New Traffic Lights at Elyria & 21st – June 1958

It was only a few months ago that I wrote about the intersection of West 21st Street and Elyria Avenue in Lorain, specifically about a few houses being torn down there in 1968 (here).

I also wrote about that same intersection back here, with a Then & Now showing a pre-underpass view looking east. Heck, I’ve even written a lot about the Gaylords and Giant Tiger store (just last week too), which was located right there as well.

Well, here’s yet another post about that same area. It’s a front page photo from the June 19, 1958 Lorain Journal showing Lorain city electricians installing brand new suspended traffic lights there.

The photo caption makes reference to the removal of the “center traffic light on the concrete base.” Yikes, I’ll bet that thing got clobbered once in a while.

Making Way for New Pipe Mill at National Tube – June 1958

Back when Lorain was defined by its steel mill, the goings-on at the plant was of much interest to its residents and consequently was covered in great detail by the Lorain Journal.

Sixty years ago, the National Tube Division’s Lorain Works was getting ready to construct a new continuous buttweld pipe mill. To make room for it, some buildings had to be torn down in the name of progress.

That’s the focus of the photo and caption below, which appeared on the front page of the Lorain Journal on June 13, 1958.

Sheffield Lake City Hall Comes Down – June 14, 1968

Back in February 2013, I posted a 1957 article about Sheffield Lake’s original village hall, which stood where The Perch on Lake apartments are located now.

The post included a rare, vintage photo of the village hall, one of the few in existence today (at right). The building was originally a little red schoolhouse (which I wrote about here).

Well, at the top of this blog post you see what may be the only other photo of the Sheffield Lake Village Hall. Unfortunately, the photo is of it being torn down to make way for Lakeside 10 Apartments.

It sure would have been fun to dig around in that pile of rubble and grab some bricks and other souvenirs.

Father’s Day Ad Mystery – Solved?

Back in 2013, I posted the Father’s Day ad above for Hart’s Jewelry Company. The 1954 ad promoted the Shavex electric shaver, and featured an unidentified model who I referred to as a Marilyn Monroe look-alike.

It bugged me that I couldn’t identify the model, who I assumed was an actress. Since Der Bingle (Bing Crosby) was associated with Shavex, I speculated that perhaps one of his Hollywood pals did the ads as a favor. But I was unable to come up with anybody.

Fast forward to a few months ago.

I was watching a Kirk Douglas movie (Ace in the Hole) that I’d never seen before, when I noticed that the female lead looked strangely familiar. “THAT’S HER!” I exclaimed as I practically did a spit-take with my morning coffee.

At least to me, the woman in the Shavex ad looks like the woman in the movie: Jan Sterling. They both had those sad eyes and distinctive, narrow nose.

Need more convincing? Here are a few glamour shots of Jan for your enjoyment and/or perusal.

Jan Sterling could really change her looks with a simple tilt of her head or a different hairdo. If you Google her name, you’ll find that she looks like a different person in every photo. That’s why it’s so difficult to know for sure if it’s her in the ad.

Anyway, Jan Sterling was in my one of my favorite John Wayne non-Westerns, The High and the Mighty. You can see her a few times in the movie’s trailer.

Vintage Father’s Day Ads

Father’s Day is this Sunday, so here are a few vintage ads with that theme from the pages of the Lorain Journal. They’re all amusing in the way that they portray a typical Dad.

First up – appropriately enough in view of last week’s blog series – is one for The Hoop. The ad featuring a cigar-smoking “Pop” ran in the paper on June 14, 1958.

Ten years later, Harry’s Men’s Wear ran this ad in the Journal on June 6, 1968. The ad features a photo of Harry himself, as well as another smoking Papa (only this time he's puffing on a pipe).

Gee, were fathers always depicted as slaves to nicotine in these types of ads?

Not in this illustration (below) that ran at the top of an ad for Muir’s Self Serve Drug Store, which ran in the Journal on June 12, 1958. This Dad is king for a day and tobacco-free.

So what gifts did the Muir Scotsman help the little tykes pick out? 

Well, the ad included special prices for a variety of gift items, including leather wallets, Paper-Mate Capri Pens, Pocket Watches, Old Spice, Kodak Brownie Movie Cameras, and – you guessed it – cigarette lighters, cartons of popular cigarettes (Camel, Chesterfield, or Old Gold) and Famous Falcon Goo-les Pipes.

So here’s an early Happy Father’s Day greeting to all you Dads out there, including my two brothers (who I think would agree that they had a good role model).

New Name for Giant Tiger – June 14, 1969

The Giant Tiger department store (later, Gaylord’s) in Lorain has been another one of those recurring topics on this blog over the last nine years.

I covered the store’s August 1967 Grand Opening here, as well as its destruction during an April 1974 wind storm here. I wrote about the store’s curious use of Kellogg’s Tony the Tiger mascot in their advertising here, and featured some readers’ reminiscing about the store here. Lastly, I posted a few Halloween ads, including this one from 1968.

So it’s appropriate to post this article (below), which captures the moment when Giant Tiger became part of the Gaylord’s family of stores. It appeared in the Lorain Journal on June 14, 1969.

Half-Days Coming to Masson – June 5, 1969

Masson as it looked when it opened in 1959.

Back in the late 1950s, Lorain’s west side was experiencing a boom as farmland gave way to new homes for young, middle-class families.

Since many of these families had young children, Masson Elementary was built – opening in time for the 1959-60 school year. Masson Junior High followed in the fall of 1966.

Unfortunately, there still was a problem of overcrowded classrooms. As a creative solution, the decision was made to schedule half-day sessions at Masson Elementary.

The plan was explained in the article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on June 5, 1969.

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I remember those half-day sessions well, as they took place when I was in fifth grade in Mrs. Grego’s class. The main thing I remember is that half of my classmates that I knew from first grade to fourth were suddenly M.I.A. I seem to recall that it was mainly the bunch that lived over in the Sherwood Allotment area.

By the time sixth grade rolled around, the new addition to Masson Elementary was open, with its newfangled movable classroom walls. While these walls provided some flexibility, it also made it easy to hear what was going on in adjacent classrooms.

Today of course, all traces of Masson Elementary (as well as the junior high) have been erased, and replaced by grass.