Faroh's Easter Ad – March 21, 1972

For many of us that are getting up in years, it's hard to imagine growing up in Lorain and celebrating Easter without candy from Faroh's. The company's distinctive chocolates, packaged and labeled with the well-remembered candy cane logo, was an integral component in many an Easter basket.

Anyone who visited the main showroom at the Henderson Drive location in Lorain will never forget the unbelievable selection of goodies.

Above is an almost full-page ad from the company's heyday that ran in the Journal back on March 21, 1972. It lists many of the firm's signature products, such as its delicious cream eggs.

Faroh's Finest Chocolates are still available today at Broadway Boutique and Treats on the first floor of the Ariel Broadway Hotel. To my taste, it's not quite the same as I grew up with – but at least the brand is still around in the 2000's.

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So what is your favorite Easter candy?

Growing up, I was never a fan of the Fruit & Nut eggs. (My siblings and I weren't exactly nuts about nuts.) But I liked just about anything else, especially white chocolate. The Russell Stover cream eggs were pretty good too.

These days, as I slowly proceed into dotage, I find that I like Peeps® the best. I've eaten several cartons of the Cotton Candy Flavored variety already. They're light, and satisfy my sugary cravings. 

And the Party Cake ain't bad either!

I suppose before Easter has passed, I'll have to try some of the (*yawn*) original yellow Peeps®.

I like these things too (below). They're like Nestlé Crunch bars in the shape of a rabbit. And they're cheap!

Easter Parade of Vintage Lorain Journal Ads

Easter’s only a few days away, so it’s a good time to post these ads. Most of them appeared in the Lorain Journal in early April 1963.

Many people go out to eat on Easter, and the same was true back in 1963. Howard Johnson’s offered a nice holiday menu in their ad of April 10, 1963, with a choice of sugar cured ham or roast turkey. There was a nice lineup of desserts too, ice cream, fudge cake, apple pie, coconut layer cake and gelatin. Hot Indian Pudding (to go with the turkey I guess) was also an option.

The Easter theme permeated most of the sales ads in the Journal around the holiday. Fisher Foods included a nice illustration of a cashier rabbit in their ad of April 8, 1963. (At least he’s ringing up a ham and not one of his own kind, since rabbit isn’t an Easter dish.)

People used to dress up for Easter, so it’s only natural that Pic-Way Self-Serve Shoes would have an ad with an Easter theme. The ad below with the long hare ran in the Journal on April 4, 1963.

And of course, what would Easter in Lorain be without Faroh’s Candy? This ad (below) for the iconic Lorain candy maker ran in the paper on April 2, 1963.

In my mind’s eye, I can still see the showroom in the former store on Henderson Drive, with tables stocked high with Easter candy and other goodies. It was an incredible selection.

Here’s one last Faroh’s Candy ad to put you in the Easter spirit. It was almost a full page when it ran in the Lorain Journal on April 2, 1968 – 50 years ago.

That’s a good-looking Easter Bunny illustration. He’s designed just realistic enough to make the idea of a large rabbit going around and delivering candy seem almost plausible.

Happy Easter!

Grand Opening of Faroh’s Candy Center – Dec. 5, 1952

Back on December 5, 1952 – 65 years ago today – Faroh’s Candies was celebrating the Grand Opening of its new facility on Henderson Drive in Lorain.

The full-page ad above ran on that day in the Lorain Journal.

I’ve featured Faroh’s ads on this blog many times: Valentine’s Day ads; a 1962 Easter ad; a 1963 Christmas ad; a 1964 Father’s Day ad; a 1970s Easter ad.

Faroh’s enjoyed many decades at the Henderson Drive location, along with several satellite stores.

The Henderson Drive facility eventually closed (after the Henderson Bridge was closed for months while it was being repaired). The distinctive building has housed various companies since then, including a nightclub and, currently, an auto dealership. Here’s a view of the building this past weekend.

Back in late 2009, Faroh’s returned to Downtown Lorain with a new store at 657 Broadway.

Today, Faroh’s retail store has a new home at 300 Broadway in the City Center Building where the old driver’s license bureau was located. As the company explained to me in an email, "Spectrum Consulting Services and Spectrum Resource Center & School are opening a new manufacturing plant to produce the Faroh's Candy line which will be located on 5th Street in Lorain.

"Tom Faroh is Spectrum's consultant to ensure that the integrity of the chocolate making stays true to the original recipes. With the new collaboration between Faroh and Spectrum, it is expected that the Faroh's brand will not only remain available, it will be relaunched for nationwide sales.”

Vintage Faroh's Valentine's Day Ads

It's Valentine's Day, so here are a few vintage ads for Lorain's Faroh's Candies. The one below ran in the Lorain Journal on Feb. 13, 1957 – 56 years ago – and uses a clip-art layout with none of the usual photos of their candies.

1957 Faroh's ad

Roughly ten years later, the ad below appeared in the Journal a few days before Valentine's Day 1968. This ad didn't show photos of chocolate goodies, either. The ad takes a different approach – featuring two cute babies. One is Lisa Ann Bell, granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Faroh (who along with his brother George opened the first Faroh's Candies store in Lorain in 1947); the other is David Kramer, grandson of Dr. and Mrs. Joseph Cicerrella.

1968 Faroh's ad

Neither ad uses the well-remembered Faroh's candy cane logo that is so associated with the brand.

Even though it's been several years, it's still strange to drive by the Henderson Drive location and see a bar there. Hopefully the Broadway store is still doing well.

Happy Father's Day – 1964!

Here's a Faroh's Candy ad that ran in the Lorain Journal in June 1964, just in time for Father's Day. There's quite a selection of candies mentioned, including – flying saucers!

I like the clip art representing what a dad apparently looked like back then.

Anyway, please consider a gift for your dad from Faroh's in Downtown Lorain for this Father's Day!

Faroh's Ads – Easter 1962

Here's a pair of ads that appeared in the Journal in mid-April 1962, promoting Lorain's iconic candy store – Faroh's. (Click on each of them for a larger version.)

What can you say about Faroh's Candy that hasn't been said before? Like the Lakeview Park Easter Basket, it was an essential part of Easter for so many of us while growing up.

I haven't been to the new store on Broadway yet this year. I drove by there Wednesday night, and it seemed pretty busy – which is good.

I still think they should use the classic Faroh's graphics and logo as part of their packaging, though. To me, the candy loses the nostalgic appeal if it doesn't look the same as it always did.

Strangely enough, neither of these 1962 ads include the logo with the well-known candy cane "F."

This ad (below) includes a few cameos by none other than Bugs Bunny!

New Lorain - 1978

Here's something I found recently at the Lorain Public Library. It's called New Lorain Report No. 4, and was produced by the Lorain County Regional Planning Commission back in August 1978.

The report focused on Washington Park and the nearby Broadway shopping district, and it proposed various ideas on how it could be redeveloped. It was part of a series of five reports that together provided a blueprint for a New Lorain.

The study was pretty interesting and had a lot of great ideas that unfortunately never came to fruition. What was especially interesting to me, though, were the photos used to accompany the text. They provided a look back at the Lorain of the 1970's.

Here are a few of them. Click on each for that you-are-there feeling!

Palace Theater before restoration

Right above Faroh's Candies was Alex Visci's Music Instrument Repair Shop

The Fish House

1963 Faroh's Candies Christmas Ad

Here's a nice tall ad for the original Faroh's Candies so fondly remembered by Lorainites. (Click on it so you can read it.) The ad ran in the Lorain Journal on December 11, 1963.

I stopped in at the current store at 657 Broadway this week and picked up some stocking stuffers (specifically the chocolate bells mentioned in the vintage ad). The store had a nice selection and seemed to be doing a pretty good business, at least when I was there.

From a marketing standpoint, I think it would be smart if the owners revived the original logo with the candy cane and get it onto their packages somehow. I think that logo has terrific nostalgia value that a generic typeset label just can't compare to.

Anyway, we had an out-of-state friend visit us in November, and one of her top priorities was to visit Faroh's and get some of her favorites, which she did. She swore that it tasted the same to her as it did decades ago, and she left town happy.

So if any of the local readers of this blog really like the idea of Faroh's having a store in downtown Lorain, by all means stop in and buy something. The candy is not cheap, but at least you are helping to keep a Lorain memory alive.

Easter's Coming and that means it's Faroh's Candies time!

Here's a vintage 1970's Faroh's Candies newspaper ad (click on it for a closer look) that should put you in the Easter mood! If you grew up in Lorain, then you know that it just wasn't Easter without Faroh's candy in your Easter basket.

I stopped in at the downtown Lorain mini-store to get some dark chocolate mallo eggs a few days ago. (Of course my wife and I already taste-tested them to make sure they're okay – and they were great.)

The store wasn't egg-zactly busy when I stopped in, so I hope that things pick up for them as the holiday is only a few days away. The store's future depends upon community support.

I remember when there seemed to be a Faroh's outlet everywhere. Besides the main store on Henderson Drive (see photo at left, courtesy of the Black River Historical Society website), at various times there were stores in the Avon Lake Landings, the Amherst Plaza Shopping Center, and one right below Alex Visci's music studio on Broadway in downtown Lorain. There were outlets in other cities as well.

Here is a link to the current website.

So stop in at the Faroh's store at 657 Broadway for a taste of old time Lorain.

The return of Faroh's Candies... for a while, anyway

A few weeks ago I noticed a big Faroh's Candies sign in a storefront on Broadway. I wasn't sure if it was just plunked in the window or what. It looked like the sign that used to be in front of the Henderson Drive store.

Over the weekend, I got my answer. The Morning Journal had a nice article revealing that Faroh's Candies now has a store at 657 Broadway for the holidays. The store will be open from 10 am to 6 pm.

Click here to read the article in case you missed it.

The store is a great idea, and a great bit of Lorain nostalgia. I sure hope the public supports it!