New Store for Muir's Cut Rate Drugs – April 1955

Logo circa Dec. 1954

Muir's Cut Rate Drug Store has been a regular topic on this blog. Why? Because its history in Lorain spanned the era from the 1920s all the way to the 1960s – making it a spectator to the city's growth and evolution. 

Here's an early Journal ad from the first year Muir's opened in Lorain. Saving money has always been a priority for shoppers and Muir's was a pioneer in that area.

Oct. 20, 1922

The longtime Lorain business enjoyed so much success in the city at its original location at Fourth and Broadway that it opened a brand new store at 758 Broadway in April 1955. The article below from the Lorain Journal on April 27, 1955 tells the story. 

The timing of the grand opening of the new store demonstrated the company's loyalty to Lorain. As the article noted, "The opening coincides with the 33rd anniversary of the founding of Muir Drug in April, 1922, and the opening of the first cut rate store in the Middle West at 521 Broadway in Lorain.

"The new Lorain store is the first completely self-serve store in the Muir chain and is the first in a big $100,000 expansion program undertaken by Muir's for 1955.

""Lorain has always been first in our hearts," said Boyce K. Muir, president and founder of the Muir Co.

""We opened our first store in Lorain with only $1,000; our Lorain store at Broadway and Fourth was the first store in our chain to install a soda fountain; and now our new store in Lorain is the first completely self-serve unit in our company."

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Unfortunately (as I wrote about it back here), while the Lorain store was a sentimental favorite of the company's management, it was also the one that was the farthest away from the corporate headquarters in Michigan – and eventually had to go.

Jan. 8, 1964 ad from the Journal

Muir's Ad With Vintage Easter Toys – April 1955

One of the things that I remember about Easter when I was a kid was that Mom and Dad would sometimes put a little toy in our baskets along with the candy and hardboiled eggs. They were often just little inexpensive windup things, the equivalent of a stocking stuffer at Christmas. I don't know what we did with them after Easter.

You can see the 1950s version of little Easter toys in the ad above for Muir's Cut Rate Drugs (a favorite topic on this blog), which ran in the Lorain Journal back on April 7, 1955. Here's a closeup look at one of them – a wind-up bunny.

And here's one, courtesy of eBay, that somehow survived over the years. It's quite nice, actually.

Another toy in the ad is this 'Egg Laying Chick.' (Hmmmm, should that say 'hen'?)

And here's the real thing, also found on eBay. It has most of its hen fruit.

And lastly is this bespectacled bunny bank.

There are a lot of these things still around, in various colors. It was part of a set, with a matching girl bunny. Some of them seem to be missing all or part of their glasses – leaving two holes between the eyes on the boy bunny, and a weird ridge across the nose on the girl bunny (that would not look out of place on one of the alien races found on the newer Star Trek shows).

Muir's Valentine Ad – Feb. 7, 1945

Valentines Day is tomorrow. Are you still stuck for ideas when it comes to deciding on a special gift for your sweetheart?

Not to worry. The Brady Blog is here with some great ideas, courtesy of Muir's Discount Stores. Our friend the Thrifty Scot (shown above with his Valentine lassie) will make sure the gift suggestions are affordable in these economically challenging times.

Below is the full page ad for Muir's with a Valentine theme that ran in the Lorain Journal on Feb. 7, 1945.

There's quite a selection of personal items, although I've never heard of most of the brands. There are several Barbara Gould products, including face powder and pine bath oil. (To learn the history of the Barbara Gould brand, click here.)

Other gifts for women include Sun Valley Bubble Bath, Fantasia Toilet Water (sounds like a good gift for a dog), and Chen Yu Nail Polish.

Chen Yu Ad circa 1945

For men, there's the obligatory shaving kit (consisting of a mug and lotion) by Champrel. What, no Dopp kit?

Ah yes, there is one – identified here as a zipper kit.

But perhaps you'd like something a little more practical for your sweetie than perfume. A few alternative items in the ad are on eBay right now, so even though the ad is 80 years old, you can still indulge in a 1945 Muir's shopping fantasy.

There's the syrup pitcher with a metal lid. It's not too rusty.

Atlas shoe polish is always appreciated as a gift (although it might seem strange to buy shoe polish without a tall, flightless bird on the can).

And here's a gift for the woman who is tired of sharing her domicile with miserable meeces: a vintage Victor wooden mouse trap.

And if you happen to get outbid, you can always buy a brand new one from Victor with authentic fake cheese. It's lots of fun and really works!

Muir's 1-Cent Sale Ad – October 1, 1953

Drug stores – including the ones that are no longer around – have been a recurring topic on this blog.

In our area, there seems to be one located at every major intersection, whether it's Drug Mart, Rite Aid, Walgreens or CVS. I'm still partial to Drug Mart; that's where I get my prescriptions, and I shop there practically every day. The others? I've never warmed up to them, even though they've been around a long time.

But we all remember the stores that are no longer around, including the big chains like Revco, Cunningham's, and Gray Drug, as well as the little ones like Boston Drug Store in Downtown Lorain. And of course, the independent pharmacies such as Whalen Drug and National Pharmacy kindle the fondest memories of all.

One of the regional chains that I've written about several times is Muir's. It started out as a drug store but eventually evolved into more of a discount store.

The branch in Lorain on Broadway was actually the 'original parent unit' of the 30-store, which was based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. And here is an almost full-page ad for the store that ran in the Lorain Journal back on October 1, 1953.

Front and center is the store's mascot, the Thrifty Scot. (Back then it wasn't politically incorrect yet to depict Scotsmen as notorious cheapskates.)

It's an odd ad. If you look closely at the products on sale, you'll have a hard time finding any recognizable brands. Instead, you find weird ones like Dewey Nose Drops, Lady Fair Cleansing Cream, Q-Wick Room Deodorant, Spotoff Cleaner and Baby Bunting Baby Powder.

Speaking of Baby Bunting, it's one of the few items that I was able to find an image of. Here's a container of it.

A look at the back of the can possibly reveals how it came to be included in the Muirs portfolio of products: the company that manufactured it – Dewey Products Co. – was located in Grand Rapids. 

I guess they produced the Dewey Nose Drops in the ad as well. (Somehow that name make me think of a drippy nose.)

I was also able to find a package of Smiles Blades that somehow survived. That illustration of the beaming, clean-shaven guy is great.

But seeing how the hirsute look is in, and facial fuzz is the norm, I imagine that razor blade sales are fairly dull these days.

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You can see a 1949 Muirs ad here (the post also mentions Jungle Larry, who was the manager of the store), and read about the 1964 closing of the Lorain store back here; 

Vintage Father’s Day Ads

Father’s Day is this Sunday, so here are a few vintage ads with that theme from the pages of the Lorain Journal. They’re all amusing in the way that they portray a typical Dad.

First up – appropriately enough in view of last week’s blog series – is one for The Hoop. The ad featuring a cigar-smoking “Pop” ran in the paper on June 14, 1958.

Ten years later, Harry’s Men’s Wear ran this ad in the Journal on June 6, 1968. The ad features a photo of Harry himself, as well as another smoking Papa (only this time he's puffing on a pipe).

Gee, were fathers always depicted as slaves to nicotine in these types of ads?

Not in this illustration (below) that ran at the top of an ad for Muir’s Self Serve Drug Store, which ran in the Journal on June 12, 1958. This Dad is king for a day and tobacco-free.

So what gifts did the Muir Scotsman help the little tykes pick out? 

Well, the ad included special prices for a variety of gift items, including leather wallets, Paper-Mate Capri Pens, Pocket Watches, Old Spice, Kodak Brownie Movie Cameras, and – you guessed it – cigarette lighters, cartons of popular cigarettes (Camel, Chesterfield, or Old Gold) and Famous Falcon Goo-les Pipes.

So here’s an early Happy Father’s Day greeting to all you Dads out there, including my two brothers (who I think would agree that they had a good role model).

Muir's Closes – January 8, 1964

Muir’s Scottish mascot frolicking in a Dec. 1946 ad

I look through a lot of microfilm for this blog, and get used to seeing ads for specific stores or businesses that ran over the span of many decades starting in the 1920s. These stores seem to have incredible runs, thanks to loyal Lorain shoppers.

Many of them were regional stores, rather than one-shot Mom & Pop endeavors, but they were still part of the fabric of the life of Lorainites.

And then, usually around the 1960s, they closed for various reasons or went out of business. It was part of an unfortunate trend that eventually helped put Lorain in its current dismal shape business-wise.

One of these stores was Muir’s Drug Store. (I profiled the company back here in October 2016.)

It was back on January 8, 1964 that the ad below ran in the Lorain Journal announcing its ‘Going Out of Business Sale.’

Apparently it was big enough news to warrant some news coverage since the Lorain store was the first in the chain. Here’s the story as it appeared in the paper on the same day.

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Muir Announces Closing Of Drug Store in Lorain

Muir’s Self Serve Drug Store, 758 Broadway, original parent unit of the 30-store Muir chain, is closing shop about Jan. 15.

Charles White, field supervisor for the Grand Rapids, Mich., headquarters of the company, announced the decision to discontinue the 42-year-old Lorain store.

It was in 1922 that Boyce K. Muir and his father, John Muir, started the drug outlet, at that time located in the 500 block on the west side of Broadway.

Kenneth Muir, a brother, also worked at the Lorain store. A store was also established in Elyria.

Within a few years main offices, warehouses and a manufacturing plant were erected in Grand Rapids.

White said the Lorain store is being discontinued because the company is concentrating its operation closer to the main offices, and because the Lorain unit was the extreme eastern store, and off the main distribution routes.

In recent years, he said Muir’s has turned to larger sized outlets in Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan and western Ohio.

In behalf of the company he expressed appreciation to the people of Lorain for their patronage over the years, and said the company is sorry to leave.

Mike Murphy, who has been with the organization for five years, has been manager of the Lorain store for the past year.

Persons who have brought in films for development are asked to pick up the finished pictures at their earliest convenience.

At one time there were four Muir stores in this area. The Elyria store was discontinued some time ago. The Lorain store has been at its present location for 12 years.

When established in 1922, Muir’s was known as the Muir Cut Rate Drug Store and was one of the first cut rate outlets.

The move leaves Lorain with three downtown drug stores, one at 8th St. and two in the Fourth-Fifth St. area.

Muir Cut-Rate Drug Store Ad – October 19, 1949

October 19, 1949 ad from the Lorain Journal

Many of us fondly remember Lorain’s great family-owned drug stores, such as Whalen’s and National Pharmacy.

Detail from a July 4, 1949
Lorain Journal ad

But decades before Discount Drug Mart and Revco came to town, Lorain had an outlet for a large regional chain that is largely forgotten today: Muir’s Cut-Rate Drugs.

The chain was based out of Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Its listing (as the Muir Co.) first appeared in the Lorain City Directory in the early 1920s, located at 552 Broadway. Some time in the late 1940s, it moved to 362 Broadway. By the 1950s it was located at 758 Broadway.

Its Lorain directory listing finally disappeared beginning with the 1965 edition.

One of Muir's Lorain store managers went on to be become famous. The manager listed in the 1947 Lorain City Directory was none other than Larry E. Tetzlaff. Of course, you know him as Jungle Larry.

1947 Lorain City Directory Listing

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A nice capsule history of the Muir chain was provided in an ad that ran in the Sandusky Register on September 14, 1966.

Vintage Muir pill box

The ad copy read, "We opened our first Muir Drug Store in 1922 on the premise, that top quality famous-name brands, if offered at extra low prices, would sell in large enough volume to justify our operating at a lower-than-normal margin of profit. That premise has proven to be correct.

"Since that modest beginning over 40 years ago, Muir Drug Stores have grown and grown in number and size and spread throughout the Middle West until today Muir's is one of the largest, fastest- growing and most respected drug chains in America.”

Strangely enough, it was about that time Muir had abandoned the Lorain market. But although the chain is largely forgotten in our area, it managed to survive until the mid-1980s.

The 24-unit Muir Drug Store chain was acquired by Rite Aid in June 1984.

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One of the amusing aspects of Muir advertising is their mascot: the stereotypical Thrifty Scot.

Early appearances show him as a small silhouetted figure, such as seen on the vintage pill box above. But as time went on, he became more prominent in the ads until he became the smiling, friendly face of the company.

He was even featured on service pins given to company employees.

Today of course, using “Scottish thrift” in advertising is recognized as an unflattering and silly stereotype.