Grand Opening of Smedley's Sohio – June 1954

For many years, it seems like there was a service station associated with one of the major oil companies on the corner of every busy major intersection in Lorain and the surrounding areas. You could always count on seeing a well-known, easily recognized national brand.

Sohio (part of the Standard Oil Company) seems to have launched its expansion beginning in the 1930s, buying out smaller stations affiliated with lesser brands and replacing them with their own. A few examples would be stations located at E. 30th and Pearl; Colorado Ave. and Root Road; Oberlin Ave. and Meister Road; and W. 21st and Leavitt Road.

And here's another one: Smedley's Sohio Service, located at E. 31st and Grove Ave. The station held its Grand Opening back on June 19, 1954 as noted in the Lorain Journal ad that ran that day. The Sohio station replace one of unknown branding operated by Louis Czapp and Alex Vangeloff.

Note that a set of six Libbey 'Safedge' glasses were given away with the purchase of six gallons or more. (Wondering what a Libbey Safedge is? Click here.)

Today a BP station is at that location (BP acquired Standard Oil back in 1987).

Anyway, I like to post vintage Grand Opening ads of any kind, and I've had this in my files for a while. But I must confess, part of my interest in this ad is the last name of the proprietor – Smedley – as it is the same name as Cap'n Crunch's pet elephant.

Sohio Road Map Ad – May 1930

So when was the last time you drove somewhere and used a road map from a gas station to guide you?

If you're like me, it's probably been a while – about two cars ago. I remember having to buy a map at a gas station while getting lost in a Cleveland suburb. And the map (which wasn't cheap) was something put out by Rand McNally or somebody – not the oil company.

Since then, like everyone else, I rely on my car's navigation system or use Google Maps directions on my iPhone through Bluetooth. (I have handwritten directions just in case something goes wrong.)

But back in 1930, road maps were essential on a trip. The federal highway system was still in its infancy and many roads weren't paved, and were merely gravel – or worse. You had to have a map.

Thus ads with the promise of a free map, like the one at the top of this post which appeared in the Lorain Journal on May 1, 1930, no doubt lured a lot of drivers to their local Sohio station.

Here's a color version of the map shown in the ad.

Sohio maps were pretty well-designed and creative. Here's an ample sample from through the years.

1935

1940

1949

1954

1964

1971

1973

1976

Sohio has been the subject of many posts on this blog.

Sohio Ad With Toppie – October 1971

Do you buy your gas at the same place each week?

If so, perhaps it’s because you have a loyalty card and earn points toward a variety of rewards, including free stuff, rebates or discounts towards other purchases. I have two such rewards cards in my wallet – one for Speedway and one for Mickey Mart. 

Well, fifty years ago, there was no such thing as rewards cards at gas stations, just charge cards. Thus trading stamps (such as nationally known S&H Green Stamps) were used to build loyalty, as they could be redeemed for various premiums.

The Sohio ad below, which appeared in the Journal on October 29, 1971, used the offer of extra Top Value Stamps as an incentive for customers to buy a fill-up. 

As you can see, good old Top Value Stamps advertising mascot Toppie the Elephant was pressed into service as the gas jockey in the ad.

I’ve written about Toppie before (including this post), and mentioned that at one time we had this lunch box and themos (below). At one time, an online auction website valued a mint one for around $6,000. (Sob!)

Courtesy Hake's

Anyway, Toppie packed his trunk and disappeared along with Top Value Stamps many years ago, and of course the Sohio brand is long gone.

Which explains why in 2021, I buy my gas at a station with a big plexiglas moose statue in front of it, and I have a plastic card with his portrait on it in my wallet.

Sohio at E. 30th and Pearl Opens – August 1938

I’ll probably never get used to the fact that British Petroleum (BP) got rid of the ‘Sohio’ brand name after the oil giant acquired Standard Oil of Ohio. Even though the ’Sohio’ brand disappeared in the early 1990s, I’m still not over it – almost 30 years later. 

BP did, however, bring back the well-remembered Amoco brand in 2017 (after getting rid of it twenty years ago). So maybe there’s hope for ‘Sohio’ being reintroduced at some point, if it makes economic sense to BP.

Anyway, back in 1938, ‘Sohio' was a well-established brand in our area, since its gas stations had been around since 1912. The opening of a new Sohio station was a big event, and that’s the subject of today’s post.

Below is the large ad that appeared in the Lorain Journal on Friday, August 26, 1938 announcing the official opening of a new Sohio station the next day. 

The new Sohio Servicenter was located at 30th and Pearl. The staff consisted of Michael Kocak (the Dealer), Michael Kertez and Pete Dobrosky.

The ad copy makes a convincing argument to stop in: sanitary, sparkling-clean rest rooms; free, courteous services, including air for tires, water for radiators, windshield cleaning, road maps, touring guides; free battery service. The station also sold Philco Radios and Atlas Tires.

I like the tagline at the end: "Bring your car up to Standard!”

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Today, the Sohio station’s old location at 2957 Pearl Avenue is the home of Roman’s Groceries. It looks like the same building as the gas station, just heavily remodeled.

Paige’s Sohio Car Wash – Dec. 1970

I’m not sure why, but car washes continue to show up regularly on this blog. 

And here’s another one, which is the subject of the article above, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on December 6, 1970. It was owned by Pete DeSantis (a cousin of Pete DeSantis the potato chip distributor) and was called Paige’s Sohio Car Wash. There was a relationship between the car wash and Sohio Corp., who issued discount tickets for it at its service station.

The article notes that the car wash property used to be part of the DeSantis coal yard. When he got out of the coal business, DeSantis became a land developer. He built an Open Pantry convenience store on part of his land; he also leased part of it for the well-remembered Mister S restaurant, and part for a Sohio service station.

What’s interesting to me is that I’ve driven by the car wash building countless times in my life, and I’ve always thought that it had to be something else before it was a car wash. It just doesn’t look like one. My guess was that it was some kind of bank.

And that’s the same observation made in the article, that the building “looks more like a branch bank than a car wash.”

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Longtime blog contributor Jeremy emailed me to remind me that the car wash on Broadway had a lookalike sister outlet at 2115 W. 21st Street – also called Paige’s Sohio Car Wash – that I had forgotten about. Both eventually dropped the ‘Sohio’ affiliation in their name.

And as Jeremy remembered, the car wash on Broadway became Charleston Car Wash by 2000.

These days, I’m not sure if the building on Broadway is still being used for anything – but it still says “Car Wash” on it, so maybe it is.

Fulper’s Sohio Service Ad – June 9, 1970

Here’s a nice full page ad from the June 9, 1965 Vermilion Photojournal for Fulper’s Sohio Service promoting the Vermilion Lions Club fundraising effort.

Gas-o-Rama seems to have been (and may still be) a popular Lions Club promotion all over the world.

I’m assuming Lions Club members manned the pumps at the station that day, with some sort of profit-sharing agreement that would benefit the club. Tickets were also sold in advance for perhaps a fill-up or some service. Anyone know for sure?

Courtesy Ritter Public Library

The Fulper station was located on the southeast corner of West Liberty Avenue (U. S. Route 6) and Grand Street. Rich Tarrant’s Vermilion Views website (here) says that a Standard Oil station at that corner dated back to 1936. If you follow the link, there is also a terrific color photo of the station as it originally looked, before it was expanded to the building seen in the 1970 ad.

At left is a photo of the original station circa 1942, courtesy of the Ritter Public Library website. This link will take you to the Ritter Public Library page with four vintage photos of the station, including one when it sold Dyna-Gard brand gasoline before it closed for good.

Today the corner is empty. A February 12, 2020 Morning Journal article noted that it was recommended to be a new parking lot, and that seems to be the way it's being used now.

You Go or Sohio Pays the Tow

Although it’s been a rather warm winter so far, much colder temperatures are undoubtedly ahead.

If you grew up in Northeast Ohio in the 1960s (like me), then you undoubtedly remember the winter TV and radio commercials sponsored by Sohio. They began with a unique sound, sort of a twitchy, high pitched electronic plucking effect that got your attention. This was followed by an announcer’s voice (over the echoing sound effect) stating the low temperature forecast for that night, and the promise that if you filled up with BORON gasoline with Ice-guard, you wouldn’t experience fuel line freeze-up. If you did, then Sohio would pay for the tow.

It was a very effective ad that ran for decades. Eventually the BORON designation in the commercials was replaced by a more generic one (Sohio Super Gasoline).

Here’s a recording of one of those short radio commercials with the “Sohio Weather Sounder," courtesy of YouTube. This one ran in Columbus, Ohio. Hearing it really brings back memories.

There were print ads in the BORON Ice-guard campaign as well. This one (below) ran in the Lorain Journal on January 12, 1960. 

I’m guessing that it's an early ad in the campaign, because it doesn’t include the well-remembered promise to pay for the tow.

I wonder if Sohio ever had to make good on that promise?

Here's another Journal ad, from February 1, 1960.

Finally, here’s the Sohio Weather Sounder all by itself, just in case you want to pretend that you’re the announcer and talk with it reverberating in the background. (That echo really goes on for quite a while!)

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Longtime reader and contributor Rae sent me this photo of a genuine vintage Sohio thermometer that she "picked up in her travels." Note that it has the famous Sohio fuel line freeze-up promise: "You Start or We Pay." 

Thanks for sharing, Rae!

1969 Sohio Ad Featuring Forest City Auto Parts "Max"

I mentioned the other day how my original post on Ontario stores was one of my most visited ones over the years. Well, another topic that has proved extremely popular are my posts on the long-necked bespectacled mascot of the well-remembered Forest City Auto Parts chain of stores.

It seems a lot of people remember the guy, and are interested in the story behind him. Fortunately, several ex-Forest City Auto Parts employees took the time to post their reminisce about how he became the mascot and even what his name was: Max.

Which brings me to today's topic: a vintage ad that I found the other day featuring Max (seen at the top of this post). What's interesting is that the ad is for Super's Sohio on Oberlin Avenue in Lorain.

The ad ran in the 1969 edition of the Lorain phone book.

Max had appeared the year before in another Lorain phone book ad for Hageman Auto Parts (below).

It wasn't until a few years later that Max began to officially appear in phone book ads for the Lorain outlet of Forest City Auto Parts (which Hageman apparently became). By then, he had been redrawn and apparently registered as a trademark (judging by the ® by his bow tie).

Here he is in the 1974 phone book ad.

Google "Forest City Auto Parts" and you'll find long-gone photos of Max painted on the sides of the stores, as well as some vintage store printed materials. Here's one of Max that I found recently. It's slightly different from some of the others.

And here's one taken from a flyer, proving that his name is indeed Max.

By George, some enterprising novelty manufacturer should “stick their neck out” and market a retro-style bobblehead of Max – they'd clean up!

John Bober's Sohio Grand Opening – June 30, 1956

June 29, 1956 Lorain Journal ad

Gee, this week sure is full of Grand Opening ads on this blog.

Here's a business you might be familiar with: John Bober's Sohio Service, which celebrated its Grand Opening on June 30, 1956. It was located on the northwest corner of Colorado Avenue and Root Road.

As usual in these vintage gas station grand opening ads, tumblers are the free gift of choice.

It's kinda sad that you don't see too many full-service gas stations any more, especially any with one, visible owner that you could get to know and trust. In fact, I can't think of any full-service stations off the top of my head.

It's funny how everyone has their favorite brand of gas. In our house while I was growing up, Sohio ruled for many years; maybe it was because of the all-important Sohio charge card that we often used on our cross-country family camping trips. (Remember how the back of the card showed all the related Standard Oil service stations that you could also charge gas at?) Later, Sunoco was the gasoline of choice for my parents.

But now more than ever, it's all about the price, and loyalty to one brand is pretty much a thing of the past.

Anyway, John Bober's Sohio continued to show up in the city directories until the 1974 book, when the station was renamed Szabo Sohio Service. By the time of the 1975 book, it was Joe's Garage.

Within a few years, the building had left the world of automobiles behind and was repurposed for the selling of things that grow. It was Country Boy Market in the 1980 book, and Spike's Farm Market from the 1981 directory until around '83 or '84.

By 1985 the building housed the Garden Basket, and from '86 to '88, the Flower Corner called the location home.

Very briefly, the address was home to Zinn Refrigeration in the 1991 book, and then it was Linda's Lighthouse Floral in the '93 and '94 books. After that, there was no directory listing at all for several years.

A new travel complex (gas, convenient store and Blue Diamond car wash) was built in the late 1990s, with a Taco Maker restaurant first appearing in the directory in 1999. Within a few years, however, Taco Maker took a siesta and was replaced by popular Burger King, which remains there to this day, much to the delight of Lorain East Siders.

Today, the busy Valero gas station complex at the eastern gateway to Lorain continues the long tradition of services related to automobile care at that corner.