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100th Anniversary of New York Central Railroad Wreck Near Amherst
Willis Leiter postcard of the 1916 NYC railroad wreck(Courtesy Ohiomemory.org)Today is the 100th anniversary of the disastrous collision of three New York Central Railroad trains near Amherst, Ohio...
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Acco Appliance & TV Ad – March 20, 1952
Acco Appliance & Television was located at 1943 Broadway in Lorain. The store specialized in televisions, ranges, small appliances, washers, driers, sewing machines, refrigerators and...
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The Sheffield Lake Road That Didn’t Get Built – 1947
As a Sheffield Laker, I find this kind of interesting – a kind of “what might have been” scenario.Back in March of 1947, there was a proposal to extend Walker Road in Avon Lake through Sheffield Lake,...
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Johnnie “Scat” Davis at the Palace Ad– April 1, 1941
Seventy-five years ago today, Lorain’s Warner Bros. Palace was promoting an appearance by trumpeter Johnnie “Scat” Davis and His Hollywood Orchestra that was scheduled for April 2, 1941.The above ad...
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Stove Works Part 1
Vintage postcard postmarked 1913The site of the old stove works at 12th and Long in Lorain was in the news in February when it was reported that the City was going to be the new owner of the property...
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Stove Works Part 2
Aerial view of the National Stove Works in Lorain(from the American Stove Company 1948 Annual Report)For many years, I’ve seen vintage postcards of the stove works and wondered just how the factory was...
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Stove Works Part 3
Photo of the Lorain stove works from the 1948American Stove Annual ReportThe 1948 Annual Report of American Stove Works painted an optimistic picture of its Lorain operations.It notes, “Steel was...
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The "Lorain" Oven Heat Regulator
I would be remiss if I wrapped up my brief look at the American Stove Company in Lorain without mentioning the famous Lorain Oven Heat Regulator, which is considered to be the first thermostat for...
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Fred Harris and His Red Tops at Ben Hart's – April 5, 1957
Fifty-nine years ago this month on April 5, 1957, Fred Harris and his Red Tops were appearing at Ben Hart's at 651 Broadway in Lorain. (Ben Hart had not yet moved his nightclub out to West Erie...
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Our First TV
As promised (here), I went through Mom's photo albums to come up with a nice photo of our first TV, the one we had back in the late 1950s and early 60s. (That's my chubby arm at left; I had to crop...
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Sign of the Times
It’s always nice to get suggestions for blog topics from readers. I’ve received quite a few in the last few months, so I’ll feature a few this week.Jeremy Reynolds has a job that requires him to travel...
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Perry J. Carter and his "Passing Scene” of the 1890s
Front page comic from the August 10, 1899 Elyria ReporterAnyone who reads this blog for even a little while knows that I’m a big fan of Gene Patrick’s "Passing Scene" comic from the 1960s and...
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The Mark Restaurants
Back in March, I received an email from Dennis Waite. He asked, "During your restaurant research, have you come across anything on The Mark restaurants?I had heard of The Mark, and remembered its...
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American Stove Memories
In a recent post about the Stove Works in Lorain, I used a phrase that I find amusing: "By George!"Well, seeing that name in my Stove Works post triggered a comment from Rae, a longtime reader and...
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Stove Works Fire – April 1907
Although last Friday’s post was about happy memories of the American Stove Company in Lorain, the first two posts of this week will dwell on unhappy events: the fire that gutted the Lorain plant in...
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Stove Works Closing Announcement – August 1954
In a sharp contrast to the dramatic newspaper coverage of the 1907 fire, the announcement of the stove work’s upcoming December 1, 1954 closure merited only a small article on the front page.The...
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Magic Chef Ad Gallery
As someone who has a special interest in advertising, I couldn't wrap up my series of posts about the stove works without a look at some of Magic Chef's ad campaigns over the decades.What's interesting...
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Killer Roams Norwalk – April 1926 – Part 1
Occasionally, I like to let my Lorain County nostalgia blog drift into other nearby counties.This is one of those times. The destination: Norwalk, in Huron County.Why? Because I have a certain...
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Killer Roams Norwalk – April 1926 – Part 2
Here’s the conclusion of the story that I began yesterday of the story of Jimmy Lyon, the escaped killer who turned Norwalk upside-down for a day back in April 1926 – 90 years ago this month.****Busy,...
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On the Trail of the Lyon Murder House
Ever since I first read about the Jim Lyon murder case and saw the photo of the house where it all happened, I knew I had to drive out to Havana, Ohio sooner or later to see if it was still there....
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