Lawson's Labor Day Ad – Sept. 1966

Do you have everything you need for the traditional Labor Day cookout tomorrow?

Sixty years ago, Lawson's really had its finger on the pulse of customer shopping habits when it came to Labor Day picnics. It knew what people wanted and put those items on sale. Here's its full-page Journal ad from September 1, 1966.

It mirrors my shopping list for today: hot dogs, buns, potato chips and potato salad. It just seems like that's what the menu should be on Labor Day. And maybe some baked beans on the side.

I like the Harry Volk clip art; those artists always did a nice job of capturing of moment and making it seem real. But I wonder if anyone ever really wore a chef's hat when barbecuing?

I know they did in cartoons.

Thanksgiving in Lorain – 1975

Looks like the hunter became the hunted
in this illustration from a Lawson's ad

For my last installment looking back at Thanksgivings of yesteryear, let's drop in on 1975. 

The big story on the front page of the Thanksgiving edition of the Journal on Nov 27, 1975 was the $2.3 billion bailout proposal by President Gerald Ford to rescue financially ailing New York City. 

Elsewhere on the front page was the traditional kickoff of the Clothe-A-Child campaign, which replaced the Mary Lee Tucker Christmas Benefit Show in 1969. (I've written almost two dozen posts about the Mary Lee Tucker program, including a 5-part series about its history starting here.)

The Page of Opinion included another well-written and inspiring editorial about Thanksgiving.

For eating out on the big day, there were more choices than in previous years, including the Elyria Holiday Inn, the Oberlin Inn, the Showboat in Huron and – a favorite of the Brady Bunch – the Brown Derby on Kolbe Road. For several years around that time it was our special place to celebrate a big event.

However, if you were thinking of a nice Thanksgiving Roast Beef Sandwich, you were out of luck, pardner.

If you wanted some entertainment beyond Thanksgiving TV specials, you could head out to The Joker at Midway Mall and see the Michael Stanley Band in concert.

For those that prepared their own Thanksgiving meal, the grocery and convenience stores ran the usual ads about a week before. Looking at the A&P ad, I had forgotten about the goofy Price and Price campaign.

Good to see Lawson's was offering its iconic Dutch Loaf for those that planned a more eclectic Thanksgiving menu.

And for those who wished to enjoy a cocktail, the late great Cotton Club offered a coupon towards any of its products, including Less Sweet Ginger Ale (with Big Ginger on the label) and 50/50 – two favorites in our house.

Lastly, the days of the Thanksgiving-themed ads seemed to have ended in the mid-70s. I had a hard time finding any at all around the holiday, until I found an old reliable: First Federal Savings of Lorain.

1965 Ads: Hot Dogs for Memorial Day!

Have you ever heard about that research study claiming that eating a hot dog can shave about a half hour from your life expectancy? It basically states that hot dogs are about the worse thing that you can hungrily shove into your gaping maw.

I don't really believe that. As Mom always preached, "Everything in moderation." Just don't eat them all the time.

The hot dog study (probably commissioned by the Hamburger Association of America) certainly hasn't kept me from ordering the occasional delicious coney dog at Dog 'N Suds this spring. (BTW, Dog 'N Suds will be the subject of a major post next month.)

Anyway, it seems that hot dogs have had a strong connection with Memorial Day cookouts for a long time; well, at least since 1965.

Above is a Lawsons ad that ran in the Lorain Journal back on May 28, 1965. Wieners are definitely top dog in the ad. I like the illustration of a chef-hatted dad ringing a Western dinner triangle, like he was Wishbone on Rawhide.

And below are two ads that ran in the Journal on the same day: May 26, 1965. One is for Sugardale Coneys and the other is for Superior's Frankies - the Keener Wiener. (Both companies have been featured on this blog before.) The Sugardale Coneys package has its great Hamlet the pig mascot; the Superior's Frankies has our old pal Frankie.

If these 1965 ads give you a hankering for a frankfurter, just exercise some moderation. 

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that Frankie is still employed as spokeswiener for Superior's. In fact, it doesn't even look like the company even makes hot dogs any more.

Sugardale still makes its tube steaks, but it doesn't look like Hamlet is featured on the package these days. 

The porcine mascot probably retired to some Ohio, er, hamlet –  where he can live in peace, far from big city butchers and meat processors.

Grand Opening of Lawsons – April 1965

Lawson's convenience stores has been a favorite topic on this blog, amassing twenty posts over the last 16 years. We all have our favorite memories of the ubiquitous store chain, including its Big-O Orange Juice, its famous Lawson's Chip Dip, and the great selection of lunch meat (such as chipped chopped ham, dutch loaf, etc.) available in the well-stocked, well-lit stores.

We each have our own favorite location that we frequented as well. For the Bradys, it was the one on Oberlin Avenue near W. 30th Street – where we might would stop if we needed some lunch meat in between our weekly grocery shopping trips. But no matter which location you went to, you could be assured of a clean store with quality items on its shelves.

I've posted some grand openings of specific stores before, and here's another one: the store at 1426 Oberlin Avenue, right across from the Lorain Creamery. The ad at the top of this post appeared in the Journal on April 1, 1965.

It was kind of an aggressive move, locating a store specializing in milk right across from a hometown dairy. But most of the popular items that the convenience store carried weren't available at the Creamery anyway. 

The Lawson's chain was later acquired by Dairy Mart, and it appears that the store at 1426 Oberlin Avenue was involved. But at some point – either when the store possibly decided to end its affiliation with the chain, or when Dairy Mart was closing a massive number of stores during its bankruptcy – the store became Daily Mart.

Hey, at least the new name fit on the existing Dairy Mart sign perfectly.

Lawson's Halloween Ad – Oct. 28, 1964

The mention of Lawson's always conjures up pleasant memories for those of us that shopped there. So it's no surprise that the regional convenience store chain conveniently pops up on this blog regularly. Its ads were always well done and designed with a theme appropriate to the season.

Above is a particularly handsome ad that ran in the Journal on October 28, 1964. I like the various type fonts and the ad has great nostalgic appeal. It really puts you in the mood for cider and donuts. 

(I even had to go get a glass of cider out of the fridge while preparing this post. It's Honeycrisp Cider from Burnham Orchards on Route 113. Very tasty.)

It's funny how so many of us have fond memories of Lawson's, as well as Convenient Food Mart out of Elyria. Both chains maintained a high degree of quality, with clean, well-stocked stores. I really liked the Sunshine Farms milk sold at Convenient.

Open Pantry was another local chain, but it didn't have the same allure as the other two. 

Today, it's somewhat depressing going into most convenient stores, even 7-Elevens. You feel like you'd have to be nuts to buy anything to eat there. They seem to exist just to sell alcohol and lottery tickets. No chipped, chopped ham or Dutch Loaf there.

On the other hand, I have no problem getting a sub at a GetGo Café. In fact, I stopped at the Avon store recently and picked up my favorite sandwich – The Pilgrim. 

It's a great sandwich. I even tried to replicate it in the Brady Kitchen® but without success.

Lawson's Ad – March 3, 1963

Lawson's seems to be one topic that I have endless milked during the past year.

Why? For one thing, the convenient chain sponsored the ill-fated Issue 1 in the fall of 1962, attempting to do away with the Blue Law so the firm could be open on Monday. And Lawson's was a company that believed in the power of advertising, with huge ads pushing one main sales item, such as the ever-popular Dutch Loaf. 

The full-page ad below is a little different in that it's not selling milk, orange juice or lunch meat; it's selling an idea – specifically that everyone was enjoying lower milk prices because of Lawson's. It appeared in the Lorain Journal on March 3, 1963.

Lawson's makes the case that because of its efficiencies in production, its streamlined distribution system and low container costs, the cost of any brand of milk in a market where Lawson's was doing business was lower than the national average.

It's an interesting feel-good ad, but I'm not sure if it won any new converts. I think they'd have been better off pushing hard salami on sale.

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It's funny how I feel nostalgic about Lawson's, despite the fact it probably helped put the local dairies out of business.

We drank a lot of milk in the Brady House when my siblings and I were kids. We had a glass of it with breakfast and lunch, and of course we put it on cereal, which we we had not only at breakfast, but also as a snack.

We were still having Home Dairy deliver milk in the late 1960s/early 70s. I can still see the wire milk holder in our garage next to the steps. But at some point, our milk man had come into the house (without knocking) and startled Mom. I think the story was that it was hot out and he wanted to put the milk in the fridge. 

At that point, the time was ripe to drop home delivery and just buy it ourselves – probably at Lawson's, which was only a few minutes away.

Lawson's Krazy Kow Karton – January 1973

Back in November on this blog, I featured the Jerzee Moo Cow Creamer – a cow-shaped container that the Ohio-based Defiance Milk Products distributed as a promotional item in the fall of 1972.

While the idea of pouring milk out of a cow's mouth might be udderly disgusting to some, Lawson's must have thought it was a good idea. Why else would they come up with the Krazy Kow Karton, a carton with little fold out ears and horns, for their chocolate flavored skim milk?

The ad below (from the January 17, 1973 Journal) shows a disembodied hand (not unlike the Thing on The Addams Family TV show) pouring the Krazy Kow Karton. 

I can't tell if the little boy in the ad is giddy with excitement, or ready to barf.

Anyway, a quick search on the internet reveals that apparently none of these things still exist, fifty years later. It's not hard to understand why, since it's the thing that nightmares are made of.

Yes, if I have to remember a Lawson's milk carton, I'd much rather think of this non-bovine one, (courtesy of Worthpoint.com). It's like an old friend.

Lawson's Big-O Orange Juice Ad – December 17, 1962

During the fall of 1962, Lawson's took a beating in the newspapers with a lot of bad publicity, thanks to its sponsorship of the ill-fated Issue 1. But that didn't stop the company from continuing to do a lot of advertising in the paper after the election, including this handsome full-age ad for Big-O Orange Juice which ran in the Journal back on December 17, 1962.

For those who only remember Big-O Orange Juice through its memorable commercials featuring a Lawson's tanker truck, the ad provides an opportunity to take a closer look at the whole operation. It's pretty impressive. The ad notes, how "the oranges are picked fresh in the morning... graded, squeezed, flash-chilled, and shipped in refrigerated tankers the same day... here in 40 hours or less!"

The ad also points out that "Lawson's orange juice is absolutely pure – with no concentrate, no coloring, no additives of any kind. And its cost is kept low through the same famous Lawson distribution plan that holds your milk price down: controlled outlets, fast delivery, glass containers, high volume, quick turnover!"

It's a great advertising campaign that in my opinion has no equal, even sixty years later.

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Although we drank Lawson's milk when I was a kid, I don't think that we ever had Big-O orange juice in the Brady household. Orange juice was something we had only on Sunday morning, along with perhaps a Hough Bakery kuchen or Sara Lee coffee cake that had to be thawed out.

The orange juice had to be thawed out as well, as it was always from frozen concentrate – usually Tropicana, never Minute Maid (which is what Bing Crosby and his clan were always drinking on TV commercials).

My parents didn't start drinking orange juice every day until I came home from college. The tales I told them about my working in the dormitory cafeteria, refilling the beverage machines (including orange juice) and lugging around huge bags of liquids, must have planted the idea. And I've been drinking orange juice every day ever since, including at breakfast as well as during the evening (when I'm out of pop).

Lawsons vs the Blue Laws – Nov. 1962: Part 2

A few days before Election Day 1962, the Journal was filled with ads both for and against the statewide amendment sponsored by Lawson's that would allow the dairy chain to be open on Sunday.

Here's another full-page ad opposing the "Sunday Necessities Amendment." It ran in the paper on Monday, November 5, 1962.

Interestingly, the ad features the names of many popular local businesses encouraging a "No" vote, including Hart's Jewelry (a favorite on this blog), Ted Jacobs, Kline's, Smith & Gerhart, the Style Center, Sam Klein Company, Jupiter Discount Store, McKee Shoes, Bazley Meat Market, Driscol Music Co., and Willow Hardware. Grocery store giants Kroger, Pick-N-Pay and Fisher Foods also opposed the amendment.

In the end, surprisingly, the amendment failed – and consequently opened a can of worms in the process. On the front page of the November 7, 1962 Journal, it was noted that Lorain was going to begin to enforce the blue laws on the books, due to "the overwhelming defeat of Issue No. 1

Lawson's had the final word a few days later, when the ad below ran on Friday, November 9, 1962.

It wouldn't be until 1973 when the blue laws were officially repealed in Ohio.

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Despite failing statewide, it was actually a close vote on Issue 1 in Lorain County. According to an article in the November 7, 1962 Journal, the law "was supported by a slim 77-vote margin."

Issue 1 was supported by Avon, Oberlin and Sheffield Lake. It failed in Lorain, Elyria, North Ridgeville, Amherst and Avon Lake.

In Lorain, Issue 1 lost by 428 votes; in Elyria, a mere 28 votes. And it was supposed in Sheffield Lake with a 217-vote majority.

Lawsons vs the Blue Laws – Nov. 1962: Part 1

Do you do a lot of shopping on Sunday?

I try not to. After all, it is the Sabbath. But if I didn't get my grocery shopping out of the way on Saturday, I end up at Giant Eagle on Sunday. 

It's hard to believe, but sixty years ago, a variety of Sunday closing laws (known as "blue laws") imposed limitations or outright bans on many common activities, such as shopping and buying liquor. Thus grocery shopping on Sunday was out of the question.

In Ohio back in 1962, the Lawson Milk Company tried to overturn the blue laws with a statewide bid to change the Ohio Constitution. The amendment that Lawson sponsored was called the Sunday Necessities Amendment.

A variety of ads both for and against the amendment battled it out in the Journal in the weeks leading up the election.

Here's one against the amendment that ran in the Journal on November 3, 1962. It's interesting because it features an illustration of what looks like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Strangely, the text of the ad doesn't even try to tie in with the illustration.

The ad notes that Consolidated Foods Corporation of Chicago, the owners of The Lawson Milk Company, is sponsoring the amendment, and observes, "It takes no stretch of the imagination to realize who is paying the bills and calling the plays... and who would get richer if the Lawson stores all over Ohio stayed open while your regular milk supplier "observes Sunday."

"If we allow the "Sunday Opening" amendment to pass and open the door to the biggest of all businesses – food – it won't be long before every business will want to sell on Sundays – fair for one, fair for all. Sunday, as we know it, will cease to exist when that happens. It would be just like any other day in the week."

Here's a full-page ad sponsored by Lawson's that ran in the same edition of the Journal. It makes a good argument as well.

Lawson's Cider Ad – October 5, 1962

Fall is my favorite time of year. The fall foliage in Lorain County has been really nice lately (although I haven't had much time to go out and enjoy it, beyond what I see on the way home from work). 

I also love the whole autumn ritual of heading out in the country and buying bags of apples from the people who grew them, as well as half-gallons of their fresh cider. I've already had some terrific apples and cider from Miller Orchards, and I just picked up some Honeycrisp cider made by Burnham Orchards. It was pricey, but I'm looking forward to trying it.

Speaking of cider, that particular seasonal beverage is the focus of this ad for Lawson's that ran in the Journal back on October 5, 1962 – sixty years ago.

The ad copy notes that the cider was "rich with the juice of Baldwin, Winesap and Delicious apples from Ohio's orchards," and that Lawson's was picking it up "fresh at nearby cider mills, bottling it in our Dairy plant, and rushing it to our stores – keeping every jug constantly chilled to protect that country-fresh flavor."

At least it sounds like Lawson's was selling Ohio cider. I won't even consider buying Giant Eagle brand cider, even though it's probably regional product (since Giant Eagle is based in Pennsylvania). 

We have a lot of orchards selling cider around Lorain County, and last year I probably tried them all (Rex Gees, Hillcrest, Burnham, Miller, etc.). I won't say which was my favorite, but they were all good – and I counted 6 or 7 cider empty jugs under my sink by the time Christmas rolled around.

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Apples, orchards, cider and even Johnny Appleseed have been regular topics on this blog.

Lawson's Ad – August 6, 1962

It's been a fairly food-filled week here on the blog, with 1962 ads for a grocery store and a meat market. 

Along those lines, here's a full-page ad for Lawson's that ran in the Journal back on August 6, 1962. Lawson's had been open in Lorain since June 1959, and the convenience store had been advertising aggressively ever since.

Lawson's bright, clean, well-stocked stores had become a magnet for shoppers, who didn't mind spending a little more for the time saved by avoiding the long grocery store lines when they only needed a few items. Shopping at Lawson's was quite a different experience than wandering into one of today's independent (and often filthy) convenient stores, which exist mainly to sell liquor and lottery tickets, with groceries (at astronomical prices) merely an afterthought.

The Lawson's ad has an interesting angle, posing the question: Which bread do you prefer?

The choices were New Style ('smooth, silky bread with an extra-fine, cake-like texture') or Old Style (described as 'the more familiar, conventional texture of bread made from slow-rising dough'). I'm guessing the New Style was similar to Wonder Bread, and Old Style more like Hillbilly Bread.

So what kind of bread did my mother buy? I guess the answer would be Deluca Bakery, since it was right there on Oberlin Avenue. Of course, she also shopped at the Nickles Bakery outlet store on W. 21st Street, so she bought whatever they had (including Hillbilly Bread).

I do remember Mom buying Wonder Bread (or something similar) from time to time. We used it to make little dough balls when we were going fishing.

Lawson's Fourth of July Specials Ad 1962

Lawson's has been a favorite topic on this blog. It was the first of the convenience stores in our area (opening in Lorain in 1959), and the former stores – easy to recognize thanks to the chain's distinctive architecture – will continue to haunt the streetscape of Lorain County for years to come.

But sixty years ago, Lawson's was still in its early days here, and it advertised plenty in the Journal. Above is a full-page ad that ran in the paper on July 2, 1962. 

I like the serene scene of the young nuclear family on a pic-a-nic. There are the two children – one boy, one girl per government specifications – and Junior has on the striped shirt that was so popular back then. Even Charlie Brown's pal Linus wore one.

Mom looks like a young Grace Kelly.

And we get yet another Cleveland Indians ticket outlet. You could pick up your Tribe tickets and some Budget-Pak Ice Cream at the same time.

What, no Dutch Loaf on sale?

Lawson's Restaurant?

Here are two interesting ads from fifty years ago that I didn’t quite have time to post in February. They’re both for the Lawson's Restaurant that was located at 900 N. Leavitt Road in Amherst. The ad above ran in the Journal on Feb. 17, 1971.

About a week later on Feb. 23, 1971 this full-page grand opening ad appeared in the same paper.

I first wrote about how Lawson’s dallied with opening their own restaurants back here. Here’s a promotional postcard showing an unnamed location.

It’s an intriguing concept. But although you might expect the menu to include Dutch Loaf sandwiches with a glass of "Big O" Orange Juice to wash it down, it looks like they had higher culinary aspirations with those char-broiled steak dinners mentioned in the Journal ads.

Nevertheless, the Lawson’s Restaurants apparently didn’t last too long. Within a few years, it was rebranded as L-K Townhouse. Today there’s a Denny’s at the site.

Maybe they should have put Dutch Loaf on the menu, with potato chips on the side and a little bowl of Lawson’s Chip Dip.

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Here’s a photo of the Denny’s at 900 N. Leavitt Road,  courtesy of Google Maps.

L&K and Leavitt Road Revisited - Part 2

Consolidated Foods of Akron made an interesting decision when it was time to name its new restaurant and motel on Leavitt Road in Amherst in the early 1970s.

Although Consolidated Foods owned both the L&K chain as well as Manners Big Boy, its new restaurant and motel took the name and branding of another chain the firm owned: Lawson’s.

The 1972 city directory listing shown below (with the original L&K Restaurant highlighted) tells the story, with Lawsons Motel Inn motel at 832 Leavitt and Lawson’s Restaurant at 900 Leavitt. (They first appeared in the 1971 edition, however.)

The Cleveland Memory Project website features a postcard with a Lawson’s motel and restaurant. The back of the postcard reads, "LAWSON'S RESTAURANT & MOTELS 16201 Euclid Avenue Cleveland, Ohio 44112, Phone 216-281-2600; Restaurants and Motels in Ohio, Motels in Stow, Montrose, North Canton, Amherst and Macedonia. Swimming pools; Color T.V. and phones in all rooms."

Courtesy Cleveland Memory Project

There was another Lawson’s Restaurant – the first in the chain – on Babbitt Road in Euclid. 

The Lawson’s restaurant/motel experiment apparently did not last very long, because by the time of the 1973 Lorain city directory, both properties were rebranded as part of the L&K chain as seen in the listing below (with the original L&K restaurant highlighted).

Thus, there were two L&K restaurants on Leavitt Road within the same quarter mile– the original next to the Marathon station, and the L&K Towne House, home to many club meetings.

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By the mid-1970s, the L&K Motel appears to have taken on a new name, judging from various online newspaper accounts from that time. It was often referred to as the Penny Pincher Motel (or L&K Penny Pincher Motel.)

Commercial development consisting of national restaurant chains continued to thrive along Leavitt Road. Sambo’s opened its Amherst location in the spring of 1977. Below is an ad for the pancake house that ran in the Amherst News-Times on May 5, 1977.

An announcement of the construction of a Bob's Big Boy on Leavitt near the Route 2 interchange ran in the Amherst News-Times on November 10, 1977. And McDonald’s made its appearance at 500 Leavitt Road as the 1970s drew to a close.

Next: The 1980s and the fate of L&K