ABC Realty Sales Ad – November 23, 1963

Here's a realty ad for ABC Realty announcing the Grand Opening of a model home out in South Lorain. The ad appeared in the Journal on November 23, 1963.

The house has a lot of nice features according to the ad. As a Sheffield Laker, I'm impressed that it has those newfangled storm sewers  – and sidewalks no less!

Of course, the real reason I'm posting the ad is because it features our old pal, the little clip art man in the current Ed Tomko car ads. (Here's a link to all of my posts about him.)

Anyway, it was fairly easy to find the model house on a Bing maps aerial view of the area (below). It sits on a spacious corner lot.

From there, I found the house on the Lorain County Auditor website. The house is located at 4523 Palm Avenue. A few structural modifications have been made, but it's still a nice looking house.

Courtesy Lorain County Auditor website

The little map in the ad is a little outdated, though. Homewood School was demolished back in 2008.

Probst Corners Ad – November 27, 1954

From Isaly's, we turn our attention to another ice cream shoppe, this time a locally owned one: Probst's.

Here's a nutty ad (above) for Probst Corners featuring a cute squirrel illustration that ran in the Lorain Journal on November 27, 1954.

A confectionery store run by Herman and Violet Probst first appeared in the Lorain City Directory in the mid-1940s or so. It was located at 226 8th Street (below).

226 Eighth Street today

A second Probst location was opened in the new O'Neil - Sheffield Center (below).

Photo courtesy of the Lorain County Historical Society

The Probst listings seemed to disappear from the city directories in the late 1950s.

The Eighth Street location was briefly taken over by a deli called Handy Pantry. Then, in late October 1959 the location became the well-known home of DeLuca Bakery.

I'm not sure if the Probst stores are well-remembered by Lorainites or not. If you have a memory of the stores, be sure to leave a comment!

Isaly's Dairy Store Opening Ad – November 16, 1949

Opening Ad Published in the Lorain Journal on November 16, 1949

Mention the name of Isaly's today, and you might think of the great Isaly's chipped chopped ham that you get at your local grocery's deli counter. But did you know that Lorain once had its very own Isaly's convenience store?

Isaly's roots go back to when its founder settled in Monroe County, Ohio in 1833. The family business was originally making cheese, before expanding to dairy farming and eventually home delivery of milk. The Isaly family later branched out by opening a chain of retail stores in Ohio and western Pennsylvania.

Courtesy Brian Butko from his book
Klondikes, Chipped Ham & Skyscraper Cones: The Story of Isaly's

The Isaly dairy stores not only became famous for their uniquely shaped "skyscraper" cone (shown above), but also for the Klondike Bar – an Isaly's creation.

Anyway, the Lorain Isaly's dairy store and restaurant held its formal opening on November 17, 1949 at 735 Broadway. At the time, it was announced that the Lorain store was the most modern of the chain's 413 retail outlets.

The store was erected by John Dandrea, according an article in the Lorain Journal at the time. The sales room was more than 3,200 square feet in size, with 100 feet of counter space and seating for 107. The store sold fountain products, ice cream, grocery and deli items in addition to full-course lunches and dinners.

Robert Terrel of Elyria was in charge of the outlet's 25 employees. Lawrence Radick of Lorain was assistant manager.

Vintage Isaly's Sign

The Isaly's store concept apparently didn't work out in Lorain, unfortunately. Maybe it was ahead of its time, or the location wasn't conducive to walk-in business. Possibly there were just too many other places to get an ice cream cone. But at any rate, the 735 Broadway location was listed as vacant by the time of the 1958 directory.

Around 1960, the 735 Broadway address became the longtime home to City Loan & Savings Company. That company remained there until the late 1970s. (Although the 735 Broadway address is not in use today, the closest location seems to be the 737 Broadway address of the Lorain Arts Council.)

To find out more about Isaly's, click here to visit their website. And if you're a really big Isaly's fan, click here for information about a book about the company's history, written by author Brian Butko.

Lorain vs. Elyria Ad – November 12, 1954

It's Friday night, and that means high school football games. So here's a full-page ad with sponsors promoting the Lorain vs Elyria game that ran in the Lorain Journal on November 12, 1954 – 60 years ago this week.

As usual, the sponsors include some long-gone companies (like Kline's and Kutza's). But this ad collection is unusual, because many of the companies are still around. These include Crystal Clear Dry Cleaners, Lorain Telephone (now part of CenturyLink), Ohio Edison, First Federal Savings of Lorain, and Lorain Banking Company (now Lorain National). Does that mean it pays to advertise?

The ads themselves have some clever wordplay tying in their company's specialty with sports terminology. But what's funny is how some of the advertisers blatantly pull for Lorain to win, while others either just offer tepid encouragement, or play the middle of the road entirely.

I guess when you're a public utility you can't play favorites.

Page-ettes Indian Pudding Ad – November 15, 1954

Well, it's National Indian Pudding Day, so I thought I'd better post this ad for Page-ettes, which ran in the Lorain Journal on November 15, 1954.

What, you weren't aware that November 13th was that particular holiday? Well – neither was I, until I did some research for this post.

It turns out Indian Pudding is a classic New England dish made of cornmeal, milk and molasses, dating back to colonial times. It's not very well known outside of New England, where it's still very popular. It's served warm, and with ice cream – which automatically makes it sound good to me. (I love stuff with cornmeal in it anyway!)

Speaking of ice cream, that's what's being promoted in the Page-ettes ad (in case you didn't know). Page-ettes were individual mini-cartons of Page ice cream – in this case, Indian Pudding flavored ice cream. But I suspect that Page-ettes didn't stand much of a chance in these parts, with all of the excellent local dairies cranking out their own ice cream.

I like the attractive artwork in the ad. It sure reminds me of Dick Dugan's style.

Anyway, if you've got the urge to whip up some of this New England concoction, here's a link to an interesting article about it, complete with several recipes.

1954 Harmon-Nielsen Ad – Philco Television

Here's a big ad for Harmon-Nielsen Company that ran in the Lorain Journal on November 16, 1954 – 60 years ago this month. The ad promotes the new Philco "Miss America" television set with a 24" console.

That's Lee Meriwether, Miss America 1955 in the ad. She's one Miss America that actually achieved a great level of career success after her reign was over. In this case, she enjoyed a fine career as a model and actress (well-remembered for her role on Barnaby Jones and as Catwoman in the 1966 Batman movie). Here's the link to her website.

Philco's "Miss America" television set campaign ran for several years, gaining a new spokesmodel with each new contest winner. (Here's a link to a website with a nice overview of the campaign along with some great photos of the televisions themselves.)

It's rather quaint looking at ads like this, and remembering how people used to shop for TVs and major appliances. A half-century before shopping online or browsing at big box stores became the norm, consumer often got their first look at the new products in big, glossy color magazine ads. These same ads were also reproduced in black and white and customized with the dealer's name for local newspapers.

It's strange remembering how big and bulky television sets used to be, in view of today's ultra-thin models. The old-time sets were regular pieces of furniture with beautiful wood finishes.

I'll probably never forget waiting for my parent's TV set to warm up so I could watch cartoons as a kid in the early 1960s.

Anyway, I didn't have time to properly research Harmon- Nielsen Co. for this post. I did find out that the company became simply Harmon Appliance in the mid-1950s, and later, Harmon's TV & Appliance. Erie TV & Appliance purchased the firm in 1995.

2063 N. Ridge today
(Courtesy Lorain County Auditor)

A Tale of Three Chris' Restaurants

The Morning Journal had a nice article back in mid-October about the 50th anniversary of Chris' Restaurant. (Click here in case you missed it.) The article mentioned that Chris Manofski started his popular restaurant back in 1964 on Pearl Avenue, and moved it to its current location at 2812 W. Erie Avenue (in the old Howard Johnson's restaurant) in 1981.

The article left out some of the details of the restaurant's history.

Mr. Manofski did indeed start his restaurant on Pearl Avenue, although his business had a different name back then. The 1965 Lorain City Directory included a listing of his Pearl Restaurant at 2843 Pearl Avenue (roughly where the vacant lot is next to the Koury Building, across from Lorain National). But the listing was only in the book for one year before the restaurant changed hands.

Then in the 1968 book, a listing appeared for Chris Restaurant at 5100 West Erie – the former home of Johnson's Restaurant, and most recently Jack & Diane's) right across from the Lorain Drive-in. The listing remained in the city directory well into the late 1970s.

What makes it confusing is that there were actually three restaurants in the Lorain area with Chris as part of their names during the 1960s and 70s.

In the 1970 directory, there was Chris Restaurant at 5100 West Erie. In that same book, there was Chris' Restaurant – run by Frank and Christine Bishop – at 5316 Colorado Avenue, and Chris Cafe at 3680 Pearl, run by a gentlemen listed as Christ Evanoff.

It's a good thing Lorain didn't have a Ruth's Chris Steak House back then. It's enough to make a researcher's head spin.

I'm not sure how long Mr. Manofski was involved with the restaurant out on Pearl. Hopefully, someone knowledgeable about Chris' Restaurant will clear this all up for me with a blog comment.

Nevertheless, Chris' Restaurant remains one of my mother's favorites. We stop in on Saturday every couple of months to enjoy a delicious perch sandwich, along with some friendly service.

The funny thing is, when Mom is in the mood to go there, she mentions, "How about lunch at Chris Cafe?"