Lorain County Fair time is almost here!

Over the weekend I had to stop out at the Lorain County Fair Grounds in Wellington and drop off some entry forms for some photographs that I'm entering in the fair. It was strange to drive around the grounds and not see any people or critters.

But the visit merely got me even more excited for the Lorain County Fair, which is only two weeks away. The official website has a countdown on it.

My wife and I absolutely love the county fair, even though we eat the same goodies each time and do the same things. In fact, that's probably why we enjoy it so much. It's the timeless aspect of it.

1976 All-Ohio State Fair Band

With the Ohio State Fair currently underway in Columbus, I've been thinking all week of one of my most memorable experiences: being a member of the 1976 All-Ohio State Fair Band.

The All-Ohio State Fair Band was founded in 1925, and has entertained fairgoers ever since. It has also provided high school musicians from all over the state with a unique educational experience.

To get into the Band, the student musicians must be recommended by their hometown band director. It was originally an all-male group, but the organization welcomed females for the first time in 1975.

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Rhodes Center was our home away from home on the fairgrounds and served as the barracks. The operation was very disciplined, like the army. Each day began with Reveille and inspection of our bunks. There was also a lights-out ritual at night.

We first arrived at the fairgrounds a few days before the fair opened. For many of the kids, it was the first time they had ever been away from home. Soon, however, we were too busy rehearsing the music to have time to be homesick. We learned dozens of concert pieces and many short marches that we would perform while parading around the fairgrounds.

Often, we would split into two bands for separate assignments around the fair. But the best time was when the whole band played a concert, such as at the Coliseum or at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources area. Considering the fact that we only had a few days to rehearse, the sound was quite impressive and a tribute to the director, Omar P. Blackman.

Two weeks was a long time to be at the fair back then (it's much shorter now), and we did get some free time now and then just to have fun. I remember hitting some of the freak shows with a few buddies. We also got to see some of the Grandstand shows; I remember a Fair employee allowing a few of us to sit in the front row for both Bob Hope and Red Skelton.

Other sights and sounds of the fair are etched permanently in my mind.

There was the annoying Bobo the Clown, perched above one of those ubiquitous dunk tanks, constantly heckling passers-by and "looking for a ballplayer" to take a chance and try to hit the target that would drop him into the water. Although there were a few different Bobo's at the Fair, there was one that was particularly nasty; quite a few bandsmen tried to dunk him!

There was a Dutch Apple Pie stand that was right next to Rhodes Center. A tape recorded message describing this delicacy was looped to blast continually through a loud speaker, and after hearing the description for the 100th time, apple pie was the last thing you wanted to eat.

During one of our marches around the fairgrounds, we stopped and played "Happy Birthday" for Colonel Sanders! I remember being pretty excited but shocked at how short he was.

Living in close proximity to cows and goats made sleeping a challenge. I'll never forget trying to fall asleep in my bunk, lying there listening to the various animal sounds coming from the barns nearby. (There was no air conditioning so the windows were open.)

We also got to be on TV several times, performing on several local Columbus and Cincinnati shows, including the Bob Braun Show! We made a record too (at right).

But the thing that I remember most about the All-Ohio State Fair Band was how sad it was when we played our last concert. I remember many kids bawling; we had enjoyed it so much that we didn't want it to end.

I still get goosebumps when I hear the Stars and Stripes Forever, the traditional closing tune at our concerts.

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The All-Ohio State Fair Band has its own website and a facebook page too. So, if you were lucky like me to be a part of this organization, then there are plenty of online resources for you to enjoy. Better yet, join the alumni association and consider playing on Alumni Day next year! I'm thinking about it!

Wonderful World of Ohio Map Part 2

I mentioned how this map had left an impression on me as a kid. Here's why: the cartoonist who did the illustrations really knew how to draw cute women and put them all over the map! I know it seems kind of sexist today, but apparently back then it was okay.

Here's an example from the map of what I'm talking about.

As someone who has drawn cartoons all his life, I can tell you that it is very difficult to draw a good cartoon of a woman - especially a pretty one! Even now, I still can't do it – even with a woman around the house for reference! Whoever the unsung artist of this map is, he sure had a knack for it.

I do like the artist's simple style. It's harder than it looks to draw some of this stuff – especially since the scale is so small. Plus, judging from the thick and thin lines, it looks like he inked it with a calligraphy-type pen (dipping his pen tip in the ink bottle, drawing a few lines, dipping the pen again, etc.)

Anyway, the map is a lot of fun to look at since there is so much going on, sort of a color version of the Vacationland map from one of last week's blog entries. Plus, it is interesting to see what places and things are included and what is left out. Some of them will leave you scratching your head!

Here's the section including Cleveland and points east. (Give each of these map chunks a click for a large view!)

Here is the section containing Lorain and Vacationland. (I guess there aren't any towns between Lorain and Sandusky!)

Here's the section containing Columbus. (Ohio State University looks like an afterthought!)

And lastly, here's the southeast part of the state, along with a funny illustration of a pipe-smoking, stereotypical 1950's dad.

Oh well. Hope you enjoyed looking at this stuff. And remember....

Wonderful World of Ohio Map Part 1

In honor of the Ohio State Fair, which is currently underway in Columbus, here's an vintage Ohio travel map. (Click on it for a larger view.) I'm sure many of you reading this blog had an identical copy in the glove compartment of the family car back in the 1960's.

I remember this brochure because of the distinctive, colorful typography on the front, as well as the great illustrations inside. (More on this later.) That's why when I saw it at Suite Lorain, an antique shop on Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, I just had to buy it.

Being a graphic designer myself, I love to look at classic travel brochures that utilized illustrations rather than just photography all the time. Nowadays, something like this would be put together with clip art or stock illustrations. And certainly there wouldn't be any custom drawn typography.

Anyway, this brochure came along with another brochure in a little bag that actually was a litter bag that you were supposed to hang on your cigarette lighter. It's funny, but I don't think any of us are going to be hanging anything on cigarette lighters in our cars anymore!

Here's what the front and back of the litter bag carrying case looks like.

The back of the litter bag is hilarious. First of all, the family is a collection of grotesques. Mom, with a huge potato nose is chucking some litter right above the car. Dad, looking like a retired prize fighter with his cauliflower ears, has one hand on the wheel while his other hand drops some garbage out the window. And Junior (guess he must have been adopted, since he looks normal) wears a striped shirt (like Linus from Peanuts) as he tosses an unfinished ice cream cone straight up.

The style of the cartoon is in stark contrast to the style employed on the inside of the map. And what does that look like? Tune in here next time to see!

Prehistoric Forest

If you've ever spent any time out by Marblehead, then you've probably driven by Prehistoric Forest on Route 163. You can't miss it, with its large smoking volcano out front facing the highway.

At left is a vintage postcard showing one of the denizens of the Forest.

My parents took my siblings and me to Prehistoric Forest when we were kids back in the 1960's. I have a fond memory of it, although I don't remember much about it. I remember taking a tram ride around the forest and every so often a dinosaur or other prehistoric creature would lurch into view. I also remember coming home with little plastic dinosaurs like the type you would get in a cereal box back then.

Since that first visit, I've been back once, with my sister about 15 years ago. By then, the tram was gone and you had to hoof it around the forest. There was also another attraction as part of the price, Mystery Hill, where there is a creepy shack in which all the laws of gravity are basically thrown out the window. Mysterious things happen like balls rolling uphill. Actually, Mystery Hill was pretty good!

One of my favorite books, The New Roadside America gave a hilarious description of Prehistoric Forest. Apparently there were two sister Prehistoric Forests, one in Marblehead and one in Irish Hills, Michigan. While the one in Michigan was semi-educational, the one in Ohio was... well, here is the book's description:

At the Prehistoric Forest in Marblehead all pretense of history and education are abandoned. Tram riders are issued miniature M-16 rifles and are instructed to "kill the monsters." A prerecorded tour guide panics repeatedly and screams, "To the left! To the right! Shoot! Shoot!!!" whenever one of the feebly nodding dinosaurs comes into view. The forest echoes with the chatter of toy M-16 fire spraying in all directions. The tram driver remains unaffected by the mayhem, smoking cigarettes and sipping coffee as the tram slowly chugs along.

The book's description makes me wish they still had the tram ride!

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If you're going to pay a visit to Prehistoric Forest and Mystery Hill, then you'd better hurry. They are closing for good after this season. I'm going in a few weeks.

Click here for a nice article about the history of the park that ran in the Chronicle Telegram, and here for Neil Zurcher's take on the topic.

Cheese Haven

I mentioned Marblehead in my last post. It's one of my favorite Sunday drive destinations and has been for years. When you're there, it's like being on vacation in New England.

There's a few things that we like to do in Marblehead, and one of them is to stop at Cheese Haven once in a while. It's been there since 1949. Actually it's a newer version. The original location was across the street where the shopping center containing Bassett's Market (another favorite) is now.

Cheese Haven is an interesting place. It's not cheap; you can easily drop twenty or thirty bucks in there and walk out with just a couple of packages of cheese and a beef log. I guess it's the nostalgia aspect (we went there as kids) as well as the novelty of it.  It resembles one of those cheese warehouses that you see in old cartoons – with cheese stacked up everywhere – where the cat security guard (Sylvester, Mr. Jinks, etc.) has to keep the mice (or meeses) out of it or lose his job.

Anyway, here are a few postcards of the original location. (Click on each for a larger view of a mouse's idea of heaven!)

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UPDATE (June 1, 2024)

Here's a shot of the current home of Cheesehaven on the corner of State Routes 53 and 163.

Vacationland

Here's a undated travel brochure from my collection that fits in with my current blog theme of summer fun up here by the lake. It describes the Lake Erie Vacationland region. (I know, I'm straying outside my blog's "Lorain County" theme again!)

Before I picked up this brochure, I thought "Vacationland" was some ad man's recent creation, probably because I had seen signs for the Vacationland Credit Union and assumed it was just some catchy name.

It wasn't until I acquired a copy of Lake Erie Vacationland in Ohio that I learned the name had been around a long time. The book is a reprint of a 1941 travel guide that was part of the Ohio Writers' Program of the Work Projects Administration, designed to give writers, editors and researchers some work during the Great Depression.

The book defines Vacationland in its very first paragraph:

The traveler following State 2 over the monotonous farm land east of Toledo, or US 6 along the lake west of Cleveland, soon enters a region unlike any other in Ohio. It is made up of both land and water. Sandusky Bay is as much a part of it as Lake Erie; two long peninsulas jutting into the lake offer extraordinary surprises; and a few miles to the north are celebrated islands and fishing grounds. The region can be accurately spotted on an Ohio road map. The neat quadrangle formed by drawing straight lines between Vermilion on the east, Norwalk on the south, Toussaint Creek on the west and North Bass Island in Lake Erie embraces all the area known as Lake Erie Vacationland.


Anyway, the Vacationland map (shown at left) is one of those that are a lot of fun to look at, with plenty of tiny cartoon images sprinkled throughout. Unfortunately it is printed on super strength paper slightly thinner than plywood, making it tough to wrangle onto a scanner. I can only imagine trying to navigate with this thing in your car!

But I did manage to scan a few chunks of it, folds and all and piece it together. Here's a portion showing Cedar Point (with no Causeway) and the old Bay Bridge across Sandusky Bay (that preceded the Thomas Edison Bridge). (Click on it so you can navigate around!)

And here is a close-up of another part of the map.

It shows an area that was a favorite of my family, Marblehead and particularly East Harbor State Park. East Harbor had (and has) a great beach and was a good place to set up the old trailer for some camping fun. And after looking at the map, I now know that there is a West Harbor too!

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Incidentally, to visit a terrific blog by the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center dealing with Vacationland and many, many other historical topics, click here. It's got tons of fascinating archival photos and is well worth the visit!