The Bear Facts About Travelodge's Sleepy Bear

Promotional Diecut Postcard
(Courtesy Vintage Roadside flickr site)

In my post yesterday about the Elyria Travelodge, I mentioned that as a kid I liked Sleepy, the teddy bear mascot for the national motel chain.

Back then, Sleepy was a small bear cub, like Winnie-the-Pooh. He wore a nightshirt and sleeping cap, and was obviously tired and ready to hibernate.

Usually he appeared to be sleepwalking, just like they do in animated cartoons with arms sticking straight out. Other times, he was shown carrying a suitcase, just like Travelodge customers.

Vintage Postcard
(Courtesy Todd Franklin's Neato Coolville flickr website)

According to the Travelodge website, Sleepy originated with the very first Travelodge in San Diego, California back in the early 1950s.

Travelodge made good use of the bruin goodwill ambassador in their advertising.

They used Sleepy not only in printed ads, brochures, postcards and matchbook covers, but on motel signage and items as well.

(Courtesy Dave Eames' great Historic Highways online museum)

For kids, the motel chain manufactured a stuffed version of Sleepy (below). 

For adults, a special Jim Beam decanter in the shape of Sleepy Bear was issued (below).

Sleepy Bear decanter, currently for sale on Etsy

Travelodge even had full-size Sleepy costumes (below) made, so that he could make public appearances.

Courtesy Travelodge.com

Sometime in the late 1960s I believe, Sleepy's design was streamlined and simplified (below).

Then in the 1970s, the sleep-deprived bear was downplayed in advertising, and was often featured only in silhouette (below).

By 1980 or so, Sleepy was completely redesigned and given a new, jowly look. His white nightshirt was replaced with a blue pajama top, with matching sleep cap and slippers.

"New" Sleepy and "Old" Sleepy

In 2004, in honor of his 50th birthday, Sleepy was redesigned to be less jowly (below).

Anyway, while preparing this post I was surprised to discover that Sleepy had been redesigned again in 2012.

Gone are the nightshirt and sleeping cap. This new Sleepy is all grown up. Surprisingly, Sleepy's not even sleepy any more!

Why? According to the Travelodge website, the explanation is that since he sleeps at Travelodge, he's well-rested and ready for adventure. It looks like he's longer a Travelodge customer anymore too; now, he's a full-fledged employee with an official company vest.

He's featured in TV commercials and on the official Travelodge Facebook page.

Travelodge has celebrated Sleepy's new look with a special page on the company website with an online graphic showing his evolution through the years (below).

Courtesy Travelodge.com

I'm sure that the new Sleepy tested well in the motel's marketing research, as he is very much in style with the current crop of animated 3-D movies.

As for me, though, I still prefer the design of the sleepwalking 1950s Sleepy. I can identify with him, too – as I'm always hoping to get that elusive good night's sleep.

****

UPDATE (April 10, 2026)

An anonymous comment left on this post back in 2024 notes, " I found this blog as a result of searching for a nightlight I had as a kid in the late '60s. I still have a vivid memory of it. It looked like the classic Travelodge bear. He was wearing PJ'S, a night cap, and walking up stairs with a candle. The night light emitted a soft blue glow."

I'll bet this is what they remember. It's currently on Worthpoint (or at least it was) and is described as "Vintage Sylvania Panelescent Nite Light Teddy Bear Blue."

Elyria Travelodge Then & Now

I saw this postcard – for the Elyria Travelodge – on Ebay recently, and since it was only a few bucks, I sprang for it.

When I was a kid, the Elyria Travelodge was one of those landmarks that I used to watch for from the back seat when we were in Elyria for some reason and coming up via Route 113. Why? Because I liked Sleepy, the bear that Travelodge used as their advertising mascot. (More on Sleepy tomorrow!)

Using the small selection of Elyria phone books at the Lorain Public Library, along with the Lorain phone books, I was able to put together a rough timeline for the motel. The Elyria Travelodge showed up in the Elyria phone book in October 1961, followed by the Lorain phone book a year later. So it looks like the motel dates to the early 1960s.

1962 Elyria Phone Book listing

It's interesting that the 1962 phone book ad mentions both the Howard Johnson restaurant next door, as well as Carey's Villa.

Here's another version of the same postcard – this one with the water tower cropped out (and a fake, cloudy sky added).

Courtesy CardCow.com

Here's a telephone book ad circa 1965.

The motel continued to show up in the Elyria phone book until the 1986 edition, when the motel's listing disappeared.

Today the Elyria Fire Department's Engine Company 3 occupies the motel's former location (below) in my "now" shot.

More than 50 years after the motel first opened, the trees have now grown to obscure the water tower in the vintage postcard. You can see part of it (it's now bright blue) peeking through the trees above the blue dumpster if you look closely.

The grassy center strip in the middle of State Route 57 is gone. And the Howard Johnson's mentioned in the vintage ad is long-gone as well.

Tomorrow: The Bear Facts About Sleepy Bear 

Vermilion Police Station Becomes Ticket Booth – 1954

It's Friday, and that means high school football.

Which makes it appropriate for me to post this small item (above). It ran in the Lorain Journal on July 21, 1954 and shows Vermilion's old police station being towed away to the school football field to be used as a ticket booth. (Click on it for a readable version.)

Is it still being used as a ticket booth? I don't know. I've done a little research online and I'm afraid there's no definitive answer.

There's a little shack that could be it (circled below) in this aerial photo of the Vermilion Sailors athletic complex (courtesy of Bing Maps).

Here's a closer look at the shack from this past weekend (below).

It seems about the right size. If it is the same building, then it's been modified a little bit, with an overhang added over the windows and a new roofline as a result.

Are there any Vermilion High School alumni out there who know for sure?

Avon First Federal Savings Demo Update

Last weekend I heard that the old Avon branch of First Federal Savings of Lorain was finally being demolished, so I decided to grab a shot while I was out there this week. Sure enough, the building was pretty much down by Wednesday.

I'll have to make it a point to stop in and check out the new digs soon. The building looks nice and homey, and fits in well with Avon's general ambiance. I'm sure the bank employees love it.

Quite a difference from the old building (below).

February 2013 photo

FirstEnergy Demo Update

This was the view (above) last weekend at the intersection of W. Erie and Oberlin Avenue, where First Energy has been in the process of dismantling the old electrical substation.

The real action has been down by the river, though, where the steel lattice towers that carried electrical lines along the riverfront are being removed. (If you're an out-of-towner reading this, you can read the story by Richard Payerchin here on the Morning Journal's website. It's great news for the city, and pretty exciting.)

Hard to believe that the above scene looked like this (below) back in May 2010. Who would have believed that such a transformation could take place in only a few years?

Shreddies Ad – September 1945

Sometimes I think this blog should just be about cereal...

Here's a vintage ad for Nabisco Shreddies that appeared in the Lorain Journal in September 1945.

What's that? You've never heard of Shreddies?

"Shreddies" was the original name of the smaller spoon-size version of the Shredded Wheat biscuits. Sometime later, the product was relaunched as Nabisco Spoon Size Shredded Wheat, and the Shreddies name was discarded.

But the Shreddies name is still around – but just not in the U.S.

Up in Canada, Shreddies is one of the most popular cereals. It's still made by the same people who make Shredded Wheat up there (currently Post Foods Canada, Inc.) but the product is no longer a spoon-size version of Shredded Wheat. Instead, it's more like Wheat Chex – only better. It's lighter, thinner and smoother. It even comes in different varieties, such as a honey-flavored version. (A few years ago they had a maple-flavored version and it was terrific.)

Post makes it in Niagara Falls, Canada. Whenever the spouse and I make a trip up there, I walk over to the factory (a few minute's walk from our motel to see if they're making cereal that day.

When they are, the neighborhood around the plant smells really good.

Here's what the plant looks like (below).

During our visit this summer, I entered the lobby to see if it was possible to take a tour. But no one was around, so I just checked out the advertising displays.

Not surprisingly, they had a nice mounted vintage package of – what else? – Shreddies (below).

They've obviously added on to the original factory over the years, judging by the illustration on the package. If you look closely at the photo, you can see the same distinctive stairs leading to the factory entrance as in my photo.

So, the next time you visit Niagara Falls on the Canadian side, go up Clifton Hill until it turns into Centre Street, and there you'll find Post Foods Canada Corp. at 5651 Lewis Street. They still make Shredded Wheat there, even if it isn't made on the U.S. side in Niagara Falls, New York any more.

And see if it doesn't smell as good as I'm telling ya!

Another vintage Shreddies ad.
This one is from August 16, 1945.

October 1, 1949 – Steel Strike

Here's an eye-grabbing front page back from the era when newspapers reserved their largest headlines for really BIG news.

And this was big news – the announcement that the nation's steel strike was going into effect, with the result that 12,000 steelworkers were idled at the Lorain works of National Tube Co.

The story is from the October 1, 1949 Lorain Journal – 64 years ago today. (Click on it for a readable version.)

Although many members of my family worked at the mill over the years, none of them were working there at the time of the strike. I'm sure it was quite stressful for those working there, as well as their families.

If you have any family stories about the strike or memories of it, be sure to post them!