1953 First Federal Savings Christmas Club Ad

I haven't shown any vintage ads in a while, so here's one to put you in the Christmas spirit. It's a 1953 ad for First Federal Savings of Lorain, promoting their Christmas Club program. (Click on the ad for a closer look.) 

I really like the ad, because it hearkens back to a simpler age.

I've had a Christmas Club at First Federal Savings since the 1980's. I like the fact that they still have the old-time savings books that get inserted into a machine to be updated, instead of making the customer do it themselves with their own sloppy scrawl.

I still have many of the free gifts given out each year with the opening of the account. The oldest ones from the 1980's were kind of generic Christmas items (such as a candle holder), but during the last few decades the items always have a First Federal logo on them. The gifts can be just about anything: a cooking timer, a desk clock, a pie plate, or even a cutting board (this year).

At Thanksgiving this year, I pulled out my trusty First Federal Savings pie server to cut the pumpkin pie, and we set our beers on First Federal Savings coasters.

Now that's loyalty.

I still think Christmas Clubs are a great idea, although in recent years I must confess that sometimes I used the cashed check for something else (like a utility bill).

I also confess that I'm a little bit behind on next year's Christmas Club (about 4 weeks). Since I cashed this year's check and still have all the loot in an envelope for shopping, would it be so bad if I used some of this year's cash for next year?

Maybe I should just deposit the whole stash and save myself a weekly trip to the bank!

Get 'Reddy' for Christmas – Part 2

Yesterday I mentioned this booklet featuring Reddy Kilowatt and offered up some of its helpful safety tips. Well, today I'm serving up some of the recipes!

Click on each recipe for a super-sized readable version. And remember, they're from 1965 – so they're probably not so healthy, but very delicious!

Here's the recipes for Blueberry Nut Bread, Cranberry Citrus Loaf, Welsh Cakes, Swiss Treats and Quick Christmas Cookies.

Here's some more: Pecan Mounds, Mincemeat Cookies, Medallion Sugar Cookies, Butterscotch Almond Cookies, Corn Flake Cream Bars (just might have to try that one), Baby Orange Babas, and Orange Fruit Cake.

And here's a final batch with some really unusual names: Choco-Date Cake, Choffee Pie, Vanilla Nut Fudge, Williamsburg Pecan Confections, Eisenhower (?) Fudge, and Creamy Fudge.

Hey, I almost forgot – here's the menu for a complete meal, featuring Chicken Loaf with Olive Sauce!

There's nothing like a loaf of chicken to make your holidays merry!

Get 'Reddy' for Christmas – Part 1

Regular readers of this blog know that Reddy Kilowatt is one of my favorite old-time advertising characters, probably because he was used in much of Ohio Edison's signage around Lorain County. Also, every time I look at old newspaper microfilm at the Lorain Public Library, I am amazed at the number of Ohio Edison ads that feature him – practically every day during the 1950's and 1960's.

I thought the Reddy artwork at left was not only great, but timely as well. It's from a small booklet that I purchased in a Mt. Vernon, Ohio antique shop a few years ago. The booklet was entitled "Entertain Better Electrically" and was published by the Monongahela Power Company in 1965. It features many holiday recipes, as well as tips for entertaining during the holidays.

Much of the book is devoted to both popular and strange recipes (such as Chicken Loaf with Olive Sauce). But there is a lot of useful information that is still applicable today.

Here's a scan (below) of some particularly relevant Christmas safety tips. Click on it so you can read it – and be safe during this holiday season!

This and That

This past Saturday was a good day to go out and snap a few pictures. I already posted my endangered Avon/Avon Lake farmhouses, so here are a few other images of what was going on in the area. (Click on each for a nice, large view.) 

Lorain's downtown has been all decked out with its Christmas lights for a few weeks. This toothy fellow is at the western end of the Bascule Bridge.

I've always thought those nutcrackers had a sinister look to them, making it hard to accept them as a Christmas icon.

Meanwhile, just over the border in Sheffield Lake, the historic Root home (believed to be the oldest home on the present Lake Road) is also all decked out for Christmas. (This was an easy shot as it is about 500 feet from my house.)

Incidentally, the Root house will be the subject of its own post here very soon.

And lastly, I had to stop over and see how the demolition of FirstEnergy's Edgewater plant was coming along. There doesn't seem to be a lot of progress in the last few weeks, perhaps due to the weather.

I'm still wondering how the heck the demolition crew is going to bring down the rest of it.

Bye Bye Farmhouses Part 2

Here's another farmhouse and farm that I just had to document with a photograph this past weekend. I first noticed it a few months ago when I began to drop off some of my clothes at the dry cleaner on Pin Oak Parkway. However, I had to wait until a weekend with nice weather rolled around so I could get a nice morning shot, since the house is on the west side of the street, facing east.

The house is at the intersection of Moore Road and Pin Oak Parkway in Avon Lake,  just a few minutes away from the other farmhouses on Route 611 that I mentioned yesterday.

I kind of like the house – it has a lot of character. According to the Lorain County Auditor's website, it was built in 1930. It's interesting that none of the windows on the main house are centered on the wall (at least from the outside).

I was wondering how I was going to be able to find out its address to do a little research, since I couldn't detect any numbers on the house. Fortunately it still had a mailbox (of sorts).

Here's an aerial shot of the property, courtesy of the Bing website.

God willing, I'll revisit both of these 'doomed farmhouse' posts sometime in the future!

Bye Bye Farmhouses Part 1

Looking west on Colorado Avenue (Route 611) towards Miller Road intersection; soon this scene will change

I commute to work in Cleveland each day on I-90, and have been doing it for more than 25 years. During that time I've watched the State Route 611 interchange at Avon evolve from a peaceful country setting (with no traffic lights) to that of a congested interchange with restaurants, gas stations, a Fairfield Inn and even the Lake Erie Crushers' All-Pro Freight Stadium.

This old house will eventually be gone

Twenty years ago, I could pretty much get on and off I-90 with no problem. Nowadays, in the morning it takes a good five minutes (and a few light changes) just to get from Miller Road to the entrance ramp less than a mile away. But that's progress.

And one of the sadder signs of progress is watching these farmhouses (and the farm behind them) finally go up for sale. When Route 611 was widened in the 1990's, I knew it was only a matter of time.

Anyway, yesterday was a sunny Saturday morning so I grabbed my camera and drove up and down Route 611 to capture the whole scene as it is now. Sooner or later, the land will sell, the homes will be demolished, and I'll try to remember what it looked like before.

But this time (unlike so many other similar situations) I'll have the photos on this blog posting to remind me.

The barn behind this home has had those decorative silhouettes for some time now.

If you're interested in the real estate listing for these parcels of land, click here to see a PDF file of the sales flyer. Below is a screen grab showing the two homes and farmland for sale (outlined in red).

It will be interesting to see what eventually happens with these properties, as well as the property to the west. We'll see.

1972 Lorain City Airport Photos

Here's a few more photos from our blog buddy Bob Kovach. He had already sent me the photo of Bill Long's Ercoupe a few days ago that I posted at the end of the article on Mr. Long. Now Bob has dug into his photo collection again and come up with two more gems.

Above is a nice shot of the Lorain City Airport hangar from July 1972. Remember that windsock? And the words LORAIN on the roof?

And below is a photo from September 1972 of the other building on the property – what a great shot. Who knows – this might be the only known photograph of it!

The Lorain City Airport was a big part of Bob's life while he was growing up, since he lived on Mark Drive, which was right across from it. Bob remembers Mr. Long too.

As Bob tells it, "I can remember one time speaking to him over by the white building that was at the airport. Mostly I remember his beard! I also remember many times us kids playing outside when his little plane would fly low and slow overhead. We would all start waving our arms and sure enough he would tilt the wings up and down as he passed by. I think he looked forward to us being out there."

What a great reminisce – thanks for sharing it and the photos, Bob!