Happy Thanksgiving!

Here's hoping all of you enjoy a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

It will be strange for me to celebrate it without my mother, who passed away back at the end of February. But I'm very thankful that she lived so long (almost 96 years), and that I was able to celebrate just about every Thanksgiving with her. That's her at the top of this post, putting a bird in the oven on Thanksgiving 1973 – 50 years ago.

And here's the 'after' shot. Love the giant fork and spoon on the wall.

In the photo of Mom at the top of this post, I noticed the salt and pepper shakers on the back of the stove. Mom was not one to have any kind of knick knacks around the house, but she did have those little birdies out when I was a kid. (They were her mother's.)

Anyway, she gave them to me years ago, and I display them occasionally. I can't help but smile when I look at them.

Ohio Edison Thanksgiving Ad – Nov. 6, 1953

One of the challenges on Thanksgiving is finding room on the stovetop and in the oven for the preparation of the feast: cooking the turkey, preparing all the side dishes (mashed potatoes, dressing, etc), making gravy and anything else associated with the meal. It seems like the stovetop is perpetually cluttered with pots and pans (which the male of the species has to wash) with no room to do anything.

For many years, the house I lived that was located in Sheffield Lake had both a gas stove (left by the previous owner and moved to the basement by us) and an electric one in the kitchen. It was very convenient and perfect on Thanksgiving. 

I still don't know how my mother managed to prepare both a duck and a capon on Thanksgiving with one oven. Her kitchen wasn't all that big either.

But seventy years ago, our old pal Reddy Kilowatt had the answer: a Westinghouse automatic electric range with two ovens. As the Ohio Edison ad below from the Nov. 6, 1953 Lorain Journal notes, "With a Westinghouse automatic electric range to take over the cooking cares, mother can visit with guests and really enjoy thanksgiving with complete freedom from potwatching. The oven, of course, is completely automatic, turns out the turkey and all the trimmings just the way you want them."

"Two Ovens for greater convenience in cooking complete meals with utmost freedom from kitchen cares."

I love the illustration of the nattily dressed couple in the ad as they greet their unseen Thanksgiving guests at the door. (Notice how the art is cropped and the top of the man's head is as flat as a Dick Tracy villain's noggin.) Meanwhile, Chef Reddy happily slaves away in the kitchen.

I'm just not sure if I would have trusted the automatic electric range to handle everything with little oversight. I've seen enough 1950s and 60s TV shows to know that something always goes wrong (like on the Dragnet episode "The Big Weekend," when Officer Gannon leaves a duck roasting in the oven too long).

Officer Bill Gannon has his partner Sergeant Joe Friday over for dinner, and is about
 to cut into a very overdone duck with disastrous consequences on Dragnet

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Reddy was riding the range on Thanksgiving 1945 back on this 2012 post.

Lorain Telephone Thanksgiving Ad – Nov. 23, 1953

Here's a quaint reminder of how things used to be, in a much simpler time.

It's an ad for the Lorain Telephone Company with a Thanksgiving theme that ran in the Lorain Journal back on November 23, 1953. The ad suggests giving loved ones a call on the holiday, and provides a handy out-of-town rate chart for calls from Lorain, Amherst, Avon and Vermilion to variety of cities in Ohio and other states.

Calling from Lorain to Elyria during the day would cost 10 cents; Cleveland, 25 cents; Columbus, 65 cents; Chicago, a buck; Washington D. C., a dollar and five cents; and San Francisco, two dollars and thirty-five cents.

Of course, nowadays, people don't have to wait until a major holiday to call a loved one or friend. With cell phones, you make the call without any sort of thought about the cost, whether it's during the day or evening. But you pay dearly for it; I cringe whenever I make my monthly Verizon payment, but at least Verizon's customer service and coverage is much better than my old Trashphone Tracfone.

Lastly, seeing the little illustration of an operator makes me feel wistful. It's been a long time – probably the 1980s – since I've spoken to an actual operator while trying to get a phone number of someone. I remember how several old Ohio State dorm-mates tracked me down a few years after I graduated, since my number was listed. Now, no one's cell phone is part of a massive listing, so you're pretty much out of luck if you don't know someone's number. 

I'm having a hard time getting used to not having a land line. I still get home from work, looking for the answering machine that isn't there, wondering if anyone called, or if my virus protection expired, etc.

Sugardale Ham Thanksgiving Ad – Nov. 24, 1953

Do you have your Thanksgiving menu all set yet?

Just like last year, I know several people that are having ham for their feast on Thursday instead of the typical turkey. Since most of them are in their 20s, I assumed that it was just an example of the rebellious youth thumbing their noses at tradition. 

But as you can see from the ad above for Sugardale Ham, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on November 24, 1953, this particular preference for pork has been going on for a long time.

The ad features our old pal, Sugardale mascot Hamlet all decked out in Pilgrim attire. As usual, the porcine traitor follows the directives of his corporate overlords by promoting the serving of his own kind.

The "Ham Hints" in the ad are kind of interesting. One includes a recipe for a white sauce that includes chopped peanuts (which potentially could be deadly to someone with a peanut allergy); the other suggests pan-broiling leftover ham and serving it on Melba toast with Welsh rarebit.

I wonder if the current generation of youth, who grew up eating chicken fingers and Lunchables, even know what Welsh Rarebit is?

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I've mentioned several times how the Bradys didn't have turkey on Thanksgiving when I was a kid. For many years, Mom made two birds: a capon and a duck.

Duck for Thanksgiving? Hey that reminds me of this great Daffy Duck cartoon!

Manners Thanksgiving Coloring Contest – Nov. 1973

Thanksgiving is next week. Unbelievable! It seems like it was just Halloween.

Nevertheless, if you haven't already, it's time to start thinking about the upcoming holiday. And to put you in the mood, here's a Thanksgiving-themed ad for Manners that pretty much took up a whole page in the November 5, 1973 edition of the Journal. As noted in the ad, it's the Second Annual Manners Thanksgiving Coloring Contest page.

It was a pretty nice promotion. Kids could bring their finished coloring pages to their local Manners, where their drawing would be put on display. If they brought their Mom and Dad along (presumably to eat dinner there) the young artist would receive a free Big Boy.

Each Manners restaurant would select a winner in each of three different age groups, with $10 Manners gift certificates as prizes. Then the three winners from each location would compete for seven special prizes, with the Grand Prize consisting of a $100 gift certificate from Clarkins department store. 

It's an interesting cross-promotion with Clarkins, especially since the one in Lorain had just opened in April 1973, and was just a few miles from both westside Manners locations.

Anyway, the illustration for the kids to color is quite nice, with plenty of details. What's unusual is that the turkey is rendered realistically, snood and all.

The Manners version of the Big Boy is appropriately decked out with a Pilgrim hat. I still prefer the design of this Big Boy, with his slingshot hanging out of his back pocket, to the more obese version that eventually replaced him. (I explained why there are two different Big Boy mascots to this very day back here.)

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Click here to visit the 'national' Big Boy website and enjoy a very well-done history of the brand. And here is the link to the Frisch's Big Boy website and its history page. 

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If all of this Big Boy talk has put you in the mood for the iconic double-decker sandwich, there are still some Northern Ohio locations, including: 12920 Brookpark Road, Brookpark, Ohio; 1701 E. Perry Street, Port Clinton, Ohio.

Journal Front Page – Thanksgiving 1962

Sixty years ago, there was a lot going on across the front page of the Thanksgiving edition of the Journal.

To the uninformed (like me), the headline seems to refer to the Cleveland Indians and the Cincinnati Reds and some trading deadline. But it was actually referring to a war that took place between China and India. You can learn more about it here.

As usual,  there was the expected, warmed-over holiday fare about the history of Thanksgiving. There's also a lighthearted observation about Santa Claus arriving four times in the next few days, at Hills (mentioned in yesterday's post), the O'Neil - Sheffield Shopping Center, Oakwood Shopping Center and Downtown.

In the seasonal lock-up report, the prisoners were feasting – not on bread and water – but on turkey (in the Lorain County Jail) and chicken in the Lorain City Jail. Interestingly, the Dew Drop Inn was supplying the poultry repast for Lorain's cellmates.

Elsewhere on the page was a report of a hunting accident in Amherst, a mysterious gas leak in Sheffield Township and the upcoming second Sabin Oral Vaccine Sunday.

And of course, Today's Chuckle.

Happy Thanksgiving 1962 Style

Here's wishing all of my readers a safe and Happy Thanksgiving.

Sixty years ago, the Journal ran the full page ad above on Thanksgiving Day, November 22, 1962. As usual, the fun is seeing what companies and organizations are still around today.

Strangely, the ad is top-heavy with ads from our friendly neighbor to the south, Elyria, making it even less likely that I recognize a business that somehow survived until now. In fact, I don't see that any of them are still around. 

I'm just thankful that I'm still around.

Long-gone companies listed on the ad include the Elyria Travelodge, Giant Tiger, Will-O-Lee Nursing Home and Lorain Aluminum.

Anyway, here's hoping you have much to be thankful for on this day.

Happy Thanksgiving – 1971 Style!

It’s Thanksgiving – so here’s hoping all my readers enjoy a wonderful day celebrating with their family and friends. Despite everything going on in the world today, there is always plenty to be thankful about.

And in honor of the holiday, here’s yet another one of those full-page ads that the Journal used to run with a list of sponsoring companies. (Why doesn’t the Morning Journal continue this tradition today?)

There’s a nice sentiment in the ad copy as well, with nary a mention of Communism.

As usual, the art accompanying the ad is of its time and not too diverse. It’s somewhat amusing that the two Pilgrims resemble their modern day equivalents somewhat. (Click here to visit the clean-shaven 1965 version of this ad, or here to go back even further for the 1959 edition.)

Anyway, the roll call of ads contains the usual suspects – that is, many long-forgotten local firms, and the local predecessors of today’s banking institutions. But at least the Journal and Discount Drug Mart are in there (along with Ridge Hill Memorial Park).

Nov. 25, 1971 Ad for Brady’s Chuckwagon

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For more Thanksgiving blog fun, click here to read about the first Thanksgiving from the perspective of 1937. Or click here to revisit those days in the late 1960s when the day after Thanksgiving was an all-day cartoon feast for kids on TV. 

Or click here to bring up ALL of my past posts about Thanksgiving. It’s a real corny-copia of Thanksgiving memories. When you scroll down, be sure to click “Older Posts” in the lower right hand corner to bring up the rest of the posts.

HIll’s Thanksgiving Ad – 1971

I had thought that it was only during the last few years or so that stores started opening on Thanksgiving Day as a way of getting a leg (or drumstick, as the case may be) up on the competition for shoppers on Black Friday.

Well, as Li’l Abner once said: “It hain’t necessarily Moe.”

The above ad for Hills – which ran in the Journal on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1971 – proves that the custom of store hours intruding on the holiday itself started long ago. As you can see, Hills was going to be open that day from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm.

As the ad innocently notes, “So before or after your turkey dinner, come see all the new gift ideas for 1971 at Hills LOW CASH PRICES!” 

I wonder if the snack counter was open that day, to ruin people’s appetite with frozen Cokes (Yum!!) and popcorn.

Note that Santa Claus was arriving that day as well, in a ‘big, shiny fire engine with the siren blaring.” The jolly old elf was going to be handing out coloring books for the kiddies “with details inside on Hills annual Coloring Contest.”

I guess things don’t really change that much over the years after all.

Thanksgiving at Lawsons – November 1971

Fifty years ago, having Lawson’s prepare Thanksgiving dinner was one of the options for families that didn’t want Mom to spend all day in the kitchen.

No, I’m not talking about picking up a sumptuous ready-made feast of Dutch Loaf sandwiches, a bag of chips, a container of Lawson’s Chip Dip and a half-gallon of milk. 

I meant going out to enjoy a fine meal at Lawson’s Family Restaurants.

Below is an ad that ran in the Journal back on Nov. 23, 1971.

You might remember that I wrote about the Lawson’s Restaurants back here. The one in our area was located at 900 N. Leavitt Road in Amherst (the same building that Denny’s is in today).

The menu looked pretty good for that 1971 feast: roast turkey with dressing, broasted chicken, baked ham with raisin sauce, deep fried rainbow trout. After all, everybody doesn’t like turkey.

For side dishes: whipped white or baked sweet potatoes; mixed vegetables.

And, of course, your choice of pumpkin pie, apple pie or an ice cream sundae for dessert.

The ad didn’t include an address or phone number, so I hope nobody accidentally made the trek to a regular Lawson’s. They might have had to settle for some turkey loaf sandwiches, washed down with a glass of Big O Orange Juice.

Lorain Telephone Thanksgiving Ad – 1950

Here’s a Thanksgiving ad that seems a little quaint in these times, when everybody is offended about something. 

The ad, sponsored by the Lorain Telephone Company, encourages Americans to celebrate their First Amendment right by regularly attending worship services with their families.

The ad ran in the Lorain Journal on November 22, 1950. 

Admittedly, some of the copy in the ad is a little odd, with the suggestion that the Pilgrims needed to carry firearms on the way to church because of the ‘painted Indians’ flitting like shadows in the woods. 

(The headline – “We Don’t Carry Guns To Church Any More” – may or not be true either. Most state laws allow for concealed carry in churches, but churches are private property and may restrict firearms as they wish.)

But the basic message of the ad – that practicing our faith was the best weapon against Communism propaganda and misinformation – is a good one.

Happy Thanksgiving – 1970 Style!

Here’s hoping that you and your loved ones enjoy a safe and Happy Thanksgiving! 

Fifty years ago, the Journal featured these two ads in its November 26, 1970 edition. Above is a full-page ad for Elyria Savings & Trust with a nice, stylized illustration signed ‘Nowak.’ I suspect it’s the work of Superman artist and syndicated illustrator Leo Nowak, whose 1958 Kroger artwork I posted back here. (By George, the second pilgrim from the left does bear somewhat of a resemblance to ol’ Supe.)

This second Journal ad is of the variety very familiar to regular readers of this blog, that of the full-page holiday ad with various local sponsors.

As usual, the fun (or disappointment as the case may be) is seeing what’s still around, fifty years later. Despite their full-page ad, Elyria Savings & Trust sponsored this page as well. As many of you might remember, EST became part of First Merit in the late 1990s, which was merged into Huntington Bank in 2016.

Surprisingly, this ad has more survivors than most of the ones I’ve posted in the past. The Morning Journal, the Lorain Palace Theater, and Midway Mall are all still around in some form or another.

And Ridge Hill Memorial Park, which never goes out of business.

Heilman’s Thanksgiving Dinner Ad – Nov. 1960

Going out to eat on Thanksgiving has long been a tradition for many families that simply want to avoid cleaning up a big mess after the preparation of the meal. This provides more time to visit and enjoy the holiday. 

Over the years, I’ve featured a variety of vintage Thanksgiving restaurant ads, including the Deutschof (1937), the Castle (1954),  Howard Johnson’s (1957), and the Airport Tavern (1957).

Here’s another one. It’s for the well-remembered Heilman’s Restaurant at the corner of Broadway and West Erie Avenue and ran in the Journal on November 12, 1960.

It’s a strange-looking ad too. 

Despite the fancy-sounding meal on the menu (a “gourmet buffet complete with garnished hams, decorated turkeys, ice carvings), the ad depicts what looks like twin pilgrim clowns. Each has a bulbous schnozzola that would not look out of place on Red Nose Day.

Gee, the turkey dinner and clown motif is almost reminiscent of an ad for Harvest House.

Sparkle Market Turkey Ad – November 1960

It’s been a while since I featured a vintage Sparkle grocery store ad with Sparky, the ever-happy, freckled advertising mascot, so here’s a Thanksgiving-themed one. It ran in the Lorain Journal on November 16, 1960.

“Lifer’s finest Fresh Frozen Young Tom Turkeys” are the big item on the full-page ad. 

Lifer Turkey Farm was owned by Dwight & Florence Lifer, and was located in Knox County, Ohio near Danville. The turkey farm apparently was well-known enough to be the subject of a 1947 episode of an Ohio Bell-sponsored radio series on WTAM called “The Ohio Story.” (To read the radio script, click here.)

The per-pound turkey pricing in the Sparkle ad varied by size. Turkeys weighing twenty pounds and up were only 39 cents a pound; small turkeys weighing only six pounds (that’s a Tweety Bird) and up were 49 cents.

I don’t remember mom ever fixing a turkey for the Brady Thanksgiving dinner when I was a kid. For years, she fixed two birds – a duck and a capon. She remembers that it was a lot of work.

Lorain County Turkeys – Thanksgiving 1950

Do you buy a fresh or frozen Thanksgiving turkey to serve at your family’s holiday feast? 

Back in November 1950, a lot of Lorain Countians apparently were buying fresh, local turkeys. The article above, which appeared on the front page of the Monday, November 20, 1950 Lorain Journal, noted that 25,000 turkeys were being raised in the county back then by 20 commercial producers for the big day.

The photo accompanying the story shows ‘doomed’ turkeys on the Yates farm on Indian Hollow Road.

According to the article, ‘The turkey crop in Ohio this year is estimated at 1,300,000. 

“Prices, according to reports, will run from 50 cents to 80 cents per pound, according to size, variety and how they are dressed.

“Turkey growers would like to dispel one false impression – that turkey toms are not as desirable as hens.

"“The toms now are delicious for roasting, Mrs. Harvey M. Wilford of Elyria said. “There isn’t any better eating than, say, a prime 30-pound tom properly cooked.” The Wilford hatchery will have about 4,000 birds ready for Thanksgiving this year.”

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For years, whatever frozen turkey my employer wanted to give us was good enough for me. Usually it was a ten or twelve-pounder, which was plenty big enough.

A few years ago, just for something different, I ordered a fresh turkey from Polansky’s. It was very good. But my taste buds, long wrecked from my eclectic tastes (salty snacks, sugary cereals) couldn’t detect a noticeable difference from a frozen bird.

These days, whatever the restaurant (where I’m carrying out from) is serving is fine with me.

A Lorain Family Gives Thanks – 1937

On the same front page of the Lorain Journal that contained the article that I posted yesterday was this inspiring news item (below). It’s about the Rev. and Mrs. Herbert Veler of Lorain (he was pastor at First Lutheran at the time) and why they were so thankful on Thanksgiving 1937.

You see, their son Richard Paul had been born on October 29, 1936 but only weighed a little over four pounds. Consequently he was an ‘incubator baby’ that required special attention. Thanksgiving 1937 provided the perfect opportunity for the newspaper to catch up on his progress; read all about it in this article that appeared on the front page on November 24, 1937.

So what became of young Richard Paul Veler?

It sounds like he enjoyed a fruitful and meaningful life, although not in Lorain. But he remained a Buckeye.

An article in the Springfield News-Sun at the time of his passing in August 2016 noted, "A lifelong learner with a passion for literature, Veler went on to earn his B.A. in English from Wittenberg University in 1958, followed by his M.A. in English from Harvard University where he was also a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. 

"In 1964, he completed his Ph.D. in English at The Ohio State University before returning to Wittenberg to begin what would become a career spanning more than three decades as a beloved professor, Mark Twain scholar, editor and senior administrator. Called "the conscience of the university" by former Wittenberg President Baird Tipson, Veler led several initiatives at his alma mater. 

"Veler chaired the English Department for 12 years and served as University Editor for 14 years, which included editing Wittenberg Today, the flagship alumni publication, and the Wittenberg Review: An Undergraduate Journal of the Liberal Arts. 

"The recipient of multiple awards, including Wittenberg's top faculty prize, the Alumni Association Award for Distinguished Teaching in 1977, Veler went on to earn the University's highest recognition, the Wittenberg Medal of Honor, in 2010. 

"In presenting the award to her colleague, fellow Wittenberg Professor of English Robin Inboden shared that Veler embodied Wittenberg's mission, noting how he inspired hundreds of students "to love literature, as well as his ardent devotion to a life fully lived and not measured, as T.S. Eliot would say, in 'coffee spoons.'" In her words, "he achieved the elusive wholeness of person," and "modeled a faith in students that continues to guide and sustain" his colleagues and friends alike. His personal and professional career was defined by creativity, service, compassion and integrity with one colleague calling him "a man of elemental human goodness.” 

"His family's name lives on at Wittenberg through the Mildred L. Veler Meditation Chapel inside Weaver Chapel, and through an endowed scholarship. Veler was preceded in death by his wife Suzanne, and his parents, both of whom graduated from Wittenberg in 1929."

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here’s hoping all of my readers enjoy a joyous and blessed Thanksgiving!

In honor of Thanksgiving, here are a few scanned pages from the Autumn 1952 edition of ideals magazine to put you in an old-fashioned holiday mood. There are some nice fall photographs (it is still fall, after all) and artwork, as well as some poems and seasonal items. Click on each for a larger version. Enjoy!

First Thanksgiving Article – Nov. 24, 1937

Vintage postcard of Mayflower II and Plymouth Rock 

Vintage postcard of Plymouth Rock

In honor of Thanksgiving tomorrow, here’s a pretty good article about the very first one. It appeared on the front page of the Lorain Journal and The Lorain Times Herald back on Wednesday, November 24, 1937. 

The article consists of what is now considered to be the accurate version of the first Thanksgiving celebration – but without the modern nonsense (usually pushed by the New York Times) that always seems to depict the Pilgrims in the worst light.

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America Looks Back to ‘First Thanksgivers’

Pilgrims 315 Years Ago Had Little, But Celebrated

Tomorrow, while the turkey is being cut and the stuffing being passed around at thousands of American dinner tables, the minds of the feasters will turn back to the first Thanksgiving, celebrated at Plymouth, Mass., 315 years ago.

The hardy band of Pilgrims which had landed on the rocky Massachusetts coast in search of the religious and civil freedom which were denied them in England, had battled nature’s cruel wilderness and had managed to harvest a meager crop from their little “clearing.” Yet the pioneers were so thankful for so little that they held the first Thanksgiving celebration.

Plymouth today is unlike any other town in America. It possesses a historic past, an unbroken tradition that goes back to the very beginning of English-speaking life on this continent.

Visitors to Plymouth find that the past is so alive there that they almost expect the Pilgrims to step out of one of the modern grocery or drug stores there and welcome them.

Down “the first street in America” at the waterfront of Plymouth lies Plymouth Rock, the mecca of millions, glorified as “America’s doorstep.”

The rock is an oval boulder, bearing the inscription, “1620.” The harbor close by looks out over sheltered Cape Cod Bay, which was picked by the Pilgrims as a place to end one of the most picturesque voyages in history and to begin a new era in social and political development.

Just back of the Rock is a small plateau, on the top of which are buried nearly half the members of the Mayflower colony during the first terrible winter after landing. At one time during those months, only Governor Brewster, Capt. Miles Standish and five others were well enough to care for the sick and bury the dead.

On the hill, no headstones marked the last resting place of the heroic 51 who died. The graves were leveled and grain planted over them that the loss of half the colony’s members might be kept from the savage Indians.

On the modern Leyden-st, the first families of America built their homes. The little street was then known as Great or Broad-st.

On each side, the Pilgrims built their first crude cabins. They erected their fort there and later built a watch tower, hedged with palisades and beacons.

Two copper cannon now overlook the street from the brow of Burial Hill, which stands above it. The cannon are British; dated 1550 and 1554 and are the only ones of their kind known to exist in the United States. They were taken from the decks of the Mayflower for use in the fort against the Indians.

Burial Hill is now one of the most famous shrines in the country, ranking with Arlington cemetery as a mecca for those who would worship Americans who died with honor.

During the summer before the first Thanksgiving, the supply of food brought from England was exhausted and there remained but one pint of corn in the whole settlement.

Five Kernels of Corn

Five kernels were given to each man, woman and child in the colony. For three or four months, none of them again tasted bread or corn. They were forced to live on shellfish, berries and acorns.

With great eagerness, the band watched their first harvest ripen. At length, with the grain cut and in, Governor Bradford sent four men out to kill fowl for the first Thanksgiving dinner. The four killed enough birds to last the colony for a week.

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated for three days, with King Massasoit and 90 other Indians being entertained during that time.

The first Thanksgiving was not intended, as many believe, as a day of religious worship. The colonists ‘relaxed’ after a summer and early fall of ceaseless work. The week of Thanksgiving was their first real playtime.

Running, jumping and climbing games were on the schedule. Everyone took part in these. Four women did all of the cooking for three days for 30 colonists whose hunger had been aroused by months of starvation. Besides, there were 90 Indians with healthy appetites.

The Day After Thanksgiving – 1968

Well, it’s the day after Thanksgiving. Hope your holiday was great!

Fifty years ago, the day after Thankgiving was November 29, 1968. And that was the day that Santa Claus made his traditional arrival at Sheffield Shopping Center, as announced in the full-page Journal ad above.

(It’s kind of a strange looking Santa in the ad. Although he is usually described as being able to fit in a miniature sleigh, this ‘jolly old elf’ looks to be towering more than six feet tall. He also has one of the longest and most bendable torsos I’ve ever seen.)

I don’t remember making the trek to Sheffield Center for a Santa Claus arrival more than once if at all. On the Friday after Thanksgiving, we were too busy watching cartoons. (The ABC television network used to rerun a bunch of their Saturday morning TV programming on that Friday after Thanksgiving, which I wrote about here.)

Anyway, on that same day after Thanksgiving 1968, the article below ran in the Journal. It tells of the appearance of Edna Kaye’s Steel City Strutters of Lorain at Philadelphia’s 49th annual Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The photo of the Snoopy balloon is from the Macy’s parade in New York. Note the lighthearted holiday fare playing at the Astor.

Happy Thanksgiving – 1965 Style!

Well, it’s Thanksgiving – so here’s hoping all of you enjoy the day, perhaps enjoying a fine meal with friends and family as you contemplate your blessings.

And in honor of the holiday, here are a couple more Thanksgiving-themed ads from the pages of the Lorain Journal.

First, here’s another one of those full-page sponsored ads that the paper used to run each year. This one is from 1965.

At least this one doesn’t feature the Grim Reaper, as so many of the other ones did – for July 4th, New Year’s Eve, School’s in Session, etc.

Not too many companies from the sponsor list are around today, mainly Columbia Gas and the successors to the various banks. But I’m pretty sure Ed’s Transmission is still chugging along on all cylinders in Elyria, and Dairymens still distributes its fine products in our area.

But Kline’s, Edna’s Hitching Post, George May Ford, A&P, Harry’s Mens Wear, Broadway Bowling Lanes, Bazley Market, Herb’s 333, Jacoby Food Fair, and Casey’s Drive-In are all just nostalgia blog fodder today.

My second Thanksgiving ad is one for Hart’s, billed in its November 21, 1946 ad as “Lorain’s Largest Jewelry Store.”

That’s a good-looking Pilgrim Turkey with an authentic-looking snood.

Anyway, it’s always fun seeing the prices on these vintage ads, such as a safety razor (18 cents), a man’s Elgin or Bulova watch ($67.50) and a women’s six diamond pair 14K yellow gold rings ($175).

In today’s prices, that’s $2.33, $875.37, and $2,269.48.