Of Robert Taylor and Grandma Brady

Robert Taylor in a late Western, Return of the Gunfighter (1967)

I watch a lot of GRIT TV – the nostalgic cable channel that runs mostly old-time westerns. Although many of the films feature John Wayne, there are many other fine actors whose pictures are highlighted.

I’ve grown quite fond of many of them, including Joel McCrea, Audie Murphy and Randolph Scott. But there’s one that I’ve come to appreciate because of what he meant to a member of my family.

The actor is Robert Taylor and he was Grandma Brady’s favorite. Taylor passed away this month back in 1969. Here’s a small article that appeared in the Journal on June 7, 1969.

Taylor died the next day on June 8, 1969.

As an article that appeared in the Journal on June 12, 1969, noted, “He epitomized an era of motion pictures: a time in the 30s, 40s and 50s when all leading men were handsome. During those decades the matinee idol was at his height.

“Of them all, Bob Taylor was perhaps the most popular in Hollywood."

Well, he was popular with Grandma, that’s for sure. She even had his photo taped to her cash register at Kline’s in Downtown Lorain, where she worked for thirty years.

Grandma lived a hard life. She was only eleven when her mother died in 1909, just a couple years after the family arrived in Lorain from Europe. Her brother Ben was killed at U. S. Steel in 1937. Her husband was out of the picture by the end of the 1930s; within a few years her son (my Dad) would be in the Army and away from Lorain for three years. In later years, she took care of her ailing and bedridden stepmother without complaining.

But despite Grandma's hardships, my own mother remembers her mother-in-law as sweet, kind and generous. She was practically a saint.

Maybe that picture of Robert Taylor taped to her cash register helped Grandma cope, like a little window into a private world where she could forget about her problems for a while – and dream.

Spring Lake Park

January 2, 1964 Ad from Amherst News-Times

Back in March, I wrote about Lake Haven Park in Vermilion, a recreational area centered around a spring-fed lake where member families could enjoy a variety of water-based amenities.

Well, Amherst Township had its own similar place for summer fun in the 60s and 70s: Spring Lake Park.

Spring Lake Park, located on State Route 58 at the Ohio Turnpike in Amherst Township, was owned and operated by Clarence and Geraldine Gerber from the early 1960s until 1982. The park offered member families a place for swimming, fishing and picnics. Amenities included sandy beaches, lifeguard stations, a covered outside picnic shelter, diving raft, slides, swings and wading area buoys.

Here are some aerial views (courtesy of HistoricAerials.com) showing the progression of the Spring Lake Park property from farmland to park.

1952 View

1962 View

1969 View

The article below, which appeared in the Lorain Journal on June 3, 1964, announced the opening of a new bathhouse and lodge at the park, boasting “rest rooms with shower facilities, a snack bar, and a 40 by 50 foot recreation hall with seating available presently for 100 persons.” Equipment for ping pong and shuffleboard was available to members, and there was also an area with a juke box for dancing.

The article also describes the new “Oxford Lodge,” an area of the hall that was equipped with a wood burning fireplace. Its rustic design featured paneled walls of natural birch, with trussed rafters.

May 14, 1964 Ad from Amherst News-Times

July 16, 1964 Ad from Amherst News-Times

All of this made the park a great place for wedding receptions, dances and private parties, in addition to its popularity as a place to swim and fish.

If you have pleasant memories of Spring Lake Park, be sure to leave a comment!

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According to the article, Spring Lake Park owed its existence to the Ohio Turnpike.  It notes, “The lake was formed when springs were struck as dirt was removed for the building of the super highway.”

Here’s a photo of the land being cleared for the Turnpike, which appeared in the Amherst News-Times.

Courtesy of Amherst News-Times and Dennis Thompson

The News-Times noted that Clarence Gerber explained that the photo “showed clearing of land that was once his parents’ farm, on the east side of Rt. 58, where the Ohio Turnpike passes through. His parents were E. W. and Lelah Gerber."

“Clarence Gerber said the picture was taken about 1955, and he remembers well the removal of trees and layers of earth to make way for the turnpike construction. Once the top layer of soil was removed, sandstone was discovered. He said large machines were brought in to quarry the sandstone and then crush it to be used with concrete on the construction project.”

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Regular blog contributor Dennis Thompson remembers the lake well. On the VintageAerial.com website (where Dennis has identified countless photos for the benefit of the website’s visitors), he offers his charming reminisces, as well as his observations about the transitions that the area has undergone through the years. (Click here to visit that page, which includes a great photo).

He notes, "Around 1960, we used to hike down the abandoned RR tracks to this pond and fish here. I remember the huge snapping turtles that cast a wary eye on us from the safety of deep water. 

"Gerber opened the park in 1961 and sold family memberships for swimming, picnics, etc. Within a few years, they had a sandy beach on the far side of the lake and a large picnic pavilion plus a ballroom for dances and wedding receptions. 

"We joined, and I loved sliding down the long slide into the water. The park closed in the late 1980s.

"By the 1990s, the original 4-acre Mullinax lot across Rt 58 had expanded into a huge 67 acre dealership on both side. This area in front of the pond became an additional lot for trucks with its own showroom. 

"Mullinax was one of the largest Ford dealers in the nation. In 1996 the Mullinax brothers sold the entire Mullinax group of several dealerships to AutoNation. But the boom of car sales had dropped off. Within only a few years, the parking lot here, although it had grown to be over 800 wide, was no longer used. 

"Today the vast expanse of concrete that once held millions of dollars worth of trucks and cars has grass growing in all the cracks. In 2004, the Turnpike added the Amherst exit. If you are traveling east bound and exit at Amherst, you actually encircle this lake and can view the rusting buildings of the park. 

"And the snapping turtles? They have seen it all come and go - the yelling, the splashing, the music, the dancing, the bright lights, the cars and trucks - and they have outlived it all. Time and again, the bulldozers have ripped up the dirt and replaced it with concrete until they are surrounded. But perhaps the snappers have once again returned to their rightful position as masters of their domain."

Historian and longtime blog contributor Dennis Lamont identified the ‘abandoned railroad’ in Dennis Thompson’s reminisces as the Lorain and West Virginia, which was unfortunately a victim of the new turnpike interchange. "A huge RR bridge was destroyed, and the steel plant lost a railroad connection to the south,” he noted.

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Today the former Spring Lake Park property is indeed visible from the Turnpike. You can see the roof of the rental hall peeking out through the trees near the highway in the photos below.

Romp’s Dairy Queen Grand Opening – June 1964

Romp’s Dairy Dock has been an iconic Vermilion business for decades, serving up popular frozen ice cream treats at its familiar location on U. S. Route 6 as part of Romp's Water Port since the 1960s.
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But did you know that it started out as a Dairy Queen franchise?

That’s right.  At the top of this post is a Grand Opening ad, as it appeared in the Vermilion Photojournal on June 17, 1964 – 55 years ago this month.

And here’s a shot from this past Sunday afternoon. The building really hasn’t changed that much, and that’s part of its nostalgic charm.

It’s obvious that at some point it simply made sense from a marketing standpoint to bring the ice cream stand and Putt-Putt miniature golf course under the Romp’s banner.

Anyway, it’s a comforting sign of spring to see Romp’s Dairy Dock open and busy as usual. Be part of the tradition and stop there on your visit to Vermilion!

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I posted a great Journal article from 1963 about the Romp’s marina complex back here. The article includes an interesting history of how it came to be.

My post also provides a look at what the property was like back in Lake Shore Electric days.

D-Day As Covered by the Lorain Journal

As today is the 75th Anniversary of D-Day, I thought it would be interesting to see how the invasion and its immediate aftermath was covered in the pages of the Lorain Journal.

It’s hard to imagine experiencing a war only through newspaper and radio coverage, with only the occasional newsreel at the movies. But as you can see, the Journal was packed with expanded war coverage and highly detailed analysis for readers who wanted to know exactly what was going on.

Here then, are the front pages (and some select inside pages) of the Journal for June 5, 1944 – June 12, 1944, courtesy of the Lorain Public Library. Click on each for a larger, more readable version. As usual, there are plenty of other things on each page of interest (such as Nazi prisoners working in the Amherst Quarries).

June 5, 1944

June 6, 1944

June 6, 1944 Page 2

June 6, 1944 – page 3

June 6, 1944 – Page 4

June 6, 1944 – Page 9

June 6, 1944 – Page 11

June 7, 1944

June 7, 1944 – Page 2

June 7, 1944 – Page 4

June 8, 1944

June 8, 1944 – Page 2

June 8, 1944 – Page 4

June 9, 1944

June 9, 1944 – Page 2

June 10, 1944

June 10, 1944 – Page 2

June 12, 1944

It’s interesting that on D-Day, there were War Bonds ads sponsored by local businesses that seemed to be designed specifically for that day, such as the one for Seymour’s Jewelry. "THIS IS IT – The Battle to Save the World” reads the ad’s headline. The one for Smith & Gerhart even features Hitler.

Also of interest to anyone who ever asked, “What does the “D” in “D-Day” stand for?” is the article that ran on D-Day on page 3 entitled WORLD’S FATE TO AGAIN BE DECIDED ON FRENCH SOIL. It notes, “Dramatically, the signal for the greatest “D” day of the war, the opening of the second battle of France was given by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, an American whose whole country was befriended by the French in the darkest hours of its struggle for independence many years ago.” 

This sentence seems to support the idea that the “D” is generic, and that wars have many D-Days. 

The Root Beer Stand at Madison

Last week, I posted a 1964 ad for the Lorain A&W Root Beer stand that was located on West Erie Avenue at Madison. The stand first appeared in the Lorain Telephone Company directory in 1959, and in the Lorain City Directory in 1960.

It had several addresses, which only adds to the confusion about this restaurant.

The initial phone book address for the A&W restaurant was 2537 W. Erie, while the city directory just said it was on the corner of Madison and West Erie. Eventually, the city directory address was 2600 West Erie.

Did it really hop from one side of West Erie to another? It doesn’t seem likely, but I can’t say for sure. I suspect that since that area of town was outside regular Lorain city limits for so long, the addresses were probably still evolving or being decided on.

But there’s one thing I do know: there was a root beer stand at the corner of Madison and West Erie long before A&W.

How do I know? My mother remembers it from the 1930s, when she was growing up.

“My father took us there in his Reo," she recalls. "Root beer in a frosted glass was a real treat."

What did the root beer stand look like?

“It was a small building. Cars would park around it in a circle.”

1952 Aerial view of Madison and West Erie

Mom remembers that the stand was run by the Buchanan family. They lived right next door on Madison, to the south, according to the city directory.

It was a seasonal business. “It would get shuttered for the winter,” she noted.

According to the 1939-1940 edition of the National City Directory for Lorain, it was a Stewart's Root Beer stand. Evelyn Buchanan was listed as the manager.

It makes sense that the stand was affiliated with Stewart’s. Stewart’s Root Beer got its start in Mansfield, Ohio.

Anyway, it's difficult to know how long the root beer stand had been in business at that location when Mom was going there, or how long it lasted before A&W Root Beer came to town. The location was outside of town, and just not included in the city directories until the late 50s/early 1960s. (The standalone National city directory was the only book to include it; the regular Polk directories did not.) Plus the stand probably didn’t have a phone in the early days, making a phone book timeline impossible.

Today the southeast corner of Madison and West Erie is a forlorn sight (below).

Nevertheless, pleasant memories of root beer served there in a frosted glass remain.

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Root Beer and drive-in root beer stands have been a favorite topic on this blog. Besides my posts about A&W and Dog ’N Suds, I’ve written about Frostie Root Beer, the Frostop drive-in out in Huron, and the Richardson Root Beer stand on Oberlin Avenue.

Did Bill Haley & the Comets Ever Play the Lorain Arena?

Earlier this year at the Lorain Public Library, I was asked if I had any knowledge of Bill Haley and the Comets ever playing at the Lorain Arena in his heyday.

I checked available online 1950s concert listings, which include several shows in Ohio. But even when Bill Haley and the Comets were performing nearby (such as an appearance in Cleveland on May 8, 1956) I never could find any indication on newspaper microfilm of a stopover in Lorain, either before or after. There weren’t even Journal ads for the concert in the neighboring cities.

Anyway, while scrolling around on the microfilm from the timeframe of one concert, I did find an advertisement and Journal movie review of Rock Around the Clock, which was playing at the Tivoli Theatre in May 1956. Above you see the ad and review, as well as the whole page of movie ads from May 12, 1956.

The Journal’s review is laced with hip language, Daddy-O.

If anyone has any knowledge of seeing Bill Haley at the Lorain Arena (or any Lorain venue), be sure to leave a comment!

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Anyway, judging from the full page of movie ads, there was something for everyone playing on Lorain movie screens back in May 1956. Here’s a sampling...

Jungle hi-jinks was the theme at the Lorain Theater, with Simba, Terror of Mau Mau, Tarzan’s Peril and Skabenga (1955).

Ohio Theater kept it wholesome with an all-Disney lineup of Music Land, Johnny Appleseed and The Littlest Outlaw.

Over at the drive-ins, Carlisle Drive-in had Hell on Frisco Bay, Treasure of Pancho Villa and Crossed Swords, while Tower Drive-in had Mighty Joe Young providing cinematic monkey business. Lorain Drive-in was playing the hits, with a triple feature that included James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause” and John Wayne in “Rio Grande.”

John Wayne was also flying high at the Grove Theater in The High and the Mighty.

SR 611 at Detroit Rd in Avon – Then & Now

Last month, I posted a 1967 Journal article consisting of reminisces about Avon by a longtime resident, A. A. Bungart. One of his memories of the early days of Avon included the town water pump. He noted, ""The town water pump was located in front of what today is the library. People came from miles around to get water.” Bungart also mentioned that “City hall was located in the present library building on SR 611 at Detroit Road."

The mention of a water pump caught the attention of blog contributor and researcher extraordinaire, Rick Kurish. In an email, he alerted me that a vintage postcard of an Avon streetscape featuring a water pump was currently on Ebay.

Here’s the postcard.

Although we were pretty sure that it was the pump mentioned in the article (you can see part of the town hall at the right side of the photo), the research had already been done removing all doubt.

It turned out that the Arcadia Publishing book about Avon included this photo, with a detailed caption. It reads, “CORNER OF DETROIT AND COLORADO. This 1910 picture shows the corner of Detroit Road and Colorado Avenue/Stoney Ridge, looking east on Detroit Road. In front of the Old Town Hall is the water pump and well that local people used for their water supply. The stone porch of Alten House is to the left.”

Anyway, Rick observed that the scene was “the ultimate candidate for a “before” and "now” treatment — if you could get a shot from that intersection without being killed by the traffic!”

Rick was right on both counts, especially about the difficulty in getting the photo. But I got it (despite a few close calls involving cars turning right on red).