Daylight Savings Time Confusion 1940s-1950s

A Gene Patrick "Passing Scene" depiction of
Daylight Savings Time from Feb. 1975

Daylight Savings Time went back into effect over the weekend (in case some of you missed it). I'm still not used to it occurring so early in the year. I'm one of those people who dislike it, as it seems to take me a week or two to get used to the change. Plus an extra hour of light doesn't really mean much to me since I have a set schedule.

While most of the country observes Daylight Savings Time (with the exception being Hawaii and Arizona), this national conformance wasn't always the case.

In fact, a review of Daylight Savings Time articles that appeared in the Lorain Journal in the 1940s and 50s reveals that, surprisingly, it was often left up to individual cities and counties as to whether to adopt the time change.

Here's an ample sample of articles and editorials revealing just how confusing it all was. 

This editorial from July 2, 1941 (before we entered World War II later that year) is against the idea of nationwide adoption of Daylight Savings Time. It also reveals that Lorain used to be in the Central Time Zone.

But once we were in the war, Daylight Savings Time went into effect for the duration of the war. As the editorial notes, "For the first time in some 20 years daylight savings time will come to Lorain Feb. 9.

"The new schedule will prevail for the duration of the war and for six months thereafter.

"Prior to the First World War, we were in the Central time zone. Daylight saving was started as a war measure. Then, after the war, it was made permanent by adopting Eastern Standard time.

"This means that the new war time savings plan will actually be two hours faster than the time we had here previous to the First World War. It also means that we will be approximately an hour and a half ahead of the sun, since Eastern Standard time in this area was already a half hour faster than sun time.

"Hence daylight savings will do little to save electricity energy in these parts at this time of year, since the general effect will be to add an hour of darkness in the morning."

In the Post-War era, cities like Elyria had to decide whether to adopt their own daylight savings plans. This article from March 16, 1948 notes that the farmers were against the concept due to the "difficulty in getting men to work late at night and a waste of morning labor hours."

This article from April 3, 1948 notes that Lorain was also trying to decide whether to go on "fast time" – the expression commonly used to refer to Daylight Savings Time. Industrial plants in the area pointed out that they would have to operate on 'fast time' irregardless what the city did, so as to conform to plants and customers in areas that did.

This article also from April 3, 1948 explains why farmers were against Daylight Savings Time.

In the end, as this article from April 22, 1948 observes, Lorain and Elyria, as well as most Northern Ohio communities, went with Daylight Savings Time anyway.

By 1949, the Lorain Journal had settled into a routine of reminding readers of the time change, and following up with an article or two after it occurred.

April 23, 1949

April 23, 1949

April 25, 1949

The Ohio legislature hoped to have a constitutional amendment passed by voters to require "slow time." The lawmakers had already prescribed standard time for Ohio four year earlier, but about sixty cities still went to 'fast time' each spring.

June 9, 1949

By 1950, cities and communities were still deciding for themselves whether to go on Daylight Savings Time. This article from April 28, 1950 notes that all of Lorain County voted to move their clocks ahead one hour. Erie county (with the exception of the portion of Vermilion in that county) resisted, along with Toledo, Columbus and Cincinnati.

An editorial from April 29, 1950 supplied an additional reminder to set the clock ahead that night.

This article from Nov. 6, 1950 is interesting because it explains how Lorain's decision to go with Daylight Savings Time was linked with Cleveland's. Thus when Cleveland decided to put the issue to a vote, Lorain would be watching the ballot results with great interest.

As it turned out, it was a victory for Daylight Savings Time, with the issue winning a 25,000 majority with more than half of the polling places reporting, as noted in an article on the front page of the Nov. 8, 1950 Lorain Journal. 

Love or hate it, it seems like Daylight Savings Time is here to stay.

"Lucky Buck" Bargains – March 6, 1956

By the mid-1950s, Downtown Lorain merchants were working hard to attract shoppers, especially since the stores were competing with O'Neil-Sheffield Center, which had opened to much fanfare in May 1954.

Thus a variety of creative promotions were launched over the years, including Crazy Days Sales, and the one being discussed in today's post: Lucky Buck Day.

Here's the full-page ad explaining the promotion, as well as the page listing participating stores and Lucky Buck Bargains, that ran in the Lorain Journal back on March 6, 1956.

Here's the premise as noted in the ad. "The serial numbers from 25 one dollar bills known to be in circulation in Lorain will be displayed in cooperating stores from 1 p.m. 'til 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"If the serial number on one of your dollar bills is listed as a "lucky buck" you'll get double your money's worth when you buy a "Lucky Buck Bargain."

"You can shop all over town with the same Lucky Buck – buy in as many stores as you like with the same dollar bill."

I'm not a statistician, but I imagine that the odds of having one of the 25 Lucky Bucks in your purse or wallet would be pretty poor. How did the merchants know the serial numbers of those particular dollar bills anyway? A bank had a record of them, I guess. Or perhaps some major employer in town paid their employees in cash and the numbers were recorded. But in a town with a population between fifty and sixty thousand, it just doesn't make cents sense.

Even if you had one of those dollars in your possession, how did the merchants know for sure that you didn't bury it in a Hills Bros. coffee can (or more appropriately, Chock full O' Nuts) in your backyard for safekeeping?

Unfortunately, the Lucky Buck Bargains as seen on the full page above don't seem very enticing: Swiss Steak; garden hose; printed plastic drapes.

It would be interesting to know if the promotion was a success.

The TV Repair Bear: TV Teddy

Back in the 1950s and 60s, companies spent a lot of money buying regular advertisements in the Lorain Journal as part of their marketing plan. Just about everyone read the newspaper back then, and newspapers were huge and packed with ads. Consequently, businesses strived to find some gimmick that would make readers pay attention to their marketing efforts.

Back here, I wrote about how Tony's Meats utilized a weekly quiz in its ads using artwork that it had either purchased or licensed for use. Meat markets in other cities used the same exact illustrations and ad copy.

In a similar vein, a lovable bear cub – TV Teddy – was developed by some unsung agency or art studio, and offered to TV repair companies beginning in the mid-1950s for use in their ads with accompanying rhyming ad copy. 

Locally, Lewis Radio & TV Service was the home of TV Teddy. Here's his first appearance in the 1954 Lorain Telephone Book.

It's curious that the illustrations of TV Teddy (as we shall see) always seemed a little rough, as if they were drawn by a talented amateur artist. However, Teddy's appearance in the 1956 Lorain Telephone Book featured a handsome rendering of him wearing a beanie topped with a small replica TV antennas.

The rendering of the cute cub in Lorain Journal ads aren't unbearable – they're just a little rough. Actually, they have a charm all their own. 

Here's an ample sample. I like the how the gremlins or devils causing the TV trouble get pummeled and abused in the ads, sometimes by the lovable cub himself. The cantankerous TVs are funny too.

Jan. 10, 1955

Jan. 19, 1955

Dec. 1, 1955

Dec. 9, 1955

Dec. 19, 1955

Jan. 21, 1956

Feb. 16, 1956

March 21, 1956

April 14, 1956

Aug. 25, 1956

Jan. 11, 1957

As the 1950s drew to a close, TV Teddy appeared less and less as Lewis Radio -TV instead funneled their ad money into almost daily ads in the classified section consisting of all type. But the ever-smiling bear made one of his final appearances locally in this ad from March 28, 1959 before eventually going into permanent hibernation.

March 28, 1959

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TV Teddy was one of the local ad mascots that I featured on my very old website entitled "Oakie's Treehouse." It was created using Weebly software a lonnnnng time ago. But you might find it amusing, as I seemed to cram as many puns into the text as possible.

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Here are some of TV Teddy's appearances in newspapers in other markets. We'll start with the Garrett Clipper in Garrett, Indiana.

July 8, 1954

Aug. 12, 1954

Jan. 27, 1955

Feb. 3, 1955

Feb. 17, 1955

Feb. 24, 1955

March 3, 1955

The DeKalb, Illinois Daily Chronicle gave TV Teddy a nice buildup before he appeared.

Feb. 23, 1955

Feb. 24, 1955

Feb. 26, 1955

Feb. 28, 1955

The Daily Times in New Philadelphia, Ohio was another Buckeye gig for the rhymin' bruin.

Aug. 2, 1954

Sept. 13, 1954

Oct. 18, 1954

Midway Mall Sports, Vacation and Travel Show – March 4, 1976

Back in the 1970s when Midway Mall was truly the community gathering place for Lorain and Elyria, there was always something going on to attract shoppers. One of the most anticipated events each year was the Annual Sports, Vacation and Travel Show.

Above you see Sportsman Pierre, the mascot of the 1976 edition of the show. Hmmm... with that mustache, he bears a slight resemblance to Yukon Cornelius from the Rudolph Christmas special.

The Journal did a good job of promoting the show before its opening.

March 2, 1976 Journal

And here's a nearly full-page ad for the show that ran in the Journal on March 4, 1976.

Bob Jasinski promoted the show in his "Great Outdoors" column of March 5, 1976. Hey, that hunter & dog silhouette looks mighty familiar.

It's hard not to feel a little wistful seeing all this. Midway Mall was the place to go in the 1970s when I was in high school. It was the perfect place to take a date to see a movie because you could walk around and kill time before it started. 

Fifty years later, the whole concept of an indoor mall has inexplicably become obsolete, along with the newspaper that promoted its events. 

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I've written about various sportsman shows before – featuring the 1971 American and Canadian Sportsmen’s Vacation and Boat Show; and Midway Mall's 1972 and 1973 Sports Show. 

I loved those old Sportsmen Shows. It was fun to pick up brochures for campgrounds, etc. I used to collect them as a kid and would even write to campgrounds, parks and attractions just to get one in the mail. It probably was the reason that I ended up in printing as a career.

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It's interesting how "Paddling Pierre" (designed by well-known local C-T cartoonist Bob Lynch) from the 1973 Sport Show became Sportsman Pierre in the 1976 version.

March 3, 1966: Dennis the Menace for... Howard Johnson's?

When I saw this ad in the March 3, 1966 Journal featuring Dennis the Menace, I naturally assumed it was a Dairy Queen ad. Imagine my surprise when I realized the mischievous moppet was actually shilling for Howard Johnson's restaurants.

As you might remember, the Howard Johnson's restaurant in Lorain was located on West Erie Avenue (U. S. Route 6) just a short distance west of Leavitt Road. Today the building is home to Chris' Restaurant.

But getting back to the ad.

It's kind of odd seeing Dennis promoting a Clam Plate Special, as well as Clam Chowder, instead of ice cream. Maybe it was a Lenten thing (Easter was the second Sunday in April that year). But the tousle-haired tyke wouldn't begin his thirty-year gig as the official mascot for Dairy Queen until 1971.

I've been a loyal Dairy Queen customer since the mid-1980s. Even though cartoonist Hank Ketcham's most famous creation hasn't on the DQ paper cups and wrappers, etc. since 2002, it still seems weird to me. 

By the way, I once facetiously ordered an "M&M Floor Sweepings Blizzard" in the DQ drive-through (you know how the candy pieces are all broken into bits). I'm sure the DQ worker thought I was nuts.

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Speaking of Chris' Restaurant, I enjoyed a great perch sandwich carryout this past Friday. I'm not Catholic but I still like fish on Friday. Plus it was Mom's favorite restaurant (and one day away from the third anniversary of her passing). The place was busy for dinner, and I noticed that Brenda, Mom's favorite waitress, was still gainfully employed there.

Lorain Journal Front Page – March 2, 1926

One hundred years ago today there was a lot going on in the March 2, 1926 Lorain Journal. 

As seen above, there was some fashion news – namely a preview of the latest style in men’s pajamas and robes being promoted at the Illinois Clothiers convention in Chicago. But the big story as noted in the screaming headline was the possibility of Logan Gas Company (predecessor of the Ohio Fuel Gas Co.) justifying a rate of more than $1 a thousand cubic feet. 

Also on the front page: a tragic accident in Elyria on the East Avenue bridge over the Black River; two Cleveland gambling kingpins that were driven out of that city setting up new operations in the former Avon Island Park dance hall; a Wakeman boy gets a tooth extracted from his lung by way of a vacuum; and the arrest of the first traffic law violator of the year (he was driving his “machine” at 35 or 40 miles an hour).