World's Largest Miniature Circus Comes to O'Neil - Sheffield Shopping Center – August 1962

Vintage Postcard of Ernie's Circus – "World's Largest Most Fabulous Hand Carved Exhibit"

Back in the days when people used to like to leave their homes to shop, merchants often utilized special promotions to entice people to visit their stores.

Sometimes these promotions could get pretty elaborate, such as the O'Neil - Sheffield Shopping Center bringing in the Paul Miller's Wild Animal Circus to entertain shoppers back in June of 1962 (which I wrote about here). 

On the other hand, sometimes something tiny was the drawing card – such as Ernie's Miniature Circus, which paid a visit to the O'Neil - Sheffield Shopping Center in late August 1962, just a few months after Paul Miller's Circus.

Below is an article that ran in the Journal on August 29, 1962. 

The miniature circus, a 'midget replica' of the Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey Show, was the brainchild of Ernest Palmquist. As the article notes, "All of the tumblers, all of the clowns, all the animals... all of the remarkable members of the "Ernie's Circus" troupe are laboriously hand carved of wood. Many of the figures are animated. All are accurately designed to scale.

"Several years ago, "Ernie's Circus" was a big attraction at the Brussels World's Fair. In 1964 and 1965, he will be booked for two years at the New York World's Fair.

"Ernie loves circuses. This is the reason he began whittling circus figures, back in the days when he had his own band, and later when he was a novelty tune writer with Ted Weems Orchestra.

Here's some black and white footage from June 1962 of some workers unpacking "Ernie's Circus" for an engagement in Roanoke.

And here's a poster for sale on the American Decay website.

And here are some photos of some of Ernie's creations, courtesy of the Daily Press.

I wonder where Ernie's Circus is today?

Avon Lake Landmark 'Spirit of St. Louis' Repaired – August 1964

Although my daily commute to work is now along country roads, for many years I drove to Cleveland – both Downtown and the near West Side. During that time I sometimes decided to enjoy the ride and follow U. S. Route 6, the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, all the way in. It took forever, but there were many interesting roadside sights to see – a lot of which have now vanished without a trace.

I've written about some of them, including the Harbor View Motel in Rocky River (here and here), as well as The Harts family sign. Both are long gone.

And then there was the Kekic Gas Station's iconic Spirit of St. Louis replica plane. I've written about it a few times, since I used to pass the small service station daily. This post featured a "Then & Now" photo study of its location, and this one has some vintage news articles.

As I noted, I drove by it for many years, and then suddenly the gas station – and the small plane on its pole  – were gone. Fortunately the Avon Lake landmark was born again (thanks to Nick Zangas of Avon Lake) which I wrote about here.

Anyway, I recently found another piece of the puzzle, an article from the August 24, 1964 Journal about the Spirit of St. Louis plane. It tells how the plane had been at that location at the Kekic Service Station since 1927, and was one of 150 replicas distributed by the Coca-Cola Company. 

The main focus of the article, however, is that the plane had been blown down in a bad windstorm and had been missing from its perch for about a year. At the time of the article it had recently been repaired and re-installed.

It's sad that so many roadside reminders of yesteryears are disappearing – but it's a wonderful thing indeed when steps are taken to hold on to local heritage, such as the installation of the replica Spirit of St. Louis at Miller Road Park.

The Stash Box Ad – August 27, 1973

For you Baby Boomers that lived in Lorain during its heyday, here's one of those articles (in reality a paid ad) shining the spotlight on a well-remembered business: The Stash Box. The page below is from the Journal of August 27, 1973. (Note the Yogi Bear Jellystone Park ad.)

For the uninformed, the Stash Box was a head shop, a term that I haven't heard in a while. 

At the time of the 1973 article, the store was located at 1065 Broadway. Later, it moved to Eighth and Broadway (which is the location I remember). Here's a December 1976 ad mentioning the move. Note the illustration of its building (now the home of Marzavas & Son Jewelers).

With the legalization of recreational marijuana in Ohio last year, maybe head shops will make a comeback. The Wiki entry suggested that cannabis dispensaries more or less double as head shops.

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It may seem strange, but I never tried marijuana in my life, although it was definitely in use in the dorm at Ohio State. When I came back to Lorain one year for the summer break, all of my old high school friends were using it too – which upset me and probably cost me some friendships. 

I guess if I wanted to get a buzz on, I preferred the 'old fashioned' way: alcohol. Nowadays, I literally do it the old-fashioned way sometimes: with an old-fashioned! I like all the fruit in it, although to many it's sacrilegious.

I know several people at work that were downright excited about the legalization of recreational marijuana in Ohio. I know the State will make a lot of money of it. But at what cost?

So no thanks. I'll stick to my Hamms and my old-fashioneds, the way dear old Dad used to make. 

Oakwood Shopping Center Back-to-School Ad – August 26, 1959

I feel sorry for kids nowadays. Starting school before Labor Day still seems kind of cruel to me. 

In Lorain this year, the first day back is August 26th, which I suppose is better than the middle of the month. But it's a long way from the way it used to be.

Back then, those ubiquitous back-to-school sales used to take place in late August, and above you see an example. It's for the stores at Oakwood Shopping Center in South Lorain, and the ad ran in the Journal on August 26, 1959.

It's an odd ad. Instead of school supplies being touted, the items being promoted in the ad include traveler's cheques, bicycles, a Scotts lawn product to 'blast' crabgrass, feminine hygiene products, and Canada Dry pop. There's also a free back-to-school dance advertised, with beatnik phrases like "Real cool" and "The Most" utilized.

At least the ad features the Thrifty Squirrel shopping center mascot. For years I thought the name of the squirrel was Oakie, since early Oakwood ads made reference to a rodent by that name. I even named my first website Oakie's Treehouse (featuring local ad mascots) for that reason. But eventually I learned that the girl squirrel with the purse was named Pearl, in honor of Pearl Avenue, the street on which the shopping center was located.

Lorain County Fair 1974

I'll close out Fair Week here on the blog with a look at the 1974 Lorain County Fair.

Here's the full page ad that ran in the Journal on August 19, 1974 promoting the Fair.

With so many big name country music stars scheduled to perform at the Grandstand, a series of individual ads promoting specific acts began running weeks in advance of the Fair.

Here's one for Buck Owens and Susan Raye that ran in the paper on July 31, 1974.

Mel Tillis and Judy Kester were featured in this ad that ran on August 2, 1974.

Those are some pretty big names. The Journal highlighted all of the performers in this article that ran on August 18, 1974.

As noted in the article, also appearing at the Fair was the Dan Fleenor Auto Thrill Show. Dan Fleenor had also been featured at the 1969 and 1972 editions of the Lorain County Fair.

But not all of the Journal articles about the Fair were concerned with upcoming musical acts. Longtime Journal Staff Writer Lou Kepler provided some charming reminisces about Fairs of the past in this report that ran in the paper on August 18, 1974.

Here are a few more 'tall' ads that ran in the Journal for the 1974 Lorain County Fair. I like the groovy clip art of the young couple in the second ad. No fedoras or boater hats there!

And finally, the Journal provided a nice review on August 25, 1974 of the Buck Owens and Susan Raye performance.

Lorain County Fair 1964 – Part 2

The Harmonaires were the headliners at the 1964 Lorain County Fair, as noted in the ad above, which appeared in the Journal on August 25, 1964. As the photo from the August 21, 1954 Journal notes, the singing and recording group had appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show.

The group was based out of Columbus, Ohio. Here they are on one of their few recordings, which consist of a few 78 rpms.

You can read more about the history of the Harmonaires on musician, historian and author Arnett Howard's blog here.

As for the other entertainment highlight of the 1964 Lorain County Fair, what would a fair be without an auto thrill show? But instead of the Hurricane Hell Drivers, the Fair featured the Rotroff All-Girl Auto Thrill Show, as noted in the ad below (from the August 27, 1964 Journal).

This photo and caption from the same edition of the Journal tells a little about one of the thrill show drivers, Pat Jackson.

And here's a souvenir program from 1960.

This spread from the program gives us a look at some of the comely drivers, including Sylvia Haynes.

The Rotroff All-Girl Auto Thrill Show was scheduled for two shows on the last night of the Fair. As an article from the Journal of August 29, 1964 noted, "a deluge hit the area just as the curtain was lowered on the second and final performance of the all-girl Rotroff auto thrill show."

Today's Lorain County Fair usually end with a Demolition Derby on Sunday night. I work with one of the demolition derby drivers, who had a busy summer at the various fairs. He's told me some fascinating behind-the-scene tales of what goes through the drivers' minds at these things, and how it gets pretty personal when you encounter drivers and teams from earlier derbies in the season! I wish him good luck this Sunday, and I hope he creams those punks who ganged up on him a few weeks ago at another metal-crunching ordeal!

Lorain County Fair 1964 – Part 1

Today we fast forward ten years from yesterday's post and take a look at the 1964 Lorain County Fair. Above is the full-page ad that ran in the Journal on August 22, 1964.

As usual, I love the clip-art used in the ad, especially of the family. Dad's got his suit and fedora on (I thought that JFK had made hats unpopular?) while Mom's wearing a stylish boater hat. And the sandwich-board-wearing stilt walker has a lit stogie with smoke wafting upwards.

In that same edition of the Journal, a photograph of the new main entrance gate of the Fairgrounds was featured.

The look of the Fairgrounds was slowly evolving into what we see out there today. The article below from the August 1, 1964 Journal revealed some of the new buildings, including new homes for the ponies and rabbits (a must-see during my visit to the Fair each year).

Tomorrow, I'll feature some of the entertainment from the 1964 Lorain County Fair.