“A Hero in Rags” Presented by the Social Footlight Club

In May of 1909 the Social Footlight Club presented a play entitled “A Hero in Rags” at the Sidley Memorial Hall in Saints Peter and Paul school. Victor W. Brown was the leading man in the play. Other cast members were: William A. Brune, Carl Swigert, Archie Blainey, Norma Heir, Pearl Roesch, and Ethel Herman. Charles C. Corell served as the musical director for the performance. Special acts were also performed by “The Elmores” and Byer and Moos, an acrobatic team. 

The Social Footlight Club was a theatrical club begun by a group of young men in Sandusky in 1906, with Chester Weis as its first president. Victor W. Brown was connected with a variety of amateur theatrical events in the 1900s to the 1920s

Sandusky Gets Ready for Thanksgiving in 1906

Many area businesses placed advertisements in the Sandusky Daily Register in November of 1906, as Sandusky prepared to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. Dilgart & Bittner boasted “A Bounteous Thanksgiving Feast for All.” The store featured a wide variety of home furnishings, and they offered the installment plan, to make paying for purchases easy on the budget.

 Edward Smith’s Meat Market at 527 McDonough Street sold turkey, duck, chicken, goose, beef, veal, mutton, pork, and homemade sausages. The Smith’s Meat Market made home deliveries to all parts of the city.

 The Mayer Lebensburger store, which sold men’s apparel, placed their ad in the newspaper in the form of a Thanksgiving menu, suggesting that the hats they carried were “creme de la creme.”

J.H. Herman suggested that it would be a “Thankful Day Indeed” if you purchased your furniture, carpets and stoves from their store on Market Street.

These are just a few of the advertisements from the Sandusky Daily Register during the Thanksgiving season of 1906. Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to read historical Sandusky newspapers on microfilm, dating back to 1822.

Cornerstone of St. Mary’s School Set in Place in 1909

On April 25, 1909, thousands of people attended the ceremony of the setting of the cornerstone for St. Mary’s School. The school was a three-story structure which included as basement and a large auditorium. The architect for the project was H.C. Millott, and the school was constructed by George Feick and Company. Bishop J.M. Koudelka came to Sandusky to dedicate the cornerstone as it was laid in place. St. Mary’s priest, Father J.S. Widmann was directly behind the group of men carrying the cornerstone in the picture above. As the cornerstone was set into place, the choir from St. Mary’s Catholic Church sang a musical selection.

Councilmen from St. Mary’s each tapped the new cornerstone with a mawl. The councilmen were: Dr. J.H. Herman, Edward Erney, Charles Westerhold, and Martin Ehner. After them, Father Widmann gave words of thanks on behalf of himself and the entire congregation.

Father Patrick O’Brien, from Toledo, gave an oration, but he had to cut it short due to threatening weather. Though rain fell, the audience gave Father O’Brien their complete attention. Ackley’s Band played as the people assembled sang a Catholic hymn at the conclusion of the ceremony. Articles about the cornerstone laying ceremony appeared in the April 25 and April 26, 1909 issues of the Sandusky Register. St. Mary’s School was dedicated on June 19, 1910.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to read more about the history of churches in Sandusky.

East Side of Columbus Avenue in the Early Twentieth Century

The picture above shows the east side of Columbus Avenue between Washington Row and Market Street in the first decade of the twentieth century. At the southeast corner of Columbus and Market is the Mayer Lebensburger Company, which sold men’s clothing and hats. The overcoat department was on the upper level of the store. John A. Giedeman’s shoe and boot store was next to Lebensburger's. Mr. Giedeman had a shoe store in Sandusky for several years, with a variety of locations and business partners. The bookseller S.T. Lemley took over the bookstore that was formerly owned by Mr. Huntington. S.T. Lemley sold books and stationery, and offered a picture framing service.  According to the 1908 Sandusky City Directory, Amelia Homegardner and Helen Zimmerman sold art and needlework supplies at the A. Zimmerman & Company. S.D. Arvanite was a manufacturer and jobber of confectionery and ice cream in the building just north of the Kingsbury Block. Oliver Marble, architect, had his office in the upper level a storefront on Columbus Avenue, and so did two dentists, J.E. Herman and H.S. Rogers. In the Kingsbury Block, Doctors D.D. Smith and J.K. Douglass also had busy dental offices. The Kingsbury Block was located at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Washington Row from 1894 until the early 1920s. We do not know positively what band is playing in the parade down Columbus Avenue. At the time this photograph was taken, the streetcar was a popular mode of transportation, but area residents still used the horse and buggy as well.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view this and several thousand more vintage photographs of Sandusky and Erie County.