Thursday, October 30, 2014

Oakwood Shopping Center Halloween Party Ad – October 26, 1959

Here's yet another glimpse of a Lorain Halloween of long ago, this time from 1959. The above ad –  announcing a South Lorain Community Halloween Party to be held at the Oakwood Shopping Center – appeared in the Lorain Journal on October 26, 1959. The shopping center had opened in November 1958.
It's funny how I had the misconception that Halloween events held at shopping centers – such as the trick or treat event held at Crocker Park last Saturday – were something new. But as you can see, it's an old idea used by savvy store owners for a long time. 
In this case, the Oakwood Shopping Center went to a lot of effort to make it nice, including a parade, a contest for best costumes and a talent show. Unfortunately, for a Lorain West Sider like me, Oakwood Shopping Center was one of those places we just didn't go to. (We did go to Hills in South Lorain, though.)
Hey, I just noticed that the Oakwood merchants forgot to include Pearl the Squirrel in the above ad!

Tomorrow: How the scare associated with the 1938 radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds played out in Lorain

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