Now Open – Brady's Dairyland

1965 city directory listing
for W. 21st Street

In case you're wondering, the above ad is not a plug for some business endeavor of mine!

The ad is from the Lorain Journal of May 25, 1962 – 52 years ago this month – and promotes the opening of Brady's Dairyland. I first mentioned Brady's Dairyland on the blog back here.

I'm betting that most of my readers don't remember two different Brady businesses operating in the same area at the same time (I sure didn't.)

I still get confused with the fine folks who ran Brady's Restaurant. As recently as last month. I was asked if my family was the one that ran the restaurant – which tells you how well-remembered that place is.

Maybe if I keep this blog going for the next twenty years, someone will ask me, "Hey, are you the one who does the blog?"

I kind of doubt it, though. No one has ever asked me yet!

Corporal John Danley and Lofton Henderson

In honor of Memorial Day, here's a pair of articles that appeared adjacent to each other (as shown) on the front page of the Lorain Times-Herald on May 7, 1919 – 95 years ago this month.

The top article is about the location of the final resting place of Corporal John Danley, who according to the article was "the first Lorain man to give his life for the freedom of the world." Danley had been killed on the World War I battlefield at Bellau Wood on June 14, 1918. He is buried in a graveyard in France near Lucy-le-Bocage.

Right below the Danley article on the front page of the Times-Herald is an article about a Victory bond sale being conducted by the Boy Scouts. None other than young Lofton Henderson – who would years later also give his life for freedom and become one of Lorain's best known hometown heroes during World War II – had the honor of selling the largest number of bonds so far in the drive.

Let's all keep in mind the true meaning of Memorial Day: to remember and pay tribute to the brave men and women who died while in active military service to our country.

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By the way, I noticed the other day that Henderson Drive is still identified as Henderson Avenue on signs at the intersection of Route 611 and Kansas Avenue. (I first called attention to this back here on the blog. I also contacted the Mayor of Lorain through his website at the time.)

Well, I sent another email through the Mayor's website last week to remind them that it's been almost a year since my last email.

Wouldn't it be great if a replacement sign with the correct street name also included the full name and likeness of Major Henderson? There's plenty of room on that pole for a bigger sign.

Come to think of it, I'm not even sure that there's a sign over on Danley Square honoring Corporal Danley. I guess Lorain might need two signs made.

How about it, Lorain?

Lawson's Ad – May 25, 1962

A few days before Memorial Day 1962, this ad for Lawson's  – almost a full page in size – ran in the May 25 Lorain Journal. Besides promoting a special on half-gallons of ice cream for 49 cents, it also mentions that it's the convenience store's 23rd anniversary.

The ad is attractively designed – uncluttered and with appealing typography. The clip art of the woman is a nice touch too. (Hey, me spouse just bought some specs that look like that – really!)

Chief Wahoo is in the ad too, to stress the fact that you could purchase Indians tickets at Lawson's and earn some free milk.

No mention of Big O Orange Juice. Perhaps it wasn't really marketed that way until later. No chipped chopped ham, either – our favorite lunch meat from Lawson's! But there's plenty of hearty and healthy summer cookout fare, like wieners, buns and popsicles.

The fine type lists some weird brands: Spunky Dog Food, Tops Nuts, Kenny Pork & Beans, Kenny Stuffed Olives, Kenny Kosher Dills (by George, that Kenny made everything), Ocoma Turkey Dinner, etc.

At least they have at least one fine Canadian product listed, although its spelling seems mangled: Dares Petite Buerre Cookies.

Anyway, here's hoping you have a great Memorial Day!

8-Pages of Sunday Comics – May 22, 1919

Here's an ad that's a little bit older than what I usually post. It's from the May 22, 1919 Lorain Times-Herald – 95 years ago today. It's a promotion for the Cleveland Sunday News-Leader and its 8-page comic section. Apparently the Cleveland newspaper was hoping to pick up some Lorain subscribers, since the Times-Herald did not have a Sunday edition.

It's fun seeing what comics were popular back then as shown in the ad. They included Bringing Up Father (with Maggie and Jiggs), Krazy Kat, Little Jimmy, And Her Name Was Maud!, and Shenanigan Kids.

Shenanigan Kids? But aren't those characters in the ad actually The Katzenjammer Kids?

For those of you who aren't into vintage comic strips, here's an explanation. The Katzenjammer Kids was a comic strip about two mischievous little German boys – Hans and Fritz. The strip was started by Rudolph Dirks for the William Randolph Hearst newspaper chain. When Dirks left the organization, he was allowed to start a new strip called The Captain and the Kids with the same identical characters.

(Courtesy toptenz.net)

Meanwhile, The Katzenjammer Kids was continued by an artist named Harold Knerr. Shortly after World War I, anti-German sentiment was still a factor and the strip was briefly renamed Shenanigan Kids.

The two comic strips with the same identical characters competed for years. The Captain and the Kids finally ended its run in 1979. Amazingly, The Katzenjammer Kids is still going, making it the oldest comic strip in syndication.

In case you're wondering about some of the other strips in the ad, Bringing Up Father (which used to appear in the Sunday Journal years ago) completed its run in May 2000. Interestingly, in Bringing Up Father, the owner of Jiggs' favorite tavern was named Dinty Moore. The name was later used for a line of Dinty Moore canned goods still marketed today by Hormel. (I know, I buy the beef stew regularly for use as a backup meal.)

Krazy Kat (drawn by George Herriman) ran from 1913 to 1944. Of course, local Baby Boomers remember the Krazy Kat animated cartoons produced in the 1960s by King Features that ran regularly on Cleveland television. (The TV package also included Beetle Bailey and Snuffy Smith cartoons.)

Monument to Mayor Leonard Moore

I meant to post this a few days ago – right after my Lakeview Park fountain item – but I'm just now getting around to it. Sorry about that.

It's a small article that appeared on the front page of the Lorain Sunday News on May 18, 1947 and it shines the spotlight on a little-known monument in Lakeview Park that was dedicated on September 17, 1939. It honors Lorain Mayor Leonard Moore, who had the foresight to convince Lorain City Council to acquire the lakefront property that would become Lakeview Park.

What's interesting about the monument is that it was dedicated by the youth of Lorain, with the Boy Scouts playing a primary role.

In the Sept. 18, 1939 Lorain Journal coverage, it was noted that "Lakeview park today had a monument dedicated to Leonard M. Moore, the late mayor under whose administration the city obtained Lorain's No. 1 beauty spot. Youth turned out 200 strong and adults in the same number to pay tribute to the former city executive at the "unveiling" ceremonies yesterday afternoon. Asst. County Prosecutor William Wickens praised Moore's accomplishments in the principal address of the dedication program."

Here is the tablet (below). The inscription was originally planned to be longer than the final version. The Lorain Journal reported that it read, "Memorial to Leonard M. Moore during whose term as mayor of Lorain, 1916-17, this property was purchased for public park purporses. Dedicated by the youth of Lorain, Sept. 17, 1939."

The article also stated, "Nineteen Boy Scouts troops, including one from Elyria and one from Grafton, approximately 20 Girl Scouts and the Girls band of the Lorain Moose lodge took part in a parade from Washington Park to Lakeview preceding the dedication. Mrs. Leonard Moore, wife of the late mayor, and her two daughters, Misses Ruth and Helen Moore, were introduced by Scout Commissioner William Knerim, chairman of the program. Richard Pazder, eagle scout, led the oath of allegiance, and the band played "America," as the program concluded."

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The Moore monument originally occupied a prominent position near the Rose Garden and facing West Erie Avenue (below). 

Unfortunately, an arbitrary decision was made to relocate several monuments located in the park – including the Moore monument – to a new location adjacent to the Lakeview Park War Memorial. 

Thus, the 1939 Moore monument, the replacement 1922 Quincy A. Gillmore tablet, and a small marker inscribed with the City of Lorain's founding date are clustered together – completely out of historical context – and with no regard for the citizens and civic groups that made the effort to erect and dedicate the monuments in the first place.

The relocated monuments

The Vanishing House at 32990 Lake Road in Avon Lake Part 2

It turns out that I wasn't the only person who felt that it was important to get a few photos of this house before it was entirely gone. While getting my shots, I noticed another person with a camera walking along Lake Road down at the west end of the property.

The friendly Avon Lake resident felt the same way as I did. She was sorry that it was being torn down and felt the urge to document it. She also knew a few of the people who had lived on the property.

Actually, I had met of the residents of the house being demolished. While I was photographing the Peter Miller house a few years ago, a gentleman had ridden up on his bike and chit-chatted with me about old houses. He remarked that he lived in the old house down Lake Road to the east with the black iron fence in front of it. He was a nice, gregarious guy and apparently is well-known around town.

The woman with the camera also pointed out that there had been several old houses on the huge property at the same time, and that all had been torn down except the one remaining. She also noted that most, but not all, of the trees had been selectively cut down.

You can see the other houses, as well as a few other small buildings, in this Bing Maps aerial shot (below).

The large, distinctive red house just to the east of the house currently being demolished was already torn down. It had an address of 32972 Lake Road, and was sold to the same buyer. According to the website, the red house's date of construction was 1898.

Anyway, here are some of my shots from Sunday afternoon.

It will be interesting to see what is eventually built on this property. At least it seems that some of the old trees will provide some shade and beauty for the new residence.

If any readers have any knowledge of this property (the houses, the residents, etc.) be sure to leave a comment.

The Vanishing House at 32990 Lake Road in Avon Lake Part 1

Lately, I've been setting new records for being late to work. Just call me Dagwood Bumstead.

There's a variety of reasons why: trains blocking the RR tracks; long lines of traffic due to construction at the Route 611 highway interchange; and general congestion on I-90 resulting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on perfectly sunny, accident-free days. So, last Friday I decided to start taking Lake Road to Clague Road, and picking up the interstate there for the last leg of my commute.

There's something timeless and relaxing about taking that stretch of two-lane U.S. 6 to work. Lake Erie looms into view occasionally, and there's an interesting mixture of residences – cottages, century homes, 1950s and 60s ranches and ridiculously huge modern mansions  – to make the route through Avon Lake and Bay Village interesting.

The view on Sunday afternoon

Sometimes, however, a view that you've gotten used to for years can suddenly disappear. An old house is torn down, a new one goes up, and you soon discover that you can't even remember what was there before.

But that's progress.

Which brings me to today's topic: namely, the house at 32990 Lake Road in Avon Lake (just a little west of Route 83). I noticed it on Friday, and my heart sank.

That's it (at left).

The house is slowly being demolished – but not in the usual way. Instead, it is more of a surgical removal. It looks like it is doing a vanishing act – the way termites reduce a house to sawdust in an animated TV cartoon.

Apparently the whole property had sold last fall.

I've never researched the house behind the spiked iron fence (and I don't intend to, either) but it was obviously from the 1800s, which was confirmed by the Lorain County Auditor website.

Here's what it looked like in happier times (below), courtesy of the Auditor website.