Advertising Fan from the Tavern Restaurant and Service Station

A young lady wearing a bathing suit is pictured on this fan that was once a promotional item given away by the Tavern Restaurant and Service Station. (Hand fans were a popular promotional item in the days before air conditioning was common.) On the reverse side, more information is given about the business, which was located at 2350 Cleveland Road West, on Sandusky’s east side.

The Tavern Service Station sold Shell products and provided oil changes. The Tavern Restaurant gave special attention to parties with "no cover charge." An article in the July 22, 1931 issue of the Sandusky Star Journal reported that the “super service” station and restaurant was to officially open on July 23, 1931. The article stated that it was “perhaps the finest filling station and restaurant on the highway between Cleveland and Detroit.” The site was chosen because of its location on a state route between Cleveland and Toledo, and automobile transportation was expected to be on the increase at that time. 

In 1931, Theresa Fuchs was in charge of the kitchen, under the direction of Frank Burich. J.J. Kaman was the proprietor of the service station.

The public was invited to inspect the “ultra modern station - - dedicated to the service of the traveling public.”

By 1945, the business became known as the Red Gables and was managed by Del Noyes. Today, Jack’s Deli and the Red Gables Mesquite Grill are in business at the location of the former Tavern Service Station and Restaurant. If you look carefully you can still see the spot where the gas pumps once stood.