Bank on Huck and Yogi – O'Neil's Christmas Ad 1960

Back in November 1960, the Emmy-award-winning The Huckleberry Hound Show was in its third season, and the marketing push associated with the popular Hanna-Barbera program was in full swing. 

Above you see that locally, even O'Neil's was in on the cartoon act. The highlight of the Christmas-themed ad for the store were plastic 'Juvenile Bubble Bath' figures in the shape of Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear. As the ad (which ran in the Journal on November 30, 1960) notes, the non-breakable plastic containers "convert to coin bank when super bubbly, bath crystals are gone."

(Yogi would leave his buddy Huck and star in his own TV show a mere two months after the ad appeared).

It's not too surprising that O'Neil's carried the plastic banks/bubble baths, which were manufactured by Knickerbocker. The company had been very aggressive in coming up with different ways to market the Hanna-Barbera characters. The O'Neil buyer may even have seen the trade ad below.

And the Lorain Journal did its bit to drum up interest in the character banks. The item below ran in the paper on September 21, 1960.

The banks were as unbreakable as advertised. Today they are fairly ubiquitous on eBay.

Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear (two of my all-time favorite cartoon characters) have appeared on this blog several times, with three posts devoted to Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts.

Jellystone Park: the Early Years Part 2

As my blog post from a few days ago noted, Yogi Bear was popular enough in the early 1960s (thanks to his TV show) to be a featured performer at the 1961 Ohio State Fair.

Well when the fair ended, the smarter-than-the-average bear was apparently hard at work coming up with a scheme to launch his own campground empire later in the 1960s – Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp - Resort.

Since I have enjoyed camping at many of the different Jellystone Parks over the years, I devoted a post to the early years of the campground empire back here in 2017. The post featured a variety of vintage postcards and brochures. as well as a few ads.

This post noted how the Journal occasionally ran a small ad in the early 1970s designed to attract potential franchisees. I also pointed out how my present home city of Vermilion was slated to have its own Jellystone Park campground/resort.

Anyway, a few years ago I did a little research as to how the Yogi Bear Jellystone Park Camp - Resort chain launch played out in the newspapers. I collected a lot of articles and ads aimed at both campers and investors, and present them here in chronological order. It's interesting to see how the park's advertising evolved during its early years.

The very first Jellystone Park opened in Door County in Wisconsin. A few teaser ads ran before the official opening in July 1969, and the opening itself was covered by the media. 

A few of the renderings of Yogi are downright unbearable.

Capital Times, May 12, 1969

Capital Times, May 19, 1969

Post Crescent, May 19, 1969

Manitowoc Herald-Times, July 3, 1969

The Sheboygan Press, July 17, 1969

Green Bay Press Gazette, July 17, 1969

Green Bay Press Gazette, July 22, 1969

Rapid City Journal, October 26, 1969

Los Angeles Times, Dec. 7, 1969

By 1970, feature articles were being written about the unique campground chain.

Green Bay Press Gazette, June 7, 1970

Star Tribune, Aug. 30, 1970

Progress Bulletin, Dec. 12, 1970

The year 1971 featured a variety of ads – some aimed at campers, some at investors.

Orlando Sentinel, April 9, 1971

Minneapolis Star, July 5, 1971

Star Tribune, July 29, 1971

Atlanta Constitution, Oct. 24, 1971

Atlanta Constitution, Nov. 2, 1971

Philadelphia Enquirer, Nov. 7, 1971

More ads and articles ran in 1972.

Journal Times, Feb. 29, 1972

Indianapolis Star Sun, April 16, 1972

Redlands Daily Facts, June 12, 1972

Los Angeles Times, July 20, 1972

The year 1973 saw publicity for the proposed Vermilion, Ohio Jellystone Park. And Western movie and TV actor Andy Devine was featured in ads for Jellystone Park with a different approach: selling the actual campground sites. 

Lorain Journal, Aug. 20, 1973

The Daily Mail, Aug. 24, 1973

Baltimore Sun, Oct. 6, 1973

The year 1974 saw another plug for the Vermilion Jellystone Park, as well as ads showing proposed park layouts.

The Times, March 23, 1974

Baltimore Sun, April 5, 1974

Lorain Journal, July 1, 1974

Kokomo Tribune, Sept. 20, 1974

Finally, here are some later 1970s ads and articles. The park system was still attempting to get people to purchase campsites, but that idea was eventually dropped.

The Orlando Sentinel, May 25, 1975

The Pittsburgh Press, Aug. 8, 1975

Baltimore Sun, August 14, 1976

Here's a much later ad for the original Jellystone Park in Door County, Wisconsin. It's still there today!

Fond Du Lac Commonwealth Reporter, Aug. 29, 1996

By the 2000s, the chain was well-established and still growing. This article (below) about the award-winning Niagara Falls campground provides a nice capsule history. I'm sentimental about this specific park, because it was the first place I camped at as an adult after not having camped for decades.

National Post, May 2, 2003

Here is the link to the Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp - Resort website.

1961 Ohio State Fair with Huck, Yogi & Charlie Weaver

I was thinking the other day how it might be nice to go to the Ohio State Fair this year. It's been quite a while since I've been to one. Then I discovered that the Fair is already in progress, running from July 24 to August 4th. So the first weekend of it has already come and gone.

I'm still used to the Fair running much later in the summer. I was down at the 1976 Ohio State Fair for the entire run, first as a member of the All-Ohio State Fair Band, and then for a few additional days playing in the All-Ohio State Fair Stage Band. During that whole time I stayed with the other high school musicians in the barracks at the Rhodes Center (originally called the Youth Center).

Being in the All-Ohio State Fair Band was one of the most memorable and enjoyable experiences of my life. (I wrote about it back here and here.) So I'm a little sentimental about the Fair.

Anyway, back in 1961, the headliner at the Ohio State Fair was none other than comedian Cliff Arquette, better known as his alter-ego Charlie Weaver. 

In later years, he was one of the stars of the TV game show Hollywood Squares. But in 1961, he was known for his regular appearances on the Tonight Show hosted by Jack Paar.

Also riding high in popularity in 1961 were Hanna-Barbera's cartoon stars Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear, who also appeared at the Ohio State Fair that year. Each was the star of his own TV show at that time. I'm curious as to what kind of show they put on. It was probably something like this appearance in April 1961 in Los Angeles. 

(Gee, I would have thought Yogi was taller than Huck. He looks about as big as Boo Boo.)

The article (below) which appeared in the Journal on August 22, 1961, describes the upcoming Ohio State Fair.

What's nice that year is the Journal honored the area high school musicians that were heading down to the Fair for the All-Ohio Boys Band. 

As you can see, the Band used to consist of all boys. The first year I applied (1975) was the first year that girls were in the Band – and I didn't make it that year. Thank goodness I did during my last year of eligibility.

As I noted in my two posts about my time as a member of the Band, it was the first time away from home for me and many of the other high school musicians. At first we were all a little homesick. But by the time of our last concert on the lawn of the Rhodes Center, kids were bawling that it was all over.

A Smarter-than-the-Average Investment – July 1973

For many years, the Journal published a page of business ads once a week under the banner, "Business & Industry Review" or something similar. It was some sort of package deal, with certain advertisers receiving a short, promotional article (often with a photo) masquerading as regular content of the newspaper. I've featured one or two of these pages over the years. They're fun to look at.

And here's another one (above) from the July 16, 1973 Journal. This one is of special interest to me because it includes a short article extolling the benefits of investing in a Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp - Resort franchise in Ohio. Of course, there's an ad (below) accompanying the article.

What's really interesting to me is that there was a Jellystone Park resort planned for my current town of Vermilion! As the article notes, "The first of the nationally developed camp-resorts will begin operation around April 1, 1974 along the Vermilion River.

"Heated swimming pools, a mini-golf course, large playground sites, markets, larger-than-life replicas of Yogi and his pals and outdoor sports are featured at the resorts.

"The Vermilion development of 50 acres will cost $500,000 to construct and will provide an abundance of return for investors who don't want to be left out in the woods.

"Vacationers can avoid boo-boos and phone ahead toll free to already rollicking camp resorts coast-to-coast at 800-558-2954."

I'm sure trying to convince investors to buy into this campground caper was no pic-a-nic. But today, Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts are still thriving and growing. Hey-hey-hey! 

I've camped at Jellystone Parks all over Canada, as well as in Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Interestingly, the 1319 West Erie Avenue address for Recreational Investment Co. is today the home of the Council of Lorain County Veterans, the little building next to "Big V" park. 

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I did a whole post on the early days of Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park Camp-Resorts back here.

Midway Mall Sports Show – May 1973

It's strange to drive by Midway Mall these days, knowing that the property is going to be redeveloped by its new owner, the Lorain County Port Authority. Possible plans include transitioning it away from retail and towards health and wellness, with Cleveland Clinic as an anchor tenant. We'll have to wait and see.

In the meantime, it's fun to look back at the Mall's heyday of the 1970s when there was always some kind of show or exhibit going on. Below is an ad for just such an event : Midway Mall's Sport Show. It ran in the Journal back on May 17, 1973.

Hey, Boo Boo!
This drawing is a boo boo!

It's a fun ad. You have a great French-Canadian lumberjack character, "Paddling Pierre," drawn by none other than Bob Lynch, the Chronicle-Telegram's resident cartoonist and creator of Petey the Pioneer, the Elyria High School sports mascot. On the other hand, you have a lousier-than-the-average drawing of the smarter-than-the-average bear, Yogi Bear, apparently at the Mall to plug his Jellystone Park Resorts.

There's something for everyone: an appearance by former Ohio State Football player and Cleveland Brown Dick Schafrath; square dancing; a fishing rodeo for the kids; a first aid demonstration; a free putting green; a swimming pool exhibit; taxidermy demonstrations; a backpacking demonstration; and a canoe exhibit.

Yup, this show seems to have been designed for a manly, rugged woodsman like myself. I mean, how could I pass up a chance to meet Yogi Bear?

I just hope Yogi's costume was more bearable than the unreasonable facsimile of him in the ad.

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Midway Mall and its special events have been the topics of many posts on this blog.