Soldiers Monument – New London, Ohio

During my recent drive down State Route 60 to view the fall foliage, I stopped in New London for the first time and walked around the Downtown area. I found it to be a perfectly charming little town, with a wonderful Civil War monument on Route 60, just south of the business district.

The inscription at the base of it reads: "OUR HEROES 1861-1865 • ERECTED BY RUNYAN W.R.C 1897"

"W.R.C." stands for Women's Relief Corps, the official women's auxiliary to the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR). Its purpose was to assist the GAR and provide relief to the Union veterans.

The January 1921 edition of The Firelands Pioneer provides some information about how the Runyan Women's Relief Corps, as well as the local GAR post, got its name.

It notes, “As the Grand Army Post and the Women’s Relief Corps at New London were named respectively Runyan Post and Runyan Relief Post, some facts about the Runyan family may be presented.

“Nathaniel Runyan was born in Penn Yan, N. Y. in 1808. He came to Ohio in 1834 or 1835, settling at Fiddler’s Green, the name given to the four corners one mile south of the present village of New London. There he worked his trade of shoemaking. When the railroad from Cleveland to Columbus was built, in 1850 and 1851, the nucleus of a town was formed and the present town of New London began its growth. About 1850, Nathaniel Runyan transferred his interests from Fiddler’s Green to the village of New London where he carried on the business of shoemaking.

“In 1856 Mrs. Runyan died. In 1857 Nathaniel married a widow by the name of West who had one son, William A. West, about 18 years of age.

“At the time of the breaking out of the Civil War, 1861, Nathaniel Runyan had five sons, including George W. Runyan, then ten years of age. The oldest, Edwin D. Runyan, was the only married son in the family.

“The names of the sons of military age were Edwin D., William H., James M., Myron B., and the step-son, William A. West.

“The first to answer their country’s call and enlist were William A. West and William H. Runyan. They were enrolled as members of the 23rd Ohio Regiment. The Colonel of this regiment was Rutherford B. Hayes, who also became President of the United States.

“William A. West served three years in this regiment and retired from the service unscathed.

“William H. Runyan was badly wounded in the left thigh and also in the right leg above the knee in an engagement with Foley’s guerrillas at Clark’s Hollow, West Virginia, necessitating his discharge from service at that time.

“The third member of the family to enlist was Myron B., who joined the 55th Ohio Regiment which was organized at Norwalk, 1861. He served three years and then veteranized by re-enlisting for three years more, or “during the war.” He saw exceedingly hard service participating in something like 37 regular battles.

“He died in 1881 of disease brought on by his strenuous service in the army. He was 17 years of age at the time of his enlistment.

“The fourth to enlist was James M., who became a member of the 59th New York Regiment. His right leg was shot away by a shell at the battle of Antietam, in 1862. He is the only survivor of the five that served in the Civil War.”

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As interest in the Civil War by the general public fades with each passing year, it is important to remember that it was the sacrifices made by individuals such as the Runyan boys that helped eliminate slavery in this country.

Harlem Globetrotters Come to Lorain – November 1973

Fifty years ago, the famous Harlem Globetrotters brought their inimitable brand of exhibition basketball entertainment to Lorain to the delight of their fans.

Above is the ad that ran in the Journal on November 3, 1973.

As noted on the eve of their appearance, an article in the Journal noted, "The biggest basketball package on the market today will roll into the Admiral King Gymnasium tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. as the Lorain Catholic Athletic Booster Club presents, for the enjoyment of area sports enthusiasts, the 1974 edition of the Harlem Globetrotters.

"The Globetrotters are coming off their finest season in 1973 and things promise to be even better in '74. Trotter fans attending tomorrow night's program will also enjoy an all-new edition of the all-star variety show presented at the halftime of every Globetrotter game.

"The 1974 edition of the Globetrotters will highlight the on-court antics of famed Globetrotter star Bob "Showboat" Hall, Hubert "Geese" Ausbie and the dribbling skill of Trotter player - coach Marques Haynes. The three will be joined in the Globetrotter lineup by former Loyola of Chicago star Pablo Robertson and 6-8 forward Theodis "Wolfman" Lee."

Apparently there were/are different touring units of the Globetrotters, which is why some of the well-known, popular players (such as "Curly" Neal and Meadowlark Lemon) didn't seem to have made the Lorain trip.

The Globetrotter show in Lorain that night included a game in which the Globetrotters took on a team composed of 10 area Catholic Youth Organization all-star players.

From the November 6, 1973 Journal

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Click here to visit the current Harlem Globetrotters website. This link will take you to the page on the site spotlighting all of their legendary players with photos. And this page on History.com reveals "10 Things You May Not Know About the Harlem Globetrotters."

And here's a 1956 promotional film of the Globetrotters, courtesy of Jon Jones and YouTube.

Lorain Journal Front Page – November 2, 1953

Seventy years ago today, this was the front page of the Lorain Journal on November 2, 1953. 

It was the eve of the election, and despite good weather being predicted, it was unclear just how many Lorainites were expected to go to the polls. 

In a front-page article, Joseph Ujhelyi, chairman of the Lorain County Democratic executive committee of Lorain County predicted "that Tuesday's vote will be light." Harold Covault, executive committee chairman of the county Republican Party "anticipated a heavier vote than usual – about 60 percent."

I love the political cartoon on the front page, with the bespectacled, weakling representing 'Lorain' being impressed by the weighty 'Heavy Vote' achieved by 'Mister America.' In the end, Lorain did have a heavy turnout that year – and the Democratic juggernaut pretty much flattened the GOP.

Elsewhere on the front page is a large assortment of news items. Communists and spies seemed to dominate the stories, which included an account on how the United Nations was going to hold Red China and North Korea responsible for 'murdering and torturing 30,000 UN soldiers and civilians in Korea."

The minor local stories are interesting as well, and add some spice to the proceedings: the awarding of the unwelcome, ceremonial "crash helmet" to a member of the Elyria police department involved in an accident; the sad story of a one-legged panhandler who skipped out on his bill at Sutter's Restaurant; a photo of a wrecked car, the result of being hit by a Nickel Plate freight train after it had stalled at the Reid Avenue crossing; and a story of a not-so-bright voter determined to punish then-former President Truman by voting for a Lorain city council president of the opposing party.

Barrett's Chapel

While going for a drive down State Route 60 last weekend to enjoy the fall foliage, I noticed this little church all by itself north of New London at Cook Road. Naturally, I had to pull over for a few photos. A sign near the highway read, "Barrett's Chapel – Old Fashioned Bible Church Est. 1876."

So what's the story of this charming chapel?

The church's website provided a history along with some great vintage photographs. It noted, "The story of Barrett’s Chapel really begins with the story of two brothers; Zelotus and Homer Barrett. These two men moved to New London from the Clarksfield area in the early 1800’s. Zelotus settled in the area that is now occupied by the Church and Homer settled in the area at the intersection of Chenango and Fayette Roads. 

"It would seem that Homer was a man of deep convictions. He was involved in the first Baptist church organized in New London; and he also offered the use of his place to baptize those early believers. Zelotus took a little bit different path. He chose to he develop the downtown area. In 1867 he erected the first brick block of stores on what was called Barrett’s Block.  

"From his business ventures though, Zelotus became very wealthy.

"Rev. Wm. B. Mason, who was the pastor of Barrett’s Chapel from 1970-1988, writes this: “Zelotus Barrett, father of William Barrett, come into our community as a pioneer in 1816, bought upland in the Clarksfield New London area. He was a man of distinction in several fields, best known for his generosity toward the poor and the underprivileged. William A. Barrett was born in 1840 – later moved to Kansas; he and his sisters donated the ground for our chapel giving to the community a place of worship. 

"God used both of these men to bring about what is now called Barrett’s Chapel. God used Homer’s deep desire to bring a church to the area north of New London and Zelotus’ wealth to finance the project. 

Photo Circa 1913
Courtesy of Barrett's Chapel

"An article in the New London Record dated July 29, 1875 states “Ground broke for new church at Barrett’s Corner a few days since. The stone and brick are mostly on the lot ready for the workmen who are expected to commence active operations this week or first of next.  

"The first services were held on May 13, 1876. At that time the Chapel was simply known as the Church at Barrett’s Corners. Zelotus passed away on June 29, 1876. So, on Sunday, July 4, 1876 they had an official christening ceremony and dubbed the Church “Barrett’s Chapel” in honor of Zelotus and Homer Barrett. At that time, Barrett’s Chapel was under the authority of the New London Methodist Church. They were responsible for providing the preacher for the pulpit. Usually this was one of the old time circuit riding preachers.

Photo Circa 1913
Courtesy of Barrett's Chapel

"In 1917, the folks decided that they didn’t like being under the authority of the Methodist Church so they set out to become an Independent Church. The Methodist Church didn’t like this, so they went out and chained the doors shut. The Pastor of that day promptly cut the lock and they held services anyway. From that day forward Barrett’s Chapel has been an independent church.

"In the 1950’s the folks decided to dig out a basement in order to have room for Sunday School. They used shovels and wheelbarrows to remove all the dirt. It was a long and tedious job, but their efforts were not in vain. 

"Countless numbers of children have passed through Barrett’s at one point in time learning about the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Only eternity will tell how many souls have been saved due to the efforts of these men and women throughout the early years of Barrett’s Chapel."

 

Happy Halloween!

DeLuca Bakery ad from October 8, 1963 Journal

Here's hoping you enjoy a safe and Happy Halloween.

Over the years, I've devoted many posts to Halloween, mainly with store ads featuring their selection of Halloween costumes for sale. Here's one (below) that I've never posted before; it's for Kresge's (later renamed K-Mart) and ran in the Lorain Journal on October 22, 1953. Note the complete lack of licensed characters. 

1953

Within a few years, things changed – namely, TV. Check out this sampling of Kresge/Kmart ads through the decades.

1956

1958

1966

1970

1972

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One of the rituals that I do around Halloween is to peruse my dog-eared copy of The Thing at the Foot of the Bed and Other Scary Tales by Maria Leach. The book – with its creepy illustrations by Kurt Werth – scared me when I first read it at Masson Elementary School, and more than 50 years later, it still scares me. Read all about it, and enjoy some stories from it, on this 2010 post.

Gray Drug & Woolworth Halloween Ads – October 1973

How do you know when you're too old to go trick or treating?

I've mentioned before how I knew when it was my last Halloween. I'd been accompanying my younger brother door to door, and we had covered a lot of turf. After hitting all the houses on Skyline Drive, we had greedily worked our way up Palm Springs Drive near Masson School. There was still a little time left, and we didn't want to waste it.

I still remember the house to this day. The homeowner took a look at me, made up like a hobo with a burnt cork Hanna-Barbara five o'clock shadow. He sneered, "Aren't you a little old to be trick or treating?" I felt like crawling into a hole. 

So by the time Halloween 1973 rolled around, my trick or treating days were over. That's why I don't particularly remember any of the costumes shown in the ad for Gray Drug above, which appeared in the Journal on October 18, 1973.

Here's a closer look.

Several Hanna-Barbara characters are front and center in the ad, including Jane Jetson, Jonny Quest, Jinks the Cat and Dum Dum, the canine sidekick of Touché Turtle. It's odd to see Jinks in there, seeing as he was the 'oldest' HB character in the bunch, with no new Jinks vs meeses cartoons made since the early 1960s.

As for photos of the costumes, the great plaidstallions.com 1970s website corn-veniently posted images of a brochure that includes just about all of them – saving me time trying to scrounge them up one at a time!

As the plaidstallions.com website notes, the 'Speed Bird" is pretty much a ripoff of the Roadrunner, right down to the Beep Beep lettering on the front of the costume!

I did find the Jonny Quest mask online. He looks like he's been gobbing on the lipstick!

Here's another advertisement from Halloween 1973 highlighting costumes. This one's for Woolworth, and it ran in the Journal on October 24, 1973.

It's an odd assortment: generic Halloween characters (a ghost, a devil, a witch); and well-known licensed characters (Fred Flintstone, Batman, Spider-Man and Scooby-Doo). One of the Groovie Goolies is there (Frankie) and there's also comic film actor Charlie Chaplin, an unusual choice since he was in his mid-80s at that point.

And here are the photos of some of the costumes culled mainly from eBay. Somehow these managed to escape the garbage can over the last fifty years.

Here's the generic Woolworth ghost. Casper he ain't.

And here's Fred Flintstone – who looks like he's been clobbered by a club-wielding Bamm Bamm Rubble.

Here's the aforementioned Frankie, one of the Groovie Goolies, a good example of cartoon drac dreck from Filmation Studios.

Here's Scooby-Doo – the ever-popular Hanna-Barbara hound, who was in his original heyday in the early 1970s. Hey, he kind of looks like the much-hated puppy Scrappy-Doo.

Lastly, here's Spider-Man. The off-model illustration of the costume in the ad doesn't exactly make my Spidey sense tingle. But in fairness to the artist, he might have been confused with the nostril holes and mouth slit on the mask.

Dr. Silkini's Asylum of Horrors at the Palace – October 22, 1953

We'll close out the week here on the blog with an ad for Dr. Silkini's Asylum of Horrors stage show, which was appearing at the Palace Theatre back around Halloween 1953. The ad above appeared in the Lorain Journal on October 22, 1953.

For many years, Dr. Silkini's "Asylum of Horrors" made an annual stop in Lorain in October, and consequently has appeared on this blog before. The 1957 edition of the show that came to Lorain had a ad similar to the above. And my blog post about the 1959 Lorain show included a capsule history of the whole phenomenon, with clippings from various newspapers spanning the early 1940s to the 1960s.

Other live (or undead?) horror stage shows visited Lorain over the years as well, including this February 1957 one with Dracula and "the materialization of James Dean."

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It's interesting how every generation has its own horror icons.

When I was a kid, the sight of a stiff-legged, kill-crazy Frankenstein Monster lumbering with arms outstretched was still the very definition of horror, along with the Wolf Man and the Mummy. I guess Universal Studios had done a good job keeping these guys in the public eye (even issuing those Aurora models).

As I recently reminisced with my older brother, we first saw the movie Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein on one of our family camping trips Out West. Whatever city we were camping in was showing it on TV late one night, and we all stayed up late to see it. 

I still remember how scary it was near the end of the movie. Dracula had been planning to transplant Costello's brain into the Frankenstein Monster, and both of them were strapped to hospital beds in the laboratory, in preparation for the operation.

The scene where Abbott is rescuing his partner by frantically untying him from the gurney, with the Monster at the same time angrily bursting through his straps only a few feet away, still gives me goosebumps.

Here's the trailer for this classic movie. If you've never seen it, you're missing a great movie – probably Abbott and Costello's best.