Bonnie Dell Motel Revisited

Back in the early days of this blog, I used to take it on the road once in a while – outside of Lorain County – to some of my favorite destinations around Ohio, including Ashland.

Driving around the Ashland area always takes me right past the former Bonnie Dell Motel on U. S. 250. I gave it the “Then & Now” photo treatment back here in 2011 using the vintage, stained postcard shown above.

Although the strip of motel rooms behind the main house is long-gone, the property is of historic interest today. That’s because right next door is a historic monument honoring John Studebaker and the location of his farm and blacksmith shop. (Studebaker later founded a wagon works in South Bend, Indiana that evolved into the well-known automobile brand.)

Anyway, last month I received an email from Andrew Bennett, whose parents owned the Bonnie Dell property. He took the time to write me in appreciation for the post about the motel. 

Andrew noted, “My father was the person who bought that property right before I was born and ended up tearing down the motel when I was only a few years old. If my memory serves me correctly, that was the result of some zoning dispute." 

He also had a few treasures that he wanted to share.

"I was doing some cleaning and went through another box of his belongings that I hadn't checked in years, only to find the key to Room 5.”

Andrew also had a color postcard of the motel. Its view is very similar to that of the black and white one (although there are subtle differences in the trees and landscaping, as well as a parked car). 

Here’s my new “Now Photo” (below) to go along with the color postcard.  

(The photo wasn’t easy to get, as U. S. 250 there is a narrow two-lane highway with a lot of traffic zipping to and from I-71, which is nearby. This was shot out of my car window as there was no place to pull over safely and park.)

Anyway, Andrew was pleased to see that the Bonnie Dell Motel isn’t entirely forgotten. He noted, "Your blog posts appear to be the only remaining evidence online that the motel ever existed aside from some vintage aerial photography. Thank you for preserving local history.”

A 1971 aerial view, courtesy of VintageAerial.com

American Crucible Article – April 25, 1947

During all the years that I lived in Lorain, I’probably passed this building at 1305 Oberlin Avenue, just north of the railroad tracks, thousands of times. Of course, many of you recognize it as the home of American Crucible.

But I never knew what was manufactured there.

That’s why I was happy to find the article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on April 25, 1947. It provides a capsule summary of what the company did – which is manufacture bronze parts.

A few of the employees are mentioned in the article, including C.H. Herzer, general manager and secretary-treasurer; William Horan, metallurgist; and Miss E. B. Kolbe, laboratory technician.

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My copy of Our Town – The Story of Lorain (published in 1953 by Lorain City Schools) has a nice paragraph on American Crucible. It reads:

The American Crucible is one of the city’s younger industries. It was originally organized in Elyria in 1919. It came to Lorain after the Hoffman Heater Company moved from its plant near the Nickel Plate Railroad tracks. The plant includes a foundry, machine shop, pattern shop, core shop, melting room, receiving and shipping rooms in addition to the general offices. In normal times the company employs about seventy-five men. The company produces bearings of bronze and brass. It specializes in transportation bearings which are used by automobile and plane manufacturers. The bearings may range in weight from a fraction of an ounce to several tons. They may be smaller than a jewel in a watch, or so large that one cannot be loaded in an ordinary freight car.

Post Toasties Postscript

On yesterday’s, er, post about Post Toasties, I featured a photo of an early 1960s box of the cereal. If you looked closely on the front of the box, there was a small photo with the caption “RORY RACCOON INFLATABLE TOY.”

Unless you’re a Baby Boomer, you might be wondering: who was Rory Raccoon?

He was one of the members of the cartoon cast of Linus the Lionhearted, a TV show with segments built around all of the main Post Cereals advertising mascots. Cast members and their cereals included Linus (Crispy Critters), Sugar Bear (Sugar Crisp), Rory Raccoon (Post Toasties), So-Hi (Rice Krinkles) and Lovable Truly the Postman (Alpha Bits).

Since we watched the show, we ate the cereals – mainly Crispy Critters and Alpha Bits. I even entered a Post-sponsored contest in which you had to draw Lovable Truly. I won one of the lesser prizes (a Mattel V-RROOM! engine for my bike).

Anyway, here’s a Post Toasties commercial featuring Rory Raccoon.

And here’s a full episode of the original show, with all of the commercials intact. You might want to pour yourself a Jethro-sized bowl of cereal to enjoy while watching it.

Linus the Lionhearted was pretty good show, which my siblings and I watched religiously (which was appropriate since it was on Sunday during part of its run). Unfortunately, it was eventually pushed off the air by the FCC, because the show’s characters appeared in commercials plugging their own cereals – a big no-no.

Anyway, Rory was voiced by Bob McFadden (mentioned here on the blog when he appeared at the Mary Lee Tucker benefit show in 1955). Rory's cartoons featured him protecting his corn field from a wiseguy crow voiced by Jesse White (the original Maytag man in commercials).

Post later moved Rory over to Sugar Sparkled Flakes, the sweetened version of Post Toasties.

Sadly, almost all of the cereals plugged on Linus the Lionhearted are no longer in production, except for Alpha-Bits (which is hard to find) and Golden Crisp (which still has cool Sugar Bear as a mascot).

A Corny Conundrum: Kellogg’s Corn Flakes or Post Toasties?

I have many antiques scattered around my place, including a vintage box of Post Toasties dating back to the early 1960s. That’s a photo of it above; it sits on top of my refrigerator. Hopefully there’s no 1960s vermin inside, waiting to get out.

Seeing the box, however, led me to pose this question to you, my readers: which corn flakes did your family prefer – Kellogg’s Corn Flakes or Post Toasties?

William K. Kellogg is credited with the idea of toasting flakes of corn for a breakfast cereal in 1894, while he was in the employ of his brother John Kellogg at the Battle Creek Sanitarium. The cereal became so popular there that William Kellogg launched the now famous company to sell Kellogg’s Corn Flakes to the general public.

Post Toasties, on the other hand, was a rival toasted corn flake cereal created by C. W. Post (who coincidentally had been a patient at the Battle Creek Sanitarium).

Courtesy Hakes.com

Through the decades, the two corn flakes battled it out in the cereal aisle.

Kellogg’s was unquestionably the leader in breakfast cereals. Over the years, the company marketed its hugely popular flagship product using a variety of tactics, including using an attractive “Sweetheart of the Corn” on the box and in ads, like the 1919 one below.

Even Hanna-Barbara cartoon stars like Huckleberry Hound and Yogi Bear were enlisted to promote the cereal in the late 50s and early 60s (when Kellogg’s was sponsoring their programs).

Meanwhile, Post was merely a division of General Foods. Consequently, its cereals did not have the advertising budget of Kellogg’s, and were not marketed as aggressively or successfully.

While Kellogg’s sponsored the Hanna-Barbara programs, Post threw its money behind The Bugs Bunny Show. (Within a few years, however, Post had its own cartoon menagerie, which I’ll discuss tomorrow.)

The Post Toasties cereal box seemed to be in a constant state of redesign. Post couldn’t decide whether the Toasties name was strong enough on its own, or if it was necessary to stress that they were corn flakes.

1950s design

1960s design

1970s design

But while very similar products, the two corn flake rivals were slightly different in taste, texture and shape, with the result that consumers might prefer one over the other.

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes are light, crispy and somewhat fragile. They seem to break apart more easily than Post Toasties, which were thicker and more rounded on the edges.

Note that I spoke of Post Toasties in the past tense. Yes, the second oldest original Post Cereal (only Grape Nuts are older) was discontinued back in 2016.

So which did my family eat? We were more of a Kellogg’s or General Mills family than Post, so Kellogg’s Corn Flakes was probably one of the cereals Mom kept on hand for her and Dad. It wasn’t until decades later – when Dad was retired – that Post Toasties were the preferred corn flake in the Brady household.

Anyway, be sure to leave a comment as to which corn flake your family preferred, so I can draw some corny conclusions.

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Cereal continues to be a favorite topic on this blog, with past posts devoted to Rice Krispies and Sugar Crisp.

Eagle Nest Quest Rests

An eagle in his favorite lakefront tree near Oak Point Road

It’s funny how the sight of an eagle soaring overhead or perched in a tree in Lorain County and the surrounding areas has become almost commonplace.

Forty years ago, the opportunity of seeing an eagle around the county would have been rare or non-existent. But for years, they have been seen all over, from the mouth of the Black River in Lorain, to Avon Lake, around Mill Hollow and south all the way to North Ridgeville.

And that’s just in Lorain County. The comments left on this post that I did back in 2014 made me aware of just how many there are in Northern Ohio.

Ever since I moved to Vermilion two years ago, I’ve been lucky to see them regularly, flying along the shoreline down by Vemilion-on-the-Lake or by the old Ford Plant. I’ve even seen them flying over my condo, and the small former quarry that it overlooks.

But for me, the best place to see an eagle is a location just a tenth of a mile west of Oak Point Road. There is a particular lakefront tree – very old and dying, with very thick branches – that they seem to favor. I got used to seeing three of them sitting on branches there.

Seeing these eagles so regularly there for the last few years, has caused me to wonder: where's the nest? I’ve kept my eyes peeled, scanning the woods from Lorain to Vermilion along U. S. Route 6, but was unable to locate it.

That is, until a few weeks ago – when I finally spotted it in the woods on the south side of the highway, adjacent to the Philip Q. Maiorana Wastewater Treatment Plant.

The nest is conveniently located directly across Route 6 from their favorite tree. And I was looking everywhere else!

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For some historic eagle fun, visit my post about the famous Great Nest of Brownhelm. I also wrote about Avon Lake’s historic eagles here.

Happy Birthday, Lorain – Part 6

Here’s the Grand Finale of that April 5, 1924 50th Anniversary edition of the Lorain Journal that I’ve been posting on this blog.

There are several articles to recommend.

At the top of the page is a well-written editorial by David Gibson that takes a look at what Lorain had accomplished in a mere fifty years of existence. It’s pretty impressive, thanks not only to the many industries that called Lorain home at that time, but to the city's civic-minded citizens.

Photo of Lampman House, courtesy of
Lorain Historical Society

Elsewhere on the page is a capsule history of the Thew Shovel Company; a tribute to George Wickens, Sr. and his many contributions to they city he loved; a photo of one of the city’s first hotels, Lampman House, operated by M. Z. Lampman; a funny story about Mrs. Angeline Brooker of 10th Street and her reminisces about her childhood; a story about the oldest store in Lorain at that time, Weigand’s Shoe Store; and the charming poem below by John Milburn Harding about Lorain’s Erie Avenue.

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ERIE AVENUE

On East Erie avenue
Folks, as people elsewhere do,
Live in homes where vines and trees
Whisper with each gentle breeze
Here the flowers and grassy lawns
Glisten when the morning dawns,
Decked in dewy diamonds; here
Wafts Lake Erie’s atmosphere;
Here the songs of many birds
Reach the ear in Nature’s words;
And from almost everywhere.
Rolling by on compressed air,
Tourists pennants flaunt in view,
On East Erie avenue

I, in more nomadic days,
Lived by many public ways;
Dwelt at beach and camped near stream;
Watched the stars and moonlit gleam
Over solitudes; I’ve been
In the cities’ moils, where men,
By the thousands, night and day,
Wore their little lives away;
Laughed on deck, to later pray
In my berth storms to allay;
But nowhere have I e’er found
Landscape, water, air or sound
Better far to hear or view
Than on Erie avenue

– John Milburn Harding

Happy Birthday, Lorain – Part 5

Gee, this could be the longest online civic birthday celebration of all time. I think I still have one more page of that April 5, 1924 Lorain Journal to post after today.

Today's feature article is an interview with a Civil War veteran who describes what Downtown Lorain was like back in the late 1870s.

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OLD TIMER TELLS OF DAYS WHEN 
BROADWAY HAD BUT THREE STORES

August Baldwin Describes Lorain as It Looked 46 Years Ago

WHEN August Baldwin and his wife, Mary Baldwin, moved to Lorain from Cleveland, 4 years ago they established themselves for business on Broadway north of Erie-st, so they could be in the downtown district.

And the site of the present home of the Baldwin family, at 630 E. Erie-av, was a waving wheat field in those days.

Baldwin, who is 82 and a Civil war veteran, once refused to buy the southwest corner of Broadway and Erie-av for $1,200. He did this because he already had his business north of Erie-av and he wanted to stay “in the business district.”

Had Faith in Lorain
Baldwin came from Cleveland in June, 1878, because he saw prosperity here. He knew the little village of that day would eventually “grow up.” There were just 160 voters here.

“I saw a chance to grow up with the town,” he said to the Journal. “Broadway was a little more than a cow path. Our wagons and buggies sank to the hub in the mud in wet weather.

“And once in a while someone would be knocked in the jaw by a loose board in the sidewalk which would fly up as it was stepped on.

Three Stores on Broadway
“There were a few houses on Broadway and three stores. From 21st-st south there was nothing but woods. Small farms were located right off the Main Street.

“When Tom L. Johnson, Cleveland, had the steel plant started in South Lorain real prosperity started. People began to move here and improvements were started.

“On Reid-av there were but a few houses. The one school in this section was located on the site of the Lorain High school.

Four Hours to Cleveland
“When we wanted to waste a day we went to Cleveland. It took about four hours to drive there in an old wagon. It's a little different now,” and Baldwin smiled reminiscently.

Baldwin is a free thinker and refuses to believe in any foolish doctrines. “If some people want to believe the moon is made of green cheese, that’s their business,” he said.

He believes that people are more agreeable and sociable nowadays, and he does not think that young folks now are any worse than formerly.

“Boys and girls will be young. They can’t have their fun unless they are young, and I’m for then.”

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I’ve mentioned Mr. Baldwin before on this blog (here). By 1933, he was one of three remaining Civil War veterans living in Lorain. He passed away the next year.

I like his description of the possibility of some hapless citizen getting whapped in the face by a loose sidewalk plank in Downtown Lorain in the old days. And he has a refreshing attitude towards young folks as well.