Looking Across Black River – Then & Now

I thought I’d seen every Lorain postcard from the 1960s until I saw this one. The back of this one (postmarked August 30, 1961) reads, “Looking Across Black River to the Coast Guard Station.”

It’s a strange postcard. You can barely see the old Coast Guard Station, and many things of nautical interest (such as the red boat in the foreground, and the Lighthouse) are cropped out.

Here’s my “Now” shot from last Saturday morning. Because of some trees just out of view on the left hand side of my photo, I couldn’t match the vintage composition exactly from my spot on the Bascule Bridge. Plus, it was pretty hot and I couldn’t wait to get off the bridge and back in my air-conditioned car.

The “Now” view of course features the newer Coast Guard Station (that opened in 1987) that replaced the one dating back to 1910.

The Lorain Sailing Club and Yacht Club building is in both photos, providing some visual continuity and interest.

Anyway, I did a similar “Then & Now” of the harbor using a much older postcard back here in 2012.

Before "Old E. H." There Was... a Robot!

After reviewing some early E. H. Roberts phone book ads in preparation for yesterday's post, there's one thing that struck me kind of interesting.

If you look closely at the artwork above of a 1963 Lorain phone book ad, you don't see "Old E. H." on his rocker anywhere on the truck. Instead, there's a sprinting robot with tools in hand to illustrate the "fast service."

Here's a closer look at a truck from a 1968 Elyria phone book ad.

I'm not sure if the robot is tied to any specific furnace brand. Perhaps he was a subconscious nod to another robot related to home heating: the old Iron Fireman mascot (although the E. H. Roberts robot was more modern, mobile and less clanky).

Courtesy RubyLane.com

I suppose in the 1960s there was something appealing and futuristic back about a robotic repairman that was reliable, efficient and ready at a moment's notice. But on the other hand, there's something cold and souless about robots as well.

So it's not too surprising that the robot repairman apparently had a short career. He definitely would not be popular in this era, in which robots are seen as more threatening than ever to workers' livelihoods.

Whoever was in charge of E. H. Roberts advertising must have realized that their high-profile animated sign on Route 57 was a marketing goldmine, effectively communicating the warmth and nostalgia of simpler times – and destined to remain in the community's collective memories for decades.

“Old E. H.” Rocks No More

The sign as it looked back in January 2017

As the sign looked in mid-December 2016;
"Old E. H.” still has his Santa cap on

I saw in the Chronicle Telegram on Friday that the iconic E. H. Roberts “rocking chair man” sign has been taken down from the building at the intersection of Route 57 and North Ridge Road. It’s kind of the end of an era for many of us that were so used to seeing it while stopped at the light there.

Here’s the link to the Chronicle-Telegram article by Scott Mahoney. It explains that the building has been unused for some time now and that the removal of the sign was necessary to hopefully expedite the sale of the property.

I figured that the sign was a goner when I first noticed that the building was for sale (at left) back around Christmas.

Here’s another view, from May 2016.

It’s interesting that the Chronicle article reveals that the sign was installed in 1955. It must have taken a while for the image of “Old E. H.” in his rocker to catch on and represent the company, because he didn’t appear in an Elyria phone book ad until 1968.

Here’s how he looked in that 1968 ad.

A later phone book ad seemed to return "Old E. H." to his roots.

By the 1990s, "Old E. H." had become "Mr. Help."

1992 Lorain Phone Book ad

The E. H. Roberts sign was one of those classic Lorain County landmarks – like the Lakeview Park Easter Basket or the train in Oakwood Park – that local Baby Boomers watched for from the back seat of the family car. In the more innocent era of the 1950s and 60s, it didn’t take much to amuse kids. I know we always watched for the guy on the rocking chair when we happened to be going down Route 57 going to or from the Turnpike.

Happily, the image of the man on the rocking chair will live on. “Old E. H.” is on both the front and side of the new building just a stone’s throw to the east on North Ridge Road.

While it’s sad that the landmark sign on 57 is no more, it’s amazing that it lasted for so long. That’s one thing you can say about Lorain County: change comes very slowly.

But it just won’t be the same when you’re stuck at that light at 57 and 254, and you don’t see the familiar, comforting image of “Old E. H.” with his feet propped up on his potbelly stove, harkening back to simpler times.

Follow-up Friday: Commonwealth Hotel

1910 Postcard of “Penfield Avenue looking North, Lorain, Ohio"

Back in April, I gave the above postcard the "Then & Now" treatment on this post. I pointed out that the sign on the pole seemed to be an ad for the Commonwealth Hotel, which was located at the corner of W. 20th Street and Livingston.

Wondering why the hotel was no longer there, I managed to find out that it had been destroyed in a fire on January 19, 1916.

The Lorain Daily News coverage of the disaster pointed out that the three story hotel had been built 32 years earlier. The building was no longer serving as a hotel; only a few days before the fire, it had been purchased by the Burstein Brothers, manufacturers of cigars.

The firm had just moved its machinery and materials into the building, only to see it all go up in smoke. Fortunately, according to the Daily News article, “the entire loss was covered by insurance.”

The article provides a nice history of the hotel.

I shared the Daily News article with a few of my regular contributors, including Rick Kurish, who as usual decided to research it further.

“I just read the article on the Commonwealth Hotel fire you sent the other day,” wrote Rick. "The article mentions that the hotel, which had apparently been vacant for several years had recently been purchased by the Burstein Brothers cigar company. I did a little research on the company, which was headquartered in Cleveland, and found that after the fire destroyed the old hotel, they apparently moved their Lorain operation to 2129 Broadway in Lorain.

"It was apparently a small operation, because in 1918 they had 13 employees – all women. I also ran across a tin from the company that was for sale on the internet. It has really great graphics and held 50 "All Dutch" panetela cigars.”

Here’s the tin (below).

“Old Dutch” brand cigars manufactured by Burstein Brothers, Lorain, Ohio

Blog contributor Dennis Thompson also did a little research, coming up with a Sanborn fire map showing the Commonwealth Hotel. He tried to find a photo of it as well, as it was "tallest building south of downtown."

Kent Street later became 20th Street

"Sounds like quite a building; too bad the article didn't have a photo,” he mused. 

Dennis did make an tongue-in-cheek observation about the fire that consumed the cigar equipment and materials.

"I bet that was a interesting smell to the smoke!” he noted.

Rest Room for Park Scuttled – June 16, 1914

Ever wonder why there's no public rest room in Veteran's Park on West Erie Avenue in Lorain? (At least I don't think there's one there.) The answer might be found in the article below, which appeared in the Lorain Daily News back on June 16, 1914.

As anyone familiar with Lorain's early history probably knows, the park currently known as Veteran's Park was originally intended to be the village's public square. The park changed names many times over the years, being known as Erie Park and later, Washington Park.

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DEED PREVENTS BUILDING REST ROOM IN PARK

Just where that rest or comfort station planned for the city is going to be constructed council doesn’t know, for it has been suggested that a deed to Erie park prevents the erection of a rest station in the park and City Solicitor Van Deusen is looking the proposition up.

When Lorain was known as Charleston a good many years ago, Erie park was planned for the public square, and rules did not allow the construction of any buildings in it. Then when the city obtained the intended square for a park the same regulations held good.

Mr. Lackey, living on the corner of Wicken’s place and Erie has offered to sell the city a piece of ground 12 by 12 feet for the station and to move his house, but his offer is hardly likely to be considered. In the meanwhile action will be delayed while the solicitor is trying to find a loophole which will allow the construction of a rest house in the park.

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I guess no loophole was found. Later, a public restroom was built across from the park and just to the east of city hall.

You can see it in the vintage photos below, between City Hall and the Dew Drop Inn.

Toledo Road Church of Christ – Then & Now

I saw this vintage postcard for the Toledo Road Church of Christ recently on Ebay and thought it’d make a good addition to my "Then & Now” Lorain church series.

The church is located at 5075 Toledo Road. (I use Toledo Road as a shortcut when I take my cat to his veterinarian’s office. It’s a nice little road tucked away in a part of Lorain that I rarely visit, with tidy homes and interesting sights like the church, which is very close to the road.)

I really like the look of the church, which the postcard says was built in 1964. Its design has a sort of Frank Lloyd Wright vibe to it, with its strong horizontal lines.

According to available city directories, the church dates back to the late 1950s in Lorain, with Rev. Kenneth D. Maynard listed as the pastor in 1959. The present church building appears to have replaced a smaller structure, from what I can determine after looking at the Historic Aerials website. The back of the vintage postcard says the church seats 500 in its auditorium and has 13 classrooms.

Today, the now steeple-less church looks much the same, despite some architectural modifications.

Brady’s Chuckwagon – Part 2

1972 Brady's Chuckwagon Menu
(Note that Wild West Sarsaparilla is on there!)

Here's the second part of the article about Brady's Chuckwagon Catering that ran in the Plain Dealer Sunday Magazine back on July 30, 1972.

In this portion of the article, supervisor Marge Gender explains how one chuckwagon employee found romance. We also learn how John Brady was able to brew and stock his trucks with so much coffee.

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Teamsters in hotpants (Part 2)

Photostory by Tom Kaib

Marge Gencur and John L. Brady

Romance? It happens. Marge recalls one girl who was on the job only a month before she married a customer. “But I think she took the job just for looking. It’s not good for business.”

So besides the faint prospect or long odds of romance, the trucks carry The Plain Dealer, peanuts, cough drops, Alka-Seltzer (no reflection on the chow), chewing and smoking tobacco, cigarettes, flint and lighter fluid, Kleenex, hair combs and gloves. Pie is 35 cents a slice – ample, home-baked and luscious.

Although some of the trucks come with refrigeration units, Brady disconnects them and uses crushed ice for cooling. “Too much trouble with the units,” says Marge Gencur. And although she can’t and won’t discount the sales persuasion of a Midge Gore, Linda McIntire, Helen Bennett, Harry Bell, etc., Marge maintains the food quality helps immensely. Coffee is a key. Many caterers brew the coffee right on the trucks.

Marge and Brady feel that in order to keep water hot enough to brew coffee, you necessarily burn it too strong. So almost all of the coffee from Brady’s is brewed at the commissary (capacity is 160 gallons every 15 minutes) and pumped to the trucks through a metered system designed by Brady. This is also ordered ahead by the driver, say 11 or maybe 25 gallons. The pumping capacity is five gallons every 18 seconds. Only Harry brews his own. He simply sells too much to carry it all pre-brewed. But he has a walk-through van specially-designed and can turn out pretty acceptable mud. Trucks driven by most of the girls are pickup-mounted, so they have to get out in the weather, which in winter tends to turn hotpants into ski pants over a layer or two of thermal underwear, which makes for a whole new ball game, and the big cheap doughnut guys get their at-bats.

But then you can imagine how much ice and snow and wind a really sincere molasses-dipped “thanks hon, have a nice day” is going to melt.

Gabby Hayes and Walter Brennan, eat your hearts out.

Right on, wagonmistress!

Helen Bennett of Lorain serves workers at Ohio Brass on W. 150th Street