Vogt Oldsmobile Then and Now

Back here in October, I had featured the building shown at left (located at the corner of Broadway and W. 30th Street) in a post that listed some of the various automotive companies that had once called it home.

To refresh your memory click here.

Anyway, while flipping through some old Lorain Journals in the library this past weekend, I saw an ad for Vogt Oldsmobile in the June 21, 1955 edition. Included in the ad was the photo below, showing the building right in its heyday.

It's nice to see these old buildings in their prime, when they were a part of a thriving Lorain neighborhood, instead of looking like a walled-up fortress as they do now.

Lewis Radio & TV Service Then & Now

I found this photo of the Lewis Radio - TV Service building at 421 Colorado Avenue in an ad in one of those commemorative Lorain Journals at the library. The ad appeared in the June 21, 1955 edition.

The advertising copy mentioned that the company had provided service to Lorain and the surrounding area for six full years, repairing radios, televisions and other electronic equipment.

When I saw the ad, I remembered that I had featured Lewis Radio & TV Service prominently on my other internet project: Oakie's Treehouse.

For several years, Lewis Radio & TV had an advertising mascot named TV Teddy that appeared in their ads (below).

1956 phone book ad

For a history of TV Teddy and Lewis Radio & TV Service, click here.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot – here's the 'now' photo of Lewis Radio & TV.

Don't forget to turn back the clock!

This is kind of amusing. It ran on the front page of the Journal on October 29, 1966 as a reminder to turn the clocks back since Daylight Savings Time was ending that weekend. (It ends early this Sunday morning at 2:00 AM for us too.)

Although the caption doesn't specifically state it, I'm assuming that Evelyn Vogel wasn't really up there on the Journal clock tower in the Norm Bergsma photograph – or was she?

I'm guessing the photo was a tribute to the classic Harold Lloyd 'dangling from a clock' pose from the 1923 film Safety Last (below).

Here's the Journal clock tower as it looks today.

From the E-Mailbag #6

Back on my post about the Elks Club, I featured an 1895 photo of the Club when it was the residence of Dr. A. N. Garver.

I noticed that someone commented that they were researching their family history and were wondering if their grandfather, Dr. W. P. Garver was related to the doctor who owned the house.

Since I spent a lot of time researching my own family tree through the years I can identify with the reader's desire to know. (Once, I impulsively drove to Ft. Wayne, Indiana just to look up an obituary in their library, and then turned around and drove the 200+ miles home).

As for the reader's question, I spot-checked a variety of Lorain City Directories through the years and came up with a whole bunch of Dr. Garvers. The book from 1919-1920 contained all of them – three to be exact.

Unfortunately I could not find a listing for the specific Dr. Garver they mentioned. Hopefully one of the three listed is a relative.

****

I received a nice email recently from Phil Van Treuren, who reads this blog. He's running for Amherst City Council, and his family has deep roots in Lorain County.

He sent me a link to his blog, where he recently featured an antique Notary press (at left) that his wife (a licensed Notary Public) still uses.

This reminded me that back in the 1980's, I used to get all my documents notarized at the gas station that used to be at the corner of Abbe Road and Colorado Avenue in Sheffield Village. (I think it was a Gulf station.) It was a real Mom and Pop place, and in addition to gas and car repair, it had while-you-wait Notary service as well.

It was right out of Mayberry, U. S.A. and I feel bad every time I drive by its former location and see that vacant lot.

From the E-Mailbag #5: Brady's Dairyland

Back in my post  From the E-Mailbag #3: Westgate Dairy Isle, a reader mentioned via a comment that they remembered another soft serve place (besides the Westgate Dairy Isle) on W. 21st Street. They remembered it being near where the Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips was located, and that "they had the best soft serve."

At first, I couldn't even imagine what it could have been, and assumed it was a business that moved in after one of the businesses along that strip had gone out of business. I looked around in some city directories in the 1980's to no avail.

Imagine my surprise when the ice cream place turned out to be one that was there before all those businesses (such as Casey's) moved in – none other than Brady's Dairyland and Donut Shop.

Like the 1966 ad shown states, this second Brady business was right "around the corner from Brady's Restaurant." It disappeared from the city directory in 1970 when Arthur Treacher's first appeared, with the same 2511 W. 21st Street address.

1965 City Directory Listing (partial) for W. 21st Street

Memorial Shrine in Mohican State Forest, Then & Now

I mentioned we were down at Mohican State Forest over the weekend, and as usual I managed to work in a 'Then and Now" photo during my travels.

Above is a vintage postcard of the Memorial Forest Shrine, first dedicated on April 27, 1947. Both the forest and the stone chapel, sponsored by Ohio Federation of Women's Clubs, originally honored the men and women of Ohio who lost their lives during World War II. Later, the scope was expanded to include Ohioans who died in all wars since then, and inside the chapel is a list of all of their names.

Here's my 'now' shot.

It's a different sign, and may be in a slightly different location, but at least you can see how much the forest has changed in the last 64 years.

Incidentally, we went inside, where in addition to the roster of names, there was a display of memorabilia that included a few photos from the chapel's dedication. I was surprised to recognize none other than Admiral Ernest J. King in one of the photos! (I reproduced one of the photos below.)

He attended the the 1947 dedication ceremony along with Ohio Governor Thomas J. Herbert and other dignitaries. 

Admiral Ernest J. King is at far left; Governor Thomas J. Herbert is at the podium

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Happy Halloween!

Here's a nostalgic Halloween photo for all you cat lovers, right out of the pages of the September 1955 issue of Ideals magazine.

Ideals was a terrific coffee-table magazine that came out several times a year for more than 50 years, filled with inspiring stories, essays. nostalgic articles and poems that coincided with the change of seasons. It also had great full-page photographs like the one above.

Unfortunately, it ceased publication a number of years ago. I guess its heyday had passed.

I have a couple of vintage issues from the 1950's, and they are a lot of fun to look at. Normally I'm not a big fan of poetry, but the short collection of verses in each issue (by both well-known and anonymous authors) are fun to read and really put me in the mood for whatever holiday that particular issue is celebrating.

Here's one of them from the September 1956 issue.

Hallowe'en
by Fretia Young Miller

While the owls screech
And the huge bats fly,
The old witch rides
Her broom thru the sky


And down in the valley
In the farmer's corn,
Stands the old scarecrow
With the goblin's horn.


And while he blows
There gathers 'round
The eerie ghosts
Of Cemetery Town.


There also are the
Green-eyed cats
That paw and yell
At the huge black bats.


And while I stand
And gaze at the sky,
The phantoms pass
Of days gone by.


All the ghosts
Both fat and lean
Gather together
For a gay Hallowe'en.

****

Speaking of nostalgic Halloweens, for the second year in a row the spouse and I have found ourselves down in Butler, Ohio right in the middle of their trick-or-treat night. It was a real time-warp – and one of the highlights of our weekend.

Let me explain.

Each year we try to head down to Mohican Lodge around the end of October to enjoy the fall colors in the park. On Saturday night we have dinner at Dutch Heritage restaurant, and on the way back to the Lodge, we have to pass through Butler on State Route 97.

Now according to its Wiki entry, Butler only had a population of 921 people at the time of the 2000 Census. And I think every one of them participates on trick-or-treat night, which for the second year in a row coincided with our drive through town after dinner.

The whole scene was old-fashioned and surreal. Friendly firemen had firetrucks parked at both ends of Ohio 97 at the entrances to the city, and were handing out candy and posing for pictures. Parents escorted their kids of all ages, attired in great homemade costumes, along the main street. People, some wearing costumes themselves, sat on the front porches of old houses holding huge bowls of candy to hand out, taking in the whole scene.

We saw no roving gangs of kids running around unescorted; no carloads of out-of-town trick-or-treaters horning in on the neighborhood fun.

I suppose this sounds very much like any other city's typical trick-or-treat night. But there was something heartwarming and nostalgic watching Halloween unfold against the hilly Central Ohio backdrop in the tiny village that dates back to the late 1840's.