So it’s a good time to post this old Hills ad, which ran in the Lorain Journal back on January 12, 1961.
It’s kind of an odd ad, with its Friday the 13th theme. That cat looks like he belongs in an ad for the Friday the 13th Jinx Show at the Palace.
But those prices are out of this world. If I could, I’d buy one of those 13 cents men's ties – if I had a reason to wear a tie.
For little kids, much of their first view of the outside world is from the back seat of their parents’ car.
If you grew up in Lorain in the 1960s and 70s, that world was often full of strange sights – of landmarks that naturally would be of interest to a child. It’s not hard to imagine some of the comments you might have heard from the back seat back then – and some of them are still applicable today.
“Hey, look – there’s a train in Oakwood Park!”
“Wow, that’s a huge Easter Basket!”
“What’s that Big V stand for?”
“Look at that guy in the rocking chair on that sign!”
Well, there’s a brand new landmark in Lorain: a huge script ‘Lorain’ sculpture located at the west end of the Bascule Bridge.
As noted in an article in the Chronicle-Telegram, "The white steel sign comes from more than a year and a half of grassroots work by local real estate agent Andrea Neal, designer Brian Bartlebaugh, Kuhn Fabricating owner Lewie Kuhn, developer Jon Veard Jr. and others.
"It takes after Cleveland and Parma’s similar signage, hoping to bring people to the city to use the sign as background for selfies, brand photos, proposals and other photo ops.
“We did it so people could come, take pictures instead of always using the Easter basket year-round. Now we’ve got something with the waterway and everything behind it,” Bartlebaugh said.
"The project would have cost about $60,000 if it weren’t for donations from local businesses and a large sum from an anonymous donor, Neal said. She estimated the total cost, even with an unexpected increase in materials, was more than $30,000."
It’s a great idea, and it’s nice to see a brand new Lorain landmark that will undoubtedly takes its place in future family photographic memories.
Hopefully the city will add some adjacent parking nearby.
Realtor Andrea Neal, mentioned in the above article, was the listing agent on my mother’s childhood home on Sixth Street a few years ago. She was nice enough to allow my mother and me to go through it and take pictures when it went up for sale a few years ago.
One of those businesses still with a presence in Downtown Lorain at that time was Sam Klein Company. (I remember as a kid being confused with two stores with same-sounding names: Klein and Kline’s.)
Below is a nice profile of the store and the two men behind it: brothers Allan and Warren Klein. It ran in the Journal back on January 23, 1972 and was written by Staff Writer Glenn Waggoner.
The name of the store has a surprising story behind it.
As the article notes, “Sam Klein opened his Broadway Avenue men’s clothing store in 1891. The same store is open today, selling 70’s fashions in a modern decor.
“The name “Sam Klein” remains above the entrance, although brothers Allan and Warren Klein are now the owners.
“The Klein brothers, however, are not even distantly related to founder Sam Klein.
““The store was bought in 1927 by our father, Julius, who was not related to Sam Klein but kept the name since it was an established business,” explained Allan Klein. “The name was purely coincidental.”
“He and his brother both worked in the store in their youth, and both are graduates of Lorain High School. They opened a second Sam Klein store at Midway Mall in 1966, which has been “doing great,” according to Warren Klein.
“He spends most of his time overseeing the Midway Mall store, while Allen Klein supervises the 425 Broadway store.”
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I’ve written about the Sam Klein Company a few times. This post dealt with the early history of the firm, and this one told the rest of the story.
The photo by Jim Fiedler appeared in the Journal back on January 16th, 1972 and the caption says it all: “The lights lend a sparkling effect to the Main Street of downtown Lorain, carrying a promise of a “Great White Way” in this night photo of Broadway looking south from Erie Avenue. The stores on Broadway are doing their best to keep the area alive and attractive, and evening shopping hours on Mondays and Fridays are helping to bring the customers back downtown. With urban renewal not too far away, the future does look brighter.”
I'm old enough to remember Downtown Lorain before urban renewal. Part of our regular routine was going there for trumpet lessons on Saturday morning and hitting a few stores with Mom, including stopping in at Kline’s to say hello to some of Grandma Brady’s old co-workers.
Unfortunately, despite the high hopes of urban renewal, many of the main stores downtown were closing down by the time I got home from college in the early 1980s. It was a strange-looking Lorain that I came home to after four years.
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| From the January 15, 1972 Journal |
I’m not sure. I don’t even know if school systems such as Lorain even generate them any more. But they did back in the 1970s, and in our family it was a big deal to make the honor roll and see your name in the paper.
For me, there were several levels of motivation beyond having my name in the Journal. The goal of going to college was driven into me at an early age. My understanding was that if I got good enough grades, I could get a good scholarship so that my parents wouldn’t have to pay for my college education. (Boy was I wrong!)
Thus I didn’t want to disappoint my parents.
My teachers back then were terrific, and really took a personal interest in their students’ growth and development. They constantly encouraged us to do our best. I didn’t want to disappoint them either.
Then there was the spirit of competition. My classes at Masson were full of very smart kids, and from elementary school on, we were competing with each other. That contributed to the pressure to do well.
By the time we were all in Masson Junior High, there were even more smart kids (some entering the public school system from Lorain parochial schools). So there was even more competition.
Lastly, there were the incentives offered by companies such as the Cleveland Press (awarding free Indians tickets for all A’s) and Manners (giving you a free Big Boy for all A’s).
So I didn’t lack for motivation to try and make the honor roll.
Anyway, above is the Honor Roll for Masson Junior High that appeared in the Journal back on January 15, 1972. Both my older brother Ken and I made it, so I’m sure we clipped this out of the newspaper back then.
I know that Lorain no longer has junior high schools; they embraced the middle school concept a long time ago. But in this era of trying to motivate kids, perhaps reviving the publication of honor rolls – either in the newspapers, or online or both – might be one more factor to consider.
Above is a pretty good example. Fifty years ago, the Lorain Post Office was honoring employees for their impressive safe driving records. Shown in the photo is Daniel Reardon, a longtime employee with 20 years of safe driving with the fleet. Although he’s not pictured, Robert Sargent of Lorain had an even better safe driving record (22 years).
It’s kind of nice seeing a mail carrier wearing the uniform, including a cap. Many times in the last few years, I’ve seen carriers on the hoof (especially in the summer) that were unrecognizable as such, with only their bag of mail providing a hint as to their occupation.
I’ve posted items about the United States Postal Service before, including this item about a comely summer mail carrier, and this one about a postal clerk who found his own G. I. check.
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By the way, if Mr. Reardon had a son named Larry, then I went to school with him, starting at Masson Elementary and continuing all the way through Admiral King High School. Larry is a member of the Lorain Sports Hall of Fame.
As a kid, it seemed to me that Woodrow “Woody” Mathna was Mayor of Lorain for as long as I could remember. He was first elected Mayor in the fall of 1961; he served four terms, until he was defeated by Joseph Zahorec and left office at the end of 1971.
Why was I so aware that he was Mayor? I guess it was because he was so visible – and not just on the front page of the Journal, either. He campaigned door-to-door and I remember him coming to our front door on at least one of his campaigns. I recall seeing him at Big Town once, and feeling like I had just seen a celebrity. He also distributed little cards with his photo on it while running for office.
I felt bad when he lost to Zahorec, because Mathna was such a vocal champion of the city of Lorain. He was passionate about it and wanted to accomplish things – which wasn’t always easy since he was a Republican in a city dominated by Democrats.
Anyway, just as he was leaving office, Mathna sat down for an interview with Reporter Tom McPheeters which appeared in the Journal on December 31, 1971. It’s an interesting read and a snapshot of the city at that time, albeit according to Mathna.
No matter how you felt about Mathna, you can’t deny that he loved the city and wanted to stay involved. After his Mayoral defeat, he went on to serve six consecutive terms as at-large Councilman.
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| Gene Patrick caricature of Mayor “Woody” Mathna |
