Harvest House Grand Opening Ad – 1966

One of the images that Michael Brown sent me during our correspondence in January about Midway Mall is the above ad for the Grand Opening of the Harvest House Cafeteria. The full-page ad ran in the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram as part of the special section about the opening of Midway Mall in late September 1966.

It’s a great ad, showing both the interior and exterior of the store, as well as apparently the first of the ongoing roast turkey dinner specials. (I’m surprised their cafeteria advertising slogan wasn’t “It’s Always Thanksgiving at Harvest House!”)

Since my original posts about Harvest House back in January, I’ve also scared up a bigger version of the postcard showing the interior and exterior of typical restaurants. You can click on for that “You are there” experience.

I also found this matchbook currently on Ebay.

It's Sunday afternoon while I'm preparing this post, and it’s almost time for me to get started on my chili. But for some reason, all I can think of is roast turkey with creamy mashed potatoes, giblet gravy and a warm roll and butter.

And a choice of vegetable.

Midway Mall Reflections – Part 2

To Michael, it’s not that surprising that the downtowns were unprepared to compete with Midway Mall.

“We lived in Grafton from 1962 to 1978,” he noted. “I remember the Elyria downtown chain stores were dingy and old with wooden floors and bad ventilation.  Going there involved parallel parking and parking meters.

“The Mall was like an Apollo rocket. The original cinema had a 60’ screen with a working silent curtain. Not only was the mall heated in the winter, but in that era most homes were not air-conditioned in the summer.”

Michael also remembers – like everyone else who shopped there in the 1960s and 70s – the dripping vertical columns at the Mall that were so interesting to watch. 

An article that Michael sent me explains that it was called the WonderFall. 

So why does Michael have such a keen interest in Midway Mall?  

“My mother was secretary to the Mall manager so it overtook our family life,” he explained. “As a teenager I worked for the Mall management in the early 1970s,” he added.

He has a theory about how the new anchor stores at the Mall basically came in under the radar, playing down what would eventually happen to their outlets in the downtowns.

Cleveland Press photo of Midway Mall Sears
circa Sept. 1970 (currently on Ebay)

“I suspect Sears was coy about the downtown stores because they needed the building permits,” he noted, “and deferential local officials bedazzled by money coming into build the mall probably didn’t press it.  

“We have to remember how much more rural and remote Lorain County was in that era. For Higbees of Downtown Cleveland to open in Lorain County was a major wow!  The mid-1960s were the peak years of the 20th century manufacturing economy. Lorain County was at the center of it.

“I don’t know about you, but nearly everything we bought for our household from toys to clothing came from Sears!”

I would tend to agree with Michael on that. We picked our clothes out of the Sears catalog, as well as our Christmas presents.  

Michael has a few more memories about Lorain County.

“As a Graftonian, Lorain was a distant place,” he admitted. “I don’t think I ever made it to downtown Lorain until I was at LCCC in the late 1970s. I had a part-time job at new bank (TransOhio) at Oberlin and Tower.  

“I do remember a small beach and marina where my uncle had a boat, but I also remember the dead perch littering the beach.”  

Michael left Lorain County for Ohio State in 1979. After that he worked in the Ohio House of Representatives, and then in Washington DC, before his present post at Barrick Gold USA.

“Now I am bicoastal between Washington DC and Nevada. I have seen the same boom and bust in Las Vegas in the last decade.”

He did not forget his Lorain County roots though.  

“I was back for a high school reunion and I took the Saturday to walk into every place I once worked, no matter what is there today, and introduced myself!”

Midway Mall Reflections – Part 1

Back in January, I received an interesting email from Michael Brown. Michael is a former Lorain Countian who has done very well for himself. He grew up in Grafton in the 1960s, went to Ohio State in the late 1970s and is now President of BarrickGold USA, the nation’s largest gold mining company.

From Nevada, Michael reads my blog to connect with his Lorain County roots. He shared some thoughts regarding the coming of Midway Mall to Lorain County in the 1960s, as well as its effect on the downtowns of Lorain and Elyria. He also sent me some newspaper articles, as well as some images to supplement some of my previous posts.

Here’s one from the June 8, 1964 Chronicle-Telegram announcing the multi-million dollar mall project.

“The announcement of the Mall was not only front page above the fold, but was above the CT’s banner!” observed Michael. “It was interesting how the Mall was designed to replace a downtown. At the opening, it had a community room, a barbershop, a stockbroker, a drug store, pet shop, etc. I don’t remember the community room being used much (it was in the original south mall area) and I think became a storage room. The Mall had an apartment where the manager resided.  I found the rarely mentioned coffee shop at JC Penny to be the best place for Mall workers for lunch or dinner.  

“What should be noted was how the community celebrated the opening of the Midway Mall. No discussion about what would happen the downtowns of Lorain and Elyria. The focus was on temperature controlled shopping at a pleasant 72 degrees. Lorain County was booming with the opening of the auto plants.  

Sears store at Midway Mall circa Sept. 1970
(Cleveland Press photo currently on Ebay)

“Sears was the driving force for the Mall,” noted Michael, and for a very good reason. “The original chain stores built in the downtowns of medium size cities were unable to expand and lacked adequate parking. We tend to forget that Sears was to the 1960s what Walmart is in retailing today.

Another article from the January 1, 1965 C-T reported, “Another all-time record for employment may be in store for Lorain County in 1965.” According to Michael, this was another distraction that kept city officials from noticing that their downtowns would soon be suffering because of the mall.

“Look at the number of people hired and the taxes paid,” observed Michael. “Booming communities always assume the boom will go on forever.”

Next: More Midway Mall reminisces including the story behind the dripping wires

Vintage St. Patrick’s Day Ads – 1967

Well, it’s St. Patrick’s Day, so it’s time to post some vintage ads from the Journal with that particular theme. These three ads all appeared in the Journal just in time for St. Patrick’s Day 1967 – 50 years ago today.

Since I’ve spent most of the week blogging about car washes and auto dealerships, it’s appropriate that the one at the top of this post is for Si Gary Dodge. The ad uses an unusually pie-faced leprechaun and some nice headline type.

This ad for the Reidy Scanlan Company (below) has great typography too. But it also has a leprechaun that (to me, anyway) seems to hearken back to the 1800s when Irishmen were depicted as ape-like in editorial cartoons. (But I’m not offended; besides, I was working on a bunch of bananas from the grocery store earlier in the week.)

Lastly in this 1967 St. Patrick’s Day Parade of ads is this one for Casey’s Drive-in. In this case, the ad steers clear of leprechauns and just plunks a shamrock onto the layout so as not to take away from Casey the mascot.

Like me, you might be wondering what “Faith an’ Begorra” means. Apparently it is a cliché, a sort of mild oath that evolved from “By my Faith” and “By God.” 

One online source said that real Irishmen never say it without a tongue planted firmly in their cheek, as it is an example of a stereotypical Irish expression.

Anyway, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Atkinson Williams New Showroom – March 1956

Ford has long been a popular automobile brand for Lorainites, even before the plant was built on Baumhart Road in the late 1950s.

And here’s an ad for a Lorain Ford dealership of yesteryear, announcing its new home at 1530 Kansas Avenue. The dealership: Atkinson Williams. The very stylized ad shown above ran in the Lorain Journal on March 5, 1956.

Previously, the dealership had called 1735 Broadway home since the mid-1940s. (It had started out briefly at 1803 Broadway in the early 1940s.)

Atkinson Williams lasted until around 1963 when the Ford dealership took a new name: George May Ford. ( I mentioned its car wash a few days ago here on the blog.)

By the 1970s, the dealership was Buckeye Ford. A change in automobile brands took place at 1530 Kansas Avenue in the early 1980s, when O’Malley Dodge moved into the vacant business.

The former dealership building was eventually demolished and is now part of the Emerson Network Power Energy property at 1510 Kansas Avenue.

Nowadays, Lorain doesn’t even have a new car dealership in its city limits. You have to head to Amherst, Vermilion, Sheffield Village, Avon or Avon Lake.

However, a forlorn image of the former Kansas Avenue automobile dealership remains on Bing Maps – for now.

Grand Opening of Robo-Wash – 1966

Since I featured the Grand Opening of Ace Car Wash yesterday, I might as well shine a soapy spotlight on their Colorado Avenue competitor as well: Robo-Wash. (Plus, the ad is timely. Robots have been in the news lately, increasingly seen as a menace to humanity – not only taking jobs away from humans, but possibly enslaving them at some futuristic date.)

The above ad appeared in the Journal on August 5, 1966. It's kind of neat in that it depicts the machinery behind the washing process. Similarly to the Ace Car Wash ad yesterday, it lists various prizes that could be won (all car washes) during the grand opening celebration.

Unlike Ace Car Wash, Robo-Wash apparently sold gasoline as well.

Robo-Wash and Ace Car Wash were really only competitors for a little while, since Ace became the car wash for George May Ford sometime around 1967. Robo-Wash kept right on washing into the mid-70s.

Chalk one up for the robots, I guess.

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Don't forget the visit the Agility Nut's website, which features roadside architecture from the 1920s to the 1970s, including three whole pages vintage car wash photos (including one devoted to Robo-Wash and its uniquely shaped buildings).

Grand Opening of Ace Car Wash – March 1957

Back in the 1950s, when a new local business was launched, the owners inevitably took out either a full-page or half-page Grand Opening ad in the Journal. It was a festive occasion, with plenty of prizes to win if you stopped by, and local radio remote broadcasts that added to the festivities. The ads also included the names of the bank, contractors and suppliers involved, along with congratulatory messages.

And that’s what’s going on in the above ad for Ace Car Wash, which ran in the Lorain Journal on March 14, 1957 – 60 years ago today. The ad also reveals the people behind the business: owners T. Dulio and T. Burke, as well as the manager, Phil Soto.

Ace Car Wash had previously been located on the other side of the street at 1376 Colorado. (That stretch of Colorado is a real car wash haven, considering that Robo-Wash was located just a little down the street at 922 Colorado.)

Anyway, Ace Car Wash became the car wash for George May Ford around 1967. Then the car wash went vacant around 1970 before being revived as Mitey Kleen Car Wash. It was briefly Ace Car Wash again a year later before going vacant for the last time.

Its car wash days over, the property became Ohio Auto Body in the mid-1970s.

Today, the building sits on Colorado Avenue, waiting for its next useful period.

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UPDATE (March 16, 2017)
I received a nice email from Todd Burke a few days ago. Todd lives in Nashville, TN but grew up in Lorain in the 60's – with a family connection to the car wash.

Todd wrote, “My family owned Ace Car Wash and I worked there as a kid around 1970.

“My uncle was Tom Dulio and my father was Todd Burke.”

I asked Todd if his uncle was related to well-known local musician and band leader Jimmy Dulio.

“My uncle and Jimmy were brothers. My uncle also worked at the coal and ore docks and my father was a newscaster at WEOL.”

I also asked Todd about the building, with its two smaller bays and one large one. Were there always three bays, and did the building require a lot of modification to be used as an auto body shop?

“The third bay was added later to make room for detailing work such as waxing, buffing and steam cleaning engines,” wrote Todd. “For the body shop, I don't think there was a lot of retrofitting. They just used the available space to make up what they needed.”

Todd remembers how the car wash was a busy place in its heyday.

“I can remember on Saturday's the line would wrap around the building and down to the A&P,” noted Todd. “Sunny cold days were the busiest. Back then, McDonalds was right across the street – handy for lunch!”