner unexpectedly seems to only happen in old Blondie comic strips.

Chicken Delight had a pretty good concept, with memorable advertising and a great mascot. Here's a 1963 radio spot.

Best of all were the delivery vehicles with the Chicken Delight mascot roosting on the roof.

Thinking back, we probably only had it once in the Brady household. That's because Mom made her own tasty fried chicken, and as I recall, we always had honey on the table. I still like to dip fried chicken in honey.

The concept of honey-flavored fried chicken was the whole idea behind this restaurant chain (below).

But launching the chain eventually turned out to be a boo boo, and today there's only one Yogi Bear's Honey Fried Chicken left, in Hartsville, South Carolina. It's on my bucket of chicken list to eat there someday.

Anyway, as I mentioned in earlier Chicken Delight posts, the chain still exists, up in the land of Maple Leafers. Here's the link to its website. But don't try to order and have it delivered; the DoorDash® driver would have to cross the U. S. Canadian border, and there's a good chance the border agents might confiscate it, especially if it is near dinner time.

Chicken Delight Grand Opening Ad – Feb. 11, 1964

Well, it’s Friday at last. And although many of you may be thinking of fish for dinner, I’m thinking of chicken – again.

And here it is – the ad I couldn't find in time for my two-part series on Chicken Delight. It's the Grand Opening ad for George and Nell Robinson’s business, and it ran in the Lorain Journal on Feb. 11, 1964.

In the early months of the store, there wasn’t very much advertising. Only one or two tiny ads ran in-between this one and the one I posted from April 16 of that year.

Anyway, that plate of chicken in the ad looks pretty tasty, even in black and white.

I like the large Chicken Delight logo in the ad, with the great old-timey type, and early version of the chicken mascot.

It’s more fun than the current logo of the company, which is roosting up in the Great White North these days.

Don’t cook tonight, call Chicken Delight! – Part 2

As I mentioned yesterday, Lorain’s Chicken Delight outlet was located near the intersection of W. 21st Street and Leavitt Road (State Route 58). Previously, the 2229 W. 21st Street location was the home of United Rent-Alls.

Chicken Delight made its appearance locally around 1964. (It was not in the November 1963 Lorain Telephone directory.) George and Nell Robinson were the owner/operators.

Here’s an early ad (below), one that ran in the Lorain Journal on April 16, 1964.

Here’s a June 5, 1965 newspaper ad from the Journal, as well as a 1965 phone book ad featuring the well-remembered chicken-topped delivery vehicle.

Here’s a 1966 Lorain Telephone book ad, promoting pizza. (I wonder if chicken was one of the choices of toppings?)

Here’s a large 1968 Lorain phone book ad.

And here’s the 1970 Lorain phone book ad (below).

In the early 1970s, the litigation involving the Chicken Delight franchisees and the corporation resulted in many restaurants abandoning the brand and joining other chains. Thus, beginning in the 1973 phone book, Lorain's Chicken Delight store became Chicken Galore. The Robinsons were still the owner/operators, and would continue to be until they retired in 1993.

Here’s the ad from the 1974-75 Lorain phone book.

By 1978, the popularity of the restaurant's pizza apparently resulted in a name change: Chicken 'N Pizza Galore. Here's the phone book ad from that year's directory. Note the "Serving Lorain Area Since 1964" tagline.

But by the time of the 1984-85 Lorain telephone directory, the restaurant was once again listed as Chicken Galore. Its nicely-designed ad featured a Chicken Galore logo that was reminiscent of Chicken Delight with its chef-hatted chicken.

By 1991, the restaurant name had been adjusted once again to reflect the popularity of the ribs. This ad (below) from the phone book that year also included the Chicken Galore mascot: Chicky Galore.

As I mentioned above, original owners George and Nell Robinson retired in 1993. But the business continued on as Chicken & Ribs.

The store remained at the 2229 W. 21st Street location until around 2005, when it was briefly listed in the phone book at 203 W. 9th. The business then moved to 5520 Oberlin Avenue.

The restaurant’s listing disappeared as of the 2008 phone book, bringing an end to the Chicken Delight legacy in Lorain.

Today, Chicken Delight is a Canadian company. A handful of U. S. stores are still scratching out a living, in New Jersey and New York.

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UPDATE (April 15, 2018)
Since this post, I found the Grand Opening ad for the Lorain store. It appeared in the Lorain Journal on Feb. 11, 1964.

Don’t cook tonight, call Chicken Delight! – Part 1

Since I did a big post on Kentucky Fried Chicken a few weeks ago, it only seems right to pay tribute to the chicken that crossed the road into the city of Lorain several years before the Colonel: Chicken Delight.

I’m sure many of you remember the location of Lorain's Chicken Delight outlet at 2229 W. 21st Street.

(I did a very brief blog post on Chicken Delight back in May 2009 here when I was writing about pizza).

According to a history of the chain on Wikipedia, it was actually founded the same year as rival poultry pioneer Kentucky Fried Chicken. But for many years, Chicken Delight was the dominant chicken chain.

Here’s a visual feast of vintage Chicken Delight images, including early promotional material and memorabilia, plucked from the internet from various sources for your enjoyment. Tomorrow, we’ll look at some vintage local ads.

Early franchising brochure

Vintage Chicken Delight ashtray

Who can forget the iconic Chicken Delight delivery vehicles with the mascot on top?

The mascot (who has no problem serving up his own tasty kind on a platter) was featured prominently on matchbooks and in ads.

1967 magazine ad

Don't cook tonight, call... Pizza Delight?

I'm such a dumb cluck. I've been blogging about pizza for the last two weeks and forgot to mention a company that had a unique role in Lorain fast food/pizza history.

   Although the idea of offering both chicken and pizza might seem like an idea that's strictly for the birds, it seemed to work for Chicken Delight. Chicken Delight showed up in Lorain around 1965, delivering their complete chicken, shrimp, fish and rib dinners in their unique chicken-mobile. A year later the store added pizza to their menu, and by 1969 the product was named Pizza Delight®.

   By the late 1960s, a group of Chicken Delight franchisees were battling the parent company in court over the issue of having to buy equipment and packaging from the home office. That may be why around 1973, the Chicken Delight store on W. 21st Street switched their affiliation to a different franchise, Chicken Galore.

   The Chicken Galore store in Lorain eventually morphed into Chicken n' Ribs Galore, and finally closed. And what about Chicken Delight? Believe it or not, the company is still around, having flown the coop to Canada. Here is a link to their website.