Another Sears Home

I flipped on CNBC a few weeks ago and there was a special about the history of Sears, with a segment on Sears Homes featuring Rose Thornton (who posted a comment on my blog back here). That reminded me that I still had this post "ready to go."

So here's another great local Sears home, this time over in Amherst on Dewey road.

I had heard this was a Sears house several years ago, but I wasn't sure until it was confirmed for me by Rachel Shoemaker (who as you remember a few weeks ago identified the house by Lakeview Park as being an Aladdin kit home).

Rachel also provided me with the illustration at left, which is identified as The Vallonia and part of the Honor Bilt line. Honor Bilt homes, according to the Sears Archives website, were "the most expensive and finest quality sold by Sears."

It's great to see that so many of the architectural details of the home are still intact.

Thanks again to Rachel Shoemaker for the images as well as her expertise!

George Wickens Wrap-up

Although I concluded my series on George Wickens last month, I now realize I have a few more things mention – thanks to some great comments that were posted at the time, as well as some other loose ends that I had left hanging.

George Wickens' Home
One anonymous (but well-informed) commenter believed that the Walter A. Frey Funeral Home at 700 West Erie Avenue was the former home of George Wickens. The commenter was quite correct and I thank him (or her) for pointing it out.

At the time of Wickens' death, he was living at 142 West Erie, which was right next door to his undertaking business located in the Parkside Chapel at 140 West Erie. As Drew Penfield pointed out in his comment, Lorain's streets and house numbering system all changed in the early 1900s – with the result that the Parkside Chapel ended up with the address of 600 West Erie. To the east was City Hall at 500 West Erie, and right next door to the west was 700 West Erie, current home of Walter A. Frey Funeral Home.

An article in the Lorain Journal from August 15, 1968 about George Wickens' contribution towards the acquiring of the Civil War soldiers statue and fountain mentions that it was located "in the park across from his home" and that he "lived in the home which is presently the Walter A. Frey Funeral Home next to City Hall."

I haven't confirmed it with any research, but it also appears (thanks to a recent commenter's observation) that George Wickens' daughter Elizabeth lived in the house for a number of years until the early 1920s.

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Wickens Place

I was unsuccessful in my attempt to locate some sort of newspaper article about the dedication of this short road in honor of George Wickens. I scoured the newspapers on microfilm for almost a year immediately following his death in March 1908, hoping to see some front-page mention of the naming of the street in his honor but it was not to be – for now, anyway.

I can say with certainty that in May 1908, Lorain introduced its new street renaming plan, which included specific instructions for how it would be implemented. One part of the plan called for "Short and blind streets running north and south to be named Places."

Although the library is missing quite a few city directories between 1900 and 1920, the 1912 edition did indeed  include Wickens Place. Thus that street has been named for George Wickens for at least one hundred years, and it was wise not to rename it last year.

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Wickens, Herzer, Panza, Cook & Batista Co.

The law firm's Avon offices

Although the Wickens funeral and furniture businesses in Lorain are long gone, today the Wickens name lives on locally via the law firm of Wickens, Herzer, Panza, Cook & Batista Co. with its offices in Avon and Sandusky.

As the law firm's website points out, its roots are traced to the law firm founded in 1932 by William G. Wickens, grandson of George Wickens. William G. Wickens wrote an excellent history of Lorain – Early Days of Lorain – in 1927 that was published in the Lorain Journal in 1981. Its sequel – Birth of a City – appeared in the newspaper in 1985. Both articles are fantastic historical resources and are conveniently available online (for free!) in PDF format on the law firm's website here.

July 1964 – UFO Over Lorain!

Remember when Lorain was visited by a UFO?

The article above appeared in the Lorain Journal on July 20, 1964 and documents that event with a nifty illustration of the rocket ship-shaped UFO by Lorain resident J. Richard Lukovics.

The follow-up article on July 21, 1964 (below) notes that many people saw the same thing. But the FAA wasn't volunteering any information. Sounds like a cover-up to me!

I remember as a kid worrying about UFOs landing (that is, when I wasn't worrying about Lorain being wiped off the map by another tornado). It probably had something to do with my hearing the recording of the original Orson Welles "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast when I was very young. The radio drama is still scary if you happen to catch a replay of it around Halloween.

To add to my irrational fears, I remember my parents jokingly saying that our July 4th firework displays probably caught the attention of beings from other planets. Naturally, the aliens would want to see what the ruckus was all about, and would swoop into our atmosphere for a closer look.

I don't know if there are more UFOs reported around July 4 or not, but I still associate visitors from another planet with our country's birthday celebration.

Coincidentally, I watched some of the SyFy Channel's traditional holiday Twilight Zone marathon on July 4, and it seemed most of the episodes I saw had a storyline about invaders from Mars!

Hills Department Store Ad Art 1966 & 67

Here's a few renderings of the Hills Department Stores that were featured in 1960s Grand Opening promotional newspaper ads that appeared in the Lorain Journal. The one at the top is from October 1966 and the lower one is from a year later.

The Hills store on Route 57 out in South Lorain was more like the 1966 version with the huge logo on the building. As a graphic designer, I still like the simplicity and style of that logo.

By the way, one of my early 1960s memories was of getting in the car because the family was heading out to "Hills" – and then upon arriving, being disappointed that "Hills" was a store and not a travel destination.

I guess I was kind of dumb!

Lawson's Fourth of July Specials Ad 1962

Just in time for the July 4 holiday, here's a full-page Lawson's ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on Monday, July 2, 1962. It looks like they had all the ingredients for a great picnic covered.

Although I'm usually not too nostalgic about chain stores, I am about Lawson's. The ubiquitous stores were clean and well-stocked, and really set a standard for consistent quality.

Compare that to the some of the rather disgusting independent 'convenience' stores today that exist only to sell lottery tickets and liquor. (In Cleveland where I work, you would have to be insane to purchase any of the prepared foods in these filthy markets.)

Photo courtesy of Circle K

The Lawson's chain was eventually sold to Dairy Mart and re-branded. It's too bad, because Lawson's believed in the power of advertising, and the company had really created a strong and memorable brand.

There are still a few Dairy Marts in Lorain County, which is fine with me since I can purchase the original Lawson's Chip Dip there. It's also available at Circle K stores.

Here's a link to the Lawson's Wiki entry, which reveals that the store chain lives on today in Japan!

Hills Fireworks Ad - July 3, 1962

If this was Tuesday, July 3, 1962 (50 years ago today), then you would have seen this ad in your Lorain Journal promoting the annual Fourth of July fireworks display at Hills Department Store. Remember those great fireworks?

Vintage Hills sign (courtesy Wikipedia)

Things like this are some of my warmest and fuzziest memories of growing up in Lorain... the whole family piling into the car to head to South Lorain to see those fireworks at Hills.

We shopped there too, regularly. My mom bought us a lot of clothes and toys there, usually putting them in layaway for a while (never charging them). And I've mentioned the frozen Cokes and popcorn that she bought us on the way out as an occasional treat.

I still remember staring at the wild display of blinking lights on the Hills sign as they chased themselves across the front of the building. It was almost hypnotic.

It's sad to drive by the building on Route 57 today and see it all closed up (below).

May 2011 photo

Hotel Antlers Then & Now

Early postcard (note no roof sign).

The former Hotel Antlers is another one of those icons of Lorain, along with the Lighthouse and the Easter Basket in Lakeview Park, that everyone is familiar with.

It was built in 1922 by the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks No. 1301. In its heyday, it was a fine hotel with 100 modern rooms, and facilities for conventions, private parties and weddings. It hosted the Victory Celebration luncheon featuring Admiral Ernest J. King in September 1945.

The hotel went into decline in the 1960s before finally being abandoned in the early 1970s. It was purchased by Jon Veard in the mid-1980s and beautifully renovated. Today, it houses 39 luxury apartments along with some commercial tenants.

It's currently for sale (which you can read about here.)

The Hotel Antlers was a popular subject for postcards and it is fairly easy to find several on Ebay at any time. Here are a few recent ones (below).

Vintage postcard postmarked 1931. Note second roof sign facing west.

Undated vintage postcard. Note new location of roof sign.

Vintage postcard postmarked 1937.

Photo dated 1948.

Vintage postcard postmarked 1952.

Although it's easy to find vintage postcards of the Hotel Antlers, what isn't easy is trying to take a "now" photo of the building. I was literally scrambling for my life while trying to grab a shot of the building while standing in the center of West Erie this past Saturday morning. I was amazed that there was so much traffic. I guess that's a good thing!

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I have a few memories of the Hotel Antlers through the years.

I remember the hotel when it was creepy and run-down in the 1960s, thanks to our weekly Saturday morning visits to Downtown Lorain for trumpet lessons. The building was a depressing symbol of Lorain's reversal of fortune that was beginning to take place at that time.

At the other end of the spectrum, I was lucky to be a member of the big band that performed for the open house that was held to celebrate the Hotel Antler's renovation in the mid-1980s. We were able to tour the building and it was impressive. The band performed there a few more times for various events in subsequent years.