The O-P Craft Company

The O-P Craft Company was organized in November, 1929, with these officers: Earle F. Opie, president and general manager; Leland Spore, vice-president; Charles E. Frohman, secretary; and Albert L. Opie, treasurer. In the early years, the company was located in the 600 block of Hancock Street, and made school supplies. The company logo contained the letters O and P, and looked like a person holding up a hand.

In the 1932 Sandusky City Directory, Earle F. Opie was also listed as the educational manager of the American Crayon Company. By 1935 the O-P Craft Company had moved to 161 E. Water Street. In 1946, the company announced plans to move to a new building in the 400 block of Warren Street. 

Catalog No. 57 of the O-P Craft Company featured products that designed for consumers to decorate themselves, such as boxes, frames, buttons, relish trays, bookends and other decorative items. The basswood hinged lid boxes were a popular item. Pictured below are some hinged boxes from a 1976 O-P Craft catalog.

In this undated advertisement from The N.O.W. Scene, Strickfaden Nursery had a craft shop that carried decoupage craft items with the raw materials supplied by O-P Craft Company.

Bill Opie, the son of Albert L. Opie, eventually took over the business. He expanded the company into plastics. In the early 1980s, O-P Craft Co. became known as Laffer Industries. Laffer Industries later became FormPac. In 1996, FormPac was acquired by Tuscarora, Inc. In 2003, Tuscarora closed its Sandusky plant.

Sandusky High School Track Teams from the 1910s

According to the June 1910 issue of the Fram, Sandusky High School’s 1910 track team was the best track team that ever represented SHS. Chemistry teacher Charles Fleming was the team’s coach. He is on the far right in the picture above. Members of the 1910 track team included: Captain Clifton Schropp, Herbert Gregg, Orwell Schoepfle, Leland Spore, Elmer Scott, Howard Neill, John Tanney, Charles Merz, and Olen Dunn. During the 1910 track season, seven different track and field records for Sandusky High School were broken. 

Below is a picture of some of the members of the 1915 Sandusky High School track team.

Only a few of the individuals in this 1915 photo have been identified. They are: Glen Schropp (left front),  Coach William Slygh in the center, Leon Weichel (to the left of the coach), J. Payne, (back left) and T. Dempsey (Back right.) 

Notes on the picture below indicate that these are members of the Sandusky High School track team of 1919.

The May 1919 issue of the Fram describes the track meet between Lorain and Sandusky; unfortunately Sandusky was defeated.

Visit the Sandusky Library Archives Research Center to view several decades of historical copies of yearbooks from local high schools. You may learn more about your own family history.

Sandusky Library’s Bookmobile

From the late 1940s through the 1980s, the Sandusky Library operated a Bookmobile to bring library services to rural areas and housing developments in Sandusky and Erie County. Pictured above in this 1949 photo in front of the Erie County Courthouse are:  Ray Speers, County Commissioner; Mary McCann, head librarian; Mrs. Leland Spore, president of the Library Board of Trustees; L.G. Parker, County Commissioner, and Robert Crecelius, County Commissioner. Though Miss Mary McCann was the Head Librarian, on occasion she worked on the Bookmobile. She is the first person on the left on this interior view of the Bookmobile.

Area residents of all ages enjoyed the convenience of checking out items on the Bookmobile! 

Though we no longer have a Bookmobile, anyone with a Sandusky Library card can get free and easy delivery of books, streaming videos, music and recorded books through Clevnet's eMedia offerings and Hoopla. Check out the Quick Start guides at the home page of the Sandusky Library to learn more about getting started with digital downloads.