Zeiher and Millar, Building Contractors

Peter J. Zeiher and Thomas C. Millar formed a partnership in 1914. In the early years, Zeiher & Millar focused on brick and stone work, but as time went by, they broadened their scope and they became general building contractors. Mr. Zeiher and Millar are in the group photo below, taken outside the Erie County Courthouse, when the 11th Annual Conference of the Bricklayers, Masons, Plasterers and Marble Masons met in Sandusky in May of 1916.

Zeiher & Millar are remembered for several important building projects in Sandusky, Ohio and throughout northern Ohio. In 1924, they were the contractors for the new Sandusky Butter and Egg Company, located on West Water Street, where Feddersen’s Bakery later was in business from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s. This advertisement appeared in the Sandusky Star Journal on February 25, 1928, when the new Junior High School was dedicated in Sandusky.

In the fall of 1928, Schine’s State Theater opened, which was yet another building constructed by Zeiher & Millar.

The Star Journal of October 12, 1928 featured an article about the firm:

Zeiher & Millar went out of business in the early 1930s. Peter J. Zeiher continued to work as a masonry contractor, and Thomas C. Millar went to serve as superintendent of maintenance for Sandusky City Schools for over twenty years. Mr. Zeiher passed away in 1964, and Mr. Millar died in 1966. The final resting place of both men is in Oakland Cemetery in Sandusky, Ohio.

Lake Shore Electric Railway Tracks on Columbus Avenue

These pictures from the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center show work being done on the Lake Shore Electric interurban railway tracks on Columbus Avenue in the 1920s.

Large piles of crushed stone can be seen in the picture below next to the tracks.

Taking a closer look at the images allows us to see what stores were in operation at this time in Sandusky. Area residents were still sending telegrams at the Western Union station in downtown Sandusky.

The J.C. Penney store was relatively new to Sandusky at this time. Matthes Coal had a large advertising sign above the People's Loan and Savings Company at the northwest corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street. You can see the sign for the State Theater in the first block of Columbus Avenue, towards the waterfront.

The Eugene Close shoe store and Bamberger’s millinery shop, both on the east side of Columbus Avenue, were popular places for local residents to visit in the 1920s.

A large group of people is watching as the crew continues their work on the Lake Shore Electric tracks, near Ritter’s Cigar Store and Holzaepfel Brothers Sporting Goods.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view these and hundreds of other historic photographs from Sandusky and Erie County.

Matchbook Covers from Sandusky Businesses

Do you remember when you could grab a free book of matches on your way out of a restaurant or store?

Journalist and author Harry Van Stack donated several matchbook covers from Sandusky businesses to the Sandusky Library. The matchbooks were from five restaurants and a service station that were in operation primarily in the 1930s and 1940s in downtown Sandusky. The Boulevard Cafe can be seen in the picture below next to the Ohio Theatre on West Market Street in 1937.

In the 1931 photograph of downtown Sandusky, the Pelican Restaurant is on the west side of Columbus Avenue, just north of Rosino’s, and Martin’s is at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Market Street.

Movietone’s Presentation of “Mother Knows Best”

In 1929, the Movietone movie, Mother Knows Best, played at Schine’s State Theater in Sandusky on February 7, 8, and 9. The movie was based on Edna Ferber’s novel of the same name. In the film, Madge Bellamy portrayed actress Sally Quail, whose professional and personal was being dominated by her mother. Many critics felt that the film was loosely based on the life of actress Elsie Janis. The movie was part a silent movie, but it did have some scenes in which the characters spoke.

Advertisements for Mother Knows Best appeared in both the Sandusky Register and Sandusky Star Journal. Both papers featured a contest in which pieces of a puzzle could be put together to form a scene from the movie. The first 25 people to solve the puzzle correctly would win two tickets to the movie.

View of Columbus Avenue from Sandusky Bay, Circa 1938

The picture above was taken from an unidentified boat (possibly the Chippewa) as it was approaching the dock from Sandusky Bay about 1938. At that time, the Moose and VFW both had their club rooms in the building at the northeast corner of Columbus Avenue and Water Street, in the former Post, Lewis and Radcliffe building, now home to the Water Street Bar and Grille.

Buses can be seen transporting people to the busy downtown and waterfront of Sandusky. In the early 1940s, two bus lines were in operation in Sandusky, the Greyhound line and the Lake Shore Coach Company. The Lake Shore buses succeeded the interurban trolley line that disbanded in 1938; their office was at 129 Columbus Avenue, in the former interurban station.The Greyhound station was across the street, at 124 Columbus Avenue.

Jay Meek ran a drugstore in the old Graham drugstore building, at 102 Columbus Avenue, now home to Daly’s Pub. Across the street were the Seitz State Theatre building and the Stone’s Grill Restaurant just to the north of the theater.

Movie Posters from Schine's State Theater

In the late 1920s, the State Theatre in Sandusky was known as “Schine’s State Theatre.” It was then a part of the Schine circuit of independent theaters, which a major chain of theaters until it broke up in 1965. The post card pictured above was created by E.B. Ackley. On November 30 and December 1, 1929, the silent movie “Our Modern Maidens” played at the Schine’s State Theatre. It starred Joan Crawford, the second in a trilogy of movies put out by MGM. 

  

On December 9 through 11, 1929, the movie “The Mighty,” starring George Bancroft, was featured at the theatre. This film was about a ruthless gangster who gets drafted into military service.

On December 12, 13, and 14, “Halfway to Heaven” played at the State. This film featured Charles “Buddy” Rogers, who was once known as America’s Boy Friend.

          

                

Mr. J. Robert Hoffman donated these movie posters, which are now a part of the collection of the Follett House Museum.

Warner Brothers Movie News

The movie Tarzan the Ape Man, starring Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O’Sullivan, was playing at the State Theater in Sandusky, Ohio during the week of May 7, 1932. The Warner Brothers Movie News for that week listed several upcoming attractions for both the State and the Plaza Theaters. Local advertisements also appeared on the inside pages of the small newsletter.

It appears that Warner Brothers were the proprietors of both the State and Plaza Theaters in Sandusky in 1932. (Before a Supreme Court antitrust case in 1948 outlawed the practice, it was common for Hollywood movie studios to own theaters around the country, where only their own movies were shown.) The Plaza Theater, which opened in 1914 as the Ivonhoe, was located at 221-223 Jackson Street, adjacent to the Star-Journal building, now home of the Sandusky Register. (The theater was razed in the 1960s.) 

You can read the word Warner’s on the State Theater sign in this 1931 view of Columbus Avenue.

 Visit the Sandusky Library to learn more about the history of the residents and businesses of Sandusky and Erie County. The Archives Research Center has in its holdings thousands of vintage photographs, city directories, and many local history and family history books.

Columbus Avenue in 1959

Columbus Avenue, as seen from the Cedar Point dock, is the view in this postcard, created by George Canalos, Inc. about 1959.  Businesses on the east side of the 100 block of Columbus Avenue include the Sunset Restaurant, Sherwin Williams Paints, the Amvets, Western Union, and Smith’s Drugstore. On the west side of Columbus Avenue, the James Cagney movie Never Steal Anything Small was playing at the State Theatre. Gray’s Drugs, the J.C. Penney store, and the LaSalle’s store are also visible in the postcard as you look past the State Theatre towards the south.  Note the vintage mailbox and automobiles.

Uncle Tom’s Cabin Played in Sandusky in 1928

From November 14 through November 17, 1928, the motion picture Uncle Tom’s Cabin played at the Schine’s State Theater in Sandusky, Ohio. An advertisement which appeared in the November 14, 1928 issue of the Sandusky Register stated that the movie cost two million dollars to produce, and took two years to complete. The motion picture had a score of star principals, a cast of hundreds, and “three great human dramas of passion, in a story that will live forever.”  An extra attraction at the movie was singing and dancing by “Uncle Tom’s Harmony Boys.”  The cost for the matinee show was twenty five cents for adults and fifteen cents for children. Evening performances cost forty cents for adults and twenty cents for children.