New Bridge for Mill Hollow – 1964

While scrolling around on old newspaper microfilm at the Ritter Public Library in Vermilion, I found this little item that would be of interest to anyone who grew up loving Mill Hollow.

The photo appeared in the Vermilion Photojournal on May 20, 1964 – 55 years ago today. It shows the old, single-lane bridge that used to span the Vermilion River near the entrance to the park. It was in the process of being replaced at that time.

Here’s a photo of the current bridge from yesterday.

And here’s a shot of the current bridge courtesy of the Lorain County Metro Parks.

The year 1964 was a big one for Mill Hollow. Although the park opened in July 1960, the restored Mill Hollow House did not open until July 1964. I’ll have more on that event next month.

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Mill Hollow has been a favorite topic on this blog, which is appropriate, since the park is still one of my favorite places on the planet.

The well-remembered, original steep hill leading in and out of the park was the subject of this post, and I did a “Then & Now” of the Mill Hollow house here.

I also wrote about the Mill Hollow badger here, and posted autumn photos of the park in 2011, 2014 and 2018.

Kellogg’s Jumbo Assortment Ad – May 1969

Well, it’s finally Friday – the end of the work week. Time to limp home and relax.

But fifty years ago in May 1969, Friday in the Brady household meant one thing: Mom was going grocery shopping after dinner. And she was sure to bring home plenty (three or four boxes) of the sugary cereal my siblings and I craved. She would buy whatever we asked for – Cap’n Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes... How many mothers do that in 2019?

We would pretty much go through a box on Friday night at snack time, and then enjoy some more in the morning right before we settled down for the inevitable Saturday morning cartoons.

This large ad (which ran in the Journal on May 14, 1969) combines cereal and cartoons very nicely. It shows the gargantuan Kellogg’s Jumbo Assortment: 18 mini boxes of cereal including the dreaded adult ones (Raisin Bran, Corn Flakes) and the kiddie ones we liked.

Here’s a color photo of the Jumbo Assortment in the ad, courtesy of Hake’s.com.

Making a cameo appearance in the 1969 ad is Bingo, one of the Banana Splits – the costumed musical foursome who hosted their own show for Kellogg’s.  Each week the group (Fleegle, Bingo, Drooper and Snorky) performed in what would now be considered music videos, as well as short slapstick comedy bits. They also showed a strange grab bag of cartoons, plus episodes of Danger Island, a live action adventure.

(I remember just tolerating cartoons like The Three Musketeers, waiting for the show to get back to the Banana Splits and their hijinks.)

Who doesn’t remember the Tra La La song, the theme song of the Banana Splits?

This YouTube sample includes the theme song again, plus some of the comedy bits, such as Fleegle getting the mail, Drooper taking out the trash, etc. That strange, caterpillar-like arm in the mail box always creeped me out!

The Banana Splits were also featured on many Kellogg’s cereal boxes, promoting various send-away offers, such as this printing set. (Hey – maybe this cereal box ad indirectly led me to go into the printing business as a career!)

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Cereal has long been a favorite topic on this blog. I also did a post on the Rice Krispies song, whose songwriter – N. B. Winkless, Jr. – also wrote the Tra La La song).

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Hey, how about a look back at the introductory commercial to Kellogg's Puffa Puffa Rice? I remember this commercial well, especially with that grass-skirted Hawaiian cutie in there. I wonder if Kellogg’s was aiming this cereal at men, as a sort of Polynesian fantasy breakfast?

Sheffield Lake Fantasy Fair – May 1969

Remember fun festivals?

Sure you do, if you grew up in Lorain County in the 1960s. Fun festivals were miniature school-sponsored ‘carnivals.’ They were held at the school, where there were tables set up with little games where – for the cost of one ticket – you could try your luck and win a prize, such as a live goldfish (much to Mom’s dismay).

There was usually a “pick-a-pocket” lady, who wore an big, colorful apron with a lot of pockets, each containing a small prize. For one ticket, you could select (sight unseen) something out of one of her pockets.

I remember going to a fun festival at Charleston Elementary School, and coming home with several of these small ‘walker’ toys (below), mistakenly thinking it was supposed to be Mickey Mouse’s pal Pluto. (Why are the kids on the package a martian-like green?)

Courtesy the Internet Antique Shop

I seem to recall that the walking dog didn’t work particularly well. Instead of “walking” to the edge of the table, Rover was dragged right over.

This “jumping frog” was another typical prize at a fun festival that I remember. There was a little spring-loaded lever in the back that you set by embedding it in a small blob of sticky gel material attached to the back of the frog; eventually the lever would loosen and release, cause the frog to “jump” into the air.

Courtesy of Bay

Anyway, here’s an article promoting an upcoming festival at Tennyson School in Sheffield Lake. It ran in the Journal on May 12, 1969 and highlights the creativity of Mrs. Ronald Lemke.

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Sheffield Lake To See Paul Bunyan

By BETSY WATSON
Staff Writer

SHEFFIELD LAKE – Tennyson PTO is writing a new chapter to the Paul Bunyan legend.

Dominating the scene when Tennyson opens the door on its gay Fantasy Fair Saturday will be a giant Paul, ready to tramp through the Minnesota woodlands with his powerful ax.

The 10-foor high figure is the creation of Mrs. Ronald Lemke whose talent for costume design has brightened the Halloween parade for the past two years.

Working with chicken wire and a two months’ supply of The Journal, Mrs. Lemke says she spent an average of ten hours a day for two months to make the paper mache giant.

While the Lemke family ate dinner in shifts at a card table, Paul took his ease on the dining room table. Now that he is completed he has been shifted to the Sheffield, Sheffield Lake Board of Education Office where he stretches across the corner of the room waiting to make his Saturday debut.

OUTFITTING Paul became a family project. Elaine Lemke, a sixth grader at Sheffield Middle School, gave up her red sweater to make his hat, and Mrs. Lemke sacrificed her husband’s scarlet stocking cap to make sox for his tree-like legs. “OK woman, anything for the cause,” said Lemke as he watched his cap top Paul’s sturdy lumber jack boots.

The folk hero is complete in detail, even to a red checkered bandana that is stuffed in his back pocket. His eyes, after a long search, were made from Italian glass grapes, the hair on his chest and head is black yarn and his shoe laces were also a donation from a patient Mr. Lemke.

Another clever creation of Mrs. Lemke that will entertain children at the fair is the costume of the Pocket Lady. Tennyson’s pocket lady will be a brown tree with a realistic headdress made of green and orange leaves. Something that should especially appear to all is the next of scarlet cardinals that rests in her branches.

The mother of five daughters, Mrs. Lemke worked on her man-sized project while involved in another back-breaking task... moving from the family home on Brockley Ave., to a new residence in Knickerbocker Knolls at the east end of the city.

There will be other clever story book characters walking the halls at the fair, including a black and white skunk with inch-long eyelashes and an emerald collar made by Mrs. William Lyon. 

Hours for the Fair will be from 1 to 5 p.m. with tickets available at the door. Inside will be games, refreshments, a quaint country store and movies. Ways and means chairman are Mrs. Alfred Wynek and Mrs. Kennethe Deshuk, but all members of the PTO as well as the teachers at the school worked to make the festival possible.

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Sheffield Lake’s fantasy-themed fair seemed to be a notch above the Lorain version (no pun intended in view of Paul Bunyan and his axe). But I’m not sure that having the pick-a-pocket lady costumed as a tree was a good idea, with the famed lumberjack of folklore lurking nearby.

Convenient Food Mart Ad – May 5, 1967

Convenience stores hastened the demise of the local dairies in the 1960s. After all, why wait for milk to be delivered (and left outside in all sorts of weather) when you could pick it up at your own convenience, along with other things you might need, like lunch meat and chips?

Thus, chains such as Lawson’s, 7-Eleven, and Open Pantry served a need, and did it with clean, well-lit and well-stocked stores that stayed open late.

Convenient Food Mart is another regional chain that – unlike some of its 1960s competitors – is still around. Above is a large ad that ran in the Lorain Journal on May 5, 1967.

The corporate website reveals the company history. It notes, "William J. Bresler and Walter R. Schaub founded Convenient Food Mart, one of the first and one of the best convenience store chains, in Chicago in 1958. Their idea was to provide customers a supermarket in miniature, which would be located in the customer’s neighborhood and perhaps owned by one of the neighbors. The new store they envisioned would be open seven days a week, from early morning until late at night or 24 hours a day.

"This concept was launched in the nation’s heartland and immediately proved successful.”

In Lorain County, the local Convenient Food Marts had their roots in an Elyria dairy. As noted here on the website, "The original Company had its beginning in the year 1911, when Edward Seabold Sr. began delivering milk to homes on the West Side of Elyria. The milk came from the family farm on Telegraph Road.  Ten-gallon cans were carried on a horse drawn wagon and milk was hand dipped at each home into the customer’s container. Delivery was made twice a day, due to the absence of refrigeration and pasteurization. The business was then known as Seabold Dairy.

"A few years later, the operation was moved to Lake Avenue (now called North Gateway Boulevard) on the same land where the present Company headquarters are located.

"In 1919, Edward was joined in the growing business by his brother, Carl. The business was incorporated in 1932 as Elyria Dairies, Inc., and the trade name “Sunshine Farms Dairy” was created.

To develop an additional market for Sunshine Farms Dairy products, the Seabold brothers formed North Central Ohio Convenient Food Mart, Inc. in 1964, and acquired the franchise for Convenient Food Mart stores. Convenient Food Mart opened its first store on July 12th, 1965 in Lorain, Ohio."

Even though the 1967 ad lists Hills Brothers Coffee (my parents’ favorite), I don’t think we ever shopped at Convenient Food Mart. The closest store to us was on Leavitt Road, near W. 21st Street. It was more convenient to visit the Lawson’s on Oberlin Avenue to pick up things we needed (such as dutch loaf).

At least Convenient Food Mart had something that neither Lawson’s or Open Pantry had: an advertising mascot – the customer who is king!

Oldest Home in Avon – May 1966

Several of my posts in the last few days have been about historic Avon, and here’s one last entry to close out the topic for now. It's about the oldest home in the city, located at 2940 Stoney Ridge Road.

The photo and caption ran in the Lorain Journal on May 10, 1966.

A plaque mounted on the fence post notes that it is the William Cahoon House, circa 1825. Cahoon was Avon’s first settler.

The avonhistory.org website (here) provides some history of the house.

According to this article by Kevin Martin on the Morning Journal website from August 13, 2018, the City of Avon was considering purchasing the historic home to preserve it and put it to civic use as a multi-use facility or welcome center. (I’m not sure what the status is of that proposal but I think it’s a great idea.)

Anyway, I can understand why the Journal photographer decided to photograph the back of the house in 1966. It’s not easy to get a good photo of the front, with all of the trees and brush.

Here’s my shot from a Saturday morning a few weeks ago. It required several back-and-forth trips along Stoney Ridge, but at least I didn’t get run in by Avon’s finest for my guerrilla photography.

A. A. Bungart’s Impressions of Avon in the Old Days

It is very fortunate that back in the 1950s and 60s the Lorain Journal was committed to preserving the history of Lorain County.

As noted on this blog, many of the stories that the paper published back then contain historical information and first-hand recollections and reminisces that otherwise would be unavailable today.

Here’s a good example by Journal Staff Writer Bill Wilgren that ran in the Journal on May 15, 1967.

It’s an interview with Professor Aloysius A. Bungart, who moved to Avon in 1908 and served as Mayor in the late 1930s. The article includes Professor Bungart's impressions of Avon in the ‘old days,’ as well as his opinions on the problems facing the country back then (which contain one term that is considered offensive today).

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A. A. Bungart View Avon in Retrospect
by BILL WILGREN
Staff Writer

AVON – How does a man view modern life who has lived in the community for 59 years? What are some of his lasting impressions of the past?

PROF. ALOYSIUS A. Bungart, 38960 Detroit Road, who taught English literature at John Carroll University for 40 years, and has served as Avon councilman and mayor, said, “Progress has an ominous ring.

“I think modern society with its rat race, makes people more neurotic and dissatisfied. Other than advances in medical science, I believe my grandparents lived a richer, fuller, freer life.”

Speaking with a wry smile and a twinkle in his eye, Bungart said, “I’m a moss back, a dodo, a reactionary, but, I’m proud of it.”

HE BELIEVES improvements are inevitable for Avon. “The city has 20 square miles, almost the area of Lorain. When you consider sewer improvements, you have to look at the many acres of undeveloped land which is not even accessible by road.”

What are his impressions of the past?

“My sister, Dora, was born in a log house in Sheffield Village when Detroit Road was a dirt path. There was an old grist mill south of Detroit Road near French Creek.

“Most of the truck farmers traveled to Cleveland market by horse and wagon.

"The town water pump was located in front of what today is the library. People came from miles around to get water.

“FRENCH CREEK Tavern was open when I moved here in 1908. You could go in there with five cents, have a glass of beer and have all the lunch you could eat.

“City hall was located in the present library building on SR 611 at Detroit Road. There were about 1,500 residents mostly farmers – when I moved here.

“I went to work in the old days by taking the Avon Beach Park trolley to Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co., in Avon Lake then I’d transfer to the Lake Shore Electric to get to Public Square in Cleveland.

THE VOLUNTEER Fire Department was started in the 1930’s. I was mayor from 1938 to 1940 and was on council 10 years before that.

“The cemetery on Center Road and SR 254 was probably an old Indian mound. Many Indian artifacts have been found in Avon.”

On the modern scene:

“It’s futile to talk about universal peace. I vehemently deny that poverty is the principle motive for crime.

“I’m afraid the colored situation will get worse before it gets better,” Bungart said.

HE SUPPORTS the war effort. “I’m a hawk as far as Vietnam is concerned.”

Professor Bungart likes Avon.

“The Bungarts are Roman Catholic of German ancestry and for almost 60 years our family has lived in a predominantly Protestant neighborhood. I cannot recall a single instance of prejudice, intolerance or bigotry.

“May such an atmosphere of living togetherness permeate Avon, the nation and the world,” he said.

Ida Stone – A Friend of the Lorain Public Library

The Friends of the Lorain Public Library organization is currently holding one of its book sales from now until May 16th. If you love books, it's a great opportunity to add to your own library – on the cheap. 

Although many of the books are donated by the public (which explains the abundance of cook books in pristine condition), there are also old library books that are being "retired."

At the last book sale, I picked up a former Lorain Public Library copy of The Man Who Never Was by Ewen Montagu (shown above). Inside is a bookplate indicating that it was donated by Miss Ida Stone in memory of her parents.

So who was Ida Stone? Probably the best friend the Lorain Public Library ever had.

Here's her photo from the 1945 Lorain High School Scimitar yearbook.

At the time of her passing in November 1968, her obituary in the Chronicle-Telegram noted that the retired Lorain High School teacher had recently donated 1,123 books to the Lorain Public Library in memory of her late parents.

The online History of the Lorain Public Library System notes that in 1970 the library established a paperback collection, and that "Many of the paperbacks are gifts from Miss Ida Stone, a retired Lorain High School teacher."

Anyway, I'll bet that Miss Stone died believing that the books she donated would remain on the shelves down at the Main Library on Sixth Street in perpetuity, for patrons to enjoy, and as a loving tribute to her parents.

It just doesn't seem right that any of those books should end up in a sale along with romance novels and old dog-eared copies of People magazine.

From November 27, 1968 Lorain Journal