Westgate Shopping Center Ad – October 1, 1959

Lorainites living on the rapidly growing west side in the 1950s and early 1960s had an incredible selection of convenient shopping choices. Besides the the O'Neil - Sheffield Center (which opened in 1954) and Lorain Plaza (which opened in 1960), there was Westgate Shopping Center.

As noted back on this post, the Grand Opening for the shopping center at W. 21st and Leavitt Road was held in April 1958. Above is the full-page autumn-themed ad for Westgate that ran in the Journal back on October 1, 1959.

Although the ad for Marshall's Drug Store (another forgotten Cleveland chain) dominates the page, it's the little ad for Nobil's Shoes that caught my attention. 

My family bought a lot of shoes at Nobil's over the years (at the various locations). We did go to Januzzi's occasionally, as well as Pic-Way in South Lorain.

But when we wanted full-service, it was usually Nobil's that we went to. Who can forget the days when a salesman approached you shortly after you entered the store and, after you were seated, measured your foot with one of these? Does any store still do that?

(This 2010 post contains my reminiscing about having to endure buying shoes as a kid.)

It's hard to believe that Nobil's was 'merged out of existence' in the early 2000s.

The Westgate ad also devotes some space to W. T. Grant Co. I remember going to the outlet at Lorain Plaza, as opposed to the one at Westgate. It was fun to check out the baby turtles sold in the pet department! I had one for a pet eventually, but I don't remember him living long enough to even get a name. 

Anyway, the remodeling and renovations continue at the former Westgate Shopping Center today.

Marshall's Drug Store Easter Ad – March 27, 1963

We'll close out the week (and the month) with this Easter-themed ad for Marshall's, which ran in the Lorain Journal on March 27, 1963. Next week I'll be posting some more Easter ads, since the holiday is coming up fast.

I don't have any warm and fuzzy (or clean-shaven for that matter) memories of Marshall's, which was a big regional drug store chain out of Cleveland. The ad says there were stores at Westgate in Lorain and  Shoreway Shopping Center in Sheffield Lake. (Marshall's became Cunningham's 21 around 1972.)

The 1963 Journal ad is interesting, because it includes the Mafia-sounding "Big Georgi" Easter Bunny promotion that was still going strong two years later (as seen on this blog post with a 1965 ad). 

There's also plenty of other little items of interest, such as the Hoppy the Bunny plastic pull toy. The wheel-outfitted rabbit is on eBay right now, for the hare-raising price of $99.

Our favorite rugged choice of pants – Jeans Dungarees – were on sale at $1.29. And if you were in the mood for mealtime mollusks, the Marshall's Lenten Fountain Special consisted of "New, Tasty, Delicious Clam Roll," described as "a long roll filled with golden clams, served with tartar sauce." By George, those things look like they're still wiggling in this unappetizing illustration. 

And none other than Old Ski Nose himself, Bob Hope, shows up in the ad promoting his longtime radio sponsor Pepsodent and its line of adult toothbrushes – which seems odd, since The Pepsodent Show starring Bob Hope had been off the radio airwaves since 1948. 

Maybe the marketing angle was to tap into the lucrative denture-brushing segment of the population.

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Speaking of Bob Hope (of whom I'm a fan), I remembered that I had this small, well-worn medallion with his likeness that I picked up at an antique shop in Mount Vernon, Ohio. 

It was part of a keychain, one of which (shown below) is on the Etsy website for twelve bucks.

As I mentioned, I've long been of fan of Bob Hope. We watched his TV specials and saw at least one of his 1960s movies on the big screen (Eight on the Lam) and the rest on television. 

I actually saw him in person twice; once, when I was a member of the All-Ohio State Fair Band, and the second time when he came to Columbus to film part of one of his specials (which I wrote about here).

Marshall’s Easter Ad – April 7, 1965

Since Easter is only a few days away, it’s a good time to post this ad from 55 years ago this month. It’s an ad for Marshall's from the April 7, 1965 edition of the Vermilion Photojournal.

Marshall’s was part of the small Marshall Drug Co. chain out of Cleveland (which you can read about here) that had merged with Cunningham Drug. The Vermilion outlet was located in the South Shore Shopping Center.

Of course, the focus of the ad is the coloring contest for kids, with the winner receiving a “Big Georgi” plush doll. The special “Big Georgi” promotion had already appeared a few years earlier in some Cunningham Drug ads, and if you look closely at the artwork here, you can see that someone merely slapped the word MARSHALL’S over some other store name.

I scoured Ebay to see if I could find a nice photo of a Big Georgi that somehow survived, but if one is out there for sale, I don’t think his owner is aware of the bunny's mobster-sounding name to identify him as such. However, I did find a small photo of one from another drug store chain's 1960s ad (at right), which doesn’t seem to resemble the drawing in the Marshall’s ad too much. It’s not too surprising, because during the 3 or 4 year span that the “Big Georgi” promotion ran, it seems a different doll was used each year.

Anyway, here’s hoping you have a Happy Easter!