Buried Treasure in Troy, Ohio – August 1963

Do you still put money in savings accounts in local banks? Or do you prefer to put excess funds in an IRA, or invest in CDs, bonds, stocks, etc. (Or perhaps you don't have any excess cash at all, which is increasingly becoming the norm in America.)

Well, this page from the August 23, 1963 Lorain Journal has the story of Pop Altman, a man from Troy, Ohio, who distrusted banks so much, he preferred to bury his money in the ground for safekeeping. More specifically, he buried it in huge milk cans at his Miami County feed mill plant beginning in the 1930s. 

On his death bed in late July 1963, he told his son and daughter about the buried money. Two 10-gallon cans with $350,000 in small bills were unearthed shortly thereafter; the article above notes that another milk can with an additional $150,000 had just been found.

Elsewhere on the page: the U. S. Post Office on Broadway gets spruced up; the "By George" column offers some whimsical advice; the Delis family (including the owners of Delis Furniture) has a visitor from Greece, who offers up an interesting view of life there; and Governor Jim Rhodes and Patricia Lei Anderson, Miss Hawaii of 1962, open up the Ohio State Fair (which seems pretty late compared to the current schedule).

Delis Bros. Christmas Ad – Dec. 6, 1962

After a couple of days of truly wretched-looking Santa's, here's one that's a little more palatable to close out the week. This ad for Delis Bros. Furniture ran in the Journal back on December 6, 1962.

The Santa illustration is bold, simple and modern – just like what you would find in those Harry Volk clip art books. We had a whole collection of them dating back from the 1950s at my old job, and I used them a lot, giving my work a real retro vibe.

Courtesy Bart Solenthaler and Flickr.com

But getting back to Delis Bros. I did a previous post about the business back here.

Looking at the December 1962 ad, it's kind of interesting that specific styles of furniture are promoted, such as Early American. Does anyone still decorate their home in that style? Mom used to make fun of it, saying that all it took to make something Early American (such as a lamp) was to slap an eagle decal on it.

Mom's preference was French Provincial, which never made a whole lot of sense to me since she was German. But that's what she liked, and she researched it carefully (I've found a paperback in the basement about it.) She made sure everything in the house was coordinated and fit in the design scheme.

As for my taste in furniture, I guess you could call it Early Levine's.

Harbour Town Inn – May 1972

Fifty years ago, Vermilion was still in the planning stage of its Harbour Town – 1837 downtown district renewal project.

One of the first businesses to embrace the concept was the Harbour Town Inn, located at Exchange and Liberty Streets. Above is an article from the May 21, 1972 Journal that tells the story.

"The original building was constructed in the 1860's," the article by Staff Writer Bob Cotleur notes. "The dining room had been closed the past 40 years. And it seems entirely possible there might be a ghost around, though it won't be on the wide, white front veranda."

Although it may seem hard to believe, here is how the building looked when it was Hotel Maudelton. 

Historian Rich Tarrant's excellent "Vermilion Views" website includes a well-researched history of the building here, including the story of how the building was moved to that location.

And courtesy of Google, here's a look at the building today, which is the home of Step by Step Employment and Training.

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I almost forgot to mention that we also get on that same page a nice article about Lorain's Pete Delis, who along with his wife Olga owned and operated the well-remembered Delis Furniture Store at 1224 Broadway at that time.

Happy New Year 1963 from Delis Bros. Furniture

Here's a vintage Happy New Year ad for a business that Lorain old-timers remember fondly: Delis Brothers Furniture. The ad ran in The Journal at the end of December just in time to ring in 1963.

Longtime Lorainites have pleasant memories of buying furniture from Delis Brothers. My mother still enjoys her meals on a dining room table purchased there in the late 50s or early 60s.

According to the History of Lorain Chronology found on the Lorain Public Library's website, the company was established in 1916 by Chris, Charles and Peter Delis.

Here's an early City Directory listing for the company that ran in the 1924 edition (below). Lorain sure had a nice selection of furniture stores to choose from.

Delis Brothers Furniture would remain at that 1224 Broadway address (sometimes including the 1226 address) throughout its entire existence in Lorain.

Here's a phone book ad from 1962 (below).

And here's one from a few years later that ran in the 1968 Lorain Telephone book (below).

The last listing for the company appeared in the 1980 edition of the city directory. Within a few years, Peter Delis, the company's owner, was listed as being a furniture salesman at May Company.

Today the Delis Brothers Furniture store's former Broadway location is gone, a victim of the demolition required to build the Broadway underpass.