I feel sorry for kids nowadays. Starting school before Labor Day still seems kind of cruel to me.
In Lorain this year, the first day back is August 26th, which I suppose is better than the middle of the month. But it's a long way from the way it used to be.
Back then, those ubiquitous back-to-school sales used to take place in late August, and above you see an example. It's for the stores at Oakwood Shopping Center in South Lorain, and the ad ran in the Journal on August 26, 1959.
It's an odd ad. Instead of school supplies being touted, the items being promoted in the ad include traveler's cheques, bicycles, a Scotts lawn product to 'blast' crabgrass, feminine hygiene products, and Canada Dry pop. There's also a free back-to-school dance advertised, with beatnik phrases like "Real cool" and "The Most" utilized.
At least the ad features the Thrifty Squirrel shopping center mascot. For years I thought the name of the squirrel was Oakie, since early Oakwood ads made reference to a rodent by that name. I even named my first website Oakie's Treehouse (featuring local ad mascots) for that reason. But eventually I learned that the girl squirrel with the purse was named Pearl, in honor of Pearl Avenue, the street on which the shopping center was located.