Top Value Stamp Ad – June 15, 1960

Back here, I waxed nostalgic (whatever that means) about Top Value Stamps, one of the original customer loyalty rewards programs. Well, here's another ad for the trading stamp enterprise that ran in the Lorain Journal on June 15, 1960.

Besides featuring good ol' Toppie the Elephant, the ad is interesting because it lists the addresses of the various redemption centers, including addresses in Elyria and Lakewood. I tried to figure out where the Elyria redemption center was, but that address – 2023 Lake Avenue – seems to have disappeared. It's not on the Auditor website and it's unGooglable.

I'm guessing that Mom must have picked up our Toppie lunchbox at Krogers.

Speaking of Toppie, I found an undated image of him that looks pretty different from the familiar version shown in the 1960 ad. The tin sign (below), which is listed on Hake's is undated.

Here's a closeup of Toppie.

So it's either an early version of the friendly pachyderm, or an image of him all grown up with an appropriate middle age spread.

Captain Penny visits Shoreway Shopping Center - June 1959

It was June 12, 1959 – 55 years ago today – when good ol' Captain Penny made a personal appearance at Shoreway Shopping Center in my current town of Sheffield Lake.

Thousands of local Baby Boomers (including my siblings and me) looked forward to watching Captain Penny – Ron Penfound in real life – daily on WEWS Channel 5 in Cleveland. According to this entry on the online Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, he hosted his daily show from 1955 until 1971. The various segments of his show, such as Pooch Parade (which featured animals that could be adopted) and visits from Jungle Larry still live on in our collective memories.

Then there was the Captain's great mixture of TV cartoons (such as Roger Ramjet) and old movie shorts (such as the Little Rascals, and the Three Stooges – Larry, Curly and Moe, as the Captain uniquely listed them).

Ron Penfound also did some announcing for the Cleveland Indians in the late 60s and early 70s. Once, we saw him at the Stadium before a game (we were there using our free tickets from the Cleveland Press for getting all A's). Even though he was wearing a sport coat and tie, we recognized him immediately, and were just as thrilled as if we had seen Hawk Harrelson.

It's funny thinking back how these hosts of local children's shows such as Captain Penny, Barnaby, Woodrow the Woodsman, etc. shaped a kid's view of grownups. They were, in effect, babysitters – people that were part of our lives almost daily that addressed us directly from their TV perch.

Captain Penny was probably the most normal. He was kind and gentle, never goofy, and careful to remind us not to imitate the Three Stooges. Memorably, he always signed off with his great closing line: "You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can't... fool... Mom!" It's probably why Mom didn't mind us watching him all the time.

Kids sure don't have any equivalent influences on TV today, that's for sure.

St. Anthony's New Church Bldg Dedication Ad – June 11, 1960

Here's the ad announcing the dedication of the new St. Anthony of Padua church building and rectory. The ad appeared in the Lorain Journal on June 11, 1960.

The St. Anthony congregation on Lorain's east side dates back to 1923.

Of course we all remember how in late October 2012 the church's roof was blown off by Superstorm Sandy. St. Anthony School classes were moved to St. Thomas on Harris Road in Sheffield Lake until the roof was repaired. The students returned on January 28, 2013.

Here's the church building as it looks today.

I'm not Catholic, but I've long admired this church's beautiful campus, as well as the congregation's longevity and the important role it plays in the life of so many Lorainites.

Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House Revisited

December 22, 1946 newspaper ad from the Lorain Journal

Back here in 2013 I did a post on Fior's Spaghetti House, which was located on old "Routes 6 and 2" at Vermilion-On-The Lake, nine miles west of Lorain.

Shortly after that, I received a great email from Jim Bearden, who grew up on the east side of Lorain in the 1970s and 80s, but now lives in Vermilion. He passed along some wonderful vintage photos, including a few that reveal how the Fior's restaurant building was altered in the late 1950s.

The photo below circa 1950 shows one of the people behind the family operation. As labeled, it shows "Aunt Fior (on the left) and a waitress."

Another photo was dated July 6, 1950 (below) and shows the same two people and car in front of the Lake Road Spaghetti House.

As Jim noted, the note on the back of the photo stated, "This is the 'old' front of the building. It was moved when Lake Road was widened. Apparently they removed the front of the building and put it directly behind the store on Overlook Drive."

This unusual color photo (below) explains it all. The 'old front' of the building is shown in its new home around the corner on Overlook Road. (It's the building that appears bright blue.) The "new" version of the restaurant building – with the big FIOR'S on the front of it – faces the newly-widened Route 6 and 2.

The "old front" of Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House – still sits on Overlook Drive today (below). Jim mentioned that for many years it housed a salon.

And, here's what the "new version" of Fior's Lake Road Spaghetti House looks like today (below). It's now the home of the Driftwood Inn. As you can see, another addition has been added on the west side since the vintage color photo was taken.

Special thanks to Jim Bearden for sharing his photos and information with me. And a special apology to him as well for my taking so long to post them!

Andy's Hardware Dutch Boy ad – June 9, 1960

Here's a newspaper advertisement for the much remembered Andy's Hardware, which used to be located at Ninth and Oberlin Avenue in Lorain. The Dutch Boy Paints ad ran in the Lorain Journal on June 9, 1960 – 54 years ago today.

Outside of Andy's Hardware
(Courtesy "Our Town (Lorain, Ohio) YouTube video by stewati1)

Everyone stopped in at Andy's Hardware for hard-to-find items at some point or another. It was pretty sad when the iconic store closed – as well as when the building was torn down and replaced by a new house.

Courtesy 4 Color Cowboy's flickr site
(www.flickr.com/photos/scrubbles)

Anyway, the ad above was interesting to me because it reminded me that the Dutch Boy used to be a true advertising mascot that evolved through the years. The 1960s modernized version was popular enough to be made into the free hand puppet shown in the ad.

Eventually, Sherwin Williams (who acquired the brand in 1980) decided to return the Dutch Boy to his roots and regressed him back to his original 1907 appearance, which is based on a painting by Lawrence Carmichael Earle.

The Dutch Boy hand puppet is pretty easy to find on Ebay. In fact, there are several for sale right now (shown below) in various degrees of wear.

This one's is pretty good shape.

So is this one.

This one looks like he went 12 rounds with the Pittsburgh Paint peacock.

By George, this one's still mint-in-bag!

Demo Update: Aaron Root House & the House at 32990 Lake Road

You can't see the Root House for the trees in this shot from Thursday night

The nice weather lately means that the bulldozers have been busy.

There's been lots of activity in the last few days around the old Captain Aaron Root house at Abbe Rd. and Colorado Avenue. Large trees are being uprooted, and excavation is taking place (below).

I grabbed this shot over my shoulder on Thursday morning

It's just a matter of time before the Root house comes tumbling down.

And out on Route 6 in Avon Lake, the old house behind the black iron gates was finally demolished (below).

It will be interesting to see if the vintage fence is retained to protect whatever eventually goes in there. I kind of hope it is.

Corporal John Danley's Obituary in the Typographical Journal

Looking south from the north end of Danley Square

While I haven't had time (since my post last week) to get to the library lately to research Corporal John Danley properly, I did find a little bit online about "the first man from Lorain to give his life for the freedom of the world."

The July 1918 edition of the Typographical Journal, the Official Paper of the International Union of North America, contained the following news item under the heading, "CLEVELAND, OHIO."

"It was with a keen regret that the membership of No. 53 learned of the death of Corporal John Danley, killed in action on the battle front of France, June 14. Mr. Danley was one of the young members of the union, and his genial smile and pleasing personality had gained for him a host of friends among his fellow workers. He came to Cleveland several years ago from Lorain, and worked on the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He, with several other of the younger members, enlisted in the marine corps almost immediately upon the request for volunteers. He had seen more that a year's actual service in France, and the many letters received by his friends tell of the great work being done by the printers in the service. As a testimonial to his memory the city of Lorain, Ohio, his birthplace, has renamed one of its streets, which will hereafter be known as Danley avenue."

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I remember the first time I drove by Danley Square in the late 1980s. I was really impressed by the pretty, parklike setting, but I had no idea who or what it was named after.

The lack of any sort of plaque explaining who Corporal Danley was really should be remedied. As a society, we've finally arrived at a point in time when all of our veterans are finally appreciated. It's only right that we honor the ones from the wars that are rapidly fading away in our collective memories – before it's too late.

Looking north from the south end of Danley Square