Grand Opening of Amherst Theater – April 16, 1959

Going to the movies was something we used to do fairly often as a family when I was kid.

To see “big event” films (those that had intermissions), such as How the West was Won (1962) and It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), we would drive into Cleveland. But if we were just going out for a night at the movies, we almost always went to Amherst Theatre, as opposed to any of the movie houses in Downtown Lorain.

One of the many movies
we saw at Amherst Theatre

Why? Well, Amherst Theatre was closer to our home on Lorain’s west side. But more importantly, the Mattey family (owners and operators of Amherst Theater at that time) ran a safe, modern, no-nonsense theater. No horseplay was allowed. (This is in stark contrast to my comical experiences in Downtown Lorain’s Summer Movie program, which I wrote about here.)

We saw a lot of movies at Amherst Theatre, including all of John Wayne’s movies from the late 60s and early 70s, as well as whatever new Walt Disney movie was in release. I can still remember seeing The Jungle Book (1967), mainly because during the movie I looked over and saw my dad, fast asleep.

Anyway, it was sixty years ago this month that the new Amherst Theater opened on April 16, 1959. Above is the full page ad that ran in the Journal on the day before.

Happily, Amherst Theatre is still around today (although it is now known as Amherst Cinema).

Here’s a modern view of the theater, courtesy of the Lorain County Auditor website.

For a history of the original Amherst movie house that the Amherst Theatre replaced, click here to visit the CinemaTreasures website.

Lakeside 10 Ground Breaking – April 11, 1969

Fifty years ago today, the ground breaking ceremony took place for the construction of Lakeside 10 Apartments in Sheffield Lake.

As the above article (which appeared in the Journal on April 11, 1969) notes, getting the high rise apartments off the ground (so to speak) was not an easy task. The process had started in 1962, when plans were unveiled for the property, on which Sheffield Lake’s City Hall was located.

After years of minor stumbling blocks, including rezoning and debate about the number of stories, things finally got moving with the demolition of City Hall in mid-June 1968.

Construction continued into 1970, with the apartments first showing up in the city directories in 1971.

Here's a construction photo of Lakeside 10 Apartments from the August 24, 1969 Lorain Journal.

In the end, the Lakeside 10 Apartments helped propel Sheffield Lake from a sleepy summer cottage community to a modern, progressive city.

Today the complex is known as The Perch on Lake.

Tom L. Johnson Passes – April 10, 1911

Who was the most important person in Lorain’s past, the person who had the biggest influence on the city’s growth and prosperity?

The strongest case could be made for Tom L. Johnson – the man who brought the steel mill to Lorain – who passed away today, 108 years ago, on April 10, 1911.

As the front page article on the April 11, 1911 Lorain Daily News (shown above) notes, “With the death of Tom L. Johnson passes the man who more than any other was responsible for Lorain’s remarkable growth and prosperity. All that Lorain is today she owes to Johnson. Johnson discovered Lorain and it was his operations here that formed the nucleus of the great city and manufacturing center the city is today.

“The important part that Johnson played in the city’s history is well known to all of the older residents of Lorain. It was Tom Johnson as head of the Johnson company who brought the steel mills here in 1894 and erected the gigantic plant which became the foundation of Greater Lorain. The steel mills built by Johnson became the industrial heart of the city and from the industry sprung the many arteries of business and thrift that caused the city to discard her swaddling clothes and assume a position among the great cities of the state.

"Coming hand in hand with the steel plant was the organization of the Sheffield Land and Improvement Co., a million dollar corporation headed by Johnson that has built practically all of what is known as South Lorain.

“But it was not alone through the land company and the steel mills that Johnson became linked with the city’s history. It was in Lorain that Johnson, known as the father of three-cent railway fare in America, first experimented with three cent fare and demonstrated to his own satisfaction that three cent fare was more than a dream and that it was a practical possibility. The same year that the steel mills located here Johnson bought the old Lorain street railroad, then a horse car system with a track extending from what is now the loop to the hospital. Johnson at once began extending the line to Elyria and inaugurating three cent fare made the road one of the most successful electric lines operated in the state.

“Johnson was a firm believer in three cent fare and for many years its amounting to many thousands of dollars as the result of his three cent fare hobby Johnson notwithstanding the low fare gave the people an excellent service. Not until some years after the road had been sold to the Lake Shore Electric was the fare boosted to five cents.”

On April 12, 1911, an article on the front page of the Lorain Daily News noted that a memorial service was going to be held, honoring the man who did so much for Lorain. “Lorain is planning to honor the memory of Tom L. Johnson, who died Monday night. The board of commerce will head the movement, and a meeting has been called for tomorrow night at which all residents of the city and county are invited to attend.

“Johnson, the father of the yellow line, steel mills, Sheffield Land Company and other industries that really made the city what it is today, is mourned by all Lorain, both young and old alike. His death has been the talk of the entire city.

“Pioneers of the steel mills well remember Johnson as do many of the older residents of the city. Men who were employed under the Johnson rule at the steel plant have a warm feeling for the man and these employees have already sent a floral tribute to the family. The employes of the Lake Shore Electric will also honor his memory and send flowers."

Lorain owes a debt of gratitude to Johnson to this day. It is a tribute to Johnson that the steel mill remains the last major industry in the city.

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Here's the continuation of the front page story shown above.

Vincent Price Visits Elyria – April 10, 1959

Vincent Price was well known as an American actor specializing in roles in horror films such as House of Wax (1953) and House on Haunted Hill (1959). He also appeared in many well known non-horror movies, including Laura (1944) and The Ten Commandments (1956).

Did you know that he also had a fine reputation as an art collector and expert, with a degree in art history? It was this aspect of his expertise that brought him to Elyria in April 1959 for an art lecture sponsored by the Elyria Woman’s Club.

The article about his visit appeared in the Lorain Journal on April 11, 1959. Price’s opinions are pretty interesting, and sometimes even a little prickly.

Price visited Lorain County a few more times. He portrayed Oscar Wilde in a one-man show at Oberlin College in 1974, and appeared on stage at Lorain County Community College in November 1983.

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Speaks In Elyria
Vincent Price Offers Advice
On How To Buy Paintings
By NANCY COTA

Vincent Price, whose repute as an art expert rivals his fame as an actor, last night had some advice for people who want to buy a painting for their home.

Choose a modern original over a copy of an established painting, he said. “In selecting an original you make up your own mind.” Besides, he added, it’s cheaper, and we owe modern artists a living.

Price spoke at Elyria High School under the sponsorship of the Elyria Woman’s Club. He voiced opinions on a number of topics:

The Cleveland Art Museum: “It is one of the best museums in the world. The collections of Medieval, Asian and French art are all good.”

Enjoying art: “Don’t die before you’re dead. To deny yourself the privilege of art is to deny yourself the privilege of seeing.”

Modern art: “Painting is merely a statement of fact and the painter is a reporter of our time.” You may not like what he reports, he continued, but it is nonetheless a valid statement of the world.

How can the painter see as pretty, he asked, a world which has seen two great world wars in our time? Continuing, he asked, how can a picture of the crucifixion, “the greatest example of man’s inhumanity to man,” be “pretty?”

Cubist painting: “Cubism arose out of the scientific discovery that under microscopes all matter looks like geometric forms, such as circles, squares, and triangles. The painter is reporting this fact when he uses cubistic forms on his canvas.”

Dislike of modern art: “People may force modern art into an eclipse because of their refusal to look at it, but it will be valued eventually because of its reporting of our times.”

An actor’s responsibilities: “An actor must assume a responsibility toward the public good.”

Movies vs. television: “Movies are not meeting the challenge of television. There are too many downbeat movies. How many dope addicts do you know?"

New trends in movies: “The winning of nine academy awards by “Gigi” reflects the growing discontent with downbeat movies. Movies should turn from problems to pure entertainment.”

The American audience: “People won’t go to see a play in Cleveland, even with its original cast, because they feel they have to wait until they go to New York to see it.”

“Americans are quick to complain if they spot a defect in a play or movie, but they seldom send compliments for something which is done well.”

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Vincent Price has been featured on this blog before. Click here to see my post about the Palace Theater’s Friday the 13th Jinx Show, which starred Vincent Price and Peter Lorre in Tales of Terror.

The Stone House at Nagel and Schwartz Roads in Avon

One thing that I really like about the Lorain Journal of the 50s and 60s is that its writers had a real curiosity about historic old homes in Lorain County – and consequently wrote some terrific stories about them.

Here’s one about a house that you might have driven by and wondered about. The distinctive stone home, built by Avon’s pioneering Nagel family, is located at the corner of Nagel and Schwartz Roads in Avon.

The article by Staff Writer Hermaine Speigle appeared in the Journal on April 13, 1969.

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120-Year-Old House Built to Last
By HERMAINE SPEIGLE

THE VIOLETS and spring beauties will soon be blooming again under the south windows, just as they have for 120 years since the stone homestead of the Nagel family of Avon was built at the corner of what is now Schwartz and Angel Roads.

There were no frills on the imposing, two-story rectangular building, but it was well-designed for balance and architectural interest.

The house was built to last, of the best materials available. Huge slabs of sandstone were cut from the Amherst quarries and hauled by oxcart over the winding road at the crest of “Detroit” ridge to the site.

The stone cutters chipped away to form the structural blocks with chisels that created a variety of patterned surfaces. They took a year and a half to build the house. For all the other German settlers in the area, it marked the prosperity, industry and thrift of the Nagel clan.

Several generations of Nagels and their friends wore deep treads in the sandstone threshold at the kitchen entrance. Many coffins bearing Nagel kin were borne out the 48-inch wide front door after they were “laid out” in the parlor.

A frame structure of four rooms was added about 1900. What was originally the kitchen doorstep is now the threshold between living and family rooms. The space of the doorway, including frames, is all of three feet deep.

Joseph Nagel, the last family member to reside in the house, sold the property to Sample Realtors 20 years ago. The 1100 acres were cut into lots for development. With three acres of land, the old house was sold first to a widow, Mrs. Foulds, who restored the fireplaces and much of the interior. The third and present owners, Oliver and Beatrice Rathbun, have reinforced the dwelling structurally, and completed modern heating, plumbing and wiring projects.

In spite of the dwelling’s rather forbidding and dour exterior, there is much warmth and comfort inside.

Mrs. Rathbun enjoys her modern kitchen appliances, particularly since her husband drilled through the 40 inch basement walls to install the new “city” water line several years ago.

“I get up every morning aware of the many generations of housewives who lived here before me, making do for their families,” says “Be” Rathbun, as she likes to be called.

“When the house is empty or quiet, I often think of its former occupants. When my gang gets going, I’m grateful for  its charm and durability, and space, lots of it,” she says.

Lex Rathbun, 23, recently home on leave from Vietnam, has hung his psychedelic posters and school mementoes in his room. Jay, 19, who attends Cleveland State University, keeps his trap and bass drums set up in his room, and Jody, 14, home from Avon Junior High, keeps the record player turned up loud.

“Be” has been an antique bug since her first visit to an antique shop 20 years ago.

“A dealer told us about this house being for sale one Sunday afternoon, and we dropped everything to come to see it. We fell in love at first sight, and love it more as we live in it,” she said.

Her passion for old things runs mainly to the more “homey” styles and lines in furniture. She has refinished dining sets, tables, rockers, chests, beds and desks. Every bed in the house is four-poster, made in the days when rope was strung to hold the straw mattresses. She uses conventional mattresses on the rather high beds, but likes old fashioned quilts and bedspreads.

“There are only two pieces in the house that I haven’t refinished,” she said. She showed an intricately carved walnut organ which still has its beautiful, unmarred finish, and pointed out a large maple secretary.

“My husband took all of my projects matter-of-factly, going along with my ideas without any enthusiasm, until the day he spotted this desk and wanted it,” she said. “He decided, right then, that he wanted to do the refinishing himself, and has been hooked ever since.”

His antiquing enthusiasms carry over to his work as fleet electrician with the Cleveland-Cliffs Iron Co., Cleveland. He often runs into old ship’s lanterns, and brings them home for burnishing, wiring and repairs. The house provides many perfect spots to display them.

There is also a den for Rathbun’s Ham-Radio hobby, for his wife’s sewing room, as well as a roomy garage for their 1929 Model A Ford car, which everyone enjoys.

“Be” has used many of her treasures with imagination and whimsy to make her own very modern imprint on the house.

In the family room, an upturned sauerkraut crock, with a circular, fringed cover, serves as an end table. In the living room, a burnished cooper boiler holds books and an ash tray – also an end table.

“Be” said, pointing to her coffee table, “I didn’t know what to do with an old wagon seat a neighbor gave me. Isn’t it perfect for that spot?”

She particularly likes showing her house to young people, Girl Scout groups or grammar school classes, she said.

“The kids are thrilled learning about the rope beds, butter churns, cast-iron pump, cistern and coal-oil lamps. I tell them about chamber-pots, wash stands and spittoons. American history and those ancient “early settlers” come alive for them, she said.

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I’ve featured other articles about interesting homes written by Ms. Speigle; the first one was about Budmar Farm in Amherst; the more recent was about the former Steamboat Inn in Vermilion.)

"Father of Linotype" Returns to Lorain – April 1927

Linotype Instruction Book, 1925; that's John R. Rogers on the left
(Courtesy Flickr Vintage Typography group)

Although today’s modern newspapers are put together on a computer prior to printing, from the late nineteenth century until the 1970s they had to be composed using a Linotype machine.

The Linotype machine got its name because the operator sat in front of it and typed, composing one line of type (or “line o’ type”) at a time, which was cast in hot lead. These strips of type were then assembled into a page. They were later melted down to be used again.

Well, did you know that the Linotype machine had a Lorain connection?

John R. Rogers is the man credited with inventing an improved version of automatic typesetting. Since his process was very similar to that of the Linotype company, the larger company eventually bought Rogers’ company. He then went to work for them as an engineer and head of research, inventing various improvements to their products.

And according to the article below, many of his inventions were born in the offices of the Lorain Times-Herald while he was living in Lorain in the late 1800s.

He was quite a guy. Besides his accomplishments as an inventor, he also found time during his stay in Lorain to become, at 20 years of age, the school superintendent.

Rogers paid a return visit to Lorain in 1927 to visit some friends, and the Times-Herald was there to capture the moment. Here is the story as it appeared on the front page of the Lorain Times-Herald of April 4, 1927.

His reminisces about life in Lorain during the beginning of his career in the late 1800s are fascinating.

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FATHER OF LINOTYPE RETURNS TO
LORAIN, SCENE OF FIRST ENDEAVOR
John R. Rogers, Now of New York, Speaks in
Congregational Church and Greets Old Friends

By. J. J. Hromoda

The "father of the modern Linotype" Sunday came back to Lorain where he began his career 50 years ago.

Able and likable John R. Rogers, now a wealthy New York engineer, never has forgotten the friends he found in Lorain 50 years ago. Only a few of his old time acquaintances walked up to him after he had delivered a sermon, Sunday morning in the First Congregational church, but he remembered them.

With kindling eye, many congratulated the famous inventor.

“I'm the son of ––" or "My grandfather used to speak of you," and "hello, John, do you remember me", were a few of the phrases the 70-year-old inventor listened to and answered.

Tells of City's Growth
In his sermon he told how Lorain has grown from a city of 4,000 to a modern city of 50,000.

"Dust then was six inches deep in the summer time and in the winter the mud was the same depth."

"There were no street lights. Each person had to act as his own beacon with a lantern in his hand," he stated.

Mr. Rogers showed how the Lorain school system was developed. He told of how he, a lad of 20 years of age was not yet able to vote, took the superintendent's reins and worked with the meager population which was rapidly growing.

Lorainites had the state legislature pass a special taxation act to permit them to tax themselves so that their children might have schools. After they had inflicted this taxation on themselves, Rogers, with the board of eduction back of him, built the schools and many of them still stand.

Experimented on Linotype
In spare hours the young man began to work on linotype inventions. Many of his experiments were tried in the offices of the Lorain Times-Herald.

Finally he gained note through them and went to the Mergenthaler Linotype company, New York. Continuing his experimentation through the years he has gained the sobriquet of the “father of the modern Linotype”. When Rogers started with the Mergenthaler concern there were 1,400 of the typesetting machines in existence. Today there are 66,000 of them. He is now consulting engineer of the New York company.

Thanks to the effort of the now gray-haired inventor, linotypes have been made adaptable for 52 languages. Whereas when he started it was only used for one.

Few Accommodations Then
Lorain was a “bathtubless" city when Rogers first came here. A bathtub was an unnecessary luxury, he explained. Electricity was a novelty and there were no automobiles.

“All of the inventions we have now, all of the things that help make our lives comfortable are all right as long as we know how to make proper use of them,” he stated.

“The auto has become one of the greatest assets to help the modern crook and crime breaker. Conscience and character, individually and collectively is necessary to prevent crime,” he pointed out, as he went from reminiscing of 50 years back to prediction for the next 50 years.

“The battle of Gettysburg was but a skirmish compared to battles in the world war. If the world desires to eliminate warfare from its face it must have its christian people set themselves unitedly against war,” Mr. Rogers continued.

Tells of Early Hardships
Complimenting the First Congregational church as a modern and Christian building he told of the hardships incurred in the very first Congregational church in Lorain.

“We almost froze in a small rambly structure situated near the present church, so the next year, everybody united – the women gave ice cream socials, the men money and assistance and by the winter we had a church.”

This church was later remodeled and then destroyed in the tornado.

He was the house guest of Mrs. F. A. Rowley, 840 8th-st., during his short stay here Sunday.

The former school superintendent was brought to the First Congregational church through the Pioneer school association, comprised of members of four classes taught by Rogers while in Lorain. Approximately 50 remain in the association. They welcomed the inventor in the parlors of the church. Miss Jane Lindsay, principal of Fairhome school is president and Miss Anna Robb, treasurer of the association.

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This article was also of interest to me because my grandfather was a Linotype operator and repairman at the Lorain Journal, the Plain Dealer and Central Press (a division of King Features).

Lorain’s 125th Anniversary Seal – April 1959

Sixty years ago in April 1959, Lorain was getting ready for its 125th Anniversary celebration.

Although the big event was scheduled for July 17 - 25, there was much preparation to be done, including the design of a special anniversary seal that would be featured on all signs, advertising and official documents.

The seal was unveiled in the Journal on April 2, 1959 in the front page article below. Lew Caywood, a Lorain commercial artist and owner of his own sign shop, was the designer.

As the article notes, the seal included the symbols of Lorain’s industrial might, including silhouettes of the steel mill, a freighter on Lake Erie, an automobile representing the Ford Motor Division Lorain Assembly Plant, and the Ohio Edison plant, all superimposed over the State of Ohio.

Who could have imagined that sixty years later, it would all be gone (with the exception of U. S. Steel’s seamless pipe operations and the hoped-for reopening of Republic Steel this year).

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I couldn’t remember what the 175th Anniversary celebration was like back in 2009 (the first year of this blog), so I had to refresh my memory. Here’s a link to the Morning Journal’s coverage.