Driscol Music Co. Article – Feb. 20, 1972

I still have a bottle of genuine Driscol Music Co. slide oil

For a period of almost 75 years, if you were a musician in Lorain County, then you probably spent some time in one of the two Driscol Music Co. stores in Lorain County. The stores sold everything a musician needed, including the instruments. In Lorain, the store was conveniently located right downtown at 445 Broadway.

That's why I was happy to find the article below about the Driscol brothers, Paul and Ted, and their company. The article ran in the Journal on Feb. 20, 1972, and provides a nice history of the firm.

As the article notes, "The history of the two present Driscol music stores can be traced back to a little piano store in downtown Elyria founded in 1941 by Paul Driscol, Sr., the brothers' father, who is now president of the Driscol Music Co.

"After the war, a Lorain store was opened in the 1000 block of Broadway and was later moved to the present location. The Lorain store has been remodeled and expanded several times, and the Elyria store was moved to its new location in April of 1971."

Grand Opening Ad for the New Lorain Store - May 23, 1958

It was a sad day when Paul Driscol passed away in late June 2014. The Lorain store closed its doors forever about five months later in mid-November 2014.

Today the former Driscol Music building is home to a Domino's Pizza outlet.

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For many years, the Driscol Music store was a regular stop for the trumpet-playing Brady brothers for our valve oil, mutes, music, etc. And it was only a short walk from Mr. Visci's trumpet studio on Broadway. For many years, Mr. Visci received a lot of instrument repair work from Driscol's.

When I switched to trombone (due to getting braces), I bought my slide oil there as well. Many times I would see Mrs. Ksenich, the wife of Richard Ksenich, one of my Masson School elementary teachers there as she managed one of the departments. She was always a friendly, familiar face there.

"Gift Ideas for a Jolly Christmas" Catalog – 1953

Just in time for the start of the holiday season, the Lorain Journal included a special supplement with its November 26, 1953 edition. Entitled, "Gift Ideas for a Jolly Christmas," the 80-page catalog provided Journal readers with a dazzling array of suggestions of what to buy – as well as providing us with a nice snapshot of Lorain businesses at that time.

Here's an ample sample of some of the catalog pages, which paint a picture of a prosperous Lorain in its 1950s post-war heyday.

I love the fact that many of the companies used illustrations to depict their gift items in the ads. It adds an element of intrigue. It's also impressive how so many of the businesses had a distinctive logo and 'brand,' such as Ted Jacobs and Louis Cohn.

I made sure that Delis Brothers Furniture was represented in the ad round-up. That's because I recently had the pleasure of exchanging emails with a member of the Delis family, whose great-grandfather Christ Delis founded the store. I mentioned to her that my parents bought their dining room set from Delis Furniture, and it was the one that was used from the 1950s all the way to the 2020's.

Driscol Music Ad - December 31, 1955

Here's a 1955 New Year's Eve ad for an iconic Lorain company that happily is still around in the 2000's: Driscol Music Company on Broadway. Back in 1955, the company was at 1000 Broadway instead of its current 445 Broadway Avenue address.

According to their company website, Driscol Music Company has been around since 1941.

If you were a band or orchestra student in the Lorain City Schools like me, then you probably were in Driscol's at some point or another through the years – to rent an instrument, or perhaps to buy some music (maybe a Belwin Band Builder). Even as an adult, I used to go in there every couple of years to buy slide oil for my trombone.

It's good to see a company that has managed to survive the ups and downs of Downtown Lorain!