National Tube Foreman – 35 Years Without Being Absent or Late

From the front page of the Lorain Journal of November 10, 1954 – 62 years ago this week – comes a nice little article about one man’s incredible work record. It’s the story of Joe Endrai, a foreman at National Tube who never missed work or was late during his 35-year career at the plant.

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Lorain Man’s Record
35 Years On His Job,
Never Absent Or Tardy
By ROBERT DESROSIERS

Thirty-five years without being absent or even late for work!

That’s the record of Joe Endrai, who will be tendered a farewell dinner tonight in observance of his approaching retirement, Nov. 30, from his duties as foreman of Bessemer power houses and the open hearth boiler house in the fuels and power department of National Tube Co.

His remarkable record becomes positively amazing when you learn it was achieved while Joe was working all three shifts at the plant – first one, then a second and then the third in cycles.

Plenty of Steak
How did he do it?

“You just have to make up your mind to it,” he says. “Eat plenty of good steak, get at least seven hours or eight hours sleep and some daily outdoor exercise, and not too much drinking and smoking.”

He says he loves all sports and gets his outdoor exercise in his own garden. He’s just over average size; he stands about five feet and 10 inches and weighs in at 175.

Joseph Endrai was born in Kormoneo, Gyor, Austria-Hungary, Nov. 12, 1889, the third of four children, two of whom preceded him to this country. He will be 65 Friday.

He came to the United States in 1906 and went to work in the Amherst stone quarries. He was later employed at the Avon power station and in the Lorain shipyards, after one year at National Tube in 1914.

He returned to National Tube May 24, 1920, and has been there ever since, without missing that first day.

Joe became foreman of the skelp mill boiler house in 1921, and was appointed day foreman in 1944. He was named to his present position in 1951.

Likes to Travel
He was married in 1911 to the former Magdalene Bognar. They live at 2916 Andrews Pl.

Joe and his three sons, Frank, Elmer and George, have a combined service of 75 years in the fuels and power department. He and Mrs. Endrai also have five grandchildren.

Joe’s favorite hobby is traveling. He plans to do more of it in the days of his retirement, hitting new spots and revisiting the more familiar ones.

Farewell Dinner
About 35 active and retired department foremen are expected to attend Joe’s farewell dinner at Ann’s Restaurant.

D. K. Matheson will deliver the address and tribute, and M. E. Wilcox will serve at toastmaster. Others to participate: J. N. Evans, “A Word from the Boss”; G. J. Crehore. Jr., farewell from associates; P. H. Austin, welcome into retirement ranks, and W. O. Gruey, presentation of a farewell gift of matched luggage.

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Joe Endrai enjoyed a nice, long, well-deserved retirement, passing away in October 1975.

General Quincy A. Gillmore Ohio Historical Marker Dedication Ceremony

Saturday morning could not have been more beautiful down at Lakeview Park for the dedication of the Ohio Historical Marker for Lorain’s own General Quincy A. Gillmore.

Despite the seeming lack of local newspaper coverage, the long-awaited event was well-attended.

Matt Weisman

While I knew that the Quincy Gillmore Civil War Round Table (QGCWRT) was one of the backers of the marker, I did not know that local historian and author Matt Weisman was the driving force.

As explained in the current issue of the Swamp Angel, the newsletter of the QGCWRT, “We owe this wonderful accomplishment to the hard work of QGCWRT member and Gillmore historian Matt Weisman. Without his perseverance this commemoration would not have been possible and very likely never even considered.”

Lorain owes Matt a huge debt of gratitude.

The ceremony was quite wonderful. It included Civil War reenactors provided by James A. Garfield Sons of Union Veterans Post #142; period music by Cpl. Timothy Krugman, Musician of the 30th Ohio Volunteer Infantry; Taps and Reveille played by Jim Cherven, Bugler for the 1st Ohio Light Artillery, Battery H, Toledo, Ohio. Lorain Mayor Chase Ritenauer gave a short, eloquent speech.

All in all, it was a great ceremony. Here are a few of the sights.

Before the unveiling

Timothy Krugman

Dedication of General Quincy A. Gillmore Ohio Historical Marker – this Saturday at Lakeview Park

General Quincy Adams Gillmore, the celebrated Civil War Commander from Lorain, finally will be given his due this Saturday thanks to the General Quincy A. Gillmore Round Table and Ohio History Connection.

An Ohio Historical Marker honoring our famous Lorain County Civil War General will be unveiled this Saturday, November 5 at 11:00 am at Lakeview Park in Lorain. It looks to be a spectacular event, with special guests, musical numbers, a display of General Gillmore memorabilia, refreshments, and participation by the James A. Garfield, Sons of Union Veterans, Post #142 (of which I am a proud member) and the 103rd Ohio Volunteer Infantry.

In honor of the unveiling of the Ohio Historical Marker, Matthew Weisman and Paula Shorf have published a dedication souvenir book about the life of General Gillmore (shown below).

Matt and Paula were kind enough to provide me with an advanced copy of the book (and even promote my blog on the back cover). The book includes a wonderful collection of transcribed Civil War era newspaper articles that mention General Gillmore.

A limited number of these books will be available at the unveiling.

So be sure to make it down to Lakeview Park this Saturday morning and be part of a historic event celebrating Lorain's own General Quincy A. Gillmore!

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Need a refresher course on General Gillmore's military achievements that made him famous? You can revisit this article about him that I wrote for the late, great Black Swamp Trader & Firelands Gazette back in 2014. 

Log Cabin Days in Avon – Part 2

Here's the rest of the article about Mr and Mrs. Ben Herwodel, a pioneering Avon couple whose story appeared in the Lorain Times-Herald on November 14, 1928. The article tells of their memories of living in a log cabin in Avon in the 1880s.

The story picks up with more reminisces by Mrs. Herwodel.

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60 Years – In Retrospect
Avon Couple Looks Back to Log Cabin Days When
Village Was a Forest – They were Wed in
’68 When Living Was Dirt Cheap

Part Two

“When my family moved to Avon we built a log cabin down on the Lear-rd,” she states. “Many is the time that we children have awakened with a foot of snow at our bed where it drifted in through the cracks between the logs.

“I used to be the candlestick maker for our family. My father bought me a three-candle mould and I’d mould the tallow which be obtained from sheep and then pull the wicks through with a darning needle/

“Of food there was not enough for a family to live on and many a time we fed up on nuts from the forest. There were many hard times, and yet I’ve seen the time we could buy pork for three dollars a hundredweight – and now look at the prices, ten times that much.”

‘Expensive’ Shoes
“When I hear of how much young girls spend on clothes these days, it makes me think of the time I worked four weeks to pay for a pair of $4 shoes. I was earning a dollar a week.”

And the lady chuckled to herself and slapped her knee as she thought of it. “Just imagine four weeks to pay for a pair of shoes.” Her graying hair has detracted not a whit from a keen sense of humor and her smile is just as broad and friendly as it probably was 60 years ago, when she first met “Ben.”

“Why do people in the country live to be so old?” repeats Ben. “Because they don’t live as high as the city folks, that’s why! You don’t see us galavanting’ around until midnight and going to dances and theaters. I smoke my pipe everyday and I’m healthier than a lot of city folk, and I’m livin’ longer.”

“My years of bridge and ship building have made me strong and robust,” he declares.

“I used to work down at Cleveland buildin’ these old wooden vessels. Once I worked in the old Lorain yards.”

Just One Horse Car
“Lorain was a funny place with its lone horse car. It cost three cents to ride from the bridge down to the Nickel Plate tracks. That’s all the farther the ‘goldarned’ wagon went. I heard the driver say he made nice cents one day.”

Ben has worked on bridges all over the country, down south, in Indiana, Toledo, Cleveland, Lorain, Willoughby, Columbus and many other places.

Mr. and Mrs. Herwodel have six children living. They are Bernard, Jr. 59 of Cleveland; Frank, 57, of Steve Moore-rd, Avon; John W., 50, Cleveland; Miss Sophia Herwodel, 48, Cleveland; Mrs. Anna Dehard, 44, Cleveland; Mrs. Kathryn Hall, 40, at home with her parents.

Log Cabin Days in Avon – Part 1

Today, Avon is one of the Top Ten fastest growing cities in Ohio, with incredible development and change occurring over the last 30 years.

But what was it like 130 years ago? Fortunately, we have a first hand account to find out.

Here’s a great story about the city’s log cabin days, as seen from the perspective of a pioneering Avon couple. The article containing their reminisces ran in the Lorain Times-Herald on November 14, 1928.

There are plenty of interesting things in the story, which I’m breaking into two parts. (The whole article is at left if you don't want to wait for my transcription.) Part 2 even has a mention of Lorain’s "horse car" for you streetcar fans.

(Note: the article was very light and hard to make out with much missing and broken type. My transcription below is about as accurate as I can determine.)

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60 Years – In Retrospect
Avon Couple Looks Back to Log Cabin Days When
Village Was a Forest – They were Wed in
’68 When Living Was Dirt Cheap

Out of the lane of busy traffic and away from the smoky atmosphere of the city an old homestead still stands in Avon – a homestead characterized by two of its occupants, Mr. and Mrs. B. H. (Ben) Herwodel.

Nestled back off the road a little where Chester and Jaycox roads bisect each other the old house nestles among a grove of shade trees. For 43 years those trees have gazed down at the old couple who daily busied about the farm yard, looking over the hay and stock, and watching the horses bring in the loads of vegetables and grain from the 30-acre plot which they own.

It was back in the swamp days when Mr. and Mrs. Herwodel took up their abode in the village. It was in the halcyon days of Avon when the village was still a lusty infant and its cries were heard by not more than five or six families in a radius of ten miles. Many of the old pioneers have died or moved, but the Herwodel’s still stay and in doing so have brought upon themselves the good will of their neighbors.

Still Spry at 83
“Good Old Ben” as villagers call the old gentleman, who still is spry for all of his 83 eventful years, strolls around his vineyards and his acreage with the aid of a cane. His eyesight has been gone eight years, but he’s a fatalist in a way. “Come what may,” says he. “It’s to be and I can get used to anything.” A silver plate is in the left side of his head, a concealed reminder of an accident when he was nine. “Ben” was dragged many feet by a runaway horse and wagon in Cleveland. Since then he has worn the plate and has been blind in one eye. The other failed him eight years ago.

Mr. Herwodel came to Cleveland from Germany in 1852. He was born December 1844. He moved to Avon with his bride 42 years ago.

Mrs. Herwodel claims as her birthplace Baden, Germany in 1844. She but dimly remembers the stormy trip across the Atlantic in a sailing vessel in 1847 with her parents and five other children. Her memory recalls incidents of the trip up Lake Erie from Buffalo to Cleveland. “What a miracle Lake Erie was to me,” she says. “Such a difference from the wavy sea.”

Wed for 60 Years
The aged couple have been married 60 years, their anniversary being celebrated about two weeks ago by a host of Avon friends and relatives.

Age has not darkened the eyes of Mrs. Herwodel. Every night she reads the paper to her husband and is “up” on all the topics of the day – peace treaties, politics and everything else one finds in the city papers. No hesitating when she tells the story of her life in the Avon wilderness and the tale of the woods of what today is Cleveland.

Mrs. Herwodel’s father, Sebastian Lear, for whom Lear-rd in Avon is named, had the opportunity many years ago to buy 100 acres of land in Cleveland for $600. Mr. Lear had only $500 and could not possibly borrow another $100 nor would the owner of the land take a note for the payment.

Last Chance for Wealth
“We would have been millionaires now if my father had been able to buy that land,” declares Mrs. Herwodel.

“That’s right, mother. We would be rich now,” chimes in Pa Herwodel.

“Yes, for that land now holds all the homes of East Cleveland.”

Next: More reminisces

The Story of Bob the Parrot – November 23, 1923

Well, it’s November already. Before I get down to business with some planned updates of past posts, let’s have a filler or two to buy me some time.

First up is a cute story from the front page of the Lorain Journal of November 23, 1923. It’s about Bob, a unique parrot owned by the well-known Doane family of Lorain.

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Lorain Parrot Calls For Dog That Died Long Ago
Remembers Friend He Talked To When In Sandusky-co

Every day for the last two years Bob has called in vain for Brownie, his playmate who died long ago.

Bob is a parrot who had reached the age of 33 years and is the treasured pet of Mrs. C.E. Doane, 539 Washington-av.

Brownie was a little dog who was Bob’s playmate when the two were pets in the home of Mrs. Doane’s sister, Mrs. Minerva Miller, Jackson-twp, Sandusky-co., who has passed away.

When but a year old bird in a California home, Bob was shipped to Mrs. Meade McIntyre, another sister of Mrs. Doane, at Lansing, Mich., as a present to her daughter. He remained at that home five years and then went to other homes of the Dundore family of which Mrs. Doane is a member.

A.W. Dundore, Burgoon, O., a brother of Mrs. Doane, was owner of the bird more than seven years. From there he entered the Doane household two years ago.

Sings “After the Ball”
Bob has many accomplishments. He sings and whistles the chorus of that old-time song, “After the Ball,” written by Charles K. Harris, Milwaukee, when most of the men and women of today were children. In addition, he whistles “I Wish I Was in Dixie.”

In the warm spring months Bob’s cage is placed on the front page of the Doane home which is passed by hundreds of school children on their way to and fro from school. It is then that the bird is in his glory, for he takes much pleasure in mimicking conversation.

Bob is a joker as well as a mimic. One of his favorite stunts is to turn dogs that are on the trail of their way to and from school by a shrill whistle they mistake for that of their masters.

No Chance for Burglars
The Doane home need never fear from burglars’ visits, for no matter at what time of the night members of the household enter they are greeted by Bob with a loud “hello” and a piercing whistle that awaken those who are slumbering.

When friends call at the home Bob insists on interrupting the conversation and assumes a hostile mood which vanishes when they depart. Despite Bob’s two-year residence in Lorain, the home of sailors, the bird has never learned to swear. Yet he repeats again and again, “Bob is a bad, bad boy.”

In the matter of food Bob is partial to that of his native state and clamors for fruit. Old age is taking its toll from Bob’s friendly nature. Years ago he greeted strangers in a pleasant way. Now he meets them with feathers rustled and many squawks.

When visitors depart Bob mounts his perch, smooths his feathers, emits ha ha’s and winds up whistling something that sounds like “Good-bye forever.”

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I found this article back in 2013 and forwarded it to local historian and author Al Doane. He thanked me for sending it. “I had heard talk about a bird in the house, but never had the entire story told to me at that time, as I was the younger brother that was always getting in their way,” wrote Al. “And now there is no one living who knew of and had seen the parrot.”

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So how does “After the Ball” go? Well, let’s hear (and watch) it sung by the man who wrote it: Charles K. Harris.

1960 Woolworth’s and W. T. Grant Halloween Ads

Well, it’s Halloween – so it’s time for my annual look back at what costumes kids were wearing for trick-or-treat. This year we’ll take a look at 1960.

As you can see from the Woolworth’s ad above, which ran in the Lorain Journal about a week before Halloween, TV cartoons were now the big thing, although a few classics were still in the mix of “spooky and gay(!)” costumes.

Whoever illustrated the ad did a nice job of presenting the various costumes in a creative fashion. Besides popular favorites Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear, we see Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Felix the Cat, Heckle (or is it Jeckle?), and Dennis the Menace.

Speaking of Dennis, his mask makes him look like he has a bad case of the measles.

I like the way a few kids in the Woolworth's illustration have already taken off their masks, as if they were tired of wearing them. And the kid wearing the Felix costume seems to be channeling a real backyard cat.

Classic costumes shown include a witch and a devil. There’s a bat costume as well, which the ad helpfully identifies as Belfry.

W.T. Grant ran an ad in the Journal about the same time featuring many of the same costumes. The store’s line-up included Superman, Casper the Friendly Ghost, Porky Pig and my least favorite cartoon character, Tweetie Pie.

I feel sorry for any kid that had to go as that masked bunny.

But what I’d like to know is: what is that kid supposed to be that's wearing a helmet with two hoses attached to his nose? He seems to be wearing goggles, and the helmet might have an eagle on it.

I’ve Googled it to death and reviewed dozens of vintage masks, but I can’t come up with a match. Anybody got any ideas?

Anyway, Happy Halloween!

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UPDATE (November 1, 2016)
As you can see by one of the comments below, an anonymous contributor identified my mystery costume as being pretty much the same one depicted as the generic "Spaceman Rocket Commander" in a 1958 Kresge ad that I posted last week (shown below).

In my defense, the 1960 rendering wasn't the best; the little boy in the W.T. Grant ad looked more like a space bulldog with jowls to me.

Here's a photo of a somewhat similar costume on an actual kid (courtesy of David Eppen's Library on the Photobucket website).